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Archive for March, 2011
A Foil for the Koch Brothers?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 15th, 2011
New York Times: Is Thomas F. Steyer the anti-Koch?
For years, Mr. Steyer, a billionaire San Francisco hedge fund manager, assiduously maintained a low profile while becoming a major donor to Democratic candidates. That changed in 2010 when he led the successful fight to defeat Proposition 23, a California ballot measure backed by two Texas oil companies and a company controlled by Charles G. and David H. Koch, the secretive billionaire brothers and bankrollers of conservative causes.
Proposition 23 would have...
Tokyo Electric: Water levels at No.2 reactor rising
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 15th, 2011
Reuters: Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Co said on Wednesday that levels of cooling water at the No.2 reactor of its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are recovering smoothly.
Cooling functions at the Fukushima complex were crippled by a massive earthquake and tsunami on Friday, forcing the operator to inject seawater and release radioactive air into the atmosphere to reduce heat and high pressure inside the reactors.
Fuel rods at the No.2 reactor were exposed fully on Monday, raising worries about...
Japanese nuclear plant hit by fire and third explosion
Posted by Guardian: Jonathan Watts andTania Branigan on March 15th, 2011
Guardian: Japan is facing the world's biggest nuclear crisis for decades as engineers struggle to regain control of the Fukushima plant following another explosion and a fire that caused a spike in radiation to harmful levels.
Amid growing fears that the situation is heading for catastrophe, 70 technicians are still battling to cool reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi facility but non-essential personnel have been ordered to leave and the Kyodo news agency reported that radiation levels have become too high...
Is Pakistan ready for a tsunami, ask experts
Posted by Tribune: Samia Saleem on March 15th, 2011
Tribune: As the sea level is rapidly rising and protective mangroves at Pakistan’s coast are disappearing, we must prepare for disasters such as the tsunami in Japan, which is a wake-up call, local experts have urged.
“Climate change and environmental degradation in the country is evident from the increased frequency of earthquakes we experience today,” said Arshad Abbasi, a water expert from the Sustainable Development Policy Institute. Globally, earthquakes of over 3 on the Richter Scale have increased,...
United States: Gov. Pat Quinn vetoes coal-to-gas plants
Posted by Chicago Tribune: Julie Wernau on March 15th, 2011
Chicago Tribune: In vetoing two bills Monday that would have paved the way for two coal-to-gas plants to be built in the state, Gov. Pat Quinn signaled his support for cleaner uses of Illinois coal but said he would not support the technology at the expense of consumers.
The bills would have forced state utilities to buy synthetic natural gas, which was expected to be more expensive than natural gas for the next two decades, from a $3 billion plant on Chicago's Southeast Side proposed by New York-based Leucadia...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United States: Gov. Pat Quinn vetoes coal-to-gas plantsJapan: Fukushima blast shows nuclear is not the answer
Posted by Guardian: Brahma Chellaney on March 15th, 2011
Guardian: The troubles of the Fukushima nuclear-power plant – and other reactors – in earthquake-hit Japan have dealt a severe blow to the global nuclear industry, a powerful cartel of less than a dozen major state-owned or state-guided firms that have been trumpeting a nuclear-power renaissance.
But the risks that seaside reactors like Fukushima face from natural disasters are well-known. Indeed, they became evident six years ago, when the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004 inundated India's second-largest...
McDonald’s sets long-term sustainable beef, coffee plans
Posted by Business Green: Jonathan Bardelline on March 15th, 2011
Business Green: McDonald's has laid out a plans to move to more sustainable meat, coffee and packaging.
The company's Sustainable Land Management Commitment will require suppliers to gradually source food and materials from sustainably-managed land, though there are no specific timelines for now, and it is initially focusing just on beef, poultry, coffee, palm oil and packaging.
Those five were chosen, with the help of analysis from the World Wildlife Fund, since they have the most potential to be changed...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on McDonald’s sets long-term sustainable beef, coffee plansWaterfall or water trickle
Posted by BBC: Irene Caselli on March 15th, 2011
BBC: The image of the San Rafael waterfall is ubiquitous in Ecuador's Amazon region, appearing on everything from tourist brochures to the backs of buses, alongside the Virgin Mary meant to protect drivers.
The waterfall, the country's largest, is in the Sumaco Biosphere Reserve, a lush site protected by the United Nations for its unique flora and fauna, a result of the wet climate that originates from the meeting of the Andean and Amazon regions.
But environmentalists say this natural wonder and...
Water for an integrative climate paradigm
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 15th, 2011
ScienceDaily: Water for an Integrative Climate Paradigm
International climate negotiations are deadlocked between the affluent global North and "developing" South, between political Left and Right, and between believers and deniers. Now, authors writing in the latest issue of the International Journal of Water argue that a more integrative analysis of climate should help resolve these conflicts.
Land use changes and water management are highly relevant to climate change. To quote hydrologists Juraj Kohutiar...
Canada: The Gordon Campbell legacy for Super, Natural British Columbia
Posted by Vancouver Sun: George Hoberg on March 14th, 2011
Vancouver Sun: Today, after 10 years as premier of British Columbia, Gordon Campbell will hand power over to Christy Clark.
Natural resource policy has been one of the most dynamic areas of policy development during the Campbell era. I am offering an overview of the most significant policy changes during his tenure in the areas of energy, climate and forest policy. I am not offering our views on the merits of the changes, but rather a ranking of what I see as the 10 most consequential developments. I also provide...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: The Gordon Campbell legacy for Super, Natural British Columbia