Archive for February 16th, 2013

Why I Got Arrested at the White House to Stop the Tar Sands Pipeline

EcoWatch: On Sunday, Natural Resources Defense Council and Waterkeeper Alliance will join 350.org, Sierra Club and many other partners in holding the Forward on Climate Rally in Washington, D.C. This will be the largest climate rally in American history, with tens of thousands of people expected. From rejecting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline to limiting carbon pollution from our nation`s dirty power plants, President Barack Obama`s legacy will rest squarely on his response, resolve, and leadership in solving...

A West Marin musician turned filmmaker focuses on three eco-warriors in new documentary

Marin Independent Journal: After months of traveling to screenings at film festivals around the world, West Marin musician cum filmmaker Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee is looking forward to showing his first feature-length documentary to a hometown audience next Saturday night in Point Reyes Station. In "Elemental," which Variety calls "an interesting view of eco-warriors at work," Vaughan-Lee profiles three environmental activists on as many continents, including one that he found right in his own backyard. "I've been living...

India’s rice revolution

Guardian: Sumant Kumar was overjoyed when he harvested his rice last year. There had been good rains in his village of Darveshpura in north-east India and he knew he could improve on the four or five tonnes per hectare that he usually managed. But every stalk he cut on his paddy field near the bank of the Sakri river seemed to weigh heavier than usual, every grain of rice was bigger and when his crop was weighed on the old village scales, even Kumar was shocked. This was not six or even 10 or 20 tonnes....

The Keystone Principle: Stop making it worse

Grist: The big President`s Day rally on the National Mall is more than a Keystone pipeline protest. It`s a statement of principle for climate action. After a year of unprecedented destruction due to weather extremes, the climate fight is no longer just about impacts in the future. It’s about physical and moral consequences, now. And Keystone isn`t simply a pipeline in the sand for the swelling national climate movement. It’s a moral referendum on our willingness to do the simplest thing we must do to...

Preparing for climate change-induced weather disasters

EurekAlert: The news sounds grim: mounting scientific evidence indicates climate change will lead to more frequent and intense extreme weather that affects larger areas and lasts longer. However, we can reduce the risk of weather-related disasters with a variety of measures, according to Stanford Woods Institute Senior Fellow Chris Field. Field will discuss how to prepare for and adapt to a new climate at the annual American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting in Boston. Field's talk,...

Canada: Ottawa to set fines for pipeline infractions

Reuters: Canadian regulators are getting the power to fine companies and individuals who contravene pipeline and nuclear safety rules, the country's natural resources minister said on Friday. Under the proposed regulations, the National Energy Board and Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission will be able to fine individuals up to C$25,000 ($25,000) and corporations C$100,000 for each day they are out of compliance. Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver also said the government is increasing energy board inspections...

Case of alleged rogue fracker exposes need for tougher laws in Ohio

Plain Dealer: The good news is that appalled state and federal officials were lightning fast in investigating and prosecuting the case of Ben Lupo, owner of Hardrock Excavating and other fracking-related companies in the Mahoning Valley. Lupo was charged last week with a criminal violation of the federal Clean Water Act for allegedly telling an employee to dump liquid fracking waste and oil-laced mud into a stormwater drain leading to a tributary of the Mahoning River. He faces up to three years in prison and...

Climate change forcing thousands in Bangladesh into slums of Dhaka

Toronto Star: Taslima Masud faces a dilemma every morning: should she prepare food or stay hungry to avoid illness? “The kitchen is so close to the toilet,” she says. “When I cook, I can’t smell the curry but I can smell the toilet. It disgusts me every day, but there is nothing I can do except . . . not cook. And I have to cook.” Masud, 19, lives in Korail, Dhaka’s largest slum. Its roughly 70,000 residents dwell in the shadow of the affluent Gulshan neighbourhood, with its mansions, restaurants and western-style...

Climate Rally Draws “Line in the Sand” on Canadian Pipeline

Inter Press Service: - The largest climate rally in U.S. history is expected Sunday in Washington DC with the aim of pressuring President Barack Obama to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Activists are calling Keystone "the line in the sand" regarding dangerous climate change, prompting the Sierra Club to suspend its 120-year ban on civil disobedience. The group`s executive director, Michael Brune, was arrested in front of the White House during a small protest against Keystone on Wednesday. "The Keystone...

Nuclear Waste Seeping From Container In Hazardous Wash. State Facility

National Public Radio: They thought they'd managed this problem a few years ago. But Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee got a disturbing call Friday from Energy Secretary Steven Chu: Nuclear waste is leaking out of a tank in one of the most contaminated nuclear waste sites in the U.S. Inslee released a statement, saying a single shell tank at Hanford Nuclear Reservation is slowly losing between 150 and 300 gallons of radioactive waste each year. All of the liquid was removed from the tank in February 1995; what's left...