RSS Feed
Archive for June, 2013
Diluted oil sands crude no more likely to leak from pipeline than other oil, study finds
Posted by Washington Post: Lenny Bernstein on June 26th, 2013
Washington Post: The diluted form of heavy crude from Canadian oil sands fields is no more likely to leak from a pipeline than other forms of oil, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences reported Tuesday.
The finding, after an extensive study by the National Research Council, refutes a claim by opponents of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline extension, who contend that the "diluted bitumen' it would carry is more corrosive than other forms of crude and thus more likely to leak.
The TransCanada pipeline...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Diluted oil sands crude no more likely to leak from pipeline than other oil, study findsUK fossil fuel imports at record high
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 26th, 2013
Press Association: Fossil fuel imports rose by a tenth in 2011 to their highest level recorded by official statistics, it has been revealed. Imports of oil, gas and coal increased almost 10% from 2010 to 2011, to 162.5m tonnes, while domestic extraction of fossil fuels fell to the lowest levels since records began in 1990, according to Office for National Statistics data. Exports of fossil fuels also declined in 2011, the most recent year for which figures are available. Energy from waste and renewables – including...
Barack Obama unveils strict new US climate change measures to Congress
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 26th, 2013
Independent: Facing down a recalcitrant US Congress as well as a sceptical American public, President Barack Obama has unveiled a swathe of measures designed finally to put his administration’s back into tackling global warming, notably imposing strict new curbs on carbon dioxide emissions from electricity-generating plants. The measures, which can be implemented without recourse to any votes by Congress, had been widely expected and were harshly criticised by the president’s Republican critics even before he...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Barack Obama unveils strict new US climate change measures to CongressBig EU farm subsidies under scrutiny
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 26th, 2013
BBC: EU officials are holding key talks aimed at reforming the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) - the biggest spending item in the EU budget.
Ministers reached a joint negotiating position on Tuesday, and now they are discussing the reforms with Euro MPs and the European Commission.
There are calls to cut the subsidies for big intensive farms so that smaller farmers can get more.
There are also fears that incentives for protecting wildlife may be diluted.
The CAP and payments for rural development...
Is Arctic permafrost the ‘sleeping giant’ of climate change?
Posted by Inquirer: None Given on June 26th, 2013
Inquirer: Flying low and slow above the pristine terrain of Alaska's North Slope research scientist Charles Miller of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory surveys the white expanse of tundra and permafrost below. On the horizon, a long, dark line appears. His plane draws nearer, and the mysterious object reveals itself to be a massive herd of migrating caribou, stretching for miles.
It's a sight Miller won't soon forget.
"Seeing those caribou marching single-file across the tundra puts what we're doing here...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Is Arctic permafrost the ‘sleeping giant’ of climate change?Small chance of El Nino/La Nina in summer-autumn 2013: WMO
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 26th, 2013
Reuters: The U.N. meteorological agency WMO said on Wednesday there was only a small chance of an El Nino or La Nina system, which can cause extreme weather around the world, developing in the Pacific Ocean in the coming months.
The two phenomena cause an abnormal warming or cooling of the surface of parts of the Pacific Ocean and lead to heavy rainfall and flooding in some parts of the globe or drought in others.
The WMO said "neutral conditions" were persisting in tropical areas of the Pacific and...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Small chance of El Nino/La Nina in summer-autumn 2013: WMONarrow and Flawed, Federal Pipeline Safety Study Fails to Settle Controversy
Posted by InsideClimate: Lisa Song on June 26th, 2013
InsideClimate: Diluted bitumen, a controversial form of heavy Canadian oil, poses no more risks to pipelines than conventional oil, according to a long-awaited report released Tuesday by the National Academy of Sciences.
But environmentalists and pipeline watchdogs said the study's scope was so narrow and its methodology so flawed that it does little to settle the controversy over whether diluted bitumen, or dilbit, is more dangerous to humans and the environment than the light, conventional crude oil that most...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Narrow and Flawed, Federal Pipeline Safety Study Fails to Settle ControversyWhat’s in Obama’s plan to combat global warming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 26th, 2013
Associated Press: President Barack Obama's wide-ranging plan to combat global warming would for the first time put limits on carbon pollution from new and existing power plants.
Obama on Tuesday announced plans to reduce domestic carbon dioxide emissions by 17 percent between 2005 and 2020 and "put an end to the limitless dumping of carbon pollution."
Other aspects of the plan would boost renewable energy production on federal lands, increase efficiency standards and prepare communities to deal with higher temperatures....
Obama offers plan to fight climate dangers
Posted by Boston Globe: Beth Daley on June 26th, 2013
Boston Globe: President Obama on Tuesday unveiled a comprehensive blueprint to combat rising seas and more frequent severe weather caused by climate change, including a long-awaited promise to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant at existing power plants.
The 21-page plan would expand production of solar and wind energy and includes billions of dollars in loan guarantees to develop cleaner fossil-fuel and other energy technologies. It also funds new efforts to armor communities against flooding, wildfires,...
Scientists Find Canadian Oil Safe for Pipelines, but Critics Say Questions Remain
Posted by New York Times: Dan Frosch on June 26th, 2013
New York Times: Diluted bitumen — the blend of thick Canadian crude that would be shipped by the proposed Keystone XL pipeline — is no riskier to transport than other types of crude oil, a new study has found, a conclusion that came under sharp attack by environmentalists. The study, which was conducted by the National Academy of Sciences and released on Tuesday, found that batches of diluted bitumen were no more likely to corrode or damage pipelines. And it determined that pipeline operators had no reason to change...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Scientists Find Canadian Oil Safe for Pipelines, but Critics Say Questions Remain