RSS Feed
Archive for June, 2010
Reactions to Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 8th, 2010
Dominion: The announcement of the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement has sparked a mix of sweeping pronouncements and passionate reactions. Below, we have compiled a small sampling. See also Dawn Paley's analysis of the agreement itself, published today. Readers are invited to post additions in the comments sections at the bottom of the page. "The Ontario government is encouraged to see environmental groups and forest companies working together to help develop a plan that would lead to ...
RELEASE: Papua New Guineas Indigenous Landowners Stripped of Land Rights as Chinese Communist Influence Grows
Posted by Water Conservation Blog on June 8th, 2010
PNG government amends Environment Act [search] with no debate to remove powers from landowners to challenge in court resource development projects on their customary land. Move reflects increased pressure by foreign developers, particularly Chinese governments mining agency, whose efforts to dump uncapped 100 million tons of mine waste on ocean floor in Madang Province has been thwarted by pressure exerted by successful legal efforts and campaigning.
(Madang, PNG) - Indigenous landowners have been stripped of ancestral and constitutionally-protected land rights [search] by the government of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The fact that 97% of land has been under communal, customary land tenure has long been a source of pride, provided an important social safety net, and protected against resource corruption. Similar efforts pushed by the World Bank in the 1990s were met with national protests and over-turned. Ultimate power to irrevocably issue resource development environmental permits will now reside with the Department of Environment secretary, an office whos current and past occupants have long been known for flagrant corruption.
The government, through the Environment Minister, Benny Allan, made changes to sections of the Environment Act 2000 to prevent landowners and concerned Papua New Guineans from interfering with industrial resource development projects destroying ...
Posted in Uncategorized 
Comments Off on RELEASE: Papua New Guineas Indigenous Landowners Stripped of Land Rights as Chinese Communist Influence GrowsDispersal of Oil Means Cleanup to Take Years, Official Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 7th, 2010
New York Times: Although the Coast Guard had trained for the possibility of cleaning up a disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, it had never anticipated that oil would spread across such a broad area and break up into hundreds of thousands of patches as the current spill has done, the commander heading the federal response to the spill said Monday. "It's the breadth and complexity of the disaggregation of the oil" that is now posing the greatest clean-up challenge, the commander, Adm. Thad W. ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Dispersal of Oil Means Cleanup to Take Years, Official SaysBP’s Deepwater Horizon costs hit $1.25bn
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 7th, 2010
Guardian: <figure> <figcaption>Protesters yesterday outside a BP station in Florida. The company, and its chief executive Tony Hayward, have been much criticised over its response to the spill. Photograph: Dave Martin/AP</figcaption> </figure> The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has now cost BP $1.25bn (£870m), as its much-criticised chief executive vows to spend "what it takes" to fix the Deepwater Horizon disaster that has caused growing anger across America. The energy company ...
BP says Gulf oil spill costs reach $1.25 billion
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 7th, 2010
Agence France-Presse: British oil giant BP said Monday it had already spent 1.25 billion dollars on efforts to contain the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The company also said in a statement that a cap fitted on a leaking pipe a mile (1,600 metres) down on the sea bed had allowed it to collect 10,500 barrels of oil and bring it to the surface on Saturday. Between June 3 and June 5 BP used the cap to collect a total of 16,600 barrels, the statement added. The firm said the estimated cost of 1.25 ...
Damage Will Go On After Well Is Plugged, Admiral Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 7th, 2010
New York Times: The Coast Guard commander in charge of the federal response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico warned on Sunday that even if the flow of crude was stopped by summer, it could take well into autumn – and maybe much longer– to deal with the slick spreading relentlessly across the gulf. The assessment came as the sheer volume of oil gushing from the out-of-control well forced BP to temporarily halt its attempts to close all four vents on a capping device designed to capture the oil. ...
BP says currently capturing 11,100 bpd of Gulf oil leak
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 7th, 2010
Reuters: BP Plc said on Monday that its cap system at a seabed oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico captured 11,100 barrels of oil on Sunday, up slightly from the previous 24 hours, and the company planned to increase that amount to 20,000 barrels. The new figure on captured oil is about 58 percent of the high end of an estimate by U.S. scientists who had said the leak was spewing 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day. It was more than 40 percent of the highest government estimate of 25,000 barrels a ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on BP says currently capturing 11,100 bpd of Gulf oil leakRescuers Plan To Kidnap Rare Fish
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 6th, 2010
National Public Radio: A remote pond in the largest old-growth forest in New England is home to one of just a dozen populations of blueback char in the United States. But the trout-like fish have been nearly wiped out by non-native fish illegally introduced to the pond. Now Maine biologists are mounting a rescue operation to capture the pond's few remaining bluebacks for safekeeping until they can remove the invasive smelt.
BP capturing ‘10,000 barrels of oil’ a day from Gulf of Mexico
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 6th, 2010
Guardian: <figure> <figcaption>BP chief executive Tony Hayward said he would not be quitting over the oil spill. Photograph: Sean Gardner/Reuters</figcaption> </figure> BP's containment cap is capturing 10,000 barrels of oil a day from the leak in the Gulf of Mexico, the company's chief executive said today. The rate is about half a day's flow from the leaking oil well, estimated to be 19,000 barrels a day, but represents the first significant progress in almost seven ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on BP capturing ‘10,000 barrels of oil’ a day from Gulf of MexicoSaltwater crocodiles surf across the ocean
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 6th, 2010
Mongabay: Despite being poor swimmers, researchers have discovered that the saltwater crocodile (also known as estuarine) commonly travels long distances over open oceans by riding ocean currents. The discovery, published in Journal of Animal Ecology, solves an unknown mystery of why saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) are found across vast distance in the Pacific, yet have not diverged into different species. Researchers tracked 27 adult saltwater crocodiles for one year using tags and ...