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Archive for May, 2015
Oil leaked into Hudson River after fire at nuclear reactor near NYC
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 10th, 2015
Reuters: Oil leaked into the Hudson River on Sunday after a transformer fire and explosion a day earlier at the Indian Point nuclear plant north of New York City, and Governor Andrew Cuomo said he was concerned about environmental damage.
Cuomo visited the plant for a briefing on Sunday. The governor, who in the past has called for the plant to be shut down because of its proximity to densely populated New York City, also visited the plant on Saturday.
When the transformer exploded, it released oil...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Oil leaked into Hudson River after fire at nuclear reactor near NYCIs this fish’s cancerous tumor a sign of water pollution?
Posted by RedOrbit: Chuck Bednar on May 10th, 2015
RedOrbit: The confirmation that a smallmouth bass caught in a Pennsylvania river last year had a rare type of cancerous tumor has some people concerned about the health of aquatic life in the region, and worried that the waterway might be polluted with dangerous chemicals.
As reported by the Washington Post on Tuesday, officials with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission confirmed that the bass did have a cancerous tumor, adding they would continue to investigate the matter and collect evidence “to...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Is this fish’s cancerous tumor a sign of water pollution?Brazil plans to ‘nationalise’ rainforest in pioneering plan to protect Amazon
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 10th, 2015
Independent: The Brazilian rainforest could be effectively nationalised under a draft bill being considered by the country’s MPs.
The proposed legislation would recognise the sovereignty of Brazil over the Amazon’s natural resources and set up a national Amazonian policy council with the aim of enshrining environmental protection and regulating economic activities in the rainforest.
Should the law be passed, companies wanting to operate in the area would require approval from the new state entity in return...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Brazil plans to ‘nationalise’ rainforest in pioneering plan to protect AmazonWhen will plastic carrier bags be banned?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 10th, 2015
Guardian: Hold on to the dream! The 5p plastic bag levy takes effect on 5 October in England following (sluggishly) in the footsteps of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales (where in the first year the 5p charge saw the use of plastic bags drop by 96%).
But we’ve been close before with legislation – in 2008 the seven major UK supermarkets signed up to reduce the number of carrier bags by 50% yet later dropped this in favour of reporting how many they gave out.
In the US there’s constant pressure from...
Last regions pristine wilderness from Asia to Amazon under threat massive road-building
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 9th, 2015
Independent: The last great regions of pristine wilderness – from Asia to the Amazon – are threatened by an unprecedented road-building programme financed by aggressive development banks with little interest in protecting the natural world, a leading environmental scientist has warned.
Massive infrastructure and road-building are at the heart of huge development projects around the world, justified as vital attempts at helping the poorest attain a higher standard of living.
Scientists claim that we are...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Last regions pristine wilderness from Asia to Amazon under threat massive road-buildingCalifornia Gov. Brown toughens climate change goal
Posted by Desert Sun: Editorial on May 9th, 2015
Desert Sun: Gov. Jerry Brown has been busy of late pushing California forward on a number of environmental fronts.
The governor -- who began his new term challenging the state to ramp up to where it gets 50 percent of its electricity from renewable sources in the next 15 years -- preempted Wednesday’s adoption of rules for his drought-response mandate with another initiative in recent days related to climate change.
Last week’s executive order sets a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent...
Drought spinoff: Dead orchards may go up in smoke
Posted by Fresno Bee: Mark Grossi on May 9th, 2015
Fresno Bee: In the wake of the drought, many orchards now dead wood • Open-field burning may increase as biomass plants close • AB 590 would keep biomass plants going with millions of state dollars ——— In drought-wounded Terra Bella, Kent Duysen says he has seen the plumes of smoke recently — farm-waste burning linked to both the devastating dry time and a faltering biomass energy industry. The San Joaquin Valley’s tainted air might be getting an extra dose of soot and ozone-forming gases this spring as...
When humans declared war on fish
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 9th, 2015
New York Times: ON Friday we humans observed V-E Day, the end to one part of a global catastrophe that cost the planet at least 60 million lives. But if we were fish, we would have marked the day differently — as the beginning of a campaign of violence against our taxonomic classes, one that has resulted in trillions of casualties. Oddly, the war itself was a great reprieve for many marine species. Just as Axis and Allied submarines and mines made the transportation of war matériel a highly perilous endeavor, they...
Arctic Ice Melting Faster and Earlier With Dire Results
Posted by Guardian: Rose Hackman on May 9th, 2015
Guardian: There was less ice in the Arctic this winter than in any other winter during the satellite era, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists said on Tuesday. The announcement was consistent with previous predictions that the Arctic would have entirely ice-free summers by 2040, they said in a briefing to the media on the state of climate trends in the North Pole. The consequences of such a small quantity of Arctic ice are major and far-reaching. After undergoing a period of colder...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Arctic Ice Melting Faster and Earlier With Dire ResultsThe Canadians who live along the route of the longest proposed tar sands pipeline – in pictures
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 9th, 2015
Guardian: TransCanada’s proposed Energy East pipeline will be the single longest tar sands pipeline in the world if approved. It would carry crude oil and dilbit (diluted bitumen) from Alberta through Ontario to Quebec, and on to export terminals in the Maritimes. Photographer Robert van Waarden travelled over 2,796 miles along the length of the proposed pipeline from Hardisty, Aberta, to St John, New Brunswick, meeting people whose lives and livelihoods would be impacted by it
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on The Canadians who live along the route of the longest proposed tar sands pipeline – in pictures