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Archive for January, 2013
How to make gasoline from tar sands, in six simple steps
Posted by Grist: Jim Meyer on January 23rd, 2013
Grist: Ever wonder about the future of energy? Will it be wind? Solar? Geothermal? No wait, I got it, tar sands! (Let’s try that again - tar sands!) They`ve got everything oil does, but they’re harder to get, crappier when you get them, and leave a much bigger mark on the climate. Sounds like a winner. Let`s look a little closer, shall we?
First off, what are tar sands? Tar sands are deposits of about 90 percent sand or sandstone, water, and clay mixed with only about 10 percent high-sulfur bitumen,...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on How to make gasoline from tar sands, in six simple stepsObama’s climate commitment faces early test as Keystone decision looms
Posted by BusinessGreen: James Murray on January 23rd, 2013
BusinessGreen: President Obama will face an early test of his renewed commitment to action on climate change, after Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman approved controversial plans for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
The plans still need to be approved by the State Department and a spokeswoman told the Reuters news agency that its review of the proposals would not be completed before the end of March, giving the President some breathing room.
But observers are predicting the State Department is likely to...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Obama’s climate commitment faces early test as Keystone decision loomsMassive melting of Andes glaciers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 23rd, 2013
BBC: Glaciers in the tropical Andes have shrunk by an average of 30-50% since the 1970s, according to a study.
The glaciers, which provide fresh water for tens of millions in South America, are retreating at their fastest rate in the past 300 years.
The study included data on about half of all Andean glaciers and blamed the melting on an average temperature rise of 0.7C from 1950-1994.
Details appear in the academic journal Cryosphere.
The authors report that glaciers are retreating everywhere...
United Kingdom: Snow gives way to new threat of flooding
Posted by Guardian: Steven Morris and Martin Wainwright on January 23rd, 2013
Guardian: Motorists were stranded, journeys delayed and hundreds of schools shut as once again parts of the UK were hit by heavy snow.
But even as drivers and householders dug themselves out, the Environment Agency was warning householders and business owners in some areas to prepare for a new threat – flooding, as river levels began to rise, swollen by the melting snow.
Four flood warnings were in place in Devon, Dorset and Somerset. Another 23 of the less severe flood alerts were published for the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Snow gives way to new threat of floodingAndean glaciers melting at ‘unprecedented’ rates
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 23rd, 2013
Reuters: Climate change has shrunk Andean glaciers between 30 and 50% since the 1970s and could melt many of them away altogether in coming years, according to a study published on Tuesday in the journal Cryosphere.
Andean glaciers, a vital source of fresh water for tens of millions of South Americans, are retreating at their fastest rates in more than 300 years, according to the most comprehensive review of Andean ice loss so far.
The study included data on about half of all Andean glaciers in South...
Report: Evidence backs greater role for environmental ‘precautionary principle’
Posted by BusinessGreen: None Given on January 23rd, 2013
BusinessGreen: Policymakers and businesses have been urged to take a more cautious approach to the development and deployment of new technologies, following the publication today of a major new report arguing that early warnings from scientists about the environmental impacts of new technologies are often entirely justified.
The 750-page study from the European Environment Agency (EEA) provides an update to the Late Lessons report of 2001, which explored how new technologies were later found to have harmful...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Report: Evidence backs greater role for environmental ‘precautionary principle’To Block Keystone XL, Sierra Club to Engage in Civil Disobedience for 1st Time
Posted by San Francisco Chronicle: Joe Garofoli on January 23rd, 2013
San Francisco Chronicle: How hot is the controversial Keystone Pipeline controversy getting? The Sierra Club is -- for the first time in its history -- going to engage in civil disobedience on Feb. 17 in Washington, D.C., which is also a day that greenies predict will be “the largest climate rally in history.”
With Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman approving the pipeline’s route through his state Tuesday, Sierra Club President Michael Brune hopped onto Facebook to announce that the San Francisco-headquartered Club is “for the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on To Block Keystone XL, Sierra Club to Engage in Civil Disobedience for 1st TimeEurope ‘has failed to learn from environmental disasters’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 23rd, 2013
Guardian: Europe has failed to learn the lessons from many environmental and health disasters like Chernobyl, leaded petrol and DDT insecticides, and is now ignoring warnings about bee deaths, GM food and nanotechnology, according to an 800-page report by the European Environment Agency.
Thousands of lives could have been saved and extensive damage to ecosystems avoided if the "precautionary principle" had been applied on the basis of early warnings, say the authors of the 2013 Late Lessons from Early warnings...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Europe ‘has failed to learn from environmental disasters’Vermont green groups urge Legislature to keep up climate change efforts
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 23rd, 2013
Associated Press: Vermont environmental groups are urging the Legislature to keep efforts to stem climate change at the center of its agenda. A half-dozen groups sent representatives to a State House news conference Tuesday to speak on issues ranging from the need for more money to weatherize Vermonters’ homes to a ban on tar sands oil running through a pipeline that crosses northeastern Vermont. The Vermont Public Interest Research Group, Vermont Natural Resources Council, and the Building Performance Professionals...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Vermont green groups urge Legislature to keep up climate change effortsThai firm says work at controversial Laos dam on schedule
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 23rd, 2013
Reuters: Thailand's second-largest building contractor, Ch Karnchang Pcl (CK), said construction work at the controversial $3.5 billion Xayaburi dam in Laos was pushing ahead and it was on schedule to be completed in 2020.
Executive Vice-President Prasert Marittanaporn told reporters late on Tuesday that the hydropower dam on the Mekong River was about 10 percent completed.
Ch Karnchang has been criticized along with the Laotian government for racing ahead with construction of the dam in defiance of...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Thai firm says work at controversial Laos dam on schedule