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Archive for March, 2010
Big Oil seeks natural gas deal in U.S. climate bill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 25th, 2010
Reuters: Major oil companies were calling on three U.S. senators struggling over a compromise climate bill to provide new breaks for natural gas drilling as the lawmakers said the legislation might not be unveiled until at least the end of April. For the second time in a week the senators crafting the compromise, John Kerry, a Democrat, Lindsey Graham, a Republican, and Joe Lieberman, an independent, met with industry groups and oil companies in hopes of advancing ideas on the long-delayed ...
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Waste issue hurting U.S. nuclear revival: panel
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 25th, 2010
Reuters: The lack of a permanent home for the nation's radioactive waste is dampening prospects for a resurgence of the U.S. nuclear industry, federal commissioners said at their first public hearing on the subject. The Energy Department set up the panel of former Congressmen, academics, and business leaders after deciding to scrap the long delayed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in Nevada. Commissioners said nuclear waste does not pose an immediate threat to the nation, but a plan on ...
Population growth should be curbed
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 25th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: Humans should have fewer babies to help the global battle against climate change, according to the renowned British primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall. Population growth should be curbed: UK conservationist Goodall, whose 1960s research on chimpanzees changed perceptions of relations between humans and animals, fears the controversial issue has slipped down the agenda in the debate about man's impact on the environment. "It's very frustrating as people don't ...
Doubts Hound World Bank-backed Dam as Its Turbines Start Up
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 25th, 2010
Inter Press Service: It has been just over a week since the turbines came to life at Laos' largest hydropower project, but questions are already dogging this World Bank showpiece that marks the financial institution's return to the business of big dams. A leading environmental group has accused the Bank of failing to meet its obligations to help affected communities in the landlocked South-east Asian nation before the Nam Theun Two (NT2) project started supplying electricity to neighbouring Thailand on ...
UK must adapt better to face climate change-report
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 24th, 2010
Reuters: Britain needs to increase its efforts to adapt infrastructure and homes to cope with the effects of climate change, a UK parliamentary committee said on Thursday. "Even if all the world's power stations were switched off tomorrow, past emissions mean that some climate change will still take place and we will face more floods, droughts and heat waves," said Tim Yeo, chairman of the Environmental Audit Committee. "The government must be imaginative, and establish new and ...
United Kingdom: Forests expert officially complains about ‘distorted’ Sunday Times article
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 24th, 2010
Guardian: A leading scientist has made an official complaint to the Press Complaints Commission over an "inaccurate, misleading and distorted" newspaper story about a supposed mistake made by the UN's panel on global warming. Simon Lewis, an expert on tropical forests at the University of Leeds, says the story, published by the Sunday Times in January, is wrong and should be corrected. He says the story is misleading because it gives the impression that the Intergovernmental Panel on ...
Oil sands environmental debate seen more divisive
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 24th, 2010
Reuters: Canada's oil sands producers have pledged to improve their environmental records and do a better job communicating their efforts to the public, but environmentalists say they see no commitment to real change. The diverging views point to continued tough sell around the world for producers of the massive energy resource in northern Alberta, the world's second biggest oil reserve, and for the Alberta and Canadian governments. Executives at the Reuters Canadian Oil Sands Summit in ...
Canada: Minister sees hidden agenda behind oil sands foes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 24th, 2010
Reuters: Some international groups behind campaigns opposing Canadian oil sands development are actually trying to erect trade barriers under the guise of protecting the environment, Alberta Energy Minister Ron Liepert said on Tuesday. Liepert, who has begun a communications push to sell the benefits of oil sands development to residents outside Alberta in the United States, declined to name "certain groups" aiming to block companies from boosting output from the unconventional ...
Residents Fret Over Parched Mekong River
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 24th, 2010
Inter Press Service: Like many residents of this slow-paced Lao capital, graduate student Packno usually enjoys meeting up with her family and friends for dinner at any of the restaurants along the Mekong River. That's because once the sun begins to set, the riverside breeze also starts getting cooler. Or at least that's how it used to be. Nowadays, "it's still very hot in the evening at six or seven p.m. Since the Mekong has been running dry, the weather is getting hotter," says Packno, who preferred to ...
China should support solar thermal energy research
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 24th, 2010
SciDev.Net: China is rich in solar energy. More than two thirds of the country receives more than 2,200 hours of sunshine every year. Estimates put the amount of solar radiation landing on China as up to 10,000 times the energy capacity of the Three Gorges Dam. But despite the huge potential of solar power in China, the country has relied largely on fossil fuels to meet its energy needs and drive its economic success. Chinese people may be enjoying a higher standard of living, but not ...