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Archive for November 1st, 2011
Keystone XL pipeline debate moves to Nebraska as final decision looms
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 1st, 2011
Guardian: The state of Nebraska will open a special session of the legislature on Tuesday afternoon in a last-gasp effort to stop or re-route the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project.
The pipeline, meant to carry crude from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, to the refineries of Texas, has become a political liability for Barack Obama. He's been heckled during party fundraisers, and faces a big demonstration at the White House on 6 November.
For the next few days though, the focus shifts to Nebraska....
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Thailand flood misery continues as scientists say climate change is causing more weather extremes
Posted by MSNBC: None Given on November 1st, 2011
MSNBC: The AP reports: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that extreme weather disasters like the recent record floods in Thailand are striking more often, according to a draft summary of a report obtained by The Associated Press. It says there is at least a 2-in-3 probability that climate extremes have already worsened because of man-made greenhouse gases.
Japan MP drinks Fukushima water
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 1st, 2011
BBC: A Japanese official has drunk water collected from the quake-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, after reporters challenged him to prove it was safe.
Yasuhiro Sonoda appeared nervous and his hands shook as he downed a glass during a televised news conference.
The water he drank was taken from puddles under two reactor buildings. It is decontaminated before being used for tasks such as watering plants.
Journalists have repeatedly queried the safety of the procedure.
Mr Sonoda, who serves...
Panel says wild weather worsens
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 1st, 2011
Associated Press: kFreakish weather disasters - from the sudden October snowstorm in the Northeast U.S. to the record floods in Thailand - are striking more often. And global warming is likely to spawn more similar weather extremes at a huge cost, says a draft summary of an international climate report obtained by The Associated Press.
The final draft of the report from a panel of the world's top climate scientists paints a wild future for a world already weary of weather catastrophes costing billions of dollars....
Japan winter power enough despite nuclear lack: government
Posted by Reuters: Risa Maeda on November 1st, 2011
Reuters: Japanese utilities will largely avoid power shortages this winter despite prolonged reactor shutdowns amid public concerns over nuclear safety, but hurdles remain for next summer, the government said on Tuesday.
It also unveiled ways to bridge the gap next summer, when peak-hour demand is expected to exceed supply by 16,560 megawatts, compared with the biggest gap this winter of 2,530 MW in one area, if no reactors restart by then.
Utilities plan to secure additional fossil-fuel capacity of...
United Kingdom: US-style ‘mega’ Foston pig farm could still be halted says Soil Association
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 1st, 2011
Ecologist: Proposals for a large-scale pig farm in Foston, Derbyshire, could herald new era of US-style factory farming in the UK but face concerns from government health officials
Plans for a giant pig farm of up to 25,000 animals in Foston, Derbyshire, could still be blocked, say campaigners.
It was thought that the main hurdle to approval for the controversial farm had been passed last week after environment officials gave the project the all-clear.
However, government health officials also told...
Canada: Obama to make decision on controversial oil pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 1st, 2011
Washington Post: President Obama said Tuesday that he will decide whether to approve or deny a permit for a controversial 1,700-mile Canadian oil pipeline, rather than delegating the decision to the State Department. The proposal by the firm TransCanada to ship crude extracted from a region in Alberta called the “oil sands” to Gulf Coast refineries has become a charged political issue for the White House. Labor unions and business groups argue that it would create thousands of jobs in the midst of an economic downturn....
Bigger Birds in Central California, Courtesy of Global Climate Change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 1st, 2011
ScienceDaily: Birds are getting bigger in central California, and that was a big surprise for Rae Goodman and her colleagues. Goodman uncovered the trend while working as a graduate student for Associate Professor of Biology Gretchen LeBuhn, analyzing data from thousands of birds caught and released each year at two sites near San Francisco Bay and Point Reyes National Seashore.
The SF State scientists found that birds' wings have grown longer and birds are increasing in mass over the last 27 to 40 years. ...
A scientific skeptic warms to reality
Posted by Oregonian: Editorial on November 1st, 2011
Oregonian: We've been waiting for someone, anyone, with the credibility to put an end to the absurd argument challenging the existence of global warming and move the political debate to serious ways to address it. How ironic if that someone turns out to be physicist Richard Muller, and that his research is funded by none other than the Koch Foundation.
Richard Muller and his wife, Elizabeth MullerMuller, the University of California at Berkeley physicist and well-known climate skeptic, on Monday delivered...