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Archive for January, 2015
United Kingdom: 10 things need to know about fracking
Posted by Independent: Donna Hume on January 28th, 2015
Independent: Fracking has barely been out of the news this week and every day brings further dissent to the controversial technique of breaking up shale rock from under our feet to release gas at high pressure with a cocktail of chemicals.
Public opposition and concerns about local impacts have meant there has been no fracking in Britain since a temporary ban was lifted in 2012. Today Scotland has announced a moratorium on fracking, while Lancashire Council - where proposals for fracking are at their most...
Satellite study identifies water bodies important for biodiversity conservation
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 28th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Using satellite images to study changing patterns of surface water is a powerful tool for identifying conservationally important "stepping stone" water bodies that could help aquatic species survive in a drying climate, a UNSW Australia-led study shows.
The approach has been applied to the Swan Coastal Plain near Perth in Western Australia, which has more than 1500 water bodies and is one of 25 designated biodiversity hotspots on the globe.
The study is published in the journal Environmental...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Satellite study identifies water bodies important for biodiversity conservationNorth Dakota: oil producers aim to cut radioactive waste bills
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 28th, 2015
Reuters: North Dakota's oil industry is pushing to change the state's radioactive waste disposal laws as part of a broad effort to conserve cash as oil prices tumble.
The waste, which becomes slightly radioactive as part of the hydraulic fracturing process that churns up isotopes locked underground, must be trucked out of state. That's because rules prohibit North Dakota landfills from accepting anything but miniscule amounts of radiation.
The most common form of radioactive waste is a filter sock,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on North Dakota: oil producers aim to cut radioactive waste billsScottish fracking block announced
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 28th, 2015
BBC: The Scottish government has announced a block on planned fracking operations, pending further inquiries.
Ministers will carry out new work on the environmental and health implications of the controversial gas drilling technique.
Full control over fracking is due to be devolved to Scotland after May's general election.
In the meantime, consent for unconventional oil and gas developments will be refused on planning grounds.
The announcement by Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing came...
England’s beavers allowed to stay in the wild
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 28th, 2015
Guardian: The first beavers to live in the wild in England for 300 years are to be allowed to continue to swim free in a Devon river as long as it can be proven they are free of disease and of Eurasian origin.
Initially the government announced plans to trap the beavers, which are roaming wild in the River Otter, and confine them to a zoo or wildlife park, arguing they were an invasive species and could be carrying a disease.
But environmental campaigners – and many people who live and work along the...
The Obama oil boom
Posted by CNN: Chris Isidore on January 28th, 2015
CNN: The greatest oil boom in this nation's history has occurred during the tenure of self-proclaimed environmentalist Barack Obama. Under Obama, the steady drop in U.S. oil production which had occurred virtually unchecked since 1971 has been reversed. Crude oil production has risen every year of his administration. It has jumped 72% since he took office, producing about 3.6 million additional barrels a day during that time. Oil production has grown so much that last summer the nation caught and...
Climate-linked insurance help poor farmers offset crop failure risk
Posted by Al Jazeera: None Given on January 28th, 2015
Al Jazeera: Small-plot farming can be a risky business with livelihoods dependent on increasingly unpredictable weather, but new research suggests that the growth of climate-linked insurance schemes could help protect poor farmers against bad harvests.
A report released Monday by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) at Columbia University and the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR), charts the impact that index insurance -- which differs from traditional...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate-linked insurance help poor farmers offset crop failure riskEarthquakes Rattle Texas Town: Is Fracking to Blame?
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 28th, 2015
EcoWatch: January has been a shaky month for Irving, Texas. Twelve earthquakes rattled the city during a 48-hour period at the end of the first week of the new year. “It was very scary. I was at my job on the 4th floor in a cubicle surrounded by glass,” Tonya Rochelle Tatum, a loan specialist who works in Irving, told DeSmogBlog. “One quake seemed like it lasted five minutes. No one knew what to do.” The earthquake swarm shows no sign of stopping. On Jan. 21, five more quakes struck. The quakes are relatively...
United Kingdom: Lancashire council defers Cuadrilla fracking decision
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 28th, 2015
Guardian: Planning decisions on the UK’s full scale fracking have been deferred for eight weeks by Lancashire county council (LCC), which was due to decide this week on two proposals from shale gas explorer Cuadrilla.
But after council planning officers recommended last week that permission should be refused on the grounds of “unnacceptable” noise and heavy truck traffic, Cuadrilla submitted revised proposals.
LCC’s chief legal adviser said on Wednesday that these proposals were “substantive” and therefore...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Lancashire council defers Cuadrilla fracking decisionFlooding leaves mess in oceanfront Massachusetts after storm
Posted by Reuters: Scott Malone on January 28th, 2015
Reuters: Ocean Street in the waterfront Massachusetts town of Marshfield was littered with lobster traps, downed wires and chunks of houses on Wednesday, after a massive blizzard hammered New England.
Notably absent was much of the 2 feet (30 cm) of snow that blanketed much of the Boston area, since for much of the storm, Ocean Street was under water because of flooding from a breached sea wall. About a dozen homes were badly damaged.
"This area sees flooding regularly, but we haven't seen damage like...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Flooding leaves mess in oceanfront Massachusetts after storm