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Archive for December 23rd, 2010
Obama To Restore Wilderness Rules For Public Lands
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 23rd, 2010
National Public Radio: The Obama administration plans to reverse a Bush-era policy and make millions of undeveloped acres of land once again eligible for federal wilderness protection, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Thursday.
The agency will replace the 2003 policy adopted under former Interior Secretary Gale Norton, Salazar said. That policy -- derided by some as the "No More Wilderness'' policy -- stated that new areas could not be recommended for wilderness protection by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and...
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US to protect ‘wild’ public land
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 23rd, 2010
BBC: The US is to make millions of acres of public land eligible for wilderness protection, officials have said.
The order reverses former President George W Bush's policy forbidding the government from doing so.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Thursday said the new policy would help to protect public land "for current and future generations to come".
In 2003, the Bush administration opened million of acres in the Rocky Mountains to potential commercial development.
Under the new policy,...
GE to pay 500 mln dollars for New York river cleanup
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 23rd, 2010
AFP: General Electric said Thursday it will soon complete a 500-million-dollar toxic waste cleanup project in New York's Hudson river to settle a decades-old battle with US environmental authorities.
The giant industrial conglomerate said it had informed the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it will complete the second and final phase of the Hudson riverbed dredging project in late Spring 2011.
It said it had set aside 500 million dollars for the project and that it "expects this step...
Does Lead Lurk in Your Tap Water?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 23rd, 2010
NYT: The advice from New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection seemed sensible enough: run your tap for 30 seconds, just in case. That tip was issued last month after a round of sampling showed a rise in the percentage of homes with elevated levels of lead.
New York City Department
of Environmental Protection
The federal Safe Drinking Water Act mandates annual testing of lead in tap water. In tests conducted from June to September in homes in older New York buildings known to have...
GE expects $500 million charge for NY river cleanup
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 23rd, 2010
Reuters: General Electric Co plans to put aside another $500 million to dredge toxic chemicals it dumped into New York's Hudson River more than 30 years ago, bringing the clean-up bill to $1.33 billion over two decades.
The largest U.S. conglomerate said on Thursday it expected one-time gains, including a favorable tax settlement, to offset the after-tax charge, which it will record in the fourth quarter. It did not change its overall performance forecast.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last...
City heading for water famine
Posted by Deccan Herald: None Given on December 23rd, 2010
Deccan Herald: Five more years, and Bangalore will be faced with a full blown water crisis, hitherto restricted to pockets on its outskirts.
Armed with research findings, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) scientists fired the warning salvo yet again on Wednesday. The message to the State was clear: Preserve the existing water bodies, take immediate remedial measures or perish.
"Lake 2010,' a symposium on "Wetlands, Biodiversity and Climate Change' here was just the apt venue to raise the critical water issue....
Weather warnings ease in Maritimes as massive storm loses power
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 23rd, 2010
Globe and Mail: Environment Canada has ended its weather warnings for most of Atlantic Canada which has been pounded by high winds and rain for much of the week.
Forecasters say winds will begin to diminish throughout much of the region today, however the wind and rain is expected to effect areas of all four Atlantic provinces into Friday.
Water levels in coastal areas are expected to continue to run higher than normal and forecasters warn of the possibility of additional minor flooding at high tide later...
UN envoy warns of China’s ability to feed its people
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 23rd, 2010
Guardian: China's ability to feed a fifth of the world's population will become tougher because of land degradation, urbanisation and over-reliance on fossil-fuels and fertiliser, a United Nations envoy warned today as grain and meat prices surged on global markets. With memories still fresh of the famines that killed tens of millions of people in the early 1960s, the Chinese government has gone to great lengths to ensure the world's biggest population has enough to eat, but its long-term self-sufficiency...