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Archive for July, 2014
Japan Plan Restart Nuke Plants Ignores Lessons Learned From Fukushima
Posted by EcoWatch: Kazue Suzuki, Greenpeace Japan on July 16th, 2014
EcoWatch: The decision of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) to approve the draft assessment for the two Sendai nuclear reactors in Kyushu is a clear and dangerous signal that Japan`s nuclear village--industry, regulators and government--is deliberately and cynically ignoring the lessons of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The approval of the assessment is the first step in restarting the Sendai reactors.
The two Sendai reactors have been shutdown since 2011. These are old reactors--29 and 30 years respectively....
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Japan Plan Restart Nuke Plants Ignores Lessons Learned From FukushimaMassive Natural Gas Protest in D.C. Highlights How Fracking Is Invading Our Coastlines
Posted by Alternet: Dylan Tokar on July 16th, 2014
Alternet: Two dozen protestors were arrested Monday morning in Washington D.C. in a demonstration against proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals in the U.S., according to environmental groups reporting from the scene. Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay is the latest battleground in a campaign to halt the export of fracked gas and slow the damage done by increased drilling. The protesters were arrested at a sit-in in front of the headquarters of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, after demanding...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Massive Natural Gas Protest in D.C. Highlights How Fracking Is Invading Our CoastlinesCalifornia Approves Big Fines for Wasting Water During Drought
Posted by LA Times: Bettina Boxall on July 16th, 2014
LA Times: Cities throughout California will have to impose mandatory restrictions on outdoor watering under an emergency state rule approved Tuesday.
Saying that it was time to increase conservation in the midst of one of the worst droughts in decades, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted drought regulations that give local agencies the authority to fine those who waste water up to $500 a day.
Many Southern California cities, including Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Long Beach, already have...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California Approves Big Fines for Wasting Water During DroughtCanada National Energy Board Delays Trans Mountain Pipeline Review Deadline
Posted by CTV: None Given on July 16th, 2014
CTV: The City of Burnaby's refusal to co-operate with Kinder Morgan has forced a seven-month delay in a National Energy Board review of the company's proposed expansion of its Trans Mountain pipeline through British Columbia.
The NEB announced Tuesday it has deferred the deadline for the final report to cabinet until Jan. 25, 2016, while Kinder Morgan completes necessary studies.
The agency wants more information about a preferred new route through Burnaby Mountain but, so far, the Metro Vancouver...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada National Energy Board Delays Trans Mountain Pipeline Review DeadlineTexan Tragedy Ample Oil, No Water
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 16th, 2014
Guardian: Beverly McGuire saw the warning signs before the town well went dry: sand in the toilet bowl, the sputter of air in the tap, a pump working overtime to no effect. But it still did not prepare her for the night last month when she turned on the tap and discovered the tiny town where she had made her home for 35 years was out of water.
"The day that we ran out of water I turned on my faucet and nothing was there and at that moment I knew the whole of Barnhart was down the tubes," she said, blinking...
California Report Warns Worsening Economic Impacts Drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2014
National Geographic: A new scientific and economic report commissioned by California's state government warns that the ongoing drought crisis will cost billions in lost farm revenue and thousands of jobs, although wider impacts on the national food system are unlikely. The report also outlines ways officials could act now to avoid the worst effects of the drought.
California's drought is now in its third year and is expected to worsen, thanks to record high temperatures and a low snowpack in the state's mountains....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California Report Warns Worsening Economic Impacts DroughtStorms Get Headlines, but Drought Is a Sneaky, Devastating Game-Changer
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2014
National Geographic: If droughts were hurricanes, people might pay more attention to them. Droughts can creep up on us with their prolonged absence of rain, and their effects often are seen as not much more than cracked ground in dry lake bottoms. Devastating storms can be sudden and meteorologically exciting, and they make great television. Droughts are deliberate-a relatively slow evolution in which it can be difficult to capture the devastation in any one moment.
Yet droughts affecting several Western states and...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Storms Get Headlines, but Drought Is a Sneaky, Devastating Game-ChangerArizona Enlists Beetle in Campaign for Water
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 14th, 2014
New York Times: In this corner of America known for its vast landscapes, rugged mountains and deep river canyons, signs of the havoc created by the minuscule tamarisk beetle are everywhere.
For miles along the banks of the Colorado River, hundreds of once hardy tamarisk trees — also known as salt cedars — are gray and withered. Their parched branches look like victims of fire or drought.
But this is not the story of beloved trees being ravaged by an invasive pest — quite the opposite. Farmers, ranchers and...
Attack of the parasite plants: vines taking over forests in Panama
Posted by Mongabay: Morgan Erickson-Davis on July 14th, 2014
Mongabay: A worrying trend has emerged in tropical forests: lianas, woody long-stemmed vines, are increasingly displacing trees, thereby reducing forests’ overall ability to store carbon.
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Stanford University and the University of Pittsburgh, and led by Dr. Stefan A. Schnitzer, studied the impacts of liana-tree competition in central Panamanian treefall gaps. Treefall gaps, known as the “engines of regeneration” in tropical forests, are sites of high...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Attack of the parasite plants: vines taking over forests in PanamaMilitary Bases Face Hurdle Climate Change Adaptation
Posted by Climate Central: Brian Kahn on July 14th, 2014
Climate Central: The Department of Defense has 7,600 military installations across all 50 states and 40 foreign countries. They perform diverse functions, but they have one thing in common: climate change could cost them big in the coming decades unless adaptation measures are taken soon.
The military has already taken some action. Planning for climate change impacts is being folded into base Master Plans around the world. And renewable energy projects have popped up on a few installations, reducing greenhouse...