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Archive for June, 2012
As Politicians Debate Climate Change, Our Forests Wither
Posted by Atlantic: Sophie Quinton on June 15th, 2012
Atlantic: Dan Gibbs keeps dead beetles in the back of his beat-up Chevy Silverado. He has a wooden block with beetles impaled on it, each insect about the size of a grain of rice. He's got vials of embalmed beetles and their larvae. He carries around pieces of wood that show what those tiny beetles do to a mature lodgepole pine: They drill deep into the trunk and infect the tree with a fatal fungus that stains its wood blue.
Gibbs isn't a scientist. He's a commissioner for Summit County, a high-altitude...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on As Politicians Debate Climate Change, Our Forests WitherWildfires rage in Colorado and New Mexico as US bolsters firefighting fleet
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 15th, 2012
Associated Press: The government is bolstering the nation's rundown aerial firefighting fleet by taking steps to add seven large tanker planes. But the aircraft likely won't be available soon, and several other firefighting planes are grounded as destructive wildfires rage in Colorado and New Mexico.
President Barack Obama signed a bill Wednesday hastening the addition of those aircraft at a cost of $24m. The same day, two firefighting C-130 military transport planes sat on a tarmac in Cheyenne, shrouded in an...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Wildfires rage in Colorado and New Mexico as US bolsters firefighting fleetColorado wildfire could burn all summer, officials fear
Posted by LA Times: Jenny Deam and John M. Glionna on June 15th, 2012
LA Times: Making his descent from the mountaintop Thursday morning, bicyclist Kent Bell rolled smack into the filmy haze coating this resort town. Forty miles away, near Friday's finish line of the Ride the Rockies endurance test, one of the largest fires in Colorado history raged out of control. Over the last few days, insulated by clear skies to the west, the 36-year-old rider had heard there was a wildfire somewhere out in the forest, but he wasn't sure where. Then he saw the smoke. "It was a shock. Coming...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Colorado wildfire could burn all summer, officials fearWill Arctic sea ice reach record low this year?
Posted by LiveScience: Wynne Parry on June 15th, 2012
LiveScience: Recent years have brought unprecedented melting to Arctic sea ice, the white cap that covers the far north. Now, months before the sea ice reaches its annual minimum extent, this summer looks likely to follow suit, bringing unusually ice-free waters.
Satellite observations analyzed by the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center show the extent of the sea ice hovering below the baseline, the average between 1979 and 2000, for most of the spring and dipping particularly low in June.
"It definitely...
Republicans fear uncertain scope of Keystone study
Posted by Reuters: Roberta Rampton and Scott Haggett on June 15th, 2012
Reuters: The scope of a planned environmental review of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada could go beyond a small disputed portion in Nebraska and threatens to delay the project further, its Republican backers in Congress said on Friday.
The State Department asked on Friday for public comments by the end of July to help determine the scope of an environmental review ordered earlier this year for the controversial pipeline. The review is designed to supplement a "final" environmental impact report...
Brazil: Please stop Xingu dam, Amazonian Indians plead at summit
Posted by Agence France-Presse: Madeleine Pradel on June 14th, 2012
Agence France-Presse: Amazonian chief Raoni on Thursday implored the UN environment summit here to halt a $13-billion dam being built in one of the world's last bastions of wildlife.
"I want to ask the whole world to respect the indigenous peoples, to leave us in peace... without dams," the 82-year-old chief of the Kayapo tribe, bedecked with bright yellow and black feathers, told AFP.
The chief became known worldwide in the 1980s for teaming up with British rock star Sting for his defense of the rights of indigenous...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Brazil: Please stop Xingu dam, Amazonian Indians plead at summitUnited States: Exxon reports leak from Baton Rouge line
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 14th, 2012
Reuters: Exxon Mobil Corp reported a leak in a pipeline at its Baton Rouge, Louisiana, chemical plant on Wednesday which released unspecified amounts of benzene, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality said on Thursday. The company secured the bleeder line at about 5:00 a.m. EDT and the leak was contained within the facility, the department said. All rail traffic has been stopped within the facility until the benzene is removed, according to the department. Air monitoring at the facility has...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United States: Exxon reports leak from Baton Rouge lineStudy: Climate change to increase wildfires
Posted by The Hill: None Given on June 14th, 2012
The Hill: A major new study finds wildfires in the western U.S. are likely to increase because of climate change.
The findings arrive as fires in the West are forcing federal officials to try and boost resources to confront the blazes. New Mexico is fighting the largest fire in its history, while Colorado’s wildfire is among its worst.
President Obama on Wednesday signed legislation to speed up federal contracting for big aerial tankers to fight the wildfires in an effort to provide help to states in...
Drilling in New York
Posted by New York Times: Editorial on June 14th, 2012
New York Times: Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s preliminary blueprint for hydraulic fracturing in New York State strikes a sensible balance between the need for economic development and the need to protect the environment and human health. Many important issues must still be addressed — and tough, detailed regulations issued — before Mr. Cuomo can think of greenlighting drilling. But he appears to be on the right track. As reported in The Times on Wednesday, the plan would restrict hydraulic fracturing to economically depressed...
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin frustrated by Keystone XL pipeline delays
Posted by Canadian Press: Lauren Krugel on June 14th, 2012
Canadian Press: Oklahoma's governor is losing patience with delays in building the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would cross through her state on its way from Alberta to the Texas coast.
"To me, it's been enormously frustrating that President (Barack) Obama and our nation has not been able to get through the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline to move from Canada down throughout the United States," Mary Fallin told delegates at the Global Petroleum Show on Wednesday.
However, Fallin said she's...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin frustrated by Keystone XL pipeline delays