RSS Feed
Archive for January, 2015
2014 was California’s hottest year, and it wasn’t even close
Posted by Chronicle: Kurtis Alexander on January 9th, 2015
Chronicle: California not only sweated through its hottest year on record in 2014 but obliterated the previous mark by nearly 2 degrees, federal scientists said Thursday, while experiencing firsthand some of the worst fears of a warming planet — from intensified drought to melting snowpack. The state’s average temperature last year was 61.5 degrees, more than 4 degrees above the 20th century average, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported. The previous hottest year was 1934, at 59.7 degrees,...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on 2014 was California’s hottest year, and it wasn’t even closeA study urges leaving fossil fuels alone. How will it impact business?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 9th, 2015
Guardian: To prevent the Earth from overheating, countries must leave vast reserves of fossil fuels untouched underground. That’s the conclusion of a new report published this week in the journal Nature. Trillions of dollars of known and extractable coal, oil and gas – including deposits in Canada and the Arctic – cannot be burned if the global temperature rise is to be kept under the agreed-upon goal of 2C.
While much of the carbon math is known – about three to five times more carbon in reserve than can...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on A study urges leaving fossil fuels alone. How will it impact business?Keystone XL showdown to move Senate floor on Mon
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 9th, 2015
Guardian: The showdown over the Keystone XL will move to the Senate floor next Monday, with Republicans and Democrats girding up for a clash over the pipeline and climate change.
The Senate energy committee voted 13-9 on Thursday in favour of a bill that would force construction of the Keystone XL, moving the measure towards the Senate floor.
The committee vote all but ensures that the pipeline will be the first substantial order of business for the new Republican-controlled Congress.
It also sets...
Record rainfall results in flooded roads and farms
Posted by Western Front: None Given on January 9th, 2015
Western Front: Heavy rainfall on Jan. 4 and 5 triggered increases in local water levels leading to a flood in some areas around Bellingham, according to The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Weather Service.
A combined 2.44 inches of rainfall fell in a 24-hour period, causing a spike of nearly 9 feet of additional water in the Skagit Valley River near Mount Vernon, according to the Weather Service.
Water levels are considered a flood at 25 feet, and the Skagit Valley River...
Keystone clears hurdles, stage set for Washington showdown
Posted by Reuters: Patrick Rucker and Timothy Gardner on January 9th, 2015
Reuters: The Keystone XL oil pipeline cleared two hurdles on Friday, setting up a showdown between Congress and President Barack Obama who has raised new questions about the project after more than six years of review.
Following months of deliberation, the Nebraska Supreme Court allowed a route for the pipeline to cross the state, shifting the debate over TransCanada Corp's project fully to Washington, where Republicans now in control of Congress are seeking to force its final approval.
Hours later,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Keystone clears hurdles, stage set for Washington showdownU.S. House passes Keystone XL bill, Senate to debate next week
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 9th, 2015
Reuters: The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Friday to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline, despite a threat by the White House to veto legislation on the project. The bill passed, 266-153, with 28 of the House Democrats voting for the pipeline, down three from a similar vote in November. The Senate will debate a similar bill early next week. President Barack Obama has said the State Department should finish its assessment of the project before he decides whether to approve it. TransCanada...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on U.S. House passes Keystone XL bill, Senate to debate next weekEl Nino likely to head to an end over spring: Japan weather bureau
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 9th, 2015
Reuters: Japan's weather bureau said on Friday the El Nino weather pattern, often linked to both heavy rainfall and drought, is continuing but added that the phenomena could end over spring.
The Japan Meteorological Agency forecast said the El Nino, which emerged during last summer for the first time in five years, was already starting to ease.
The El Nino weather pattern - a warming of sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific - can trigger drought in Southeast Asia and Australia, and floods in South...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on El Nino likely to head to an end over spring: Japan weather bureauNebraska Keystone pipeline lawsuit thrown out
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 9th, 2015
Associated Press: Nebraska's highest court threw out a challenge Friday to a proposed route for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, even though a majority of judges agreed the landowners who sued should have won their case. The decision removes a major roadblock for the $7 billion cross-continental project Republicans have vowed to make a key part of their 2015 agenda in Congress.
Four judges on the seven-member Nebraska Supreme Court said the landowners should have won their challenge to the 2012 state law that allowed...
Executives plead not guilty over West Virginia chemical spill: media
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 9th, 2015
Reuters: Thursday to charges stemming from a chemical spill that fouled drinking water for about 300,000 West Virginians, media reported.
Prosecutors in December accused Freedom Industries Inc, its former president Gary Southern and other officers of negligence and fraud after the discharge of a chemical pollutant into the Elk River near Charleston a year ago.
The leak of a chemical foam used to wash coal breached a containment area one mile (1.6 km) upstream of a water treatment and distribution plant...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Executives plead not guilty over West Virginia chemical spill: mediaUp to 70,000 homes without power as storms hit Britain
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 9th, 2015
Reuters: Up to 70,000 homes have been left without power in Scotland and trains canceled after high winds battered the northern parts of Britain on Friday. Britain's Met Office issued severe weather warnings for the areas after two Atlantic storms hit the country resulting in gusts of around 100 miles per hour. Scotland's train operator ScotRail, run by FirstGroup, canceled all services until further notice citing safety concerns, while the Forth Road Bridge near Edinburgh was closed temporarily. The storms...