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Archive for January, 2015
Climate change may halve giant panda’s habitat by 2070
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 9th, 2015
New Scientist: GIANT pandas, prepare to move out. Shifting these creatures to distant reserves may be essential if they are to survive the likely impacts of climate change.
Pandas are well known for their pernickety bamboo diet and lacklustre sex lives. Wild populations have been reduced to a tiny gene pool and are under new pressure from the explosive growth in road-building in China. Taking these factors into account, Ming Xu of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and colleagues have modelled...
Seismic series prompts Dallas suburb to examine emergency plans
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 9th, 2015
Reuters: Seismologists installed more earthquake-monitoring devices in the Dallas suburb of Irving on Thursday as officials examined contingency plans after a series of temblors raised concerns for the area near the former Dallas Cowboys football stadium.
The quakes this week did not cause any major damage or injuries, but were unusual in the area that is relatively free from significant seismic events.
Clay Jenkins, the top political official in Dallas County who is also responsible for emergency management,...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Seismic series prompts Dallas suburb to examine emergency plansThe point of the Keystone fight
Posted by Grist: None Given on January 8th, 2015
Grist: Josh Green is a smart guy and a great writer, but I think he`s being uncharacteristically dense in his latest column - he`s got the same blind spot on this issue that his friend Jonathan Chait has.
The column argues that, whichever side wins or loses, the fight over the Keystone XL pipeline has become almost entirely pointless. It`s pointless for the right because, contrary to their rhetoric, it won`t create all that many jobs, reduce the price of gasoline, or boost the economy in any measurable...
Tar sands supporters suffer setback British Columbia rejects pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 8th, 2015
Guardian: Efforts to expand production from the Alberta tar sands suffered a significant setback on Friday when the provincial government of British Columbia rejected a pipeline project because of environmental shortcomings.
In a strongly worded statement, the government of the province said it was not satisfied with the pipeline company's oil spill response plans.
The rejection of the pipeline – which was to have given Alberta an outlet to Pacific coast ports and markets in China – further raises the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Tar sands supporters suffer setback British Columbia rejects pipelineDo Plummeting Oil Prices Weaken Case for Keystone Pipeline?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 8th, 2015
National Geographic: Back in September 2008, when a Canadian company first sought U.S. approval to build the Keystone XL pipeline, the United States was the world's third largest oil producer and crude oil prices hovered around $105 per barrel.
At that time, Apple was selling the iPhone3, Britney Spears won an MTV award, and George W. Bush was president.
Today, in Barack Obama's second term in the White House, Calgary-based TransCanada is still seeking the go-ahead for the northern leg of its controversial Canada-to-U.S....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Do Plummeting Oil Prices Weaken Case for Keystone Pipeline?Stop what you’re doing & watch Elizabeth Warren rip apart Keystone
Posted by Grist: None Given on January 8th, 2015
Grist: Every time Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) opens her mouth, I want to stand up and slow clap. She didn`t let me down at the first Energy Committee hearing of the year, at which Warren cranked open a can of her secret-recipe whoop-ass on the new Republican Congress. This time, it was to announce a snarky yet eloquent "HELL NO" on the subject of the Keystone XL pipeline. Here are a few highlights from her spiel.
Warren starts with some real talk on why Republicans want to pass the bill:
It`s...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Stop what you’re doing & watch Elizabeth Warren rip apart KeystoneGroups Demand EPA Regulate Toxic Water Pollution from Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining
Posted by EcoWatch: Bill Price on January 8th, 2015
EcoWatch: As my colleague Mary Anne Hitt noted in her “highlights of 2014” column we’ve had some significant victories in the fight against the destruction of mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia over the past year. But there is still so much to be done to stop this horrible practice from devastating our communities, our health and our wild Appalachian places. That’s why the Sierra Club joined a coalition of groups taking legal action this week to compel the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Groups Demand EPA Regulate Toxic Water Pollution from Mountaintop Removal Coal MiningLand Disturbances Darken Snow and Increase Melt Rate, Researchers Say
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 8th, 2015
Yale Environment 360: Land disturbances, such as agricultural practices and development, may have a big impact on snow purity and melt rates, according to a large-scale survey of impurities in North American snow by researchers at the University of Washington. During a nearly 10,000-mile trek across North American snowfields, the researchers were particularly interested in the Bakken oil fields of northwest North Dakota. Before undertaking the study, they predicted that diesel emissions and air pollution associated with...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Land Disturbances Darken Snow and Increase Melt Rate, Researchers SayTexas city in fracking area rocked by 11 earthquakes in 24 hours
Posted by Grist: None Given on January 8th, 2015
Grist: On the heels of a report linking 77 earthquakes in Ohio to fracking, a Texas city in an area rife with drilling operations was hit with a wave of 11 earthquakes in 24 hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. The most intense registered 3.6 on the Richter scale, well over the level at which people would feel it -- the local 911 service received more than 300 calls from residents trying to figure out what was going on.
These recent quakes bring the total number to 26 since October in Irving, Texas, a suburb...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Texas city in fracking area rocked by 11 earthquakes in 24 hoursCantwell to Canadian pipeline builder: Play by America’s rules
Posted by Post-Intelligencer: Joel Connelly on January 8th, 2015
Post-Intelligencer: The Keystone XL pipeline won its first round in the new Republican-run Senate on Thursday, but its Canadian builder received a sharp rebuke from Washington’s Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell.
“My message to Trans-Canada Corporation is: Play by the rules,” said Cantwell, who is now the ranking member in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The committee voted 13-9 is favor of legislation that would bypass the U.S. State Department review, take approval authority away from President...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Cantwell to Canadian pipeline builder: Play by America’s rules