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Archive for September 27th, 2011
Jail Before Climate-Wrecking Tar Sands, Canadians Say
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 27th, 2011
Inter Press Service: More than 200 Canadians engaged in civil disobedience, with 117 arrested in Canada's quiet capital city on Monday. The reason? To protest the Stephen Harper right-wing government's open support for the oil industry and expanding production in the climate-disrupting tar sands.
The normally placid and polite Canadians shouted, waved banners and demanded the closure of the multi-billion-dollar tar sands oil extraction projects in northern Alberta to protect the global climate and the health of local...
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In Need of a Unified Climate Change Policy
Posted by Inter Press Service: Tinus de Jager on September 27th, 2011
Inter Press Service: The implementation of a unified climate change policy across all of South Africa’s government departments will not be easy as the divisions currently work largely as separate entities, says Greenpeace Africa.
The South African government announced on Sep. 13 that it would beef up its climate policy "to ensure that all government departments responded well to the issue of climate change."
South Africa will host the 17th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Durban from Nov....
Mapping error sparks new stance on climate change
Posted by Public Radio International: None Given on September 27th, 2011
Public Radio International: Glaciologists are up in arms about a new map of the world that they think overstates the effects of climate change.
The latest edition of the well-respected "Times Atlas of the World" has run afoul of many in the scientific community. A map of Greenland in the book shows that the country has considerably less landmass than ever before. Harper Collins, which prints the "Times Atlas," recently circulated a press release that said Greenland had lost more than 15 percent of its coastline after nearby...
Pittsylvania County uranium site prone to flooding, study says
Posted by Roanoke Times: Laurence Hammack on September 27th, 2011
Roanoke Times: A piece of Pittsylvania County land that may one day be a uranium mine is the site of "frequent and pervasive flooding," according to a study by an environmental group.
Floodwaters may carry the risk of radioactive contamination from uranium mining waste, called tailings, that would be stored underground at the mine site, said a report released Monday by the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League.
Since Virginia Uranium Inc. proposed tapping a huge uranium deposit beneath the Coles Hill farm...
ChemChina looks ahead to having zero emissions
Posted by China Daily: Zhang Zhao on September 27th, 2011
China Daily: China's leading chemical products manufacturers, China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina), is paying closer attention to environmental protection and climate change and is looking for eco-friendly concepts to improve society, a senior executive has reported.
"The chemical industry does not need to mean heavy pollution," explained Ren Jianxin, general manager of the China National Chemical Corp, so it is using more advanced technology and innovative management, while keeping social responsibility...
Ottawa’s ‘ethical’ oil sands campaign heats up
Posted by Globe & Mail: Campbell Clark AND Nathan Vanderklippe on September 27th, 2011
Globe & Mail: A global battle over the reputation of Alberta's oil sands is coming to a head. Ottawa is deploying heavy diplomatic guns, on both sides of the Atlantic, to the debate over whether it will be treated as an ethical source for a world that needs oil, or a polluting pariah.
Stephen Harper's chummy relationship with British Prime Minister David Cameron has begun to yield a friendlier view toward the oil sands, a potential influence in the fight over European standards that could label Alberta oil...
India: Kashmiris Hail Hague Stay on Dam
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 27th, 2011
Inter Press Service: A ruling by the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) at The Hague, staying construction of a dam across a river that flows into Pakistan, has brought cheer to the tribal people who live around the site.
"If the ruling of the international court actually stops construction activity I would be the happiest man alive," Abdul Majeed Najar, a farmer, told IPS. "We do not want to be relocated from our ancestral lands."
Few would want to move out of this idyllic, alpine valley - that stretches...
United Kingdom: Canada geese, an invasive species soon to be culled
Posted by Guardian: Catherine Vincent on September 27th, 2011
Guardian: Once a protected species, Canada geese (Branta canadensis) may soon become a target for hunters. There are certainly so many of them in France that they are beginning to pose a threat to wetland biodiversity. On 6 September, the day before the shooting season opened in France, the National Hunters Federation (FNC) repeated its determination to have the geese put back on the list of waterfowl that can be hunted. But is this the right answer?
The Canada goose is the largest goose found in Europe....
The Pioneers of Our Climate, Water and Food Security
Posted by Common Dreams: Peter Bosshard on September 27th, 2011
Common Dreams: When the World Commission on Dams reviewed the development effectiveness of dams, multipurpose projects with large dams, power plants and irrigation schemes had the worst social, environmental and economic track record. As the world is grappling for appropriate answers to climate change, influential actors such as the World Bank want to give these complex schemes a second chance. They are wrong. While we need to integrate the concerns of climate change, water, energy and food security, we don't need...
Changing Kenyan climate threatens traditional rainmakers
Posted by AlertNet: Gitonga Njeru on September 27th, 2011
AlertNet: In the face of erratic rainfall patterns, persistent droughts and poor food production, many Kenyan farmers are struggling to maintain their livelihoods.
But another group is also finding itself a casualty of the country's unpredictable weather -rainmakers.
A traditional and familiar part of agricultural life in western Kenya, rainmakers have long been called upon to predict the coming of rain so farmers will know when to sow their crops.
But many are finding their skills short-circuited...