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Archive for February, 2012
TransCanada chops up Keystone XL to push it ahead
Posted by Reuters: Jeffrey Jones and Roberta Rampton on February 27th, 2012
Reuters: TransCanada Corp said on Monday it will build the southern leg of its $7 billion Keystone XL oil pipeline first, skirting a full-blown U.S. review and giving President Barack Obama ammunition to hit back at Republicans who have blasted his energy policy.
Building the portion of the contentious pipeline that would run to Texas refineries from the Cushing, Oklahoma, storage hub before the northern section would help remove a pinch-point that has led to deep price discounts for U.S. and Canadian...
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Top court rejects states’ appeal on Great Lakes carp
Posted by Reuters: James Vicini on February 27th, 2012
Reuters: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by five states seeking an order requiring that a range of steps be taken to keep the invading Asian carp out of the Great Lakes where they are considered a threat to fisheries.
The high court refused to hear an appeal by Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin after the states lost their bid for a preliminary injunction that would have required additional efforts to stop the migration of the voracious carp into the lakes.
The...
Scientists say cassava will thrive in climate change, best bet for African farmers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 27th, 2012
Associated Press: JOHANNESBURG -- Calling cassava "the Rambo of food crops,' scientists Monday said the long-neglected root becomes even more productive in hotter temperatures and could be the best bet for African farmers threatened by climate change.
Cassava is the second most important source of carbohydrate in sub-Saharan African, after maize, and is eaten by around 500 million people every day, scientists said.
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The root outperformed potatoes, maize, beans, bananas, millet and sorghum in...
Americans support Keystone XL pipeline, poll says
Posted by Fuel Fix: None Given on February 27th, 2012
Fuel Fix: Americans who have heard about the Keystone XL pipeline overwhelmingly support the proposal to carry Canadian oil across the United States to Gulf Coast refineries, according to a Pew Research poll released Thursday.
Among those who knew about the pipeline, 66 percent said the federal government should approve the project. The poll found only 23 percent opposed it.
The Obama Administration rejected TransCanada`s application to build the controversial pipeline last month, saying a February deadline...
A cool future for brook trout
Posted by Charlotte Observer: T. DeLene Beeland on February 27th, 2012
Charlotte Observer: A spot of good news is surfacing for North Carolina's brook trout, and the anglers who hold their speckled brookies so dear.
Not so long ago, scientists forecast that much of what remained of eastern brook trout habitat would be severely affected by climate change. In fact, it was thought the only native trout in the Eastern United States might vanish from large parts of its southern range, leaving only a few populations concentrated mostly in western North Carolina.
But a new study in progress...
Much to savor, and worry about, amid mild winter’s early blooms
Posted by New York Times: Lisa W. Foderaro on February 27th, 2012
New York Times: At the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, an experimental plot was in full flower on a recent February afternoon, as the thermometer edged toward 60. The Japanese camellias, which typically bloom in early spring, have displayed their rose-hued flowers continuously since December. Honeybees, a rarity before late March, were nursing the tiny pink clusters on a Dawn viburnum, while the Adonis amurensis, a ground-hugging spring ephemeral, was a profusion of yellow. “This is the earliest I’ve seen...
Climate change threatens S.Africa’s rooibos tea
Posted by Agence France-Presse: Claire Price on February 27th, 2012
Agence France-Presse: Farm workers swing their sickles through red branches, bundling them up before laying them out in the sunshine to dry.
The annual harvest at Groenkol Rooibos tea estate, in South Africa's Western Cape helps quench the world's growing thirst for "red bush" tea, but farmers fear that climate change could destroy the delicate eco-system that their crop depends on.
Annual exports of rooibos have quadrupled in the last 13 years. The tea is popular for its perceived health benefits as well as its...
Thai king: punish corrupt officials who allowed logging
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 27th, 2012
Mongabay: Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej urged the Thai government to punish officials who allowed illegal logging which he blamed for worsening floods last year that left more than 1,000 people dead.
"Hardwood forests that are destroyed are difficult to recover," he told Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and members of the Strategic Formulation Committee for Water Resource Management last Friday, according to the Bangkok Post. "The blame lies with some civil servants who are greedy and crave...
Climate Change Could Make Everest Unclimbable, Says Sherpa
Posted by Tree Hugger: Stephen Messenger on February 27th, 2012
Tree Hugger: Tower 29,029 feet above sea level, the formidable Mount Everest has served to tested the strength and perseverance of humanity's boldest souls -- but, due to the warming effects of climate change, ascending the world's highest peak may become more difficult yet.
Nepalese climbing guide Apa Sherpa has scaled Everest a record twenty-one times and likely knows better than anyone that mountain's rugged terrain, though he says it's becoming increasingly unrecognizable. Like many people living in the...
Warming to Ignite the Carbon Bomb
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 27th, 2012
Inter Press Service: Rising temperatures are drying out northern forests and peatlands, producing bigger and more intense fires. And this will only get much worse as the planet heats up from the use of ever larger amounts of fossil fuels, scientists warned last week at the end of a major science meeting in Vancouver.
"In a warmer world, there will be more fire. That`s a virtual certainty," said Mike Flannigan, a forest researcher at the University of Alberta, Canada.
"I`d say a doubling or even tripling of fire...