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Archive for June, 2010
U.S. judge rules against Obama admin on drilling ban
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2010
Reuters: A judge on Tuesday ruled against the Obama administration's six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the wake of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a blow to the White House which had hoped the ban would provide time to ensure other wells are operating safely. A lawsuit was filed by Louisiana-based Hornbeck Offshore Services LLC and was joined by more than a dozen companies involved in offshore drilling operations to reverse the drilling ban imposed by the U.S. Department of ...
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Tibetan environmentalist says Chinese jailers tortured him
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2010
Guardian: A jailed Tibetan environmentalist used the opening of his trial today to accuse Chinese captors of beatings, sleep deprivation and other maltreatment, his wife told reporters. Karma Samdrup – a prominent businessman and award-winning conservationist – issued a statement in court detailing the brutal interrogation methods, including drugs that made his ears bleed, used on him since his detention on 3 January. "If not for his voice, I would not have recognised him," his wife ...
BP gives proceeds from leaked Gulf oil to charity
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2010
Associated Press: Energy giant BP PLC will donate proceeds raised by selling oil from the leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The British energy firm said Tuesday the foundation will use the money on projects that help wildlife along the Gulf Coast. BP is providing an initial $5 million to get the fund running. BP CEO Tony Hayward said in a written statement that the foundation has a record of finding solutions to America's "toughest conservation ...
Uruguay: Small change in forest cover can double malaria rate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 22nd, 2010
SciDev.Net: A small reduction in tropical rainforest cover can increase malaria incidence by nearly 50 per cent, a study in the Brazilian Amazon has found. Open spaces and partially sunlit pools of water, typical conditions of deforested landscapes, provide an ideal habitat in which the Anopheles darlingi mosquito-- the main vector of the malaria parasite in the Amazon -- can live and lay its eggs, according to the study, published online early in Emerging Infectious Diseases. The authors, ...
At least 24 die in Ghana floods
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 21st, 2010
Reuters: Flooding caused by heavy rains killed at least 24 people, destroying homes and washing out roads, emergency officials in the West African country said on Monday. Eleven bodies were found in around the capital Accra and another 13 elsewhere in the country, said Kofi Portuphy, coordinator of the National Disaster Committee. Many others were feared dead as search and rescue crews continued getting reports of missing people following two days of downpours, He said. Police in ...
Ivory Coast: Prosecutor urges top fine for Trafigura toxic waste
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 21st, 2010
Reuters: The Dutch public prosecutor is seeking a maximum fine for commodities trader Trafigura, saying it violated environmental laws when transporting toxic waste that ultimately ended up in the open air in Ivory Coast. The prosecutor said Monday the privately-held company should pay 2 million euros ($2.5 million) in fines, charging it with exporting waste, concealing its harmfulness and forgery. "Trafigura has let its own interests prevail above health and the environment ... Other ...
Africa told to lead climate change war
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 21st, 2010
Daily Nation: Water Resources minister Charity Ngilu said at the Deutsche Welle global media forum in Bonn, Germany, on Monday that Africans were the worst affected by climate change. She said climate change should not be left to governments and civil society only. "Climate change should be in the school curriculum as our children know nothing about it," she said. "It is strange that in Kenya, only the Prime Minister is doing something about climate in the government," she added. The ...
Green Marines: Camp Lejeune Buys Into Solar Power
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 21st, 2010
National Public Radio: On the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps base in North Carolina, large, reflective rectangles line the rooftops of some of the homes. But they're not some high-tech military gadget or even a satellite dish to get the latest TV channels: They're solar panels for heating water. So many of these panels have gone up in one neighborhood that the community is quickly becoming the largest in the continental U.S. to heat water with solar energy. 'A Milestone' An American flag ...
United Kingdom: Green campaigners fear farm review will rip up rules
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 21st, 2010
Guardian: Green campaigners tonight warned of a "bonfire" of the rules safeguarding the environment, and health and safety in the countryside, after the government appointed a farming industry stalwart to chair a taskforce set up to slash regulations affecting farmers and food producers. Farming is rated as the number-one threat to biodiversity in the UK, and one of the top two causes of pollution in rivers, streams, lakes and coastal waters. The industry has the worst workplace death and ...
United States: Oil spill volunteers looking for way to help
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 21st, 2010
Associated Press: Debbie Gunnoe wanted to work as a volunteer cleaning tar balls and oil from the sugar white beaches of Florida Panhandle that she loves so much, but she's been rebuffed. BP PLC has turned away Gunnoe and other would-be volunteers because the oil giant is using only paid and trained workers to clean up the mess caused by its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Instead, the retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and nearly 70 other like-minded citizens are helping in a less direct way ...