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Archive for November 20th, 2012
Some cities find small steps key to storm protection
Posted by Reuters: Scott Malone on November 20th, 2012
Reuters: In the aftermath of the historic floods caused by Superstorm Sandy, some city leaders have begun to argue for the construction of sea walls capable of shielding the U.S. coastline from ever more intense storms.
But in Saco, Maine, storm protection comes in a far less glamorous package. Along what used to be Surf Street, owners of beachfront houses are jacking their homes up to allow storm surges from Saco Bay to flow underneath them.
The northeastern city of 19,000 people has reason to be wary...
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Why ‘Chasing Ice’ Is Better Than ‘An Inconvenient Truth’
Posted by David Ferris: None Given on November 20th, 2012
David Ferris: For all its destructive calamity, global warming is hard to make into a disaster movie. One could argue that we just saw it a few weeks ago when superstorm Sandy drowned New Jersey, but the difficulty in tying a single storm to the overall climate leaves just enough room for doubters to equivocate. For a view of climate change that is crystal clear, watch the new documentary, “Chasing Ice.”
The movie is the creation of James Balog, the groundbreaking nature photographer who became fascinated with...
Buffalo Will End Controversial Fracking Study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 20th, 2012
New York Times: The State University of New York at Buffalo announced Monday that it was closing down its newly formed Shale Resources and Society Institute, which was devoted to the study of hydraulic fracturing, citing “a cloud of uncertainty over its work.” The institute’s first study, released in May, drew sharp criticism for being biased in favor of the oil and gas industry. In a letter addressed to the “university community,” President Satish K. Tripathi said he was closing the institute after an internal...
Experts Chosen to Review New York Fracking Health Study
Posted by Epoch Times: Kristen Meriwether on November 20th, 2012
Epoch Times: New York State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah, tapped with reviewing the state’s environmental study on shale gas development with regard to hydraulic fracturing, now has experts to aid him during his review process.
The experts are John Adgate, chairman of the Environmental and Occupational Health Department at the Colorado School of Public Health; Lynn Goldman, dean of George Washington University’s School of Public Health and Health Services; and Richard Jackson, chairman of the Department...
Fracking Regulations Back on the Agenda in Illinois
Posted by Midwest Energy News: None Given on November 20th, 2012
Midwest Energy News: The debate over hydraulic fracturing regulation in Illinois will return to the front burner in coming weeks.
Fracking regulations will likely be discussed by state legislators either during a six-day veto session scheduled for Nov. 27-Dec. 6 or a short lame duck session in early January, if not both.
There is currently no significant fracking for oil or natural gas in Illinois, but over the past two years companies have acquired thousands of leases and laid the groundwork for exploration of...
Ethiopia: Turning stumps into trees traps carbon, brings new life to a rural village
Posted by ClimateWire: Tiffany Stecker on November 20th, 2012
ClimateWire: For decades, farmer and beekeeper Adila Agebo's hives in this small agricultural community were nearly dry. Years of stripping the hills of their vegetation to make charcoal, collecting firewood and construction material from what remained of the forests, and letting animals graze on the green remnants had devastated the landscape. Severe soil erosion led to landslides down the hills into the villages. Large silt deposits choked farms of productivity and washed out roads, leaving a community already...
Ignoring natural capital could see countries’ credit ratings downgraded
Posted by BusinessGreen: Will Nichols on November 20th, 2012
BusinessGreen: Countries' credit ratings may be rated as stronger than they actually are because of the lack of emphasis placed on national policies aimed at preserving natural resources.
Degradation of a country's so-called natural capital could exacerbate the sovereign debt crises that have helped trigger, and deepen, the global economic downturn, the UN warned yesterday.
A report by the UN Environment Programme's Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) says loss of soils, forests, and fisheries, as well as rising...
Boosting Economy More Important for Canada Than Approving Keystone XL: U.S. Ambassador
Posted by Globe and Mail: Steven Chase on November 20th, 2012
Globe and Mail: U.S. ambassador David Jacobson says the most useful thing his country can do for Canada is not green-lighting the Keystone XL pipeline but curing its ailing economy.
"The single most important thing ... that the U.S. can do for Canada is get its economy back on track," Mr. Jacobson told an Ottawa conference on Canada-U.S. relations Monday.
The U.S. is Canada’s biggest customer for exports and any improvement in American economic growth would boost sales for Canadian companies.
Last January,...
ALERT! End Industrial Logging of Congo’s Old-Growth Rainforests
Posted by Water Conservation Blog on November 20th, 2012
By Ecological Internet's Rainforest Portal
TAKE ACTION!
Recent revelations of illegal logging in the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) rainforests [search] demonstrate yet again that globally logging of old growth forests remains irredeemably corrupt and inevitably devastating to rainforest ecology. After years of international assistance and a "moratorium" on new rainforest logging, it is revealed that local permits for individuals to clear rainforest are being abused by the government and industrial loggers, even as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and NGOs pressure for "sustainable" industrial destruction of Congo's primary rainforests. For DRC's local people and the biosphere, it is time to ban old growth logging in the DRC and globally. The DRC government must be convinced to abandon inherently corrupt industrial-scale rainforest clearance for log export before the nation's rainforests, ecological sustainability, and future development potential are gone forever and be justly compensated for doing so. Instead they must focus upon developing ways for local communities to benefit from standing old forests. Both local and global ecological sustainability depend upon doing so.
“It’s the Wild F*ing West Out There”
Posted by Climate Desk: Tim McDonnell and James West on November 20th, 2012
Climate Desk: ON A CLOUDY spring morning, Ethan Ritter sat behind the wheel of a dump truck, lost in the maze of oil rigs northeast of Williston, North Dakota. Ritter, then 21, was hauling a load of gravel for his brother, who was doing road construction. He made a full stop at the tracks; there were no boom gates, only a crossing sign. His CB radio was off and all was quiet. Ritter looked both ways, then eased on the gas and headed into the crossing.
Next thing he knew, a Burlington Northern Santa Fe engine...