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Archive for June, 2010
Australia: Emphasis shifts to limiting effects of global warming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 9th, 2010
Sydney Morning Herald: THERE is little sense of urgency about climate change in the budget, and the more muscular rhetoric about cutting greenhouse gases in recent budget papers has been replaced by talk of "minimising" the impact of global warming. About $170 million will be directed to energy- and water-saving programs that had been previously announced, including household rebates, while the establishment of many national parks meant a funding boost for the parks sector. The energy-saving schemes ...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Australia: Emphasis shifts to limiting effects of global warmingAllen says 630,000 gallons of oil captured daily
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 9th, 2010
Associated Press: Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen says the oil spill containment operation in the Gulf of Mexico is now catching up to 630,000 gallons daily. Assessing efforts to restrain the oil spill, Allen told reporters that "we continue to make progress," although he said reinforcement help is on the way, including the expected arrival of a shuttle tanker from the North Sea within the next few days. He also said he hopes capacity of the existing containment structure can be increased soon to ...
Oil spill ripples through Florida economy
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 9th, 2010
Reuters: Gary Chernekoff doesn't own a restaurant, isn't a charter boat captain and doesn't work for a hotel or resort. But he is hurting. A plumber by trade, the Pensacola, Florida resident expected to have a busy and profitable summer. He had three big jobs lined up -- vacation homes being built in this summer tourist haven on the coast of the Florida Panhandle. It was more than enough work for a one-man operation. But the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that began in ...
Gulf residents angry about BP and claims process
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 9th, 2010
Associated Press: The financial toll of the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico escalated Wednesday as BP's stock plummeted to a 14-year low and fishermen, businesses and property owners who have filed damage claims with the company angrily complained of delays, excessive paperwork and skimpy payments that have put them on the verge of going under. The oil company captured an ever larger-share of the crude gushing from the bottom of the sea and began bringing in more heavy equipment to help in the ...
BP spill response plans severely flawed
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 9th, 2010
Associated Press: Professor Peter Lutz is listed in BP's 2009 response plan for a Gulf of Mexico oil spill as a national wildlife expert. He died in 2005. Under the heading "sensitive biological resources," the plan lists marine mammals including walruses, sea otters, sea lions and seals. None lives anywhere near the Gulf. The names and phone numbers of several Texas A&M University marine life specialists are wrong. So are the numbers for marine mammal stranding network offices in Louisiana ...
United States: The next drilling disaster?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 9th, 2010
Nation: A tour of Dimock, Pennsylvania, with Victoria Switzer is a bumpy ride over torn-up roads, around parking lots filled with heavy machinery and storage tanks, and past well pads that not long ago were forests. The winter here was quiet, but with the thawing ground came the return of the rigs, the trucks, the constant noise and lights of a twenty-four-hour-a-day gas drilling operation. "It's a modern-day Deadwood out here," Switzer says, likening the activity to the gold rush. "No rules, no ...
BP under pressure as U.S. probes Gulf spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 9th, 2010
Reuters: British energy giant BP Plc's stock price tumbled on Wednesday as it faced more U.S. government and congressional scrutiny over its handling of the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP shares fell around 6 percent in London, following a 5 percent drop on Tuesday, on worries that the company will have to suspend its dividend payment under pressure from U.S. politicians who say it should go to pay for legal claims and environmental damage in the Gulf. The cost of protecting BP ...
Somalia: Charcoal Production Wreaks Environmental Havoc in Somalia
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 9th, 2010
MediaGlobal: For centuries Somali culture has been shaped by the weather. Forecasters, called "Xidaars," are the most respected members of communities. Using an ancient combination of Persian and African astronomy to herald the rain and warn of oncoming drought, they define the crop and livestock cycles for pastorally based Somali communities. Although Somalis are no strangers to devastating droughts, uncertainty about weather patterns are rising with the temperature. As the climate changes and ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Somalia: Charcoal Production Wreaks Environmental Havoc in SomaliaSnakes on the wane at ‘alarming’ rate, say scientists
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 9th, 2010
Guardian: The widespread disappearance of snakes will be one impact of climate change that some people may find it hard to regret. But as vital predators in sensitive habitats such as rice fields, their decline will have wider ecological consequence, say scientists. The first major study of the problem, published today, will also be seen as another powerful sign of the worldwide destruction of the natural world, which is causing growing concern about the loss of vital services from rainfall to ...