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Archive for February, 2013
20 Senators Pen Most Recent Letter Asking for Keystone XL Approval
Posted by Yahoo!: Susan Graybeal on February 27th, 2013
Yahoo!: A bipartisan group of senators, led by Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Max Baucus, D-Mont., penned the most recent letter to the Obama administration on Monday, asking for approval of the Keystone XL pipeline within the first quarter of this year. Here are the details.
* In addition to Hoeven and Baucus, the group of senators who signed the letter included Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Mark Begich, D-Alaska; John Barrasso, R-Wyo.; Joe Donnelly, D-Ind.; John Boozman, R-Ark.; Kay Hagan, D- N.C.; John...
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World cools on global warming as green fatigue sets in
Posted by Independent: Sam Masters on February 27th, 2013
Independent: Public concern about environmental issues including climate change has slumped to a 20-year low since the financial crisis, a global study reveals.
Fewer people now consider issues such as CO2 emissions, air and water pollution, animal species loss, and water shortages to be “very serious” than at any time in the last two decades, according to the poll of 22,812 people in 22 countries including Britain and the US.
Despite years of studies showing the impact of global warming on the planet,...
Colorado’s Bully Governor Says He Will Sue Fort Collins to Overturn Fracking Ban
Posted by EcoWatch: Gary Wockner on February 27th, 2013
EcoWatch: Governor of Colorado, John Hickenlooper says he will direct the State of Colorado to sue Fort Collins to overturn its fracking ban.
In a precedent setting vote, last week the Fort Collins City Council voted to ban fracking in Fort Collins city limits. The very next morning, the Colorado Oil and Gas Association--the industry trade group representing oil and gas companies--issued a statement saying they would sue Fort Collins to overturn the ban. Now seven days later in a televised interview, the...
Climate Change: Get Ready to Adapt!
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 27th, 2013
Huffington Post: WB President Jim Yong Kim's recent Washington Post op-ed "Make Climate Change a Priority" warned that "global warming imperils all of the development gains we have made". Jim Kim drew on a recent World Bank report that points to the possibility for global temperatures to rise by 4 degrees Celsius or more by the end of the century, with severe natural, economic and social impacts.
Jim Kim's call is all the more urgent given how grim are actual trends on efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions....
Arctic thaw may be first in cascade of tipping points
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 27th, 2013
New Scientist: ONE climate domino has fallen, and it may start toppling others. A recent study outlined an interconnected web of climate tipping points, some of which make the next ones more likely. Now, an analysis of data from the last 23 years suggests we passed the first of these tipping points in 2007, when Arctic sea ice flipped into a new, less stable state. That may speed the world towards the next tipping point – the thaw of a vast expanse of Siberian permafrost. When it comes to the consequences of climate...
U.S. Security Establishment Increasingly Worried about Climate Change
Posted by Inter Press Service: Joe Hitchon on February 27th, 2013
Inter Press Service: More than three dozen national security officials, members of Congress and military leaders are warning of the threat climate change poses to U.S. national security, the latest in an indicator that U.S. intelligence and national security circles are increasingly worried about a warming planet.
In a new bipartisan open letter, they stress the need for urgent action and call on both public and private support to address issues that included forced migration and the displacement of vulnerable communities,...
Megadam Project Galvanizes Native Opposition in Malaysia
Posted by National Geographic: Gan Pei Ling on February 27th, 2013
National Geographic: Most villages along the Baram River in Malaysia cannot count on round-the-clock electricity. Diesel generators hum at night near longhouses in the northwestern corner of the island of Borneo. Mobile and Internet coverage are almost nonexistent.
A plan to dam the Baram River would generate power far in excess of current demand in the rainforest state: At 1,000 megawatts, the hydropower project would be large enough to power 750,000 homes in the United States.
Yet the promise of power rings hollow...
Scientists: stop treating population growth as a ‘given’ and empower women
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 27th, 2013
Mongabay: Climate change, biodiversity loss, resource depletion, water scarcity, and land issues: almost all of the world's environmental problems are underpinned by too many people inhabiting a finite planet. A new study in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B warns that overpopulation-combined with over-consumption-is threatening to push the entire globe into "a collapse of global civilization." But cultural changes, especially more empowerment of women and access to contraceptives, may hold the key to...
Estimates reduce amount of additional land available for biofuel production by almost 80%
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 27th, 2013
ScienceDaily: Amid efforts to expand production of biofuels, scientists are reporting new estimates that downgrade the amount of additional land available for growing fuel crops by almost 80 percent. Their report appears in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology.
Steffen Fritz and colleagues explain that growing concern exists in the U.S. and the European Union on how production of biofuels will impact food security. This has led to a realization that increased production of biofuels must take...
Climate change enhances risks of glacial lakes flooding mountain communities
Posted by Public Radio International: None Given on February 27th, 2013
Public Radio International: Lakes high in the world's mountains are becoming increasingly dangerous to the towns that have sprouted up near them. The lakes are prone to floods, typically caused when the mountain glaciers that feed them shed a chunk of ice and rock, forcing thousands of gallons over the banks.
The hamlet of Carhuaz, in Peru's Cordillera Blanca Range, could hardly be more picturesque.
Birds chirp while venders hawk their goods at an open-air market in the town tucked into a fold at the furrowed base of...