RSS Feed
Archive for July, 2014
Australia: Australia repeals maligned 2-year-old carbon tax
Posted by Associated Press: Kristen Gelineau on July 17th, 2014
Associated Press: Australia's government repealed a much-maligned carbon tax on the nation's worst greenhouse gas polluters on Thursday, ending years of contention over a measure that became political poison for the lawmakers who imposed it.
The Senate voted 39 to 32 to axe the 24.15 Australian dollar ($22.60) tax per metric ton of carbon dioxide that was introduced by the center-left Labor government in July 2012. Conservative lawmakers burst into applause as the final tally was announced.
Prime Minister Tony...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Australia: Australia repeals maligned 2-year-old carbon taxMonths After Washington Landslide, Hopeful Steps Forward
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 17th, 2014
New York Times: The Miller family’s bluegrass band, Blueberry Hill, has deep roots in this little mountain town on the edge of the Oso landslide, which killed more than 40 people in late March in a few shattering seconds of geological upheaval. Aida Miller, 19, who sings and plays the mandolin, and her brother, Forrest, 17, a banjo player, were both born here.
So the Millers came back after the disaster, and they were playing a free concert for exhausted emergency responders at the downtown command center a few...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Months After Washington Landslide, Hopeful Steps ForwardEffort Avoid Vote on Fracking Falters in Colorado
Posted by New York Times: Jack Healy on July 16th, 2014
New York Times: Efforts by leading Colorado Democrats to head off a costly and divisive election-year fight over oil and gas drilling appeared to crumble on Wednesday as Gov. John W. Hickenlooper announced that he did not have enough support to pass a compromise law giving local towns more control over fracking in their backyards.
“Despite our best efforts and those of other willing partners, we have not been able to secure the broader stakeholder support necessary to pass bipartisan legislation in a special...
Donors pledge 1.8 billion euros for flood-stricken Balkan states
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 16th, 2014
Reuters: A conference of international donors pledged more than 1.8 billion euros ($2.43 billion) on Wednesday to help Bosnia and Serbia recover from devastating floods in May. The European Commission, the EU executive, said the conference had mobilized pledges of 809 million euros for Bosnia and 995 million euros for Serbia, plus 41 million euros for cross-border activities. The financial aid would be used for rebuilding houses and public buildings, the rapid restoration of water and energy supplies and...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Donors pledge 1.8 billion euros for flood-stricken Balkan statesAustralia: We’ll sell next ETS better, says Shorten
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 16th, 2014
AAP: With the carbon tax gone, Labor will continue to pursue emissions trading scheme, Bill Shorten says.
Bill Shorten has vowed Labor will take an emissions trading scheme (ETS) to the next federal election, despite the carnage climate policy has inflicted on past Labor leaders.
Carbon pricing became political poison for the former Labor government, contributing to the downfalls of both Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.
But Mr Shorten has re-committed his party to pursuing an ETS in the wake of...
California Sets Sizzling Record for 2014 So Far
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on July 16th, 2014
Climate Central: California just finished the hottest first half year on record, a period going back 120 years, according to the national climate overview for June released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The statewide average temperature for the period was 58°F, or 4.8°F above the 20th century average. That bests the previous warmest January-June in 1934 by 1.1°F -- a substantial difference, said Jake Crouch, a climate scientist with NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.
The...
Could Giant Viruses Be the Origin of Life on Earth?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 16th, 2014
National Geographic: Chantal Abergel and Jean-Michel Claverie were used to finding strange viruses.
The married virologists at Aix-Marseille University had made a career of it. But pithovirus, which they discovered in 2013 in a sample of Siberian dirt that had been frozen for more than 30,000 years, was more bizarre than the pair had ever imagined a virus could be.
In the world of microbes, viruses are small-notoriously small. Pithovirus is not. The largest virus ever discovered, pithovirus is more massive than...
Obama to help communities adapt to climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 16th, 2014
Reuters: U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced new measures to make the country's infrastructure stronger and more resilient, to help states and communities adapt to climate change.
"Climate change poses a direct threat to the infrastructure of America that we need to stay competitive in this 21st-century economy," Obama said during a meeting with state, local and tribal officials to discuss global warming.
"That means that we should see this as an opportunity to do what we should be doing...
Obama: Climate change a direct threat to US cities
Posted by Associated Press: Josh Lederman on July 16th, 2014
Associated Press: Harsher storms, worsening flooding and rising seas threaten the public's safety and health across the country, President Barack Obama warned Wednesday as he urged local communities to prepare for the effects of climate change.
Joined by top federal officials and local, state and tribal leaders at the White House, Obama said communities experiencing negative effects firsthand know that climate change is already upon us. He said boosting the nation's resilience and fighting climate change shouldn't...
United Kingdom: Battle to stop capture England’s first wild beavers in 500 years
Posted by Guardian: Steven Morris on July 16th, 2014
Guardian: Mike Flynn was fly-fishing for brown trout when an unexpected creature hove into view. "We often see otters here – they are lithe, playful things – but this was quite different," said Flynn. "It chugged down the middle of the river a couple of rod-lengths away from me like a tug boat. There was no doubt it was one of the beavers. It took no notice of me; it was an amazing sight."
If the government gets its way, the presence of these beavers in a corner of Devon – the first to be sighted in England...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Battle to stop capture England’s first wild beavers in 500 years