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Archive for June, 2014
Groups Appeal to UN to Stop Water Cut Offs in Detroit and Restore Basic Human Rights
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on June 19th, 2014
EcoWatch: In March 2014, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) announced it would begin shutting off water service for 1,500 to 3,000 customers every week if their water bills were not paid, and yesterday, the city council approved an 8.7 percent water rate increase. According to a recent DWSD document, more than 80,000 residential households are in arrears. With thousands of families now without water, and thousands more expected to lose access at any moment, a group of concerned organizations...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Groups Appeal to UN to Stop Water Cut Offs in Detroit and Restore Basic Human RightsNew Jersey Congressman Proposes Federal Microbead Ban
Posted by EcoWatch: Brandon Baker on June 19th, 2014
EcoWatch: Illinois became the first state to ban microbeads less than two weeks ago, but one Congress member figures it’s never too early to spur change on a larger scale. U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) on Wednesday introduced legislation that would place a federal ban on microbeads, the small plastic particles found in many beauty and cosmetic products. The exfoliants are tiny enough to slip through water treatment systems after consumers wash them down the drain, pushing them to local streams, rivers...
The brilliance of Elon Musk giving away Tesla trade secrets
Posted by Dallas Morning news: None Given on June 19th, 2014
Dallas Morning News: Elon Musk is the kind of guy who probably spent his high school years asking, “Why?” or “Why not?” each time he ran up against conventional wisdom. He took that mind-set into the business world and became an acclaimed “disruptor,” most recently shaking up the auto world. On his blog last week, the chief executive officer of electric car maker Tesla Motors announced that he is opening up its electric car technology patents to competitors. This move may actually be more brilliant than bizarre. Conventional...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on The brilliance of Elon Musk giving away Tesla trade secretsGore predicts Obama will reject TransCanada’s Keystone XL
Posted by Bloomberg: Jim Snyder on June 18th, 2014
Bloomberg: Al Gore, who has called the Keystone XL project “ridiculous” and an “atrocity,” said he thinks President Barack Obama will reject the controversial pipeline between Alberta’s oil sands and U.S. Gulf Coast refineries. Former Vice President Gore, who shared a Nobel Peace Prize for advocating action on climate change, wrote in Rolling Stone magazine issue dated June 18 that Obama “has signaled that he is likely to reject the absurdly reckless Keystone-XL pipeline.” In the article, Gore expresses optimism...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Gore predicts Obama will reject TransCanada’s Keystone XLWorld’s energy systems vulnerable to climate impacts, report warns
Posted by Guardian: Fiona Harvey, on June 17th, 2014
Guardian: Rising sea levels, extremes of weather and an increase in the frequency of droughts and floods will all play havoc with the world's energy systems as climate change takes hold, a new report has found.
Energy companies are more often cited as part of the problem of climate change, generating the lion's share of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, amounting to around 40% of the total. But they will also suffer as global warming picks up pace, as generators – from nuclear reactors to coal-fired...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on World’s energy systems vulnerable to climate impacts, report warnsNorthern Gateway Pipeline Approved Ignoring Democracy & Global Warming
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on June 17th, 2014
EcoWatch: There was little doubt the federal government would approve the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project, regardless of public opposition or evidence presented against it. The prime minister indicated he wanted the pipeline built before the Joint Review Panel hearings even began. Ad campaigns, opponents demonized as foreign-funded radicals, gutted environmental laws and new pipeline and tanker regulations designed in part to mollify the B.C. government made the federal position even more clear....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Northern Gateway Pipeline Approved Ignoring Democracy & Global WarmingDeforestation reduces the size of fish
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 17th, 2014
Mongabay: Loss of forest cover can dramatically affect local fish populations, finds a study published in the journal Nature Communications. The research looked at fish biomass in a Canadian lake where sections of forest had been lost due to acid rain. It found that fish in areas near forest were "fatter" than fish in denuded zones. "We found fish that had almost 70% of their biomass made from carbon that came from trees and leaves instead of aquatic food chain sources," said Andrew Tanentzap from the University...
Not preparing for climate change will be costly, expert warns
Posted by Toronto Star: Raveena Aulakh on June 17th, 2014
Toronto Star: There is much to do, little time.
“The more we wait, the more it is going to cost us,” Mark Egener, a disaster management consultant, said in an interview. “Climate change isn’t waiting for anyone, so why we are not preparing for it the way we should? I don’t have an answer.”
That was one message that came out of the annual World Conference on Disaster Management held in Toronto this week.
Egener, who specializes in climate change and spoke at the conference, said the reality of not planning...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Not preparing for climate change will be costly, expert warnsBreeding Trees Better Adapted Warmer Climates
Posted by Nature World: None Given on June 17th, 2014
Nature World: Scientists have confirmed the function of a gene that controls the awakening of trees from winter dormancy, a discovery that may be the key to a world in which trees don't have to worry about adapting to warmer climates.
The decade-long study, carried out by the University of Oregon, identified the EBB1 gene - or what they are calling the bud-break gene - involved in producing the first green leaves of spring. This gene is a master regulator in poplar trees (Populus species), and could pave the...
The Canadian pipeline (almost) everyone hates gets a go-ahead
Posted by Grist: None Given on June 17th, 2014
Grist: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has approved the Northern Gateway pipeline. This is not a huge shock. This is the man, after all, who called Barack Obama to personally register his displeasure over the president`s failure to approve Keystone XL. In the years before he was prime minister, Harper was a second-generation employee of the Imperial Oil Company. The man has governed in a way that is not only anti-environment but anti-environmental science. What else was he going to say to a pipeline...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on The Canadian pipeline (almost) everyone hates gets a go-ahead