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Archive for October, 2014
Enbridge oil pipeline project delayed by spill concerns
Posted by Waterdown Daily Times: Robert Langreth, Shannon Pettypiece and Caroline Chen on October 20th, 2014
Waterdown Daily Times: Citing water-safety concerns, the Canada National Energy Board denied the application for an oil pipeline project proposed by Enbridge Pipelines of Calgary that would carry crude oil across the watersheds of Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River — a move praised by Clayton environmental advocacy group Save the River, which opposed to the project. The denial of the application, made Oct. 6 by the energy board, will delay a project that would reverse the direction of oil shipped through a 639-kilometer...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Enbridge oil pipeline project delayed by spill concernsMountaintop Removal Linked to Cancer
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on October 20th, 2014
EcoWatch: We know what a mess mountaintop removal makes when the tops of mountains are literally blown off to access the coal inside them. Forests are stripped and debris is dumped into streams and valleys, leaving behind a ravaged landscape. It`s partly responsible for the loss of jobs in the coal industry since it requires only a handful of workers to operate the huge machines involved. Now we`re learning that the process, which has been touted by advocates as cleaner and safer than below-ground coal mining,...
Australia: Australia prepares for ‘dangerous’ bushfire season
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 20th, 2014
BBC: As Australia prepares for another horror bushfire season, experts are warning that some areas of the country are becoming uninhabitable because of the increased risk of fire and that worse-than-normal seasons are becoming the norm.
And one of the country's top firefighters has warned that the loss of homes was now inescapable as climate change drives more frequent and fiercer blazes.
Hot, dry conditions in the lead up to summer have increased the likelihood of "very high fire danger weather"...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australia: Australia prepares for ‘dangerous’ bushfire seasonPopulation growth outpaces food supply conflict-ravaged Sahel – study
Posted by Reuters: Chris Arsenault on October 20th, 2014
Reuters: The Sahel region's ability to produce food is not keeping pace with its growing population, and global warming will only exacerbate the imbalance, according to a new study.
Among the 22 countries making up the arid region in northern Africa, the population grew to 471 million in 2010 from 367 million in 2000, a jump of nearly 30 percent.
As the population grew rapidly, the production of crops remained essentially unchanged, said researchers from Lund University in Sweden.
Using satellite...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Population growth outpaces food supply conflict-ravaged Sahel – studySumitomo’s Loss Shows Shale Isn’t Booming for Everybody
Posted by Bloomberg: Asjylyn Loder on October 20th, 2014
Bloomberg: Land in the Permian Basin, the busiest shale patch in the U.S. oil boom, is worth either $1,000 an acre or 50 times more, depending.
On Sept. 29, Calgary-based driller Encana Corp. (ECA) announced plans to buy a company that owns a West Texas prospect for $7.1 billion, or about $50,000 an acre. One day later, Tokyo-based Sumitomo Corp. estimated its land in the same region was worth a fraction of that price when it took a $1.55 billion writedown on its investment.
The disparity shows how fickle...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Sumitomo’s Loss Shows Shale Isn’t Booming for EverybodyDivestment campaign urges customers to boycott banks which support fracking and fossil-fuel industry
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 19th, 2014
Independent: Customers of Britain’s biggest banks are threatening to close their accounts unless the institutions cut all ties with coal, tar sands, fracking and other fossil-fuel industries as part of a new campaign launched today.
The attempt to force Britain’s Big Five banks into ending their £66bn involvement with “dirty” energy marks a new direction for the growing divestment campaign, as part of which this month the University of Glasgow pledged to stop investing in fossil fuels.
The new campaign...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Divestment campaign urges customers to boycott banks which support fracking and fossil-fuel industry‘Water cops’ seek sprinkler scofflaws in drought-parched California
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on October 19th, 2014
Reuters: It was still dark on Kokomo Drive in Sacramento's Natomas district as Paul Brown edged his city-issued Honda Civic past a row of beige stucco houses with tiny front lawns, looking for water wasters.
He heard the scofflaws before he saw their lush green lawns amid the otherwise parched turf. The buzz of a sprinkler system gave them away on a day that the city, desperate to save water amid California's ongoing drought, had forbidden watering.
"If I can get a good picture - if there's a lot of...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on ‘Water cops’ seek sprinkler scofflaws in drought-parched CaliforniaChanging rainfall common problem for entire globe, says UN-sponsored book
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 19th, 2014
Canadian Press: Algae is killing Lake Winnipeg. Siberian wildfires are so intense they melted the permafrost beneath them. Flooding in Alberta paralyzed a major city. They're all linked, say the authors of a new United Nations-sponsored book titled Water, Energy and the Arab Awakening, being released Monday.
Siberian wildfires so intense they melted the permafrost beneath them. Flooding in Alberta that paralyzed a major city. Toxic algae blooms in Lake Winnipeg that have grown 1,000 per cent since 1990.
They're...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Changing rainfall common problem for entire globe, says UN-sponsored bookCincinnati joins worldwide day of action calling for ban on fracking
Posted by WCPO: Casey Weldon on October 19th, 2014
WCPO: A coalition of four organizations gathered at Fountain Square last weekend to call for a ban on fracking and to ask Ohio's governor to be a major part of making that happen.
The event in downtown Cincinnati was one of more than 200 that took place around the world Saturday, Oct. 11 as part of the third annual Global Frackdown , a worldwide day of action against fracking and related oil and gas infrastructure.
Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing or hydrofracturing, is a technique used in...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Cincinnati joins worldwide day of action calling for ban on frackingCompanies pulling out of Canadian tar sands oil
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 19th, 2014
Living on Earth: With crude prices sharply down and the future of the Keystone XL pipeline in doubt, energy companies are dubious about investing in oil from the Alberta Tar Sands. OnEarth writer Brian Palmer discusses the problems facing the industry with host Steve Curwood.
Transcript
CURWOOD: From the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios in Boston and PRI, this is Living on Earth. I'm Steve Curwood. The price of oil has been plummeting, down some 25 percent since June, and as we record this show, the price per...