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Archive for January, 2015
Stop the War Against the Colorado River
Posted by EcoWatch: Gary Wockner on January 14th, 2015
EcoWatch: “Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative.” —Dwight D. Eisenhower
As we head into 2015, the health of Colorado River is at extreme risk as is the economies of states in the lower part of the river in Arizona, Nevada and California that depend on flows in the river. Drought continues in the Southwest U.S., climate change is predicted to decrease river flows an additional 10 to 30 percent, and the level of Lake Mead—the reservoir that holds water for much of Nevada,...
Gold rush threat tropical forests
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2015
BBC: Global demand for gold is putting some of the most remote and pristine tropical forests at risk, scientists warn.
Some 1,680 sq km of rainforest in South America was lost to gold mining from 2001 to 2013, a study shows.
University of Puerto Rico researchers say gold mining has become a major threat to ancient rainforests in countries such as Peru and Suriname.
Consumers can help by buying only fair-trade gold, say environmentalists.
The research, published in Environmental Research Letters,...
Obama Administration Unveils New Methane Regulations
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 14th, 2015
EcoWatch: Carbon emissions and their role in driving climate change have been in the headlines for years. But recently another greenhouse gas has made headlines: methane. As research has shown, when it comes to fueling climate change, methane is up to 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Today, the Obama Administration announced new regulations to curb methane emissions, a byproduct of oil and gas extraction operations. This follows up on the president’s announcement last June of a plan to cut carbon...
White House Takes Aim at Methane Emissions: 3 Key Takeaways
Posted by National Geographic: Christina Nunez on January 14th, 2015
National Geographic: Tackling a huge climate issue, the Obama administration Wednesday announced long-awaited measures to slash U.S. emissions of methane-a potent greenhouse gas-from the oil and gas industry. Setting an "ambitious" goal, the White House is aiming for a 40 to 45 percent cut from 2012 levels in the next ten years.
Releases of heat-trapping methane, the main component of natural gas, are rife in the booming oil and gas industry. Leaky equipment and the intentional flaring of "waste" gas at oil sites...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on White House Takes Aim at Methane Emissions: 3 Key TakeawaysObama Orders Oil and Gas Industry to Slash Methane Emissions, but There’s a Catch
Posted by Takepart: Taylor Hill on January 14th, 2015
Takepart: President Obama is tackling climate change again. The White House announced its latest move on Wednesday, directing the nation’s oil and gas industry to cut methane emissions as much as 45 percent by 2025.
The executive action is an important step in the fight to suppress global warming becausemethane emissions, while lower than carbon dioxide emissions, are over 25 times more powerful at trapping heat in the atmosphere.
Environmentalists welcomed the announcement, but some suggested that the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Obama Orders Oil and Gas Industry to Slash Methane Emissions, but There’s a CatchWhite House Targets Methane to Slow Climate Change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2015
Time: The White House announced Wednesday morning a new plan to cut methane emissions in the oil and gas sector by 40 to 45% in the next ten years.
The reductions will come in part from fixing leaky equipment and the intentional "flaring" of gas at oil and gas production sites, said Dan Utech, the president's special assistant for energy and climate change, in a conference call with reporters.
By stopping such waste, the White House said it will save enough natural gas in 2025 to heat more than 2...
Grueling fight on Keystone pipeline to hit new Senate
Posted by Hill: Laura Barron-Lopez on January 14th, 2015
Hill: Senators are bracing for a debate over legislation on the Keystone XL pipeline that could take weeks to conclude, setting up an early test of GOP leader Mitch McConnell’s pledge to allow “regular order” in the upper chamber.
McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday threatened a midnight vote before senators agreed to move forward on the pipeline bill, and could soon turn to late nights and weekend work to muscle through a stack of amendments.
With Republicans eager to pass the Keystone bill and move on...
White House to curb methane emissions from oil, gas production
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 14th, 2015
Reuters: President Barack Obama's administration will unveil new rules Wednesday that aim to slash methane emissions from oil and gas production by up to 45 percent by 2025 in its latest move to solidify the Democratic president's credentials on climate change. Under the proposal, the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Interior will issue measures to contain leaking methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from new drilling equipment and from old and new production facilities located on public lands,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on White House to curb methane emissions from oil, gas productionObama administration to unveil plans to cut methane emissions
Posted by Dispatch: Coral Davenport on January 14th, 2015
Dispatch: In President Barack Obama’s latest move using executive authority to tackle climate change, administration officials are announcing plans this week to impose new regulations on the oil and gas industry’s emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. The administration’s goal is to cut methane emissions from oil and gas production by up to 45 percent by 2025 from the levels recorded in 2012, according to an official familiar with Obama’s plans. The Environmental Protection Agency will issue the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Obama administration to unveil plans to cut methane emissionsMoisture shortfall, heat threaten southwestern forests
Posted by Climate Central: John Upton on January 14th, 2015
Climate Central: Pinecone-littered forests draped over tens of millions of acres of mountaintops through the American Southwest are in danger of being scorched out of existence by global warming.
It's not just rising heat that threatens to put a meteorological flamethrower to lush montane swaths of Arizona and New Mexico better known for low-altitude cacti and desert plains. A fire-wielding threat also comes from a rise in vapor pressure deficit, or VPD -- a parching force linked to climate change that rises as...