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Archive for September 21st, 2012
Mixed Reactions on N.Y. Fracking Decision
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 21st, 2012
New York Times: Reaction to Thursday’s announcement by the Cuomo administration that New York State must review potential public health effects before deciding whether to allow fracking is split along fairly predictable lines. Gas industry officials and landowners who want to lease their properties for this kind of natural gas drilling said they were disappointed because the move means that fracking won’t start anytime soon in New York. Still, some said they were relieved that the state — and not outside experts,...
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United Kingdom: The Tories are clean out of their mind to want new gas plants
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 21st, 2012
Telegraph: "Energy,' held William Blake, "is eternal delight.' But ministers might note this weekend that he put the aphorism, in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, in the voice of the Devil. For the issue is set to split the Coalition in the party conference season that begins this weekend, pitting two of the Government's closest allies against each other.
The Chancellor, George Osborne, and Danny Alexander, his deputy, are poised to go head to head over how to power the economy. More than £100 billion is...
A Risky Climate for Big Dams in Africa
Posted by Huffington Post: Lori Pottinger on September 21st, 2012
Huffington Post: Climate change is bringing many uncertainties, especially to the world of water. No continent will be harder hit by climate change than Africa. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated that African river basins will be especially affected by climate change, and are expected to face worse droughts and more extreme floods as a result.
Yet across the continent, large dams are being planned with no understanding of how a changing climate will affect them - and little attention to the...
No role for UK shale gas, say green groups
Posted by BusinessGreen: Will Nichols on September 21st, 2012
BusinessGreen: Green groups have slammed a report claiming shale gas could provide 10 per cent of the UK's gas supply for over a century.
The Institute of Directors (IoD) says there is sufficient supply of the controversial energy source to offset 60 per cent of the predicted decline in gas reserves, while building an industry capable of supporting 35,000 jobs.
It adds switching from coal-fired generation to shale gas would reduce UK emissions by 45 million tonnes of CO2, some eight per cent of the country's...
Oceans emptying out as 85% of fish species suffer severe decline
Posted by BBC: Gaia Vince on September 21st, 2012
BBC: When the number of king salmon running in Crooked Creek's river declined dramatically, the mostly native Alaskan villagers were left wondering where they could find enough food to last the winter.
It has been some time since most humans lived as hunter-gatherers -- with one important exception. Fish are the last wild animal that we hunt in large numbers. And yet, we may be the last generation to do so.
Entire species of marine life will never be seen in the Anthropocene (the Age of Man), let...
New York State’s Decision on Hydrofracking Will Await Health Review
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 21st, 2012
New York Times: After four years of study by the state, the Cuomo administration now says its decision on whether to allow high-volume hydraulic fracturing in New York will have to wait until it conducts a review of the potential public health effects of the controversial natural gas drilling process. On Thursday, Joseph Martens, commissioner of the State Department of Environmental Conservation, announced that he had asked the health commissioner, Dr. Nirav Shah, to assess his department’s analysis of the health...
Oil and gas drillers have injected more than 10 trillion gallons of wastewater into the earth
Posted by ProPublica: Abrahm Lustgarten on September 21st, 2012
ProPublica: On a cold, overcast afternoon in January 2003, two tanker trucks backed up to an injection well site in a pasture outside Rosharon, Texas. There, under a steel shed, they began to unload thousands of gallons of wastewater for burial deep beneath the earth.
The waste -- the byproduct of oil and gas drilling -- was described in regulatory documents as a benign mixture of salt and water. But as the liquid rushed from the trucks, it released a billowing vapor of far more volatile materials, including...