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Archive for November 26th, 2013
U.S. trial ends over Ecuador pollution judgment against Chevron
Posted by Reuters: Joseph Ax on November 26th, 2013
Reuters: An attorney for Chevron Corp on Tuesday accused U.S. lawyer Steven Donziger of orchestrating an international criminal conspiracy by using bribery and fraud in Ecuador to secure a multibillion-dollar pollution judgment against the oil company.
"It was a scheme so audacious, so bold, that it would make even a Mafia boss blush," lawyer Randy Mastro said during his closing argument before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is presiding over the non-jury trial.
Lawyers for the defense said Chevron...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on U.S. trial ends over Ecuador pollution judgment against ChevronColo. Fracking Votes Put Pressure On Energy Companies
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 26th, 2013
National Public Radio: The 2013 election marked a victory for foes of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in Colorado. Voters in three Front Range communities decided to put limits on the practice.
Next week, the north Denver suburb of Broomfield will launch a closely watched vote recount on a proposed moratorium there.
Oil and gas companies say the measures create an uncertain business environment.
During its original vote count, Broomfield felt more like Miami-Dade County circa 2000 than a sleepy Denver suburb....
Greenland Ice Sheet Was Smallest When Ocean Was Warm
Posted by LiveScience: Tia Ghose on November 26th, 2013
LiveScience: In the last 10,000 years, the Greenland Ice Sheet shrank to its smallest size around 3,000 to 5,000 years ago, when ocean temperatures were also quite high, a new study suggests.
The finding, published Nov. 22 in the journal Geology, suggests that ocean temperatures, not atmospheric temperatures, could be a critical factor in melting ice sheets in current global warming scenarios. Understanding the reaction ice sheets like the ones covering Greenland and Antarctica will have to climate change...
US Methane Levels Higher Than Thought
Posted by LiveScience: Becky Oskin on November 26th, 2013
LiveScience: Thanks in large part to gas wells and cow farms, the United States is spewing 50 percent more methane, a potent greenhouse gas, than previous estimates have measured, according to a new study. For the study, published Monday (Nov. 25) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from universities and government labs fanned out across the United States in 2007 and 2008 and measured levels of methane gas in the air. Though methane breaks down in the atmosphere after...
Over 350 species added IUCN Red List’s threatened categories in the last six months
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 26th, 2013
Mongabay: The number of threatened species on the IUCN Red List has grown by 352 since this summer, according to an update released today. Currently, 21,286 species are now listed as threatened with extinction out of the 71,576 that have been evaluated. The new update comes with both good and bad news for a number of high-profile imperiled species, but only covers about 4 percent of the world's described species.
The condition of the shy and elusive okapi-the only living relative of the giraffe-has degraded....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Over 350 species added IUCN Red List’s threatened categories in the last six monthsWhy Countries Invest Differently In Environmental Issues
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 26th, 2013
National Public Radio: We're not just talking about measures to combat global climate change — we're talking about investments in clean water, forests and biodiversity. A new study explores a novel theory about these differences.
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Why Countries Invest Differently In Environmental IssuesAustralia under fire for failing to protect threatened animals
Posted by Guardian: Oliver Milman on November 26th, 2013
Guardian: Australia is failing to protect its endangered species due a "dreadful' track record in planning, monitoring and responding to threats, a group of leading conservationists has warned.
A paper published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment states that monitoring is a "critical part' of effective species conservation, but that "many species are being monitored until they go extinct'.
"Management intervention should be triggered when it becomes apparent that a monitored species...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australia under fire for failing to protect threatened animals