RSS Feed
Archive for August, 2015
For 2013 Arkansas Spill, Exxon Mobil’s Settlement Is $5M
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 13th, 2015
Reuters: A federal judge on Wednesday approved Exxon Mobil Corp's $5.07 million settlement of charges that it violated the federal Clean Water Act and state environmental laws in connection with a 2013 oil spill in central Arkansas. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker in Little Rock, Arkansas called Exxon Mobil's consent decree with the United States and Arkansas "fair, reasonable, and adequate, and consistent with the Clean Water Act." The rupture of Exxon's Pegasus pipeline led to a March 29, 2013 spill...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on For 2013 Arkansas Spill, Exxon Mobil’s Settlement Is $5MHere’s the U.K. Govn’t Plan to Fast Track Fracking
Posted by Inside Climate News: Ed King on August 13th, 2015
Inside Climate News: The UK government has signalled its intention to break opposition to shale gas exploration by introducing tough new rules fast tracking planning applications. Under the new measures released on Thursday central government could take control of the shale gas application process from “under performing” councils who fail to process plans in 16 weeks. Ministers also warn that no shale gas proposal will “fall through the cracks” under new laws that mean rejected applications will face speedy appeals,...
Is Global Warming Lurking Behind This Summer’s Heat Waves?
Posted by Mashable: None Given on August 13th, 2015
Mashable: It's been a cruel, cruel summer for millions of people across the Northern Hemisphere. Extreme heat has been blamed for thousands of deaths from India to Egypt, on northward into Europe and west to the Pacific Northwest cities of Seattle and Portland. Even Japan and Hong Kong have set all-time high temperature records and passed historical heat wave markers.
The most recent heat has occurred in parts of Europe, the Middle East and East Asia. On Aug. 7, for example, Berlin hit 102 degrees Fahrenheit,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Is Global Warming Lurking Behind This Summer’s Heat Waves?Koch Pipeline Company Pay Texas Oil Spill After Nearly 17 Years
Posted by Texas Tribune: None Given on August 13th, 2015
Texas Tribune: In the time it has taken the state and federal governments to penalize a Koch Industries affiliate for a South Texas oil spill, 17 different quarterbacks started games for the Dallas Cowboys, including the team's current head coach.
Now, however, Koch Pipeline Company is finally poised to pay up for spilling nearly 24,700 gallons of crude into Karnes County's Marcelinas Creek -- almost 17 years after the fact, according to filings in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Koch Pipeline Company Pay Texas Oil Spill After Nearly 17 YearsIndia: Push irrigation, not dams
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 13th, 2015
Indian Express: One of the drivers of India’s irrigation sector has been the construction of large dams on our rivers, which Jawaharlal Nehru famously described as “the temples of modern India”. While these dams have helped increase India’s irrigated area and provided a semblance of food security, they have also created more problems than they have solved. What is worse, these dams have not really achieved what they had promised. While the nation and its most deprived people have paid a huge price in terms of displacement...
Toxic Algae Contaminate Two of the Three U.S. Coasts
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on August 13th, 2015
Environment News Service: A record-breaking algal bloom continues to spread across the North Pacific from as far north as the Aleutian Islands to as far south as southern California.
At the same time, this year's Gulf of Mexico dead zone -- an area of low to no oxygen that can kill fish and marine life -- is above average in size and larger than forecast by government scientists in June.
Coinciding with above average sea surface temperatures across the North Pacific and West Coast of North America, that bloom is laced...
Fracking Chemicals Linked to Cancer, According to New Report
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on August 12th, 2015
EcoWatch: The fluids used for hydraulic fracturing in California oil wells contain dozens of hazardous chemicals linked to cancer, hormone disruption and reproductive system damage, according to a new report by Environmental Working Group (EWG).
In the analysis, “California’s Toxic Fracking Fluids: The Chemical Recipe," EWG deconstructs drilling companies’ use of 200 unique chemicals in nearly 700 wells across the state, with each company deploying around two dozen chemicals. These chemicals have the potential...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Fracking Chemicals Linked to Cancer, According to New ReportUS Environmentalists Urge Obama to Stop Exporting Natural Gas
Posted by Sputnik: None Given on August 12th, 2015
Sputnik: The United States should stop natural gas export because it contributes to global warming, affects local communities and drives US energy prices up, the Center for Biological Diversity senior counsel Bill Snape said in a statement on Wednesday upon issuing a petition urging the ban.
"The time is now to end the environmental and economic disaster of natural gas exports,' Snape said. "Exporting natural gas worsens global warming, harms local communities, raises domestic energy prices and benefits...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on US Environmentalists Urge Obama to Stop Exporting Natural GasHow the West’s drought is affecting lung health
Posted by U.S. News: None Given on August 12th, 2015
U.S. News: In explaining how the sustained drought in California and other parts of the West might be affecting people living through it, experts point not only to parched ground but to the hazy skies.
Specifically, the spikes in so-called particulate matter, or particle pollution, that obscures views, resulting from blazes sparked in the prolonged dry heat. "I think the clearest link between drought conditions and respiratory health is mediated by increased frequency and severity of wildland fires," says...
Canadian Govn’t Spends Millions to Covertly Promote Oil Sands
Posted by Guardian: Martin Lukacs on August 12th, 2015
Guardian: Canada’s Conservative government spent several million dollars on a tar sands advocacy fund as its push to export the oil faltered, documents reveal.
In its 2013 budget, the government invested $30 million over two years on public relations advertising and domestic and international “outreach activities” to promote Alberta’s tar sands.
The outreach activities, which cost $4.5 million and were never publicly disclosed, included efforts to “advance energy literacy amongst BC First Nations communities.”...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canadian Govn’t Spends Millions to Covertly Promote Oil Sands