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Archive for October 7th, 2012
Gaps in India’s implementation of biodiversity law
Posted by SciDevNet: Shalini Bhutani and Kanchi Kohli on October 7th, 2012
SciDevNet: Ten years after introducing a Biodiversity Act, India is yet to put it to serious use although several large "development" projects have invited controversy for their likely impact on biodiversity, say Shalini Bhutani and Kanchi Kohli. A National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) was created in 2003, but the government is not bound by its recommendations.
The Act was meant to "provide for the conservation of biological diversity," in line with the primary objective of the Convention of Biodiversity...
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Restore California Delta! To What, Exactly?
Posted by National Public Radio: Lauren Sommer on October 7th, 2012
National Public Radio: In California, state officials are planning a multibillion-dollar environmental restoration of the inland delta near San Francisco Bay. There's only one problem: No one knows what the landscape used to look like. Ninety-seven percent of the original wetlands are gone, so the state is turning to historians for help.
This detective story begins on a sunny day in a dry field of corn, about an hour east of San Francisco.
Alison Whipple and Robin Grossinger are looking through a pile of maps, trying...
Canada says India slow to invest in Alberta oil sands
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 7th, 2012
Reuters: Indian companies are lagging behind when it comes to investing in Canada's giant oil sands but could well start making deals within the next five years, Canadian Energy Minister Joe Oliver says. Oliver, speaking to Reuters before a visit to Delhi and Mumbai, said Canadian energy industry needs C$650 billion ($663 billion) in investment over the next decade. Ottawa concedes much of it will have to come from abroad. To some political consternation in Canada, China is rapidly buying up assets in the...
Romney’s Goals on Environmental Regulation Would Face Difficult Path
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 7th, 2012
New York Times: Mitt Romney vowed in a campaign appearance earlier this year to “take a weed whacker” to the thicket of federal regulations adopted by the Obama administration and promised to impose a rigid freeze and cost cap on all new government rules. He has pledged to reverse a half-dozen major Environmental Protection Agency pollution and public health rules, to swiftly approve the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada, to rewrite the ambitious new vehicle fuel efficiency standards and to open untouched coastal...
Scientists Adopt Tiny Island as a Warming Bellwether
Posted by New York Times: Stacey Solie on October 7th, 2012
New York Times: From a stretch of rocky shoreline on this tiny island, one can, on any given morning, watch otters floating on their backs, elephant seals hauling out of the water and a bald eagle flying past murres huddled along a cliff face. The startled birds perform a synchronized dive into the sea, their ovoid black-and-white bodies resembling miniature penguins. It appears as if the island’s wildlife is thriving at this remote outpost, which is also a former Coast Guard station crowned by a decommissioned...
British Gardeners Battle Over Peat, for Bogs’ Sake
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 7th, 2012
New York Times: For Britain’s legion of gardeners, peat has long been as essential to gardening as beer is to the corner pub. So trowels flew after the British government — heeding environmental concerns — announced plans to gradually eliminate peat from all gardening products, setting off an intense battle over how to prioritize two of this country’s defining passions: indulging the yard and protecting the planet. While many gardeners regard the partially decomposed plant matter known as peat as an almost magical...
United States: Even After Rains, Facing Long-Term Water Needs
Posted by New York Times: KATE GALBRAITH on October 7th, 2012
New York Times: With its pretty rivers and lakes, this city of 95,000 people is sometimes called the oasis of West Texas. But San Angelo recently came within a year of running out of water, as it faced a severe drought that produced brown lawns, dying bushes and fear. “Who wants to pull up to a hotel and it’s dead?” said Bob Banskter, general manager of the Rodeway Inn in San Angelo, referring to the state of the landscaping. It was late September, a day after City Council members had voted to ban the use of outdoor...