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Archive for May, 2010
BP suffers snag in Gulf oil containment effort
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 8th, 2010
Reuters: BP Plc suffered a setback on Saturday in an attempt to contain oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico with a huge metal dome when crystallized gas filled the structure, a blow to hopes of a quick, temporary solution to a growing environmental disaster. Word of the snag came as balls of tar appeared in waters off a popular Alabama island beach in what may be the first evidence of spilled oil washing into a populated area. BP engineers have moved the four-story containment dome -- ...
Is the US ready for a 24-hour coastal oil spill response corps?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 8th, 2010
Christian Science Monitor: With the Deepwater Horizon oil spill there's new interest in a national coastal rescue corps to augment the kind of industry and US Coast Guard safeguards that haven't adequately protected sensitive shorelines and economies. "What you need are local watchdogs to monitor oil exploration and transportation," says Steven Picou, a sociologist at the University of South Alabama who studied the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez disaster. "The tragedy is that such programs usually come about only after ...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Is the US ready for a 24-hour coastal oil spill response corps?Canada: Stelmach makes trip to U.S. to play up Alberta’s oilsands
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 8th, 2010
CTV: Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach says he hoped meeting with several U.S. senators in Washington has helped to explain the vital role Alberta's oilsands play in American energy security and job creation. "As the United States moves forward with climate change policies, it is imperative that U.S. lawmakers have a full and accurate understanding of oil sands development," said Stelmach. While in Washington, Stelmach had a chance to meet with senators from Michigan, South Carolina, ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: Stelmach makes trip to U.S. to play up Alberta’s oilsandsUnited Kingdom: Archives of environmentalist Roger Deakin given to university
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 8th, 2010
Guardian: One of the most eccentric literary archives ever assembled, a treasury of writings on ancient trees, weedy ponds, rusting cars, sleepy cats, skylarks, films and photographs, an old pair of swimming trunks and a bundle of damp stained manuscript still smelling strongly of the fish it once wrapped, has been presented to the University of East Anglia. It represents the life's work of Roger Deakin, a maverick who died of brain cancer in 2006 aged 63, and is now seen as a pioneer of the ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Archives of environmentalist Roger Deakin given to universityWe have lots of water, but Metro urges residents to conserve
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 8th, 2010
Vancouver Sun: When it comes to water, Metro Vancouver has a plentiful supply, with cool, wet summers, huge snowpacks and heavy rainfalls topping up the region's reservoirs. But with a warming climate, global water shortages and a steadily climbing population, Metro Vancouver is once again warning residents to conserve water -- or face the consequences. This could include water metering so residents pay for the water they use or, one day -- far into the future -- treating the Fraser River to ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on We have lots of water, but Metro urges residents to conserveWorld’s biggest beaver dam discovered in northern Canada
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 8th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: A Canadian ecologist has discovered the world's largest beaver dam in a remote area of northern Alberta, an animal-made structure so large it is visible from space. Researcher Jean Thie said Wednesday he used satellite imagery and Google Earth software to locate the dam, which is about 850 metres (2,800 feet) long on the southern edge of Wood Buffalo National Park. Average beaver dams in Canada are 10 to 100 metres long, and only rarely do they reach 500 metres. First ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on World’s biggest beaver dam discovered in northern CanadaMali: Farmers Restore Forests
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 8th, 2010
Inter Press Service: Villagers in the interior delta of the Niger River, already experiencing the harsh impacts of climate change, have a good understanding of the need to restore forests decimated by drought. Where forest cover has been rehabilitated, it is already reshaping the surrounding environment - and economy. "It is important to set regulations to protect the restored forests against fresh destruction by drought," Yaya Bocoum, an elder from the Malian village of Youwarou, told IPS. "I can ...
Jordan River could die by 2011
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 8th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: The once mighty Jordan River, where Christians believe Jesus was baptised, is now little more than a polluted stream that could die next year unless the decay is halted, environmentalists said on Monday. The famed river "has been reduced to a trickle south of the Sea of Galilee, devastated by overexploitation, pollution and lack of regional management," Friends of the Earth, Middle East (FoEME) said in a report. More than 98 percent of the river's flow has been diverted by ...
Deepwater Horizon blast triggered by methane bubble, report shows
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 8th, 2010
Guardian: The deadly blast on board the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico was triggered by a bubble of methane gas, an investigation by BP has revealed. A report into last month's blast said the gas escaped from the oil well and shot up the drill column, expanding quickly as it burst through several seals and barriers before exploding. The sequence of events, described in the interviews with rig workers, provides the most detailed account of the blast that killed 11 workers ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Deepwater Horizon blast triggered by methane bubble, report showsUnited States: Vermont Senate backs Hydro-Quebec renewable-energy status
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 7th, 2010
Burlington Free Press: The Senate voted unanimously Thursday to back a bill that grants Hydro-Quebec status as a renewable-energy source, a move supporters say will give Vermonters a better deal on power but that environmentalists contend will discourage creation of new renewable energy. "This change was requested by the utilities as part of their negotiations with Hydro-Quebec," said Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee Chairwoman Virginia Lyons, D-Chittenden. "We were told without this decision ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United States: Vermont Senate backs Hydro-Quebec renewable-energy status