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Archive for November 15th, 2012
BP to pay $4.5bn penalty over Deepwater Horizon disaster
Posted by Guardian: Suzanne Goldenberg and Dominic Rushe on November 15th, 2012
Guardian: BP met its day of reckoning in the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster on Thursday when the company admitted guilt on 14 criminal charges and agreed to pay an historic $4.5bn penalty in connection with the fatal explosion of its rig and the catastrophic oil spill.
The payments include $4bn for criminal charges and $525m to security regulators. BP will plead guilty to 11 felony counts of misconduct or neglect in the deaths of 11 men aboard the Deepwater Horizon when the rig blew up and sank in April 2010,...
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Thinking Outside the Stall on World Toilet Day
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2012
Inter Press Service: When the United Nations commemorates World Toilet Day next week, there will be a lingering question in the minds of activists: how best can water and sanitation be given high priority in the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the U.N.`s post-2015 economic agenda?
Water and sanitation are basic human rights that underpin health, education and livelihoods. Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS.
Dr. Jennifer Platt, sustainability director at WASH Advocates in Washington, told IPS that World...
BP to Admit Crimes and Pay $4.5 Billion in Gulf Settlement
Posted by New York Times: Clifford Krauss and John Schwartz on November 15th, 2012
New York Times: BP, the British oil company, said on Thursday that it had agreed to pay $4.5 billion in fines and other penalties and to plead guilty to 14 criminal charges related to the rig explosion two years ago that killed 11 people and caused a giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In a rare instance of seeking to hold individuals accountable for company misdeeds, the Justice Department also filed criminal charges against three BP employees in connection with the accident. “This is unprecedented, both with...
Winter Storms Bring A Little Relief to U.S. Drought Areas
Posted by Climate Central: Dan Yawitz on November 15th, 2012
Climate Central: Nearly 60 percent of the continental U.S. is still under drought conditions, according to the latest update from the U.S. drought monitor. While the past week brought rain to many of the afflicted regions, it may not be nearly enough to compensate for the historically low levels of rainfall seen across the country since early spring. However, the little rain that fell was enough to prevent conditions from deteriorating in most places.
The total percentage of area affected by drought dropped slightly...
One Big Step Closer to Ending Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining
Posted by EcoWatch: Sierra Club on November 15th, 2012
EcoWatch: Today, Patriot Coal Corporation (NYSE: PCX) announced its intention to immediately begin phasing out all large scale surface mining in Appalachia. The announcement follows an historic agreement with the Sierra Club, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, represented by attorneys from Appalachian Mountain Advocates.
Patriot, which filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on July 9, sought approval from the groups for an extension to the schedule under which the...
ALERT! Implore President Obama to End Climate Appeasement by Supporting a Carbon Tax
Posted by Water Conservation Blog on November 15th, 2012
TAKE ACTION HERE NOW!
There exists near unanimous scientific consensus that abrupt climate change [search] is occurring, that it is caused by burning fossil fuels and clearing natural ecosystems, and that observable and escalating impacts indicate it may be worse than worst case predictions, threatening the habitability of our one shared biosphere. Almost certainly there is no way to stop entirely the warming and climate weirding; it is already too far progressed. Yet our immediate actions in the short term to cut or fail to cut carbon and greenhouse gas emissions will determine its severity, whether it will eventually stabilize or become runaway, and whether it is survivable. The single policy action that could occur most quickly, and significantly reduce emissions, is to place a price upon emitting carbon through a tax. The funds raised from a carbon tax [search] can replace other taxes, be returned to low-income earners, and be used for other laudable goals including paying down the deficit, developing low-emission energy systems, and protecting and restoring global ecosystems. Abrupt climate change will not be appeased, but it can be taxed, and thus reduced, through first a national and eventually a global carbon tax.
TAKE ACTION!
http://www.climateark.org/shared/alerts/sendsm.aspx?id=carbon_tax
** ...
90% Chance 2012 Will Be Warmest Year on Record for US
Posted by LiveScience: Jeanna Bryner on November 15th, 2012
LiveScience: Continuing a hot trend, October was the fifth warmest across the globe since record keeping began in 1880. And climate scientists say it's likely, about 90 percent so, that 2012 will become the warmest year on record for the contiguous United States.
The last 36 Octobers, including this one, have experienced global temperatures above the 20th-century average; in fact, the past 332 months have all shown above-average temperatures globally, according to a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric...
BP hopes $4.5bn fine will draw line under Deepwater Horizon disaster
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2012
Guardian: BP's decision to accept a record $4.5bn fine to resolve all criminal charges relating to the Deepwater Horizon blowout in 2010 has taken the total bill – money already paid out or set aside – to $42bn – and the costs could yet escalate further.
The oil group could still find itself open to more than $60bn worth of liabilities if it is found guilty of gross negligence in forthcoming court actions – although analysts suggested that outcome seems less likely after yesterday's agreement.
The new...
Loophole Lets Toxic Oil Water Flow Over Indian Land
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2012
National Public Radio: The air reeks so strongly of rotten eggs that tribal leader Wes Martel hesitates to get out of the car at an oil field on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. He already has a headache from the fumes he smelled at another oil field.
Martel is giving me a tour of one of a dozen oil and gas fields on the reservation. These operations have the federal government's permission to dump wastewater on the land - so much that it creates streams that flow into natural creeks and rivers. And this water...
BP Agrees To Pay $4.5 Billion For Gulf Oil Spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2012
National Public Radio: In some hot spots in the Gulf of Mexico, researchers are finding lesions in 50 to 60 percent of fish. Jim Cowan, professor of oceanography and coastal science at Louisiana State University, is one of those researchers. He tells Audie Cornish that there is great overlap between these hot spots and the region where oil was dispersed following the 2010 rupture of a BP oil well.