RSS Feed
Archive for October, 2011
Keystone pipeline makes strange bedfellows
Posted by Omaha World-Herald: Robynn Tysver on October 31st, 2011
Omaha World-Herald: What do Gov. Dave Heineman, al-Jazeera and Alec Baldwin have in common?
All three are thorns in the side of a controversial oil pipeline that a Canadian company wants to run down middle America.
The fact that Heineman, a cautious conservative, has anything in common with Baldwin, a liberal actor and firebrand, underscores the strange mix of political bedfellows thrown together by the pipeline debate.
On this issue, Democratic-leaning labor unions, which want to build the Keystone XL pipeline,...
Posted in 
United Kingdom: Heathrow third runway: transport secretary stands by ban
Posted by Guardian: Dan Milmo on October 31st, 2011
Guardian: The new transport secretary, Justine Greening, has ruled out revisiting the ban on a third runway at Heathrow airport but has declined to rule out expansion elsewhere in the south east.
Greening also reaffirmed the government block on new runways at Gatwick and Stansted, while refusing to reject outright Boris Johnson's proposals to build a rival to Heathrow somewhere near London. Speaking at the Airport Operators Association conference on Monday, she said: "The political reality is that the runway...
Extreme weather pushes up food prices – and unrest?
Posted by AlertNet: Katie Murray on October 31st, 2011
AlertNet: This past year the world has witnessed a spike in food prices, which some experts believe correlate with the rising number of developing countries experiencing societal unrest.
"Climate change increases the probability of extreme weather, which is likely to result in increased scarcity of food, land and water and access to other resources,' said Rob Bailey, an energy, environment and development expert at Chatham House, a London-based international affairs organization.
Where vital resources...
The Fracking Divide: Who Will Prevail in N.Y.?
Posted by New York Times: Peter Applebome on October 31st, 2011
New York Times: A Quinnipiac University poll released last week found residents of New York State almost evenly split on drilling, with 44 in favor because of economic benefits and 43 percent opposed because of environmental concerns. That represents a modest trend toward skepticism. In August, the poll found 47 percent to 42 percent in favor.
But polls, some more scientific than others, in many of the areas most likely to see gas drilling tend to show overwhelming opposition of two-thirds or more, particularly...
How we covered the world at 5 billion: ‘We shall need to do an enormous lot of things right, and all at
Posted by Guardian: James Randerson on October 31st, 2011
Guardian: Ronald Reagan was coming to the end of his second term in the White House, and though embroiled in the Iran-Contra affair, had just challenged the Russian president Mikhail Gorbchev to tear down the Berlin Wall. Margaret Thatcher had won a landslide victory at the polls and returned triumphant to Downing Street for a third term.
It was the year the Dow Jones Industrial Average broke through 2,000 points for the first time (it is now over 11,000), while the UK music charts bopped along to the sounds...
Stemming population growth is a cheap way to limit climate change
Posted by Guardian: Thomas Lovejoy on October 31st, 2011
Guardian: On October 31, according to forecasts, the 7 billionth person will be born. A few weeks before this milestone, Adnan Mevic, whom the United Nations declared Baby 6 Billion in 1999, celebrated one of his own. He turned 12.
More than 200,000 people are added to the population each day, and we're expected to keep growing for years to come, reaching anywhere from 8 billion to 11 billion mid-century.
The idea of living sustainably, of "going green", has recently become a buzzword when talking about...
VIDEO: World population at seven billion
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 31st, 2011
BBC: The world's population is estimated to reach seven billion on Monday, according to the United Nations. The number is growing by 200,000 people a day, and experts predict that by the end of this century, it could reach 10 billion. The BBC's Graham Satchell reports.
World’s ‘seven billionth baby’ is born
Posted by Guardian: Jasmine Coleman on October 31st, 2011
Guardian: The world's seven billionth baby has been born in a packed government-run hospital in the Philippines.
Weighing 2.5kg (5.5lb), Danica May Camacho was chosen by the United Nations to be one of several children around the world who will symbolically represent the global population milestone.
She was delivered just before midnight on Sunday amid an explosion of press camera flashes at Manila's Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital.
"She looks so lovely," her mother, Camille Dalura, whispered softly...
Nebraska Legislature to Debate Keystone XL Oil Pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 31st, 2011
New York Times: With a federal decision anticipated soon on whether an oil pipeline will be allowed to run from Canada through the nation's midsection, lawmakers in Nebraska are being summoned on Tuesday to an unexpected legislative session over the issue, which has stirred up a level of rancor that few had predicted.
"The public outcry has just continued to get louder and louder, stronger and stronger,' said Annette Dubas, a state senator who is among those who want to consider how Nebraska might regulate such...
United States: Catastrophic Drought in Texas Causes Global Economic Ripples
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 31st, 2011
New York Times: The drought map created by University College London shows a number of worryingly dry areas around the globe, in places including East Africa, Canada, France and Britain.
But the largest area of catastrophic drought centers on Texas. It is an angry red swath on the map, signifying what has been the driest year in the state's history. It has brought immense hardship to farmers and ranchers, and fed incessant wildfires, as well as an enormous dust storm that blew through the western Texas city of...