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Archive for February 20th, 2014
James Taylor appears in anti-fracking TV ad
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 20th, 2014
Associated Press: James Taylor still has Carolina in his mind these days.
The singer-songwriter is starring in a television ad for an environmental group urging North Carolinians to challenge efforts to allow natural gas exploration through hydraulic fracturing in the state where he grew up.
The Natural Resources Defense Council said the ad began running Thursday. A group spokesman would not give a price on the ad buy but said it would run for at least two weeks.
The General Assembly told a state regulatory...
Obama defends Keystone vetting process
Posted by Hill: Justin Sink on February 20th, 2014
Hill: President Obama defended his administration’s “extensive” review of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline on Wednesday, while acknowledging Canadian leaders had expressed concern that the yearslong process had become “a little too laborious.”
Speaking at a joint economic summit with the leaders of Mexico and Canada, Obama said the U.S. was taking time to review the project because it “could potentially have significant impact on America's national economy and our national interests.”
During...
Obama unswayed on Keystone as Harper rebuffed in Mexico
Posted by Globe and Mail: Kim Mackrael on February 20th, 2014
Globe and Mail: Prime Minister Stephen Harper was again rebuffed in his bid to press U.S. President Barack Obama to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline when he raised the issue during a North American leaders' summit in Toluca, Mexico.
Mr. Harper discussed the matter with his U.S. counterpart during a one-on-one conversation on Wednesday afternoon before a formal summit with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. Canadian officials have expressed frustration with Mr. Obama's delays on the matter and...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Obama unswayed on Keystone as Harper rebuffed in MexicoTree roots ‘are natural thermostat.’
Posted by Climate News Network: Tim Radford on February 20th, 2014
Climate News Network: Trees have become a source of continuous surprise. Only weeks after researchers demonstrated that old forest giants actually accumulate more carbon than younger, fast-growing trees, British scientists have discovered that the great arbiters of long-term global temperatures may not be the leaves of an oak, a pine or a eucalypt, but the roots. The argument, put by a team from Oxford and Sheffield Universities in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, begins with temperature. Warmer climates mean...
Images damage from extreme weather may lower political support climate action
Posted by ClimateWire: Evan Lehmann on February 20th, 2014
ClimateWire: A picture might be worth a thousand words -- and still not convince people that climate change is happening.
Recent research suggests that images of devastating floods, cracked fields of earth and roaring hurricanes might be less effective at conveying the emotional impacts of extreme weather than media outlets think. They can be too scary, or of places too far away. Others might cause a yawn.
Either way, it's likely that many pictures of disasters are tossed in the psychological trash can,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Images damage from extreme weather may lower political support climate actionIn parched states, fracking’s thirst grows
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 20th, 2014
LA Times: In this parched farming region, where the land flattens out and every drop of water is precious, another player has lined up at the spigot.
On a recent sunny afternoon, a huge cylindrical tanker truck rolled up to a red city fire hydrant and driver Jose Ofornio hopped out. With well-practiced efficiency he hooked hose to hydrant and began to fill. And fill.
"It's really bad in the mornings," Ofornio said, noting that trucks often have to wait in line for their turn. This was his third trip...
Chevron Free Pizza Offer Only Feeds Public’s Distrust
Posted by Forbes: None Given on February 20th, 2014
Forbes: Often, when I speak to energy industry groups, I’m asked what oil companies can do to improve their public image. My response: sell iPads. It usually gets a laugh.
After recent events in Pennsylvania, though, I may need to revise my quip: no free pizza. Unfortunately, that has been the response of a major oil company to a well explosion last week near Bobtown, in the southwestern corner of the state.
Residents told the Philadelphia Daily News they were awakened shortly before 7 a.m. by the...
Big Antarctic glacier to keep raising seas, even without warming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 20th, 2014
Reuters: A thawing Antarctic glacier that is the biggest contributor to rising sea levels is likely to continue shrinking for decades, even without an extra spur from global warming, a study showed on Thursday.
Scientists said the Pine Island Glacier, which carries more water to the sea than the Rhine River, also thinned 8,000 years ago at rates comparable to the present, in a melt that lasted for decades, perhaps for centuries.
"Our findings reveal that Pine Island Glacier has experienced rapid thinning...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Big Antarctic glacier to keep raising seas, even without warmingTransCanada weighs next steps after U.S. court’s Keystone ruling
Posted by Reuters: Julie Gordon on February 20th, 2014
Reuters: TransCanada Corp said on Thursday it is considering how to proceed with its Keystone XL pipeline, a day after a court overruled the Nebraska governor's decision to allow the controversial line to pass through the Midwestern state.
"We are disappointed and disagree with the decision of the Nebraska district court and will now analyze the judgment and decide what next steps may be taken," the company said in a statement. "Nebraska's attorney general has filed an appeal."
Canada's No. 2 pipeline...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on TransCanada weighs next steps after U.S. court’s Keystone rulingToxic Leak Taints North Carolina Coal Plants, And Regulators
Posted by National Public Radio: Ben Bradford on February 20th, 2014
National Public Radio: A broken pipe funneled 30,000 tons of toxic coal ash into the Dan River in North Carolina earlier this month, turning it gray. The pipe has been plugged, but the spill has reignited a fight over storage of coal ash, and scrutiny of the state regulators responsible for monitoring it.
The U.S. Justice Department began a criminal investigation into North Carolina's coal ash ponds and the state's environmental officials last week. The inquiry widened Wednesday, The Associated Press reports, as federal...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Toxic Leak Taints North Carolina Coal Plants, And Regulators