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Archive for November, 2011
Keystone XL Delay Shows Climate Change Is a Big Election Issue
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2011
Mother Jones: Conventional wisdom has it that the next election will be fought exclusively on the topic of jobs. But President Obama's announcement [6] last week that he would postpone a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline until after the 2012 election, which may effectively kill [7] the project, makes it clear that other issues will weigh in—and that, oddly enough, one of them might even be climate change. The pipeline decision was a true upset. Everyone—and I mean everyone who "knew" how these things work—seemed...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Keystone XL Delay Shows Climate Change Is a Big Election IssuePipelines at risk of failure in Montana, Wyoming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2011
Associated Press: Federal safety regulators disclosed problems Tuesday with oil and other hazardous liquid pipelines at seven major river crossings and hundreds of smaller crossings in Montana and northern Wyoming -- problems that could put the lines at increased risk of failure.
Problems found at the major river crossings must be fixed by spring or the companies that own them will face enforcement actions, said Chris Hoidal with the U.S. Department of Transportation.
That includes pipelines crossing the Missouri,...
United Kingdom: ‘Winter drought’ could mean hosepipe bans next year
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2011
Telegraph: Usually droughts hit in the spring or summer and the last drought permit issued at this time of year was in 2003.
However the exceptional weather conditions of the last year mean many areas of the country in the Midlands, East Anglia and South East still have low water levels into autumn and winter.
Anglian Water have applied for a winter drought permit in East Anglia to stop water running low over Christmas and New Year.
The water company says it must be allowed to drain extra water from...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: ‘Winter drought’ could mean hosepipe bans next yearStates Exert Little Enforcement Of Gas Drilling Boom, Report Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2011
Yale Environment 360: Even as a push for unconventional oil and gas has triggered a boom in drilling not seen in the U.S. for decades, a published report finds that enforcement of environmental regulations associated with this drilling has been minimal. In a review of enforcement data from major drilling states -- including Texas, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia -- Greenwire has found that a small percentage of environmental infractions actually result in fines. And even when penalties are imposed, they typically represent...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on States Exert Little Enforcement Of Gas Drilling Boom, Report SaysIPCC says climate change signals small compared to natural climate variability
Posted by Tuscon Citizen: Jonathan DuHamel on November 15th, 2011
Tuscon Citizen: Some real science might have leaked from IPCC
British reporter Richard Black of the BBC claims to have received a draft of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on extreme weather.
In this draft, the IPCC seems to have backed off some of its past scary predictions and now says in the report:
There is "low confidence" that tropical cyclones have become more frequent, "limited-to-medium evidence available" to assess whether climatic factors have changed the frequency...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on IPCC says climate change signals small compared to natural climate variabilityThai lawmakers submit motion on moving capital
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2011
Agence France-Presse: Lawmakers from Thailand's ruling political party submitted a parliamentary motion on Tuesday to begin discussions over possibly shifting the capital city to prevent future flooding chaos.
Experts have said Bangkok, which is built on swampland, is slowly sinking and the floods currently besieging the city of 12 million people could be merely a foretaste of a grim future, as climate change makes its impact felt.
Sataporn Maneerat, a Puea Thai party MP, told AFP that Thailand should think about...
A Threat to Food Security in Africa’s Basins
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2011
Inter Press Service: While Africa has successfully avoided conflict over shared water courses, it will need greater diplomacy to keep the peace as new research warns that climate change will have an effect on food productivity.
"Climate change introduces a new element of uncertainty precisely when governments and donors are starting to have more open discussions about sharing water resources and to consider long-term investments in boosting food production," Alain Vidal, director of the CGIAR’s Challenge Programme...
World’s Biggest Hydropower Scheme Will Leave Africans in the Dark
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2011
Inter Press Service: South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo have signed an agreement to build a major hydroelectric power project, which is said to bring electricity to more than half of the continent’s 900 million people. But economic analysts warn that foreign investors will prevent the grid from benefiting the general public.
Together with his Congolese counterpart President Joseph Kabila, South African President Jacob Zuma witnessed on Nov. 12 the signing of a deal to construct the Grand Inga Dam. Grand...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on World’s Biggest Hydropower Scheme Will Leave Africans in the DarkGlobal emission cuts yield ‘nothing without US participation’
Posted by Jakarta Post: Tifa Asrianti on November 15th, 2011
Jakarta Post: As Indonesia has pledged to cut emissions, it is committed to convincing developed countries to follow suit during the next UN climate change conference later this month.
Rachmat Witoelar, head of the National Council on Climate Change (DNPI) and chief negotiator for Indonesia, said that his team would appeal to developed countries to fulfill their commitment and encourage developing countries to cut emissions as much as possible.
“Indonesia started the initiative by declaring a 26 percent...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Global emission cuts yield ‘nothing without US participation’Mongolia bids to keep city cool with ‘ice shield’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2011
Guardian: Mongolia is to launch one of the world's biggest ice-making experiments later this month in an attempt to combat the adverse affects of global warming and the urban heat island effect.
The geoengineering trial, that is being funded by the Ulan Bator government, aims to "store" freezing winter temperatures in a giant block of ice that will help to cool and water the city as it slowly melts during the summer.
The scientists behind the 1bn tugrik (£460,000) project hope the process will reduce...