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Archive for January 12th, 2012
Pro-Pipeline Canada To Americans: Butt Out, Eh?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 12th, 2012
National Public Radio: JaYet another foreign government has accused Americans of meddling in its internal affairs. It says U.S. donors are bankrolling local political activists, and it may be time for a crackdown on the political influence of outsiders.
But it isn't Syria and it isn't Egypt. It's America's friendly neighbor to the north - Canada. The conservative-led Canadian government is peeved at American environmental organizations that have been effective in delaying U.S. approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, which...
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Heavy Lobbying Before Keystone Oil Pipeline Decision
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 12th, 2012
National Public Radio: The oil industry and environmentalists are fighting over the Keystone XL pipeline, and in this election year, President Obama is caught in the middle.
The industry says the pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast, would create jobs. Environmentalists worry it will lead to more pollution. Obama has until next month to make a decision, and that has both sides lobbying heavily.
The 1,700-mile pipeline would bring oil from Alberta's tar sands down through the middle of the...
How to Buy Time in the Fight against Climate Change: Mobilize to Stop Soot and Methane
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 12th, 2012
Scientific American: Humanity has done little to address climate change. Global emissions of carbon dioxide reached (another) all-time peak in 2010. The most recent international talks to craft a global treaty to address the problem pushed off major action until 2020. Fortunately, there's an alternative—curbing the other greenhouse gases.
Specifically, in the case of rapid action to slow catastrophic climate change, the best alternatives appear to be: methane and black carbon (otherwise known as soot). A new economic...
NY should map gas wells, set radiation limits
Posted by Associated Press: Mary Esch on January 12th, 2012
Associated Press: The Environmental Protection Agency says New York regulators should set limits for radioactive materials in gas-drilling wastewater sent to public treatment plants before allowing any hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells in the state.
The federal agency made that suggestion and others related to radiation from gas-drilling activities in 44 pages of comments submitted Wednesday night on the state Department of Environmental Conservation's proposed rules for high-volume hydraulic fracturing....
No fracking in home counties, village residents tell oil company
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 12th, 2012
Guardian: After earthquakes in Lancashire and tales of poisoned water and flaming taps in the US, "fracking" for gas or oil in the English home counties was never likely to be easy. And so it proved when oil executives faced the fury of a village hall full of West Sussex residents in a clash over a controversial technology that energy companies believe could open up major reserves of energy from underground rocks.
"What you are about to do will make our water beyond toxic!" Ella Reeves shouted at Mark Miller,...
Climate change may make lizards smarter, if they don’t go extinct first
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 12th, 2012
Mongabay: A new study in Biology Letters has found that warmer temperatures may make lizards smarter, even as past studies have linked a global decline in lizards to climate change.
Looking at Australia's Eastern three-lined skink (Bassiana duperreyi), researchers found that warm temperatures during incubation not only resulted in larger individuals (a result confirmed in previous research) but perhaps more clever ones as well.
To test the lizards' smarts, scientists incubated two sets of lizards: 9...
Judge urges progress on Everglades pollution fixes
Posted by Associated Press: Curt Anderson on January 12th, 2012
Associated Press: A federal judge on Thursday urged federal and state environmental officials to take real, concrete steps toward reducing pollution in the Florida Everglades and move away from the endless court battles that have stalled progress for more than two decades.
Saying he is committed to holding government's "feet to the fire," U.S. District Judge Alan Gold pressed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state of Florida to work out the differences in competing Everglades restoration plans and...
New frog trumps miniscule fish for title of ‘world’s smallest vertebrate’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 12th, 2012
Mongabay: How small can you be and still have a spine? Scientists are continually surprised by the answer. Researchers have discovered a new species of frog in Papua New Guinea that is smaller than many insects and dwarfed by a dime. The frog trumps the previously known smallest vertebrate-a tiny fish-by nearly 1 millimeter.
The smallest specimen of the new frog, named Paedophryne amauensis was just 7 millimeters (0.27 inches) long, the largest around 8 millimeters (0.31 inches). The previous record-holder...
White House: Keystone pipeline review needs time
Posted by Reuters: Laura MacInnis and Aruna Viswanatha on January 12th, 2012
Reuters: The White House said on Thursday that finding an alternate route for the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas would take time and any effort to circumvent the approval process would be "counterproductive."
President Barack Obama faces a February 21 deadline set by Congress to either allow TransCanada's $7 billion pipeline to be built or determine the project is not in the national interest of the United States.
Speculation in Washington is rampant on how Obama will address the tricky...
Scientists scrutinise first draft of Rio+20 agreement
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 12th, 2012
SciDev.Net: The starting document for negotiations ahead of the Rio+20 summit ? the 'zero draft' ? contains more references to science than was expected by the scientific community, but still falls short on the specifics and avoids mentioning some critical, science-related issues.
The document was published this week (10 January) and will form the basis for negotiations between governments leading up to the signing of the non-binding document at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Brazil...