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Archive for the ‘Water Conservation’ Category
Flint water crisis: EPA concerned with ‘inadequate’ state and city response
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 20th, 2016
Guardian: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said it has serious concerns over the “inadequate” response to the Flint toxic water crisis by both the city and Michigan officials, pointing to a lack of expert help on the ground and a failure to provide a proper water treatment plan.
In a letter to the Michigan department of environmental quality (MDEQ), Mark Pollins, director of the EPA’s water enforcement division, said Flint has “not yet demonstrated that it has an adequate number of qualified...
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Comments Off on Flint water crisis: EPA concerned with ‘inadequate’ state and city responseBuilding industry poised to double green certifications by 2018
Posted by Greenbiz: None Given on February 20th, 2016
Greenbiz: Demand for green certified buildings is continuing to soar with the market doubling every three years.
That is the central conclusion of a major new report backed by the World Green Building Council (WGBC), which found that a sharp increase in interest in green buildings in emerging markets such as China, India and the Middle East will see demand for green certification double as early as 2018.
The report, carried out by Dodge Data & Analytics and United Technologies Corporation with support...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Building industry poised to double green certifications by 2018Scientists attack their ‘muzzling’ by government
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 20th, 2016
Guardian: Senior scientists have denounced a potential move to “muzzle” colleagues whose findings are disliked by the government. British researchers get green light to genetically modify human embryos Read more The proposal – announced by the Cabinet Office earlier this month – would block researchers who receive government grants from using their results to lobby for changes to laws or regulations. For example, an academic whose government-funded research showed that new regulations were proving particularly...
West Virginia Senate advances two bills to aid gas drillers
Posted by Gazette Mail: David Gutman on February 20th, 2016
Gazette Mail: The West Virginia Senate advanced two bills Thursday to ease restrictions on the oil and gas industry, potentially at the expense of landowners.
One bill, which limits property owners’ ability to file lawsuits when their property has been devalued, has potentially much further reaching effects, although much of the discussion focused on oil and gas drilling.
The bill (SB 508) gives businesses virtual immunity from private “nuisance lawsuits” so long as the business does not violate a law, regulation...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on West Virginia Senate advances two bills to aid gas drillersPorter Ranch leak puts mysterious methane in spotlight
Posted by San Diego Union-Tribune: Lisa Margonelli on February 20th, 2016
San Diego Union-Tribune: Methane is a democratic molecule. You make it, I make it, cows and coal mines emit it. So do termites and multinational oil companies. When NASA looks for life on other planets, they don’t look for little green men, they scan for methane. Methane is the ultimate sign of life — though a massively mysterious, and invisible, one. The mysteries surrounding methane remind us that we barely know our own planet. For as long as we’ve had an oil and gas industry, we’ve had methane leaks from pipelines,...
Scalia environmental legacy was decidedly negative
Posted by Grist: None Given on February 20th, 2016
Grist: Justice Antonin Scalia left an indelible mark on American law. His prodigious intellect, distinctive style, and sharp wit will be sorely missed by his family, friends, and colleagues.
His passing also creates a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shift the balance of power on the Supreme Court toward greater protection for the environment and greater access to the courts by those most affected by pollution and resource degradation.
A look at Scalia’s legacy reveals why his absence in the coming...
Soilless farming suggested as a solution to food shortage in Qatar
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 20th, 2016
ScienceDaily: Soilless farming could help developing countries with little arable land and harsh for agriculture climate, such as Qatar, to become self-sufficient in terms of their produce. Relying on advanced hydroponics and multi-story vertical growing, the proposed system uses nutrient-enriched water to produce approximately a hundred times more yield compared to when the crops are grown on a conventional farmland of the same size. The hybrid setup, devised by Nik-Othman Abdullah, biotechnologist at Malaysia...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Soilless farming suggested as a solution to food shortage in QatarClimate change will reduce San Pedro recharge, study says
Posted by Arizona Daily Star: None Given on February 20th, 2016
Arizona Daily Star: The San Pedro study comes as the Legislature is considering two bills that would either lift, or make it easier for municipalities in Cochise County to lift, requirements that new developments prove they have an adequate water supply for 100 years to start building.
As the law now stands, any county can require that all new developments prove an adequate supply. Cochise and Yuma counties are the only ones to have adopted such requirements. Pima County falls under a different state requirement...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change will reduce San Pedro recharge, study saysTyrosinase inhibitors from terrestrial and marine resources
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 19th, 2016
ScienceDaily: Tyrosinase is a multifunctional copper-containing enzyme widely distributed in microorganisms as well as plants and animals which has a primordial role in melanin biosynthesis thus impacting on skin color and pigmentation. This particular enzyme has the ability to catalyze the hydroxylation of L-tyrosine toL-DOPA and further oxidize L-DOPA to dopaquinones which are considered as boosters of melanogenesis. Considering the medical and cosmetic sector, a great number of researches focused on the isolation...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Tyrosinase inhibitors from terrestrial and marine resourcesWhy We Need to Keep 80 Percent of Fossil Fuels in the Ground
Posted by Yes: None Given on February 19th, 2016
Yes: Most of the time, public policy is a series of trade-offs: higher taxes or fewer services, more regulation or more freedom of action. We attempt to balance our preferences: for having a beer after work, and for sober drivers. We meet somewhere in the middle, compromise, trade off. We tend to think we’re doing it right when everyone’s a little unhappy.
But when it comes to climate change, the essential problem is not one group’s preferences against another’s. It’s not--at bottom--industry versus...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Why We Need to Keep 80 Percent of Fossil Fuels in the Ground