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Archive for November 17th, 2012
Sen. Vitter won’t put as much emphasis on global warming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 17th, 2012
Times-Picayune: Sen. David Vitter, R-La., has already said he intends to use his post as the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to advocate for more Army Corps of Engineers reform, increased funding for key flood control projects in Louisiana and for chemical safety legislation that provides protection without over burdening a key state industry. Now, he's revealing one thing he won't do -- at least as much as his predecessor.
Vitter told the E & E Reporter this week that...
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New Jersey railway put trains in Sandy flood zone despite warnings
Posted by Reuters: Janet Roberts and Ryan McNeill and Robin Respaut on November 17th, 2012
Reuters: New Jersey Transit's struggle to recover from Superstorm Sandy is being compounded by a pre-storm decision to park much of its equipment in two rail yards that forecasters predicted would flood, a move that resulted in damage to one-third of its locomotives and a quarter of its passenger cars.
That damage is likely to cost tens of millions of dollars and take many months to repair, a Reuters examination has found.
The Garden State's commuter railway parked critical equipment - including much...
Gas drilling presents Obama with historic choices
Posted by Associated Press: Kevin Begos on November 17th, 2012
Associated Press: Energy companies, environmental groups, and even Hollywood stars are watching to see what decisions President Barack Obama makes about regulating or promoting natural gas drilling.
The stakes are huge. Business leaders don't want government regulations to slow the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars of clean, cheap domestic energy over the next few decades. Environmental groups see that same tide as a potential threat, not just to air and water, but to renewable energy. And on a strategic...
Australian scientists find excess greenhouse gas near fracking
Posted by LA Times: Carol J. Williams on November 17th, 2012
LA Times: Environmental researchers have detected excess greenhouse gas levels near the site of Australia's biggest coal seam gas field, prompting calls for halting expansion of hydraulic fracturing until scientists can determine whether it might be contributing to climate change.
The reported findings of methane, carbon dioxide and other compounds at more than three times normal background levels have stirred new controversy in eastern Australia over the pros and cons of boosting natural gas output by...
Netherlands: Toxic Waste Case Is Settled
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 17th, 2012
Reuters: In an out-of-court settlement, the commodity trader Trafigura will pay $1.7 million in fines for illegally exporting toxic waste to Ivory Coast, Dutch prosecutors said Friday. The company was convicted in 2010 but had appealed a $1.3 million fine for illegally exporting the waste. Ivory Coast residents said the waste, which was dumped in the open, made them ill. Prosecutors had also appealed the fine, upheld by another Dutch court in 2011, saying it should have been higher. The settlement ends all...
Poor planning, climate shifts devastating India’s Sundarbans
Posted by AlertNet: Aditya Ghosh on November 17th, 2012
AlertNet: Saikh Rustam lives in a part of India where mobile phone reception is available, but clean drinking water is not.
If he had to choose between them, the 52-year-old resident of Mousuni Island, at the southern tip of the country's Sundarbans region, would take the drinking water, and food for his family of five.
But environmental pressures, exacerbated by poor development planning, are likely to leave his wish unfulfilled, at least for now.
Experts warn that a humanitarian crisis is unfolding...