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Archive for August 10th, 2011
Southern Heat Wave Strains Power Generation
Posted by Climate Central: Alyson Kenward on August 10th, 2011
Climate Central: The heat this summer has been extraordinarily intense in many Central and Southern states, and triple-digit temperatures continue to roast parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. For example, Dallas, Texas is closing in on its record for the longest streak of 100°F days, and similar milestones have already been reached in other parts of the Lone Star state. At 88.9°F, the average temperature in Oklahoma during the month of July set a new record for the all-time warmest calendar month for any state...
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Donald Trump in a huff over plans for windfarm near his Scottish golf resort
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 10th, 2011
Press Association: US tycoon Donald Trump has criticised a move to build an offshore windfarm near his golf resort in Scotland after a planning application for 11 turbines was submitted last Friday.
The European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre is a £150m joint venture by utility company Vattenfall, engineering firm Technip and Aberdeen Renewable Energy Group.
In a statement, Trump said: "I am very disappointed that Scotland may allow the development of a wind-power plant directly off Aberdeen's beautiful coastline....
Drought persuades Kenya to import GM maize
Posted by SciDev.Net: Peter Kahare on August 10th, 2011
SciDev.Net: Kenya's government has made a controversial move to allow the import of genetically modified (GM) maize from South Africa to fight hunger and starvation, even though GM crops cannot yet be legally grown in the country.
The UN estimates that 2.5 million people in Kenya are in urgent need of food, a figure expected to rise to three million soon.
Following a cabinet meeting last month (14 July), the government said that GM maize can be imported on condition that it is not used as seed; that products...
New Trees Will Rejuvenate Declining Forests in U.S. Midwest, Study Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 10th, 2011
Yale Environment 360: A new generation of native trees is poised to rejuvenate the aging forests in the U.S.’s Upper Great Lakes region, providing a critical source of carbon capture in the 21st century, according to a new study. While some research suggests that mature forests store less carbon over time, Ohio State University researchers say the aging trees across the upper Midwest -- which they likened to baby Boomers -- are being replaced with a more diverse and complex mix of trees. “They may even outdo the boomer...
Canada says oil, gas industry organized PR strategy for oilsands
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 10th, 2011
Postmedia News: Natural Resources Canada says a powerful oil and gas industry lobby group was responsible for organizing a key meeting and some controversial messaging, in partnership with government, to polish the image of Alberta's oilsands industry.
In newly released emails and internal records, department officials said the strategy to "turn up the volume" and get "the right attitude" on oilsands advocacy was actually proposed by high-ranking officials from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers...
EARTH MEANDERS: The Great Rainforest Heist: Greenpeace, WWF, RAN, FSC and REDD+ Conspiracy to Log Earths Last Primary Forests for Their Protection
Posted by Water Conservation Blog on August 10th, 2011
By Earth Meanders, a project of Ecological Internet
CONTACT: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org
WHEN GOOD RAINFOREST GROUPS GO BAD you get monoculture and secondary forest plantations where ancient intact primary rainforests once stood, called sustainable forest management and carbon forestry, by BINGOs (big NGOs) and United Nations greenwashers, paid for with your membership fees and taxes. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is primary forest logging greenwash by money-sucking environmental bureaucracies. Rainforests and other old forest must be protected and restored for local and global ecology and local eco-development from standing forests.
Please donate now to Ecological Internets End Primary Forest Logging Campaign at http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/donate/end_primary_forest_logging/ in order to help turn this draft document into a polished, photogenic, researched and footnoted report on BINGOs Increased Old Forest Greenwash. Relax, there are typos, but wanted to get this out right now in draft.
INTRODUCTION
What would you say to me if I told you the worlds pre-eminent environmental organizations, widely perceived as the leading advocates for rainforests and old growth, have for decades been actively, indeed intimately, involved in logging the worlds last old forests. Would you call me a liar? Tell me I am mentally ill? Or because of the cognitive dissonance would you simply ignore me, ...
Off the Grid, Where the Living Is Good
Posted by New York Times: CRAIG LEISHER on August 10th, 2011
New York Times: Morning on the dock near the Maine cabin where the author is living with his family.
Three weeks ago, my wife and I moved with our three boys, two cats, five bikes and canoe from the New Jersey suburbs to a cabin in the Maine woods. We`ll be here for a year, and from time to time I`ll be updating you on our experiment in living in tune with our surroundings and off the grid.
We have no hot water, no microwave, no washing machine, no coffee maker and only enough solar electricity to power two...
UN Chief Calls For ‘Intellectual Social Responsibility’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 10th, 2011
Bernama: Intellectuals and academics around the world must step up their joint efforts for sustainable development that aims to improve people's lives, while preserving the environment for future generations, United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday.
"Today, we are facing more complex and interconnected problems that cause so much suffering," the secretary-general told an academic forum in Seoul. "And the responsibility to solve major problems lies on intellectuals."
By sharing ideas across borders...
India will ‘require 10% more water by 2050’
Posted by Live Mint: Jacob P. Koshy on August 10th, 2011
Live Mint: India will require nearly 10% more water than existing government calculations by 2050 on account of recent revision of population figures by the Census of India and the United Nations (UN), according to a study to be published in the Current Science journal later this week.
Current Science estimates of India’s future needs are based on a 1999 report prepared by the National Commission for Integrated Water Resources Development (NCIWRD). Then, India’s population was expected to stabilize at 1.58...
Rice from town near Tokyo is radiation-free, tests show
Posted by Reuters: Yuko Takeo on August 10th, 2011
Reuters: Samples of rice grown in a town near Tokyo showed no radioactive materials when tested, officials said on Wednesday, a relief for farmers preparing to ship Japan's traditional food staple.
Concerns over food safety have grown after radiation from the smashed Fukushima Daiichi power plant has leaked across northern and eastern Japan since March, the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.
Some local authorities are testing their rice to see if it contains too much cesium.
Rice grown in...