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Archive for October 17th, 2012
Canada: Alberta sets up oil sands monitoring agency
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 17th, 2012
Reuters: The Alberta government said on Wednesday it is creating an arms-length scientific agency to monitor the environmental impacts of oil sands production as the industry seeks to expand its markets into regions that are increasingly wary of the process.
The Conservative government of Premier Alison Redford said the body will focus on what should be monitored as well methods and locations, following a series of previous scientific studies and government reports that have suggested the Lower Athabasca...
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One Last Energy Fact from the Presidential Debate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 17th, 2012
New York Times: One assertion by President Obama about energy achievements in Tuesday night’s campaign debate drew little notice. Refuting Mr. Romney’s charge that he had jeopardized American energy security by vetoing the Keystone XL pipeline for carrying crude oil from Canada, the president said: “And with respect to this pipeline that Governor Romney keeps on talking about, we’ve — we’ve built enough pipeline to wrap around the entire earth once. So I’m all for pipelines; I’m all for oil production.” According...
Time is Short: Reports, Reflections & Analysis on Underground Resistance
Posted by Deep Green Resistance: None Given on October 17th, 2012
Deep Green Resistance: The modern environmental movement began some 40 years ago, and by virtually every metric, the state of the planet has spiraled horrifically into catastrophe since then.
Air, the world over, is more polluted and congested with poisons than ever before. Water available to ecosystems and people is reduced every year as more and more is stolen for industry and corporate agriculture, and what is left over is increasing toxified; 80% of rivers in the U.S. no longer support life. On this continent, 98%...
Top 20 Health Concerns Related to Fracking
Posted by EcoWatch: Grassroots Environmental Education on October 17th, 2012
EcoWatch: A fracking rig and operation stands among forests and fields in Bradford County, Pa. The state has been a hotbed of fracking activity and controversy over the exact impact of fracking has on groundwater, human health and the environment. Photo by Bob Warhover
Grassroots Environmental Education, a nonprofit organization that organized and facilitated meetings between medical professionals, scientists and senior staff from the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and New York...
Warming Lakes: Effects of Climate Change Seen on Lake Tahoe
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 17th, 2012
National Geographic: Lake Tahoe is one of hundreds of lakes around the world in the midst of a warming trend. The effects of climate change are starting to complicate efforts to maintain the lake’s relatively pristine state, putting Tahoe’s sapphire blue water and its overall ecological health at risk.
Surrounded by the Sierra Nevada Mountains and stunning scenery, the lake straddles the border between California and Nevada. At 1,645 feet deep, Lake Tahoe is one of the deepest lakes in the world. It is also one of...
EU biofuels rules a step forward, not perfect, Commissioners say
Posted by Reuters: Charlie Dunmore and Barbara Lewis on October 17th, 2012
Reuters: New EU rules to limit how much food can be made into biofuels are "not perfect" and make it harder to achieve overall goals on switching to low carbon energy, European Commissioners said on Wednesday.
But they insisted the proposals sent out the right signal to the biofuel industry, which would have to move on to new-generation fuels that do not compete with demand for food.
The Commission announced a major policy shift in September, saying it planned to limit crop-based biofuels to 5 percent...
Why ‘that Pipeline from Canada’ Won’t Deliver the Energy Policy America Needs
Posted by EcoWatch: Liz Barratt-Brown, Nrdc Action Fund on October 17th, 2012
EcoWatch: In last night’s town hall debate, Governor Romney suggested that the President was wrong in rejecting “that pipeline from Canada.” Governor Romney was referring to the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline that benefits the oil industry by linking tar sands to the deepwater ports of the Gulf Coast while putting our climate, fresh water and lands at risk. But it was the governor who was wrong in equating this tar sands pipeline to attaining North American energy independence.
Putting energy use...
Tanzania’s aquatic bird species face extinction
Posted by Daily News: None Given on October 17th, 2012
Daily News: TANZANIA’s water bird species are in danger of extinction due to drying off of wetlands, a situation contributed by climatic change.
Speaking during the 13th Pan-African Ornithological Congress (PAOC 13), taking place here, the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Ambassador Khamisi Kagasheki, said effects of climate change and increasing human activities in reserves and wetlands are to blame for the situation.
The country is said to have more than 1,500 bird species, but already 30...
Climate: Topography affects rate of ice sheet retreat
Posted by Summit Voice: None Given on October 17th, 2012
Summit Voice: Even as global warming shrinks many of the world`s major ice sheets, new research suggest that the underlying topography can significantly influence how fast they retreat, and in some cases even halt temporarily during long phases of climate warming.
The researchers reached their conclusions after studying the landscape of the seafloor in Marguerite Bay, in the Antarctic Peninsula. They saw that, during a rapid phase of recession 13,000 years ago, retreat paused many times.
Computer models...
North America has biggest rise in weather catastrophes, reinsurer says
Posted by Bloomberg: Oliver Suess on October 17th, 2012
Bloomberg: Climate change contributed to a fivefold increase in weather-related natural disasters in North America over the past three decades, according to Munich Re, the world’s biggest reinsurer.
“Nowhere in the world is the rising number of natural catastrophes more evident than in North America,” Peter Hoeppe, head of Munich Re’s Geo Risks Research unit, told reporters in Munich today. There was a four-fold gain in disasters in Asia, while the number doubled in Europe, the reinsurer said.
North America...