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Archive for January, 2014
Increase in Tar Sands-Derived Fuel Will Set States Back on Emission Standards and Climate Goals
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 24th, 2014
EcoWatch: Motorists from Maine to Maryland will soon be filling their tanks with gas increasingly derived from dirty Canadian tar sands oil, a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) says.
A flood of dirty fuel into these East Coast states would undercut their efforts to reduce carbon pollution. The NRDC report, What’s in Your Tank? Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States Need to Reject Tar Sands and Support Clean Fuels, found that under current plans, tar sands-derived gasoline supplies...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Increase in Tar Sands-Derived Fuel Will Set States Back on Emission Standards and Climate GoalsAustralia: Heatwave blamed for large spike in the number of deaths in Victoria last week
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 24th, 2014
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The heatwave that baked large parts of south-eastern Australia last week is being blamed for a large spike in the number of deaths in Victoria.
More than 203 deaths were reported to the coroner, more than twice the average.
The Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine expects the number of deaths to reach that of the unprecedented heatwave in 2009, which is thought to have killed more than 370 people in Victoria alone.
Temperatures across the south-eastern states regularly pushed above 40C...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australia: Heatwave blamed for large spike in the number of deaths in Victoria last weekReport: Tar-sands-derived gasoline threatening environment
Posted by MPBN: None Given on January 24th, 2014
MPBN: Over the next six years, Mainers and other motorists around the Northeast can expect to be filling up their gas tanks with gas that is increasingly derived from Canadian tar sands oil. That's according to a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council, which says the carbon intensive extraction and refining process for tar sands runs counter to many states' plans to cut carbon pollution, the major driver of climate change. Susan Sharon has more. According to the report, extracting and refining...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Report: Tar-sands-derived gasoline threatening environmentThe Winter Olympics Risk Being Canceled on Account of Global Warming
Posted by Softpedia: None Given on January 24th, 2014
Softpedia: A new paper authored by researchers working with the University of Waterloo in Canada and the Management Center Innsbruck in Austria warns that the Winter Olympics are threatened by climate change and global warning.
The specialists say that, after analyzing several climate models, they found that, thanks to an increase in global average temperatures, just 6 of the cities that have until now housed this celebration will remain cold enough to play host to the Winter Olympics by the end of the century....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on The Winter Olympics Risk Being Canceled on Account of Global WarmingFirst New Species of River Dolphin Discovered in a Century
Posted by National Geographic: Brian Clark Howard on January 24th, 2014
National Geographic: A suspected new river dolphin species has emerged in Brazil, and scientists warn that it is highly endangered.
River dolphins (also known as botos) are among the rarest, and most endangered, dolphins in the world. Three of the four known species are listed as "threatened" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The discovery of a wholly new species-the first such find in a century-is thus exciting news for biologists and conservation officials.
Scientists led by Tomas...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on First New Species of River Dolphin Discovered in a CenturyGeorge Monbiot: Anglers are our allies against unsustainable industrial fishing
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 24th, 2014
Guardian: Here are some figures that should be highly disruptive to the way that governments make decisions about how they treat our seas.
Total value of landings by commercial fishing fleets in the UK as a whole: £770m.
Total spending by sea anglers (recreational rod and line fishers) in England alone: £831m.
Yes, surprising as it seems, fishing for a hobby appears to generate more value than fishing commercially.
The same report, produced for the Westminster government last year, found that sea...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on George Monbiot: Anglers are our allies against unsustainable industrial fishingClimate change could jeopardize future Winter Olympic games
Posted by Hill: Laura Barron-Lopez on January 24th, 2014
Hill: Climate change could get in the way of future Olympic Winter Games, a new study finds.
If the globe continues to warm at its current rate -- and measures aren't taken to mitigate climate change -- the report concludes that only six out of the last 19 locations that hosted the winter games will be cold enough to hold them by the end of the century.
The report was conducted by the University of Waterloo and Austria's Management Center at Innsbruck.
"It is clear that the cultural legacy of...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change could jeopardize future Winter Olympic gamesRepublican Senators urge Obama to move on Keystone XL pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 24th, 2014
Reuters: All 45 Republican U.S. Senators urged President Barack Obama on Friday to end delays and approve the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline that would connect Canada's tar sands with refiners at the Gulf of Mexico.
The letter was timed ahead of the president's annual State of the Union speech on Tuesday, although it is unknown if Obama will make a reference to Keystone.
"Given the length of time your administration has studied the Keystone XL pipeline and the public's overwhelming support...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Republican Senators urge Obama to move on Keystone XL pipelineWater Companies Can’t Monitor All Chemicals, There’s Too Many
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 24th, 2014
National Public Radio: The fact that a second contaminant in West Virginia's drinking water eluded detection for nearly two weeks - despite intense testing of the water - reveals an important truth about how companies test drinking water: In most cases, they only find the contaminants they're looking for.
Freedom Industries earlier this week revealed it had spilled two chemicals, not just one. The second chemical is PPH, a mixture of polygycol ethers. It was combined with first contaminant - 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Water Companies Can’t Monitor All Chemicals, There’s Too ManyReport on rail risks stir up Keystone XL debate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 24th, 2014
Associated Press: A government warning about the dangers of increased use of trains to transport crude oil is giving a boost to supporters of the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline.
U.S. and Canadian accident investigators are urging their governments to impose new safety rules on so-called oil trains, warning that a "major loss of life" could result from an accident involving the increasing use of trains to transport large amounts of crude oil.
Pipeline supporters said the unusual joint warning by the U.S. National...