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Archive for May, 2010
BP’s spill costs hit $930 million
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 28th, 2010
Reuters: BP Plc still does not know whether its "top kill" operation designed to plug the biggest oil spill in United States history will be successful and puts the cost of tackling the disaster so far at $930 million. "The top kill procedure has never before been attempted at these depths and its ultimate success is uncertain," the British oil giant said in a statement on Friday. President Barack Obama is set to visit the Louisiana coast as BP battles deep on the sea floor to stem a ...
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UK’s first ‘conservation credit’ scheme launched
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 28th, 2010
Guardian: The first UK project allowing builders to buy "credits" in conservation schemes, to offset the damage they are doing elsewhere, has been launched. Conservation credit – or biobanking – schemes have been trialled in the US, Australia and South Africa and experts believe the industry could become worth billions of pounds in Britain. The initial step is the sale of shares in a £100m project to restore and reconnect fragmented wetlands, woodlands and grasslands around the ...
BP oil spill: grassroots anger over ‘lack of clean-up plan’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 28th, 2010
Guardian: In a small, wood-panelled courtroom in the back streets of Belle Chase on the banks of the Mississippi, a trial of sorts is taking place. Chief witness for the prosecution is a large rotund man with a breeze-reddened face who is addressing the legal benches and the packed public area with growing passion. "Where is the plan?" he says, speaking into a microphone. "We have been waiting and waiting for a plan, and still there isn't one. There is no plan." In the dock the absentee ...
Tar balls and promises: Obama visits Gulf Coast
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 28th, 2010
Associated Press: Kneeling to pick up tar balls on an oil-fouled beach and listening to "heartbreaking stories" of loss, President Barack Obama personally confronted the spreading damage wrought by the crude gushing into the Gulf of Mexico -- and the bitter anger that's rising onshore. "What can he really do?" said Billy Ward, a developer who comes to his beach house here every weekend and, like many other locals, had little positive to say about Obama's trip to the beleaguered region on Friday. "If he ...
Canada: Norwegian, French giants join carbon capture study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 28th, 2010
Guardian: Major oil firms with international experience in carbon capture and storage are joining a $50-million study of the huge tropical reef formation 1,000 metres deep in an area north of Fort Saskatchewan, says project operator ARC Energy. The Canadian arms of France's Total and Norway's Statoil have signed on, with another international oil firm and a major Canadian firm expected to sign on shortly. The four will pick up a share of the $7-million industrial partnership tab. "We are ...
United Kingdom: Community hydro scheme hopes to raise £1m
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 28th, 2010
Business Green: Social enterprise H2ope is aiming to raise £1m for three community hydro electric schemes in the UK from small businesses and individual investors looking for a long-term ethical punt. The company is holding an event for interested investors on Wednesday 2 June in London. "We're looking for people who want a blended return on their investment; people who are serious about ethical investments and are interested in long-term benefits,' said Steve Welsh, managing director of ...
Barack Obama to ‘take charge’ of Gulf of Mexico oil spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 28th, 2010
Telegraph: Mr Obama seized ownership of what he called a "tremendous catastrophe," after weeks of allowing Cabinet members take the public lead as the crippled BP PLC well spewed millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf from nearly a mile (1,500 meters) below the surface. "I take responsibility. It is my job to make sure that everything is done to shut this down," Mr Obama declared at a White House news conference dominated by the spill on Thursday. Even at the lowest estimate -- 18 ...
BP pushes on with ‘top kill’, true slick size emerges
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 28th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: BP pressed on Friday with a risky bid to plug a ruptured oil well it said was going as planned, while new data showed the Gulf of Mexico spill is the worst in US history. Amid the looming environmental catastrophe, there were growing fears for the health of cleanup workers exposed to the crude and chemical dispersants, some of whom had to be airlifted for treatment after falling sick while out at sea. Even if BP's "top kill" maneuver succeeds in capping the leak, millions of ...
22-mile oil plume under Gulf nears rich waters
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 28th, 2010
Associated Press: A thick, 22-mile plume of oil discovered by researchers off the BP spill site was nearing an underwater canyon, where it could poison the foodchain for sealife in the waters off Florida. The discovery by researchers on the University of South Florida College of Marine Science's Weatherbird II vessel is the second significant undersea plume reported since the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20. The plume is more than 6 miles wide and its presence was reported Thursday. The ...
Rise in UK beaches with recommended water quality
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 28th, 2010
Press Association: More than half the UK's beaches are recommended for having excellent water quality in the latest Good Beach Guide - a slight rise on last year, the Marine Conservation Society said today. The number of sites failing the MCS's latest bathing water tests, which are based on European standards, fell from 66 in the previous guide to 41 this year. But around one in seven beaches, including tourist hotspots such as Rock in Cornwall, Weston-super-Mare's main beach and Robin Hood's Bay ...