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Archive for July, 2010
EPA OKs more hazardous waste for Calif. toxic dump
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
Associated Press: The Environmental Protection Agency says a central California landfill that local residents blame for birth defects can continue accepting hazardous waste. The landfill next to Kettleman City is run by Waste Management. In a letter released by the company on Wednesday, the EPA says it decided to allow more hazardous waste after an area where cancer-causing PCBs were found was cleaned up. But the letter says Waste Management must find the source of other PCBs, or polychlorinated ...
Firm Seeks ‘Blue Gold’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
New York Times: Freshwater supplies are strained in countries all over the world. But in a few places like Alaska, Greenland and Canada, there`s more than enough to go around. So why not ship water from where it`s plentiful to where it`s scarce? Associated Press Heading across a dry riverbed in Palghat, India, in a past drought. Most people would call this a fool`s errand: water is heavy and transporting it thousands of miles is tremendously expensive and energy-intensive. But not S2C Global ...
NYTIMES.COM: Success With Starlings, and Meeting the Chief
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
New York Times: We awoke early this morning to put in a long day of trapping in the village. The kids should be back in school, so we hoped that we would be able to work without too much disruption. Wilson drove over just after sunrise to begin setting up while I finished getting a few things ready at camp. While walking over to the village a few minutes later, I noticed a large mixed-species flock of starlings foraging on the ground in an enclosed area of houses. Although Wilson had found a few smaller ...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on NYTIMES.COM: Success With Starlings, and Meeting the ChiefCanada: After the Gulf, an oil sands debate looms
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
Toronto Star: -America's gaze may be fixed on the Gulf of Mexico, as a tentative bid to stanch free-flowing environmental catastrophe begins to take hold. But with one pipe poised for closure, the Obama administration now must grapple with another, as a bid to dramatically increase the flow of carbon-heavy Canadian crude to the U.S. approaches its witching hour. By any measure, TransCanada Corp.'s proposed $7-billion Keystone XL pipeline was never going to arrive quietly. If approved, ...
Report: Forestry policy is working
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
Business Green: There has been a dramatic decline in illegal logging in tropical forest nations over the last decade, according to a major new report from the Chatham House think tank that reveals improvements in forestry policy and enforcement are having a positive impact. However, the report's authors were quick to stress that illegal logging remains a major problem that requires widespread improvements in policy and governance if a sustainable framework for managing tropical forests is to be ...
Illegal logging of tropical rainforests down by up to 75%
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
Guardian: Efforts to tackle illegal destruction of the world's rainforests have been a success, according to a new report that details a significant fall in unauthorised logging. The Chatham House study, released today, says that illegal logging has dropped by between 50 and 75% across Cameroon, Indonesia and the Brazilian Amazon over the last decade; globally it has dropped by one-fifth since 2002. The study credits actions taken by governments and pressure groups for the improvement, ...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Illegal logging of tropical rainforests down by up to 75%India: Fighting Drought With Check Dams
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
Inter Press Service: Gazing out at the lush greenery that surrounds the village of Salaita in northern India, a smile of satisfaction appears on retired army general A.P.S. Chauhan's face. "Hard to imagine now, but these were dusty ravines just two or three years ago," he told IPS. In recent years, large tracts of land along the river Yamuna had eroded so much that they appeared like a series of deep serrated ravines. The cover of vegetation that would have retained rainwater and held intact the ...
China seizes eight tonnes of endangered pangolins
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
Agence France Presse: Chinese customs said they have seized nearly eight tonnes of frozen pangolins -- an endangered species of scaly anteater -- from a fishing boat off the southern coast. The vessel was intercepted in June carrying the huge haul of animals and nearly two tonnes of their scales, said a statement on the website of customs authorities in Jiangmen in Guangdong province. The pangolin is designated as endangered in China, and anyone found guilty of smuggling the rare animals or their ...
Doors Wide Open for Renewable Energy
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
Inter Press Service: Heavy reliance on petroleum imports, the need for electricity in rural areas, and the ongoing effort towards sustainable development have focussed Central America's attention on renewable energy. But that doesn't mean there isn't opposition. This year, Honduras plans to have one of the largest wind energy farms in Latin America up and running, with an output of 100 megawatts of electricity. Located in the municipality of Santa Ana, 24 kilometres from the Honduran capital, it ...
BP: New Cap Has Stopped Flow Of Gulf Oil
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 15th, 2010
National Public Radio: BP says a new cap has stopped oil from leaking into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time since April. The energy giant has been slowly dialing down the flow as part of a test on a new cap, and engineers are now monitoring the pressure to see if the broken well holds. "The test is looking at the condition of the well under the sea and if it turns out that the well is in good shape, this could well be the beginning of the end of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe," NPR's Richard ...