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Archive for May 22nd, 2010
India: Draft climate change plan moots mining investment
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 22nd, 2010
Business Standard: The draft Action Plan on Climate Change prepared by the Orissa government in association with the World Bank to address concerns pertaining to climate change has envisaged an investment of Rs 115 crore in the mining sector to implement mitigation and adaptation measures. The mining sector specific plan has suggested 42 action points in all which includes 29 mitigation measures, seven adaptation measures and the remaining six measures being both mitigation as well as adaptation ...
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Canada: Reports contrast on environmental impact
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 22nd, 2010
Fort McMurray Today: While one report warns the oilsands are on a collision course with climate change regulations, another says major strides have been made in reducing environmental impacts. In its report, Canada's Oil Sands: Shrinking Window of Opportunity, Ceres said Monday oilsands risks to investors are as great as those in the BP spill. While deepwater oil production in the Gulf has huge environmental risks that are obvious today, this report concludes that long-term risks from development in the ...
Engineers will not use hair to soak Gulf oil spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 22nd, 2010
Associated Press: Engineers will not use booms made out of hair to soak up the growing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Barbers have collected hair in hopes that it could contain the ooze as it invades deeper into coastal marshland. But crews said Saturday they concluded using the hair was not feasible, and the organizations collecting the hair were asked to stop doing so. Engineers said a test conducted in February during an oil spill in Texas showed that commercial boom absorbed more oil and ...
Despite fears, gains in fighting malaria
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 22nd, 2010
Christian Science Monitor: Malaria may not deserve its high-profile spot as a leading public-health concern tied to global warming. A research team has found that over the past century, malaria's prevalence has declined significantly, despite a century-long warming of global average temperatures. The finding was published in this week's issue of the journal Nature by the Malaria Atlas Project, an international consortium of researchers that maps and tracks incidence of the disease, as well as social and ...
Obama form spill commission as oil closes US beach
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 22nd, 2010
Agence France-Presse: President Barack Obama unveiled a commission on Saturday to probe the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as the growing environmental catastrophe hit Louisiana's fragile wetlands. With the federal government facing accusations of lax supervision of the lucrative offshore oil drilling industry, the president vowed to hold Washington accountable and warned that the future of the industry hinges on assurances such a disaster would not happen again. He also sharpened his tone ...
Oil’s Arrival Affirms Louisiana Community’s Fears
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 22nd, 2010
National Public Radio: Thick, brown and rust-colored, sticky oil is washing up on the beaches, marshes and wetlands of some parts of southern Louisiana, threatening wildlife and vital habitat. Those communities not yet seeing oil on their shores are bracing for the worst. In the coastal waters of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries agents inspect areas of rich oyster beds and other critical habitat known as the Biloxi Marsh in Lake Borgne. There's no oil there yet, but it's coming, and ...
UN study backs economic changes to save natural world: report
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 22nd, 2010
Agence France-Presse: A key UN report on biodiversity will recommend massive economic changes like company fines to help save species and protect the natural world, The Guardian reported here on Saturday. The study, which is due for publication in the summer, will argue that global action on the topic is more powerful than the argument for tackling climate change, according to the newspaper. The report, entitled 'The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity' (TEEB), was launched by Brussels in 2007 ...
Cleaning oil-soaked wetlands may be impossible
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 22nd, 2010
Associated Press: The gooey oil washing into the maze of marshes along the Gulf Coast could prove impossible to remove, leaving a toxic stew lethal to fish and wildlife, government officials and independent scientists said. Officials are considering some drastic and risky solutions: They could set the wetlands on fire or flood areas in hopes of floating out the oil. But they warn an aggressive cleanup could ruin the marshes and do more harm than good. The only viable option for many impacted ...
Obama moves to take political control of BP Gulf oil spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 22nd, 2010
Christian Science Monitor: A month after the BP Deep Horizon drill rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana, spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, President Obama has moved to take greater political control of what is becoming one of the nation's worst environmental disasters. On Saturday, Obama named a bipartisan commission to report on the causes of the oil spill but also "to take a comprehensive look at how the oil and gas industry operates and how we regulate them." While environmental protection and ...
Obama forms commission to probe oil spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 22nd, 2010
Agence France-Presse: An independent presidential commission has been set up to probe the huge oil spill from a wrecked BP-leased rig in the Gulf of Mexico, US President Barack Obama said on Saturday. The main task of the bipartisan body, formed by an executive order, is to provide recommendations on how the oil industry can prevent -- and mitigate the impact of -- any future spills that result from offshore drilling. "Now, this catastrophe is unprecedented in its nature, and it presents a host of ...