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Archive for September 4th, 2014
BP could face $18bn in extra fines after US ruling Gulf Mexico spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 4th, 2014
Guardian: BP could face up to $18bn (£11bn) in further fines after being found guilty of gross negligence for the Deepwater Horizon blowout that killed 11 workers and led to millions of barrels of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico.
The oil firm had repeatedly expressed confidence it could avoid such a damning verdict over America's biggest offshore oil accident but a US district judge, Carl Barbier, ruled on Thursday that BP had been reckless as well as negligent.
The long-awaited decision from the...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on BP could face $18bn in extra fines after US ruling Gulf Mexico spillBP’s reckless conduct caused Deepwater Horizon oil spill, judge rules
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 4th, 2014
Associated Press: BP bears the majority of responsibility among the companies involved in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a federal judge ruled Thursday, citing the energy giant’s reckless conduct over the disaster in a ruling that exposes it to billions of dollars in penalties.
BP plc already has agreed to pay billions of dollars in criminal fines and compensation to people and businesses affected by the disaster, the worst-ever US oil spill. But US district Judge Carl Barbier’s ruling could nearly quadruple...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on BP’s reckless conduct caused Deepwater Horizon oil spill, judge rulesGreen party to position itself as the real left of UK politics
Posted by Guardian: Fiona Harvey, on September 4th, 2014
Guardian: The Green party is positioning itself as the “real opposition” to the coalition, opening up a bitter fight with Labour on the left wing of UK politics, as the party’s key figures prepare to contest general election seats in parliament.
Caroline Lucas, the party’s only MP, will tell the Green party conference in Birmingham on Saturday that Labour has failed to oppose the Tories and Liberal Democrats on a wide variety of issues, from the creeping privatisation of the National Health Service to free...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Green party to position itself as the real left of UK politicsStudy links humans to warming trend in Pacific Northwest
Posted by KATU: Chris Liedle on September 4th, 2014
KATU: Humans are the link to a warming world, according to researchers at Oregon State University and University of Idaho.
Philip Mote, director of OSU's Oregon Climate Services, worked with two other scientists to publish the study that links global warming directly to humans.
"We put stuff in the atmosphere, green house gasses and also pollutants that reflect sunlight and form clouds, and that increase in heat-trapping gasses, is the only thing that can explain the large warming trend since 1950,'...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Study links humans to warming trend in Pacific NorthwestResidents worry urban drilling will turn downtowns into oil towns
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 4th, 2014
National Public Radio: Dawn Gioia lives just two blocks away from City Hall in Brighton, Colo., just north of Denver. She never expected to receive a thick envelope from Mid-Con Energy in the mail, proposing she sell mineral rights for oil and gas drilling.
At first, she thought it was a scam.
"One of these forms asks you for all your tax information and Social Security numbers, so that was something that sort of caught me off guard," she says.
The packet also included a lease for her mineral rights. The terms...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Residents worry urban drilling will turn downtowns into oil townsFracking in China: Just add water
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Nick Cunningham, on September 4th, 2014
Christian Science Monitor: China holds the largest reserves of shale gas in the world, but much of it may never get developed because of one major obstacle: water scarcity.
A new report from the World Resources Institute (WRI) says China suffers from high water stress, which may prevent it from ever fully developing its vast shale gas resources. China is sitting on 1,115 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable shale gas resources, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, but much of it is located...
Ban fracking from national parks, say majority of UK public
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 4th, 2014
Guardian: Fracking should be completely banned from national parks, according to a strong majority of the UK public.
The controversial issue of shale gas exploration in some of the country’s most precious landscapes forced ministers in July to claim they were tightening planning guidance on drilling in national parks, but a new poll for the Guardian shows the public has been unmoved by the assurances.
The poll, conducted by Panelbase, shows 60% of people think fracking should not be allowed in national...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Ban fracking from national parks, say majority of UK publicUS mulls methane limits for fracking operations
Posted by BusinessGreen: None Given on September 4th, 2014
BusinessGreen: New rules forcing oil and gas producers to cut emissions of potent greenhouse gas methane could be introduced in the US, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief admitted yesterday.
Gina McCarthy told a New York Forum yesterday that officials will decide this year whether to bring in regulations to cut emissions or to rely on voluntary steps by the industry, according to news agency Bloomberg.
"We are looking at what are the most cost-effective regulatory and-or voluntary efforts that...
As Keystone awaits fate, other tar sands projects move forward
Posted by Al Jazeera: Peter Moskowitz on September 4th, 2014
Al Jazeera: The federal government has quietly approved major tar sands transportation projects with unstudied environmental effects -- managing to circumvent the executive branch’s impact analysis that paralyzed development of the Keystone XL pipeline and bolstered activists’ claims that the project is dangerous and damaging to the environment.
Over the past few years, the Keystone pipeline has become a household name. The controversy caused by Canadian pipeline company TransCanada’s project, which would...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on As Keystone awaits fate, other tar sands projects move forwardAustralia: Great Barrier Reef Avoids Muddy Disaster
Posted by Nature World: None Given on September 4th, 2014
Nature World: Conservationists have been slapping each other on the back this week after plans to dump 5 million metric tons of mud into the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park has been cancelled. However, people are now asking where the mud will go, and aren't getting much of an answer.
The mud is expected to be drudged up from the ocean floor as part of a port expansion in northeast Australia. Last month Environment Minister Andrew Powell found himself at odds with reef conservationalists and activists after minister...