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Archive for September, 2013
US Cities Quench Growing Thirst with Saltwater
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2013
National Public Radio: As reservoirs disappear and wells run dry, cities around the U.S. are turning to saltwater to meet their water needs. Mike Hightower of Sandia National Labs and Amy Zander of Clarkson University talk about the future of desalination and its impacts on energy and the environment. Is it sustainable enough to succeed?
Niger delta oil spill victims reject ‘derisory’ Shell compensation offer
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2013
Guardian: Niger delta communities devastated by giant oil spills from rusting Shell pipelines have unanimously rejected a compensation offer from the company, calling it an insult, and cruel and derisory.
A court in London is now likely to decide how much the Anglo-Dutch firm should pay 11,000 fishermen and others from the Bodo community who lost their livelihoods when the 50-year-old Shell-operated trans-Niger pipeline burst twice within a few months in 2008.
Sources close to the negotiations in Port...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Niger delta oil spill victims reject ‘derisory’ Shell compensation offerOrganic Leaders Support Washington GE Food Labeling and Your Right to Know
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on September 13th, 2013
EcoWatch: Proposition I-522, a citizen’s initiative on the ballot on Nov. 5 in Washington state, would mandate clear labeling of genetically engineered (GE) ingredients on food packages. It has become the latest battleground pitting consumer and farmer advocates against multi-billion-dollar agribusiness corporations.
Recent polling indicates strong support for the Washington state informational labeling measure. But a flood of money to fight the ballot initiative has rolled in from Monsanto, DuPont and...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Organic Leaders Support Washington GE Food Labeling and Your Right to KnowWhy environmentalists turned against fracking bill
Posted by San Francisco Chronicle: David R. Baker on September 13th, 2013
San Francisco Chronicle: Late Wednesday night, when California's state Senate approved a hotly contested bill to regulate fracking and sent it to Gov. Jerry Brown for approval, it did so without the endorsement of some normally supportive environmentalist groups.
The bill from State Sen. Fran Pavley had provoked intense opposition not just from the oil industry but from fracking opponents, who had been urging Brown to ban the practice outright. Word that he plans to sign the bill appears to have dashed those hopes, at...
Vietnam’s rice productivity may reduce 10% on climate change
Posted by VietNam Net: Thanh Binh on September 13th, 2013
VietNam Net: Cultivation is believed to incur heavy damages from the climate change. The total cultivation output may decrease by 1-5 percent per annum, while the main crop yields, including rice, may decrease by 10 percent.
It is estimated that 90 percent of Vietnamese population would suffer from the climate change. However, the most worrying problem for Vietnam, an agriculture economy, is that the climate change would badly affect the rice cultivation.
The Mekong River Delta, the main rice granary of...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Vietnam’s rice productivity may reduce 10% on climate changeRuling to Send Lawsuit Against Exxon Back to Faulkner County Seen as Win for Mayflower Families
Posted by Arkansas Times: Lindsey Millar on September 13th, 2013
Arkansas Times: U.S. District Judge Billy Roy Wilson today sent a class action lawsuit against ExxonMobil over the Pegasus pipeline spill back to Faulkner County Circuit Court, where it was originally filed. The case, Duncan et al v ExxonMobil Corporation, also names David L. Raulston, who it describes as an Arkansas-based maintenance and operations technician for the pipeline. Exxon argued that the plaintiffs had no legal claim against Raulston. Without him, the case would have fallen under federal jurisdiction...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Ruling to Send Lawsuit Against Exxon Back to Faulkner County Seen as Win for Mayflower FamiliesCanada Touts Carbon Pollution Cuts as Keystone XL Pressure Builds
Posted by FuelFix: Jennifer A. Dlouhy on September 13th, 2013
FuelFix: Pressure is building on Canada to find ways to lower its climate pollution in a bid to smooth the way for the Obama administration`s approval of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.
But Canada`s ambassador to the U.S., Gary Doer, stressed Thursday that the country is already working to cut greenhouse gas emissions - often in concert with the United States.
In a meeting with reporters arranged by the American Petroleum Institute, Doer laid out a laundry list of Canada`s environmental achievements:...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada Touts Carbon Pollution Cuts as Keystone XL Pressure BuildsExxonMobil Charged with Pa. Fracking-Related Crimes
Posted by Grist: None Given on September 13th, 2013
Grist: ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Energy is being prosecuted for alleged environmental crimes after it spilled fracking wastewater into a Pennsylvania river in 2010.
The company`s response? It claims the criminal charges could harm the environment.
We told you about this spill in July - that`s when the company agreed to pay a $100,000 federal fine for spilling 57,000 gallons of contaminated fluids out of sloppily maintained tanks in Penn Township and into a tributary of the Susquehanna River. It also...
New Brunswick Mayor Adds to Chorus of Dissent Against TransCanada Energy East Pipeline
Posted by Globe and Mail: Jane Taber AND Shawn McCARTHY on September 13th, 2013
Globe and Mail: The mayor of a small city in northern New Brunswick is using his civic blog to chronicle his and his residents' opposition to the proposed TransCanada pipeline that could, if approved, see Alberta crude oil flowing through his community.
Under the title, "Not in my backyard," Edmundston Mayor Cyrille Simard wrote: "For the past several months, the TransCanada pipeline "¦ has been making headlines. It has also been creating headaches for many residents of Edmundston, myself included." Mr. Simard...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on New Brunswick Mayor Adds to Chorus of Dissent Against TransCanada Energy East PipelineSwitch from Coal to Gas Poses Some Risks for Utilities, Says Study
Posted by ClimateWire: Daniel Cusick on September 13th, 2013
ClimateWire: The unprecedented boom in natural gas production from places like Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio should make those densely populated regions self-sufficient in gas production by 2020, which in turn could encourage more electric utility fuel switching, according to two top energy sector analysts with Navigant Research.
But utilities will still face a difficult set of questions when charting the future of power generation, including whether to invest billions of dollars in environmental controls...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Switch from Coal to Gas Poses Some Risks for Utilities, Says Study