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Archive for January, 2016
United Kingdom: Claims rises in flood defence spending ‘essentially meaningless’
Posted by Guardian: Henry Zeffman on January 9th, 2016
Guardian: Government claims that it increased spending on flood defences ahead of the wettest December on record are “essentially meaningless”, an independent adviser on climate change has said.
Daniel Johns, head of adaptation at the Committee on Climate Change, urged the government to commit to spending more on maintaining defences after weeks of heavy rain caused flooding across the UK.
The warning comes as water levels in north-east Scotland reached their highest levels in 45 years, causing further...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United Kingdom: Claims rises in flood defence spending ‘essentially meaningless’How huge gas leak turning California Porter Ranch into a ghost town
Posted by Newsweek: Alexander Nazaryan on January 9th, 2016
Newsweek: In the winter of 2008, a real estate column in the Los Angeles Times profiled Porter Ranch, a collection of subdivisions in the San Fernando Valley that feels utterly removed from the huge city on whose northern edge it lies. The neighborhood is “graced with lush parks,” the Neighborly Advice column gushed, and “attracts residents seeking sanctuary from the urban hubbub.” Toll Brothers, the upscale builder that has developed much of the land here, promises potential residents they will “relax in...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on How huge gas leak turning California Porter Ranch into a ghost townTransCanada launches legal action over Keystone XL rejection
Posted by Junior College: None Given on January 9th, 2016
Junior College: TransCanada Corporation has filed suit against the US government, over the Obama Administration’s denial of a permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline. The company’s lawsuit in federal court in Houston does not seek legal damages but wants the permit denial invalidated and seeks a ruling that no future president can block construction. In its notice of intent to initiate the NAFTA claim, TransCanada said that the USA government concluded five times that the pipeline would not have a significant...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on TransCanada launches legal action over Keystone XL rejectionKeystone Company Sues Obama Administration For Blocking XL Pipeline
Posted by NYSE Post: Taylor Ball on January 9th, 2016
NYSE Post: The federal suit, which does not seek legal damages, wants the permit denial invalidated.
"TransCanada asserts the administration's action was contrary to Congress' power under the U.S. Constitution to regulate interstate and worldwide commerce", the company said.
TransCanada is also seeking $15bn in damages in sunk costs for the project, in a separate claim under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). "The TPP would empower many more fossil fuel companies to follow TransCanada's...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Keystone Company Sues Obama Administration For Blocking XL PipelineTransCanada launches lawsuit, NAFTA challenge against Keystone rejection
Posted by Bonham Journal: None Given on January 9th, 2016
Bonham Journal: TransCanada filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday in Houston alleging President Barack Obama's decision in November to kill the pipeline exceeded his power under the U.S. Constitution.
They say the case announced Wednesday, in which TransCanada Corp.is seeking arbitration to recover $15 billion tied to the Obama administration's rejection of Keystone, shows how companies could use provisions of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement to challenge government decision making.
All the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on TransCanada launches lawsuit, NAFTA challenge against Keystone rejectionDealing with climate change in Costa Rica’s treasured Monteverde cloud forest
Posted by Tico Times: Amanda Zúñiga on January 9th, 2016
Tico Times: Climate change is one of the most troubling problems of the decade. It already has caused significant consequences across the globe, and Costa Rica is no exception.
The cloud forest of Monteverde, in north-central Costa Rica, is one of the greenest tourist destinations in the country, and it has witnessed the consequences of climate change. Since the 1970s, the Tropical Scientific Center, or TSC, has been tasked with recording these consequences in different areas of the country, especially in...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Dealing with climate change in Costa Rica’s treasured Monteverde cloud forestCalifornia declares state of emergency after methane gas leak forces thousands from homes
Posted by Mongabay: Mike Gaworecki on January 9th, 2016
Mongabay: An ongoing methane gas leak at a facility in Southern California — what’s been called “the nation’s biggest environmental disaster since the BP oil spill” — has officially been declared an emergency by Governor Jerry Brown. Natural gas, or methane, first started leaking from Southern California Gas Co.’s Aliso Canyon storage facility on October 23 last year. Some 2,300 homes have been evacuated in nearby Porter Ranch, a neighborhood of Los Angeles, after residents began experiencing nosebleeds,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California declares state of emergency after methane gas leak forces thousands from homesTelescope protester found not guilty after trial in Hawaiian
Posted by Associated Press: Jennifer Sinco Kelleher on January 9th, 2016
Associated Press: A man arrested while blocking telescope construction crews on a Hawaii mountain was acquitted Friday after a trial that was conducted in Hawaiian.
Kahookahi Kanuha was among dozens of protesters arrested during attempts to resume construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea. One of the reasons protesters oppose the $1.4 billion project is that many Native Hawaiians consider the mountain sacred.
Kanuha's case had been postponed because he insisted on defending himself in the language...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Telescope protester found not guilty after trial in HawaiianTMT protest leader found not guilty
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 9th, 2016
Associated Press: A man arrested while blocking telescope construction crews on a Hawaii mountain has been found not guilty after a trial where he testified in Hawaiian. Kahookahi Kanuha’s case had been postponed because he insisted on defending himself in the language he’s most comfortable speaking. The trial went forward Friday with a Hawaiian interpreter. Judge Barbara Takase found him not guilty of obstructing. Even though Hawaiian is one of the state’s official languages, court cases are primarily conducted...
Talking to kids about extinction — with hope
Posted by Mongabay: None Given on January 9th, 2016
Mongabay: wo months ago, on November 2, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park made the sad announcement that Nola, a 41-year old northern white rhino — one of only four left in the world — had passed away. “Nola, who lived here since 1989, was under veterinary care for a bacterial infection, as well as age-related health issues,” the announcement said. “In the last 24 hours, Nola’s condition worsened and we made the difficult decision to euthanize her. We’re absolutely devastated by this loss, but resolved to fight...