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Archive for July 13th, 2012
Bill Clinton: cutting use of natural resources would help US economy
Posted by Guardian: Fiona Harvey, on July 13th, 2012
Guardian: Bill Clinton has warned that the US needs to cut its consumption of natural resources if it is to stave off the threats of climate change and rising prices.
The former president said the economy of the world's biggest consumer would recover faster from the recession and financial crises if more effort was made to use resources sustainably.
"We can grow even faster if we use less energy," said Clinton in a conversation with the Guardian at the Resource 2012 conference in Oxford on Friday evening....
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Ravaged by fires, Western ranchers face “scary” summer
Posted by Reuters: Laura Zuckerman on July 13th, 2012
Reuters: It took less than an hour last month for a Montana wildfire to reduce Scott McRae's ranch to thousands of blackened acres devoid of the grasses that were to sustain hundreds of cattle.
"That is 500 mouths to feed with nothing to eat in sight," said McRae, 53, co-owner of a family ranch founded in the 1880s in southeastern Montana.
McRae is among scores of ranchers across the U.S. West whose grazing lands have been charred by blazes or ravaged by drought amid a regional shortfall of the alfalfa...
Drought Prompts Natural Disaster Declaration in 26 States
Posted by Climate Central: Andrew Freedman on July 13th, 2012
Climate Central: The most widespread drought in the U.S. since 1988 has prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to issue a natural disaster declaration for about 1,000 counties in 26 states, making farm operators eligible for low interest emergency loans. As of July 10, about 78 percent of the corn-growing region in the U.S. were experiencing some form of drought, and drought conditions have intensified in many corn-growing regions during the past several weeks. Bloomberg News characterized the natural...
Climate Change Ups Odds Of Heat Waves, Drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 13th, 2012
National Public Radio: Reporting in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, researchers write that extreme heat waves, such as the one last year in Texas, are 20 times more likely today than they were in the 1960s. NOAA climatologist Tom Peterson discusses what future climate change may bring.
Waxman presses GOP for hearing on extreme weather, climate
Posted by The Hill: Ben Geman on July 13th, 2012
The Hill: Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), a top House Democrat, is urging the Energy and Commerce Committee's Republican majority to hold a hearing that explores links between climate change and extreme weather.
The request, spelled out in a letter Friday, is a sign that Democrats and environmentalists hope to translate the recent record-setting heatwaves into political momentum for efforts to battle global warming.
It asks Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) to convene a hearing “on the recent wildfires...
Texas Court Rules Air Deserves Same Protection As Water
Posted by Climate Central: Alex Kasdin on July 13th, 2012
Climate Central: A court ruling in Texas this week may have significant implications for groups seeking to use the courts to force individual states to act on climate change.
Texas District Court Judge Gisela Triana ruled that the atmosphere is part of the "public trust,' which means it "must be protected for public use' under common law principles, according to the Associated Press.
The Texas Environmental Law Center, along with the nonprofit organization Our Children's Trust, brought the case against the...
Shale will free US from oil imports, says ex-BP boss
Posted by BBC: Will Smale on July 13th, 2012
BBC: The big growth in oil extracted from shale rock means the US will not need to import any crude within two decades, the former boss of BP has said.
Lord Browne told a conference in Oxford the US would be "completely independent of imported oil, probably by 2030".
He also said the amount of shale gas in the US was "effectively infinite".
Shale oil and gas is extracted using a method called fracking, but the process has been controversial because of the environmental risks associated with it....
Finding common ground in environmental discussions
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 13th, 2012
National Public Radio: NEAL CONAN, HOST:
Discussions about the environment can often get loud as politics and personal experience transform conversation into debate. Jonathan Foley, director of the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment, calls that Groundhog Day. Rather than rehash familiar arguments, he says, we need to reframe environmental issues and if there are areas of agreement between climate scientists and climate skeptics. In a piece at the institute's magazine, Momentum, Foley wrote maybe...
Natural gas drilling industry fights ‘Gasland’ with own film
Posted by Post-Gazette: Laura Olson on July 13th, 2012
Post-Gazette: The natural gas drilling industry has responded to Josh Fox and his infamous flaming tap water with a movie -- and flammable kitchen faucet -- of their own.
"Truthland" -- a 34-minute film produced by the Independent Petroleum Association of America and Energy In Depth -- primarily was crafted in response to Mr. Fox's 2010 anti-drilling documentary, "Gasland."
Its protagonist, Shelly Depue of Franklin, Susquehanna County, is depicted as a rural teacher and mother who sets out to find answers...
Canadian farmers see silver lining in U.S., Europe’s drought
Posted by Canadian Press: Terry Pedwell on July 13th, 2012
Canadian Press: Drought conditions across large swaths of the United States and parts of Europe are raising concerns about a food-price shock later this year.
But while consumers brace to pay more for everything from corn flakes to bread and beef, many Canadian farmers hope to reap rewards from historically high grain prices.
"It's simple supply and demand," said Myron Krahm, vice-president of the Manitoba Corn Growers Association.
"The U.S. being the largest corn producer in the world, if they are suffering...