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Archive for April, 2015
Everything Need To Know About Viral Protests Against Hawaii Telescope
Posted by Huffington Post: Chloe Fox on April 14th, 2015
Huffington Post: The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on Hawaii's Big Island is slated to be one of the world's largest, most powerful telescopes. But the $1.4-billion project is now in jeopardy in the aftermath of protests on social media and across Hawaii that brought construction to a halt. The site of the proposed project on the summit of Mauna Kea is a sacred location for many Native Hawaiians, and demonstrations have sparked broader discussions about both respect for indigenous cultures and the meaning of scientific...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Everything Need To Know About Viral Protests Against Hawaii TelescopeCanada Could Lose 70 Percent of Glaciers by End of Century, Study Finds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 14th, 2015
Yale Environment 360: British Columbia and Alberta could lose 70 percent of their glaciers by the end of the 21st century, creating major problems for local ecosystems, power supplies, and water quality, according to a study in Nature Geoscience. Wetter coastal mountain regions in northwestern British Columbia are expected to lose about half of their glacial volume, the researchers found, but the Rocky Mountains, in the drier interior portion of Canada, could lose 90 percent of their glaciers. “Soon our mountains could...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada Could Lose 70 Percent of Glaciers by End of Century, Study Finds9 States Report Record Low Snowpack Amid Epic Drought
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on April 14th, 2015
EcoWatch: California gets most of the attention in drought news coverage because so much of the state is in exceptional drought—the highest level—but 72 percent of the Western U.S. is experiencing drought conditions, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor data. When California’s snowpack assessment showed that the state’s snowpack levels were 6 percent of normal—the lowest ever recorded—it spurred Gov. Brown’s administration to order the first-ever mandatory water restrictions. California’s snowpack...
Tribes Say No to Keystone
Posted by Hill: Timothy Cama and Megan R. Wilson on April 14th, 2015
Hill: Native Americans are pressuring the Obama administration to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, warning the project could infringe on their water rights, harm sacred land and violate America’s treaty obligations. Tribes sent more than 100 pages of letters to the Interior Department earlier this year raising concerns about the project, which would carry oil sands from Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast. “Literally, thousands of sacred and cultural resources that are important to our life-ways and...
Hillary Clinton Has a Keystone XL Problem
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 14th, 2015
Christian Science Monitor: Hillary Clinton announced Sunday that she will run for president in 2016, and environmental groups are welcoming her to the race with the first of what could be many Keystone XL protests.
The controversial pipeline has become a litmus test for environmentalists concerned that Ms. Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, won’t take a bold enough stance to fight climate change. As Secretary of State, Clinton said she was “inclined” to sign-off on the pipeline, which would carry emissions-heavy oil sands...
Fracking Opponents Try Again for Ban on Michigan Ballot
Posted by Detroit News: Jim Lynch on April 14th, 2015
Detroit News: The wheels begin to turn in earnest next week on efforts to bring a ban on hydraulic fracturing before Michigan voters in 2016.
When Michigan's Board of State Canvassers meets Tuesday, the four-member panel will review forms for the collection of signatures to initiate legislation. It's a paperwork formality necessary before supporters of a ban on the controversial natural gas extraction process can begin approaching state residents.
A grassroots organization, the Committee to Ban Fracking...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Fracking Opponents Try Again for Ban on Michigan BallotWhat environmentalists get wrong when they use California drought to attack fracking
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 14th, 2015
Washington Post: With the continual worsening of California’s drought, an odd argument -- in some ways as much meme as argument -- has arisen. It’s the notion that in the context of the drought, it’s important to cut back on the water used in industrial hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” operations in the state.
Here’s one example of the basic idea being expressed, by Californians Against Fracking:
Here’s one solution to #California‘s drought: #BanFrackingNow @JerryBrownGov pic.twitter.com/JtcfmUJXmI
--...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on What environmentalists get wrong when they use California drought to attack frackingHidden Threats Imperil Quest for Sustainable Societies Worldwide, Report Finds
Posted by Worldwatch: None Given on April 13th, 2015
Worldwatch: The world’s economies and people face hidden dangers to sustainability that demand immediate action. According to State of the World 2015: Confronting Hidden Threats to Sustainability, the latest edition of the annual series from the Worldwatch Institute, these threats, driven directly or indirectly by growing stress on the planet’s resources, have the potential to upend social systems, environmental balance, and even entire economies (www.worldwatch.org). “These threats are hidden in the sense...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Hidden Threats Imperil Quest for Sustainable Societies Worldwide, Report FindsWhat’s the best way to trim California’s water use?
Posted by Mother Nature: Lloyd Alter on April 13th, 2015
Mother Nature: In 1957, author C. Northcote Parkinson wrote "Parkinson's Law," a study of bureaucracy and business. It included the lesser known Parkinson's Law of Triviality, which argued that organizations give disproportionate weight to trivial issues and ignore the big picture. Today in California, water rationing has been imposed to deal with the ongoing drought, with the intent of reducing consumption by 25 percent. Gov. Jerry Brown says “People should realize we are in a new era. The idea of your nice...
Harvard Students Block Campus Building Push Fossil Fuel Divestment
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 13th, 2015
National Public Radio: A group of Harvard University students is calling for the school to sell its investments in fossil fuel companies. Protesters began blocking the entrance to the main administration building Sunday.
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
Student activists are demonstrating in Harvard Yard, demanding that the world's wealthiest university sell its shares in big oil and coal companies. From member station WGBH, Kirk Carapezza reports.
KIRK CARAPEZZA, BYLINE: Students are blocking the entrance to Massachusetts...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Harvard Students Block Campus Building Push Fossil Fuel Divestment