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Archive for November, 2013
Change of heart? Maine governor convenes climate change group
Posted by MPBN: None Given on November 16th, 2013
MPBN: Gov. Paul LePage, who has previously referred to global warming as "a scam," and who has said he's not convinced that human activities are a significant contributor to greenhouse gases, is now asking the Department of Environmental Protection and other state agencies to take steps - albeit small ones - to confront it. As Susan Sharon reports, his action comes just five months after he vetoed legislation that would have authorized state agencies and stakeholders to study the effects of climate change...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Change of heart? Maine governor convenes climate change groupLessened ethanol mandate proposed for fuel
Posted by Associated Press: Dina Cappiello and Mary Clare Jalonick on November 16th, 2013
Associated Press: The Obama administration proposed Friday to reduce the amount of ethanol in the nation’s fuel supply for the first time, acknowledging that the biofuel law championed by both parties in 2007 is not working as well as expected.
While the proposal highlights the government’s struggle to ramp up production of homegrown biofuels that burn cleaner than gasoline, it is unlikely to mean much for consumers at the pump.
The change would reduce by almost 3 billion gallons the amounts of ethanol and other...
Obama administration announces lower quotas for ethanol in gasoline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 16th, 2013
Guardian: Barack Obama on Friday backed away from the notion of corn ethanol representing a cure for climate change, as he proposed to cut the amount of ethanol that is blended into the US gasoline supply.
The Environmental Protection Agency said it would for the first time seek to lower quotas for ethanol that have diverted close to 40% of America's corn crop from the global food chain and into the country's gas tanks. The EPA said it would seek to reduce the quotas under the Renewable Fuel Standard, from...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Obama administration announces lower quotas for ethanol in gasolineChanging winds dampen Antarctic sea-level rise
Posted by Nature: Nicola Jones on November 16th, 2013
Nature: Shifting, strengthening winds will help to counteract future sea-level rise in Antarctica -- and by doing so, they may help stabilize ice sheets on some parts of the southern continent.
The band of westerly winds that encircles Antarctica has been speeding up and creeping southward since the 1950s. The trend, largely driven by the Antarctic ozone hole, is expected to continue thanks to climate change -- and could alone cause a drop in sea level of up to 40 cm over 70 years, according to research...
China to loosen one-child policy
Posted by Guardian: Jonathan Kaiman on November 16th, 2013
Guardian: China has pledged to loosen its one-child policy and end a controversial "re-education through labour" programme, state media reported on Friday, days after the conclusion of a meeting of top Communist party leaders in Beijing.
Under the new policy, couples in which one member is an only child will be allowed to have two children, according to China's state newswire Xinhua; currently, couples can only have two children if both members are only children themselves.
China will also end its controversial...
India: Jellyfish proliferating along Kerala coast
Posted by Hindu: None Given on November 16th, 2013
Hindu: Jellyfish population is abounding along the Kerala coast, threatening other species and creating havoc for fishing operations. Scientists studying the phenomenon feel that the proliferation of the species indicates the impact of human activities on the marine environment.
In the latest incident, a large number of dead jellyfish were washed ashore on the Thumba beach in Thiruvananthapuram in the last week of October.
"Mass mortality of jellyfish and fouling of beaches are becoming more frequent,"...
Conservation Group Keeps Buying Land, Helping State Parks Grow
Posted by New York Times: Lisa W. Foderaro on November 16th, 2013
New York Times: Working quietly and quickly, the Open Space Institute, a nonprofit conservation group, has bought acreage surrounding park borders, combining together smaller parcels as they come up for sale, and then selling them to the state, at cost or below. Using money from the Lila Acheson and Dewitt Wallace Endowment Fund, the group has led efforts to conserve 40,000 acres through 77 individual deals statewide; that represents more than 10 percent of the state park system's current 335,000 acres.
"We can...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Conservation Group Keeps Buying Land, Helping State Parks GrowPatchy aid reaches typhoon survivors as Philippines struggles rebuild
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 16th, 2013
Reuters: Survivors began rebuilding homes destroyed by one of the world's most powerful typhoons and emergency supplies flowed into ravaged Philippine islands, as the United Nations more than doubled its estimate of people made homeless to nearly two million.
But the aid effort was still patchy, and bodies still lay uncollected as rescuers tried to evacuate stricken communities on Saturday, more than a week after Typhoon Haiyan killed at least 3,633 with tree-snapping winds and tsunami-like waves.
"We...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Patchy aid reaches typhoon survivors as Philippines struggles rebuildCalifornia fracking law offers groundwater protection: regulator
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2013
Reuters: California regulators said on Friday an enhanced monitoring regime for oil and gas production that is part of the state's new fracking regulations would shore up groundwater protection, a top concern in the growing state.
The law, signed by Governor Jerry Brown in September, introduces stringent regulations of hydraulic fracturing as well as of acid injection in anticipation of greater industry efforts to develop the state's vast Monterey shale.
The law will require testing of groundwater around...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California fracking law offers groundwater protection: regulatorSafeguarding World’s Most Irreplaceable Protected Areas
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on November 15th, 2013
Environment News Service: The world`s most irreplaceable site for threatened species is Colombia`s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Natural National Park, a fact that has emerged from new research identifying the protected areas most critical to preventing extinctions.
The Santa Marta woodstar, a hummingbird endemic to Colombia`s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Natural National Park (Photo by L.E. Urueña / Birds of Colombia)
Of the world`s 3,057 endangered species, 44 are found in this park near Colombia`s mountainous northern...
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