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Archive for January 2nd, 2012
Small town rises up against deforestation in Pakistan
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 2nd, 2012
Mongabay: The town of Ayun, home to 16,000 people in the Chitral district of Pakistan, has been rocked by large-scale protests and mass arrests over the issue of corruption and deforestation in recent days. Villagers are protesting forest destruction in the Kalasha Valleys, the home of the indigenous Kalash people.
The protests first began in November with 18 people arrested, all of whom were eventually released on bail. On December 25th, police allegedly used batons, tear gas, and aerial firing to disperse...
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Protests over Newmont mine resume in Peru
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 2nd, 2012
Reuters: Foes of Newmont Mining's $4.8 billion Conga project resumed their protests in Cajamarca on Monday but turnout was weak nearly a month after the government cracked down on environmental activists it labeled as intransigent.
About 1,000 people marched in the Andean city of Cajamarca against the gold mine proposed by the U.S. miner and its Peruvian partner, Buenaventura. The government says the largest mining investment ever in Peru would generate thousands of jobs, but opponents of the project say...
Ohio suspends well operations after series of small quakes
Posted by Reuters: Kim Palmer on January 2nd, 2012
Reuters: Ohio has suspended operations at five deep-well hazardous fluid disposal sites after a series of 11 earthquakes in the Youngstown, Ohio, in the past year, including one on Saturday with a magnitude of 4.0, officials said.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said Sunday it was halting operations at five Mahoning County wells owned by Northstar Disposal Services LLC as a precaution, citing concerns of a possible link between well activity and the quakes.
"We are being overly cautious in...
NYC helps upstate towns prepare streams for more major floods as climate change worsens storms
Posted by Associated Press: Mary Esch on January 2nd, 2012
Associated Press: The mountain-ringed hamlet of Phoenicia, snuggled at the confluence of two world-renowned trout streams, was about to dig out the delta of silt dumped by two previous floods when Hurricane Irene hit at the end of August. Tropical Storm Lee followed closely, turning Main Street into a roiling red river.
"Fortunately, we were able to take a prepared plan off the shelf and work in a way that otherwise would have been impossible," said Danny Davis, a hydrologist with the New York City Department of...
No Clear Studies on Impacts of Merowe Dam
Posted by Inter Press Service: Reem Abbas on January 2nd, 2012
Inter Press Service: The multi-billion dollar Merowe Dam on the Nile River more than doubled Sudan's electricity supply, but its environmental impacts are still unknown to the public, and communities whose villages were flooded have not yet received compensation.
The Merowe Dam, which was completed in 2010, will affect the aquatic ecology of the Nile River in Sudan by blocking fish migration and degrading water quality.
It will also cause at least eight percent of Sudan's annual share in the Nile Water Agreement...
Climate change crisis worsens
Posted by Albany Times Union: Joan Wagner on January 2nd, 2012
Albany Times Union: We live in the 21st century and have the ability to collect and interpret huge amounts of data fed into computer models that provide amazingly accurate predictions. Yet, we have a large populace that does not trust the data predictions, or chooses to ignore them for political reasons.
In part, that is because most people do not understand the nature of science. They want their information presented as absolute truths and that is not how science works.
Science is based on the best information...
Australia: More storms on the way unless we learn to manage the land
Posted by Sydney Morning Herald: Paul Sheehan on January 2nd, 2012
Sydney Morning Herald: When the Bureau of Meteorology releases its annual data this week, it will probably announce that Australia has just had the second or third wettest year in its recorded history. No surprise. The most miserable summer in Sydney in 50 years. The coldest autumn nationally in more than 50 years. Record flooding in Victoria. A Christmas Day in Melbourne with hailstones the size of eggs. Massive floods in south Queensland. Cyclone Yasi in north Queensland. Heavy rainfall across the desert inland. Extreme...
White House, GOP battle for supremacy on Keystone pipeline
Posted by Hill: Andrew Restuccia on January 2nd, 2012
Hill: With President Obama’s decision on the Keystone XL pipeline looming, the White House and Republicans will spend the next several weeks trying to win the messaging war over the controversial project.
The stakes are high for both sides. Obama risks backlash from key union supporters if he rejects the project, but faces the ire of environmental groups if he approves it.
Republicans, meanwhile, stand to score a political victory if Obama green lights the pipeline. But their successful effort to...