RSS Feed
Archive for June, 2014
Proposed Fracking in California Condor Habitat Draws Protest
Posted by Indybay: Center For Biological Diversity on June 4th, 2014
Indybay: An oil industry proposal to drill and frack eight new wells and construct thousands of feet of new pipelines in the middle of Los Padres National Forest threatens the California condor and would generate fracking pollution dangerous to human health, two environmental groups said in a letter sent today to forest officials and the federal Bureau of Land Management (see PDF).
In the letter the Center for Biological Diversity and Los Padres ForestWatch point out that the Endangered Species Act and...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Proposed Fracking in California Condor Habitat Draws ProtestScientists warn against China’s plan to flatten over 700 mountains
Posted by Guardian: Stuart Clark on June 4th, 2014
Guardian: Scientists have criticised China's bulldozing of hundreds of mountains to provide more building land for cities.
In a paper published in journal Nature this week, three Chinese academics say plan to remove over 700 mountains and shovel debris into valleys to create 250 sq km of flat land has not been sufficiently considered “environmentally, technically or economically.”
Li Peiyue, Qian Hui and Wu Jianhua, all from the School of Environmental Science and Engineering at Chang’an University,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Scientists warn against China’s plan to flatten over 700 mountainsKeystone XL pipeline vulnerable to attacks, NextGen study says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 4th, 2014
Reuters: The Keystone XL oil pipeline would be vulnerable to attacks threatening water supplies for millions of homeowners and farmers, according to a report by NextGen Climate, a political group led by billionaire activist Tom Steyer. Attackers could wreck remote pump stations along the pipeline's route in the northern Great Plains with just 4 pounds (1.8 kg) of readily available explosives, Dave Cooper, a former Navy Seal and a senior operative on the mission that killed Osama bin Laden, said in the 14-page...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Keystone XL pipeline vulnerable to attacks, NextGen study saysFlying squirrel & eyeless spider discovered in Mekong
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 4th, 2014
Guardian: A series of high-flying creatures, including giant flying frogs and squirrels and a parachute gecko, are among the hundreds of exotic new species recently discovered in the greater Mekong region in southeast Asia.
A new eyeless spider and a fish that mates head-to-head are also highlighted in a report from WWF on the extraordinary biodiversity in the forests surrounding the Mekong river, which runs through Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China, and is also home to about 325 million...
Climate change ‘off G20 agenda’
Posted by Sydney Morning Herald: Lisa Cox and Adam Morton on June 4th, 2014
Sydney Morning Herald: Prime Minister Tony Abbott has downplayed the likelihood of climate change being discussed at a G20 leaders' summit hosted by Australia, suggesting it does not fit the meeting's economic focus.
Asked about pressure from the US and Europe for climate to be included on the agenda for the November meeting in Brisbane, Mr Abbott said there were other international meetings that were more appropriate for discussing the issue.
''It's also important to ensure that these international meetings don't...
U.S. carbon plan will not reach climate goals: study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 4th, 2014
Reuters: A U.S. plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants is not enough to achieve its goals for limiting climate change, and all nations will need to significantly step up actions to curb warming, a group of scientists said in a report on Wednesday. Washington announced plans on Monday to cut emissions from power plants by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, as the centerpiece of a U.S. policy to fight climate change. Niklas Hoehne, of Ecofys - joint compiler of the Climate Action Tracker...
Tepco begin work Fukushima ‘ice wall’ contain water leaks
Posted by Blue and Green: Richard Heasman on June 4th, 2014
Blue and Green: The operator of the troubled Fukushima nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), has begun construction of a 1.5km (0.9-mile) ice wall to contain leaked radioactive water. Some 1,550 coolant-circulating pipes will be inserted 25 metres into the ground in an attempt to freeze the soil surrounding the contaminated water. A Tepco official said, “We plan to end all the construction work in March 2015 before starting trial operations.” The state-funded ice wall could be in operation...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Tepco begin work Fukushima ‘ice wall’ contain water leaksPotential Downside of Natural Gas
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 3rd, 2014
New York Times: CONVENTIONAL wisdom, strongly promoted by the natural gas industry, is that natural gas drives down American emissions of carbon dioxide, by substituting for carbon-rich coal. The climate stabilization plan announced by the Obama administration on Monday relies on that. But in other ways, cheap natural gas drives emissions up. “It’s a seesaw,” said Michael W. Yackira, chairman of the Edison Electric Institute, the trade association of the investor-owned electric companies. Some of the factors are...
Proposed Denton fracking ban to be debated at public meeting
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 3rd, 2014
ABC: The Denton City Council officially accepted a petition ordinance on Tuesday night which calls for an outright ban on fracking within city limits. A public hearing will be held in mid-July. After that, the Council can vote for or against the ordinance. Voters will likely have the final say if the ordinance is rejected by the Council. "It's been a long hard climb for us to get here," said Sharon Wilson, one of the main petition organizers. Last month, organizers submitted a petition with nearly...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Proposed Denton fracking ban to be debated at public meetingIran Faces Dangerous Water Crisis as Temperatures Rise, Are the People to Blame?
Posted by Nature World: Brian Stallard on June 3rd, 2014
Nature World: As summer presses on and temperatures rise, water scarcity in Iran is becoming a national emergency. Iran is facing a critical shortage of water as arid temperatures rise with the encroaching summer season. According to Future Directions International (FDI), an independent strategic analysis group based in Australia, the country of Iran began to experience notable water supply drops in 2013, with lower-than-average precipitation levels leaving the great majority of the region's dams and waterways...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Iran Faces Dangerous Water Crisis as Temperatures Rise, Are the People to Blame?