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Archive for January, 2013
Hundreds Expected at Tar Sands Protests in Maine
Posted by Forecaster: William Hall on January 23rd, 2013
Forecaster: Hundreds of people from across New England are expected to gather this week in South Portland and Portland to protest plans to pump tar-sands oil from Canada to New England.
The action will culminate with what organizers are calling "the biggest tar-sands protest the region has ever seen" on Saturday in Portland.
On Wednesday, 350 Maine is organizing a noon protest at Portland Pipeline Co. on Hill Street in South Portland. According to the self-proclaimed "Climate Justice" group, Canadian energy...
State Department Delays Keystone XL Pipeline Decision
Posted by Reuters: Timothy Gardner and Andrew Quinn on January 23rd, 2013
Reuters: The Obama administration has delayed a decision on TransCanada Corp's rerouted Keystone XL oil pipeline until after March, even though Nebraska's governor on Tuesday approved a plan for part of the line running through his state.
"We don't anticipate being able to conclude our own review before the end of the first quarter of this year," said Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman at the State Department, which had previously said it would make a decision by that deadline.
She said the department would...
Wyoming Judge Hears Fracking Disclosure Case
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 23rd, 2013
Associated Press: A judge heard arguments Tuesday over whether Wyoming regulators should empower the public to look up the ingredients in the chemical products used for hydraulic fracturing, the petroleum industry practice that splits open oil and gas deposits with pressurized water.
The Powder River Basin Resource Council and others say landowners need to know what those chemicals are in case a gas or oil well rupture or some other mishap released pollutants into their well water. The council sued last year after...
Climate change bill readied for 2013 Legislature
Posted by Salt Lake Tribune: Judy Fahys on January 23rd, 2013
Salt Lake Tribune: Climate change is making it harder and costlier to deal with wildfire on state lands, so state’s land managers should take up the proper tools, according to a bill headed for the 2013 Utah Legislature.
Rep. Kraig Powell, R-Midway, is proposing legislation, HB77, that urges the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands to adopt pre-suppression strategies with an eye on the how climate change is already affecting wildfire in the Utah.
"This will give the division the tools it needs to respond...
India: Climate Change and Population Growth Meet Along the Brahmaputra River
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 23rd, 2013
New York Times: A multichannel mammoth stretching up to 10 kilometers (six miles) wide, the Brahmaputra River in Assam causes havoc every year when it floods. Now climate change is intensifying the hydrological cycle.
Brian Orland, a Fulbright-Nehru Fellow, is starting a nine-month study on climate change adaptation along the Brahmaputra River, where the environment challenges the region faces are likely to be repeated in other parts of developing Asia.
His relationship with the Brahmaputra began at a Mumbai...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on India: Climate Change and Population Growth Meet Along the Brahmaputra RiverKeystone Pipeline Route Approved by Nebraska Governor
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 23rd, 2013
New York Times: The governor of Nebraska on Tuesday approved a revised route through the state for the Keystone XL pipeline, setting up a decision for President Obama that pipeline opponents say will be a crucial test of his intentions on climate change. Gov. Dave Heineman, reversing an earlier position and brushing aside vocal opposition from some citizen groups, said the pipeline could be built and operated safely and would bring thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue to Nebraska....
Pensions could be “wiped out” by resource shortages, actuaries warn
Posted by BusinessGreen: None Given on January 23rd, 2013
BusinessGreen: Shortages of water, metals, and other crucial resources could see pensions "wiped out and reduced to negligible levels", according to new research.
Such constraints are not currently being factored into standard economic modelling even though they have had a significant impact in the past, the paper by Anglia Ruskin University's Global Sustainability Institute finds.
Commissioned by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, the report models how resource constraints will affect investment and...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Pensions could be “wiped out” by resource shortages, actuaries warnSierra Club to Engage in Civil Disobedience for First Time in Organization’s History to Stop Tar Sands
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 23rd, 2013
EcoWatch: If you could do it nonstop, it would take you six days to walk from Henry David Thoreau`s Walden Pond to President Barack Obama`s White House. For the Sierra Club, that journey has taken much longer. For 120 years, we have remained committed to using every "lawful means" to achieve our objectives. Now, for the first time in our history, we are prepared to go further.
Next month, the Sierra Club will officially participate in an act of peaceful civil resistance. We`ll be following in the hallowed...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Sierra Club to Engage in Civil Disobedience for First Time in Organization’s History to Stop Tar SandsObama stalls for time after Nebraska approves Keystone XL oil pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 22nd, 2013
Guardian: Barack Obama has ducked a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, a key environmental issue, just one day after delivering a stirring call to action on climate change.
In the first test of Obama's renewed commitment to climate, the administration said on Tuesday it was putting off until April a decision on the project, which is designed to pump crude oil from the Alberta tar sands to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast. Meanwhile, the White House told reporters that climate change was just "one of...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Obama stalls for time after Nebraska approves Keystone XL oil pipelineGroups Demand Fracking Chemical Info
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 22nd, 2013
EcoWatch: In an effort to help protect the public from exposure to toxic chemicals, the Powder River Basin Resource Council, Wyoming Outdoor Council, Earthworks and Center for Effective Government (formerly OMB Watch) went to court today to ask a judge to require the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (WOGCC) to disclose information about chemicals used during the controversial oil and gas development process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
Under regulations approved in 2010, Wyoming...