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Archive for February, 2014
Nebraska judge’s decision another obstacle for Keystone XL
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 22nd, 2014
Associated Press: Just as pressure was building on President Obama to make a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline that would carry oil from Canada to refineries in Texas, the project ran into another obstacle - and it came again from Nebraska.
A judge's decision Wednesday to overturn a Nebraska law that allowed the pipeline guarantees the legal fight will continue for at least several more months. It also could leave Nebraska's decision in the hands of the state Public Service Commission, a little-known board that...
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Comments Off on Nebraska judge’s decision another obstacle for Keystone XLFund invests in Kenya forest project, boosts UN scheme
Posted by Reuters: Stian Reklev on February 22nd, 2014
Reuters: Luxembourg-based Althelia Climate Fund has invested $10 million in a Kenyan project that is part of a United Nations scheme to take a market-based approach to curbing destruction of forests in developing nations. The move is the latest sign of growing private sector investment into projects underlying the U.N.'s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) mechanism. The 30-year project will protect 200,000 hectares of forest in Kenya, generating 1 million carbon credits...
Amid California Drought, Migrating Birds Enjoy Pop-Up Cuisine
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 22nd, 2014
National Public Radio: Millions of birds migrate through California this time of year, but the waterways and wetlands they rely on for food and rest are largely dry due to the ongoing drought. So farmers are keeping their fields flooded to make temporary wetlands, providing a place for migrating birds to rest and eat.
Rice farmer Douglas Thomas is one of these farmers. On a recent morning some 3,000 snow geese float in his rice fields in California's Central Valley. He's watching a young bald eagle awkwardly dive at...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Amid California Drought, Migrating Birds Enjoy Pop-Up CuisineNebraska Judge Voids Governor’s Right to Set Keystone XL Route
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on February 21st, 2014
Environment News Service: A Nebraska judge on Wednesday declared unconstitutional a state law that had allowed Governor Dave Heineman to approve the route the Keystone XL pipeline would take through Nebraska.
Pipeline opponents and the three landowners who brought the case are declaring victory, but the state of Nebraska is appealing the decision.
"I'm pleased that Attorney General [Jon] Bruning is appealing this decision," Governor Heineman said in a statement. "This is an important issue for the state of Nebraska."...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Nebraska Judge Voids Governor’s Right to Set Keystone XL RouteFracking Moratorium Bill Introduced in California
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on February 21st, 2014
EcoWatch: Yesterday, Senators Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) and Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) introduced Senate Bill 1132 to the California Legislature, which calls for a moratorium on fracking and other types of unconventional well stimulation (like acidizing).
Current law (SB4) requires an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) but there are at least two problems with it:
Fracking and acidizing is allowed to continue while regulators conduct the EIR--essentially treating Californians’ water and health as...
MSNBC’s The Ed Show Visits Nebraska to Hear From Those in the Path of Keystone XL Pipeline
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on February 21st, 2014
EcoWatch: Today, MSNBC news host Ed Schultz traveled to Nebraska to meet with farmers and ranchers facing threats of eminent domain on their land from TransCanada for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Schultz came to Nebraska to hear firsthand and share with his audience the stories of people in the path of the pipeline. They met at the Build Our Energy Barn, the wind and solar-powered barn that was built with online donations and volunteers on land directly in the path of the proposed Keystone XL.
According...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on MSNBC’s The Ed Show Visits Nebraska to Hear From Those in the Path of Keystone XL PipelineFederal water allocation drought-stricken California farms cut to zero
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 21st, 2014
Reuters: The worsening drought in California will force a first-ever complete cutoff of federally supplied irrigation water to most farm districts throughout the state's Central Valley heartland this year, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said on Friday.
The projected 2014 zero allocation to all but a handful of agricultural districts supplied by the federally run Central Valley Project comes three weeks after forecasts of similarly drastic cuts were announced by managers of a separate water-delivery system...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Federal water allocation drought-stricken California farms cut to zeroMelting of Antarctica’s Pine Island glacier may continue for ‘centuries’
Posted by Blue and Green: Tom Revell on February 21st, 2014
Blue and Green: The rapidly melting Pine Island glacier in West Antarctica may be the biggest contributor to rising sea levels over the next few decades, a new study has suggested.
The research, published in the journal Science, found that the largest glacier in Antarctica may be recreating 8,000-year-old history. Scientists from the US, UK and Germany found that the glacier also thinned in the Early Holocene, in a melt that may have lasted for centuries.
The Pine Island glacier has currently been thinning...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Melting of Antarctica’s Pine Island glacier may continue for ‘centuries’800+ Rally Against Fracked Gas Export Terminal in Largest Environmental Protest in Baltimore History
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on February 21st, 2014
EcoWatch: Yesterday, as a key state permit hearing began in downtown Baltimore, MD, activists from every corner of the state and from across the Mid-Atlantic marched to the doorstep of the Public Service Commission to send one clear message to state leaders: “Stop Cove Point.”
The controversial $3.8 billion Cove Point project, proposed by Virginia-based Dominion Resources, would take gas from fracking wells across the Appalachian region, liquefy it along the Chesapeake Bay in southern Maryland, and export...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on 800+ Rally Against Fracked Gas Export Terminal in Largest Environmental Protest in Baltimore HistoryMet Office: UK has had its wettest winter on record
Posted by Blue and Green: Ilaria Bertini on February 21st, 2014
Blue and Green: Prolonged storms and heavy rainfall have led to the wettest winter in Britain since records began in 1910, the Met Office has said.
Provisional figures said that 486.8mm of rain fell between December 1 and February 19 – beating the previous record of 485.1mm of rain back in 1995. Wales, East Scotland and Southern England all have new regional records.
The milestone comes despite the winter not being over yet. The Met Office warned that more rain might still fall over the coming weeks, as 61...