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Archive for June, 2013
Feds don’t do enough to prepare for severe weather, report says
Posted by LA Times: Neela Banerjee on June 19th, 2013
LA Times: Federal efforts to bolster community preparedness for extreme weather events are a fraction of what the government spends on cleaning up the damage from storms, tornadoes and drought, according to a new analysis of federal data by the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning Washington think tank.
The report estimated that from 2011 to 2013, the federal government spent about $136 billion on weather-related disaster relief and recovery but only $22.4 billion on a total of 43 preparedness programs,...
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Comments Off on Feds don’t do enough to prepare for severe weather, report saysWorld Bank warns global warming woes closing in
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 19th, 2013
Agence France-Presse: The World Bank on Wednesday, June 19, warned that severe hardships from global warming could be felt within a generation, with a new study detailing devastating impacts in Africa and Asia.
The report presents "an alarming scenario for the days and years ahead -- what we could face in our lifetime," said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.
"The scientists tell us that if the world warms by two degrees Centigrade (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) -- warming which may be reached in 20 to 30 years -- that...
California senators want more information on oil well ‘acid jobs’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 19th, 2013
Reuters: California state legislators on Tuesday told regulators and oil industry lobbyists they wanted more information about the use of acid to increase flows in wells in a technique that is used more often in the state than the controversial fracking method. California's century-old oil sector has come in for greater scrutiny as companies make early attempts to tap the Monterey shale, a deep formation that holds an estimated 15 billion barrels of oil - twice that of North Dakota's widely publicized Bakken...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California senators want more information on oil well ‘acid jobs’Colorado wildfire destroys more than 500 homes, new blazes menace West
Posted by Reuters: Keith Coffman and Alex Dobuzinskis on June 19th, 2013
Reuters: The number of homes destroyed by a Colorado wildfire rose above 500 on Tuesday as rain dampened the flames and allowed damage assessment teams to enter charred neighborhoods, and other threatening blazes grew in Alaska and elsewhere in the West. Authorities said the so-called Black Forest Fire, which has burned in the rolling hills outside Colorado Springs for the past week and killed at least two people, was 85 percent contained by Tuesday. The most destructive fire in Colorado's history has charred...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Colorado wildfire destroys more than 500 homes, new blazes menace WestA Protest in U.S. Oil Country Spells Trouble for Fracking Abroad
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 18th, 2013
Bloomberg: Gardendale, Texas, sits on the Permian Basin, the largest oil province in the United States. That makes it an unlikely site of anti-fracking protests and an even more unlikely bellwether for shale gas drilling activity in Europe and Asia. And yet it is. About 15 residents in the town, population 1,574, are waging an anti-drilling crusade against Berry Petroleum. They have tried to turn Gardendale into an official municipality, which would give them more control over gas exploration and production...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on A Protest in U.S. Oil Country Spells Trouble for Fracking AbroadGroundwater Pipeline Threatens Great Basin Desert, Indigenous Groups
Posted by Deep Green Resistance: Michael Carter on June 18th, 2013
Deep Green Resistance: The Pipeline Proposal The Great Basin stretches from Utah’s Great Salt Lake to the Sierra Nevada Mountains and from southern Idaho to southern California. About seven inches of rain falls in Nevada a year, and some areas receive less than five. The Great Basin is a cold desert, and in eastern Nevada and western Utah, it has been getting drier for a decade. [1] The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), the water agency for Las Vegas, Henderson, and North Las Vegas, proposes pumping up to 200,000...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Groundwater Pipeline Threatens Great Basin Desert, Indigenous GroupsNicaragua OKs plan for cross-country canal, environment be damned
Posted by Grist: John Upton on June 17th, 2013
Grist: Nicaragua is one step closer to being carved in half by a massive cross-country canal. Leftist President Daniel Ortega rammed the project through his country`s congress last week. The lawmakers gave the Hong Kong-based HKND Group a 50-year concession to excavate and operate the canal, which is intended to rival Panama`s. If it`s actually built - and that`s still a big if - it promises to give an economic boost to the bitterly poor country. Nicaragua would get a minority share of profits and, say...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Nicaragua OKs plan for cross-country canal, environment be damnedU.S. Fracking Industry Reacts to Water Scarcity Issues
Posted by Ceres: Peyton Fleming on June 17th, 2013
Ceres: Hydraulic fracturing (a.k.a. fracking) has recast the U.S.’s energy future, but it’s also shining a light on fragile water supplies, which could crimp the industry’s growth.
Exploration fracking well drilling in the desert. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
The pinch is especially strong on shale energy producers and state regulators who are scrambling to find ways to keep the water flowing to this thirsty industry while not shortchanging farmers, municipalities and growing populations. Anywhere...
Mayors Vow to Strengthen Defenses Against Extreme Weather
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on June 17th, 2013
Environment News Service: As unprecedented extreme weather and climate change wreak havoc across the country, 48 local elected officials today committed themselves to fortifying their cities, towns, and counties. As the "inaugural signatories" of the Resilient Communities for America Agreement letter, the officials pledged to take cost-effective actions to prepare and protect their communities from the increasing disasters and disruptions fueled by climate change -- heat waves, floods, droughts, severe storms, and wildfires....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Mayors Vow to Strengthen Defenses Against Extreme WeatherHummingbird tree-sit could stop San Fran developers where occupiers failed
Posted by Grist: Susie Cagle on June 17th, 2013
Grist: When dozens of police officers in riot gear raided the occupied Hayes Valley Farm in San Francisco early last Thursday morning, it seemed like the end of the road for this garden space. Activists from around the Bay Area had moved in on June 1 with the hopes of holding off the developers set to raze the farm and replace it with 182 condo units, retail space, and a parking garage. But after the early raid, a handful of arrests, and one activist falling 30 feet from a protest platform hung in a tree,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Hummingbird tree-sit could stop San Fran developers where occupiers failed