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Archive for May, 2014
Rules for hydraulic fracturing approved by House committee
Posted by WAND: None Given on May 26th, 2014
WAND: A plan sponsored by Representative John Bradley that would speed up hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas in Illinois has been approved by a House committee. Despite protests from environmentalists, the Executive Committee voted 7-4 Monday to advance the plan. Under Bradley's legislation, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources would lose the power to adopt rules for the extraction method known as "fracking." Bradley is frustrated because lawmakers approved fracking a year ago, but the department...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Rules for hydraulic fracturing approved by House committeeRecords melt across country as capitals experience weeks of unseasonably warm weather
Posted by News.com.au: None Given on May 26th, 2014
News.com.au: COSY blankets and jumpers have remained in the wardrobe for much of May - and southeast Australia should prepare for a warmer-than-average winter.
Records have melted across our capital cities as much of the nation enjoys an unseasonably warm month.
The sun continues to shine on New South Wales, where Sydneysiders have experienced a run of 16 days above 22C, which is unheard of for May.
The May mean maximum temperature is 23.3C - 3.9C above what Sydney usually experiences at this time of...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Records melt across country as capitals experience weeks of unseasonably warm weatherHomeowners consider moving if fracking begins in NC
Posted by WNCN: None Given on May 26th, 2014
WNCN: The push for fracking in North Carolina is moving forward. Last week the state Senate signed off on legislation that would officially end North Carolina's moratorium on fracking next summer. The Senate voted 35-12 Thursday for the measure that seeks to move the regulatory process for hydraulic fracturing toward its conclusion. The legislation says permits could be issued starting as early as July 1, 2015. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is used by the energy industry to extract oil and gas...
The Mother of All Anti-Fracking Tools
Posted by Outside: Jacob Baynham on May 26th, 2014
Outside: In Mora County, New Mexico, a patchwork of prairie, foothills, and high peaks on the east flank of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, unemployment stands at 16 percent, county workers operate out of leaky temporary buildings, and the population density is so low--just two people per square mile--that the tiny community and its largest town, 300-person Wagon Mound, are still classified as frontier by state health officials.
In short, Mora isn't the kind of place that comes to mind for a national showdown...
Numbers should ease fracking debate intensity
Posted by Appeal Democrat: Thomas Elias on May 26th, 2014
Appeal Democrat: There's a huge political implication in the big difference between 13.7 billion barrels of oil and 600 million. Similarly, there's meaning in the gigantic difference between 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 6.4 billion (the average California household uses about two to three cubic feet of natural gas per day). Taken together, it's the difference between fueling the entire United States for several years and fueling it for only about one month. Those are the differences between the amount...
Investing in climate change is a long-term sales project, says governor
Posted by Central Valley Business Times: Gene Beley on May 26th, 2014
Central Valley Business Times: Climate change requires different political values and hasn’t yet captured the public’s imagination, California Gov. Jerry Brown told the University of California Gianni Foundation of Agricultural Economics Climate Change conference in Sacramento last week. The next day the San Francisco Chronicle ran a page one article telling how fruit growing in the Central Valley is in jeopardy as the tule fog seems to be slowly disappearing over the past 30 years, according to a UC Berkeley study.
In 1980...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Investing in climate change is a long-term sales project, says governorRising seas threaten Delaware coastal areas
Posted by Delaware Online: Jeff Montgomery and Molly Murray on May 26th, 2014
Delaware Online: Along Prime Hook Beach, one of Delaware's most flood-threatened spots, longtime resident James A. Joyce Jr. said he pays attention to hurricane hazards, but worries more often about winter northeast storms. "I've been here 18 years now and we've been fortunate so far," Joyce said. "None of the hurricanes have really hit us hard. But hurricanes are always bad for somebody, and eventually our luck is going to run out." For Delaware's coastal residents, all storms – be it a fast moving but highly...
Athabasca glacier melting ‘astonishing’ rate more five metres a year
Posted by Guelph Mercury: None Given on May 26th, 2014
Guelph Mercury: What's believed to be the most-visited glacier in North America is losing more than five metres of ice every year and is in danger of completely disappearing within a generation, says a Parks Canada manager.
The Athabasca Glacier is the largest of six ice sheets that form part of the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park. It is a popular destination for tourists from around the world who climb aboard huge snow coaches to get an up-close look.
While it receives about seven metres of snowfall...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Athabasca glacier melting ‘astonishing’ rate more five metres a yearThreat to frogs may be sign of worse to come some Kansas scientists say
Posted by Wichita Eagle: Roy Wenzl on May 26th, 2014
Wichita Eagle: A bullfrog peers out from the shallows in a Kansas wetlands area.
Rafe Brown on Monday will head from Lawrence, where he teaches herpetology and other subjects at the University of Kansas. He'll go to islands in the Philippines, where, among other things, he'll catch frogs.
With other scientists, he'll tramp through jungles and climb volcanic island mountains looking for frogs, toads and other creatures of nature.
For scientists like him, studying frogs is not some sort of offbeat hobby....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Threat to frogs may be sign of worse to come some Kansas scientists sayClimate warming driving native trout to extinction, study says
Posted by NBC: None Given on May 26th, 2014
NBC: Montana fly fishing guide and shop owner Jason Lanier hooks a feisty rainbow trout almost every day he hits the waters in the lower valley of the Flathead River system. From an angler's perspective, the catch is a thrill. Rainbows put up a good fight, much better than the one offered by the state's native westslope cutthroat trout.
"And cutthroats that have some rainbow genetics in them typically fight harder for sure," the owner of the Bigfork Anglers Fly Shop told NBC News.
About 20 million...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate warming driving native trout to extinction, study says