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Archive for February 15th, 2011
Report warns of worsening western water crisis
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on February 15th, 2011
Climate Central: Last month, we ran a series on water resources in the American Southwest. The stories, by veteran environment reporter Tom Yulsman, made clear that current trends of water supply and demand in the Colorado River basin are simply unsustainable, and resource managers face a series of tough choices ahead.
Now a new report, produced by the Stockholm Environment Institute, an environmental think tank, warns of climate change-related water shortages in the region, and recommends various approaches to...
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Climate Change to Cause ‘Massive’ Food Disruptions
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2011
Bloomberg: Global food supplies will face "massive disruptions" from climate change, Olam International Ltd. forecast, as Agrocorp International Pte. said corn will gain to a record, stoking food inflation and increasing hunger.
"The fact is that climate around the world is changing and that will cause massive disruptions," Sunny Verghese, chief executive officer at Olam, among the world's three biggest suppliers of rice and cotton, said in a Bloomberg Television interview today. "We're friendly to wheat,...
Amazon pollution: Chevron fined
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2011
BBC: A court in Ecuador has fined US oil giant Chevron $8.6bn (£5.3bn) for polluting a large part of the country's Amazon region.
The oil firm Texaco, which merged with Chevron in 2001, was accused of dumping billions of gallons of toxic materials into unlined pits and Amazon rivers.
Campaigners say crops were damaged and farm animals killed, and that local cancer rates increased.
Condemning the ruling as fraudulent, Chevron said it would appeal.
The company will also have to pay a 10% legally...
Panama canal: Imperial trade routes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2011
Guardian: Once sailing ships battled their way through the seas off Cape Horn. Now container vessels make their way through the Panama canal. The purpose is the same: to link the markets of the Pacific world with those of the Atlantic, trading the raw commodities and consumer goods that power the global economy. Like the Suez canal, the Panama canal is a vital pinch point and an immensely profitable strategic asset. Last week oil traders scrambled to plan alternative supply routes in the event that the Egyptian...
China: China overtakes Japan as world’s second-largest economy
Posted by Guardian: Justin McCurry and Julia Kollewe on February 15th, 2011
Guardian: China has leapfrogged Japan to become the world's second-largest economy, a title Japan has held for more than 40 years.
While Japan grew 3.9% last year – its first annual growth in three years – this was not enough to hold off China's booming economy. Japan's nominal GDP was $5.4742tn (£3.4tn) in 2010, less than China's total of $5.8786tn, according to official data released by Japan.
But, despite Japan's displacement from second slot, its leadership welcomed the figures as a boost to Asia...
Ecuador Judge Orders Chevron to Pay $9 Billion
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2011
New York Times: A judge in a tiny courtroom in the Ecuadorean Amazon ruled Monday that the oil giant Chevron was responsible for polluting remote tracts of Ecuadorean jungle and ordered the company to pay more than $9 billion in damages, one of the largest environmental awards ever.
The decision by Judge Nicolás Zambrano in Lago Agrio, a town founded as an oil camp in the 1960s, immediately opened a contentious new stage of appeals in a legal battle that has dragged on in courts in Ecuador and the United States...
In Northwest, a Clash Over a Coal Operation
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2011
New York Times: A plan to build the United States' first West Coast facility for exporting coal to Asia has come under increased scrutiny after the disclosure of documents suggesting that the company proposing the project did not convey the full scope of its plans to state regulators here in Washington.
The project, which would be built on the Columbia River in Longview, Wash., received preliminary approval from Cowlitz County commissioners late last year but has been delayed by a legal challenge by environmentalists....
Ecuador court orders Chevron to pay $8.6 bln
Posted by Reuters: Victor Gomez on February 15th, 2011
Reuters: A court in Ecuador's Amazon told Chevron Corp on Monday to pay $8.6 billion in environmental damages, but the U.S. oil company vowed to fight on in a lawsuit seen as a global test case.
Chevron said it would appeal, meaning the case, which dates from drilling in the Andean nation during the 1970s and 1980s, could drag on.
The legal battle has spawned accusations of dirty tricks and bribery. Activists portray it as a fight for justice against rich polluters, but Chevron says it is driven more...