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Archive for April 4th, 2013
Le Fracking for Geothermal Heat Drawing Ire of French Oil
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 4th, 2013
Bloomberg: It’s an existential question in France: When is fracking not fracking? The country is pushing ahead with plans to harness geothermal energy from smoldering rock deep in the earth’s crust using drilling methods the oil industry says are like hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which France outlawed in 2011. Environment Minister Delphine Batho awarded two geothermal exploration licenses in February and said 18 more are in review. Some will permeate rock using a process called “stimulation” that blasts...
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Harvard Embracing Fossil Fuel Condemned by Gore on Filthy Lucre
Posted by Bloomberg: Michael McDonald on April 4th, 2013
Bloomberg: Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore broke from his prepared remarks two months ago at a Harvard University event honoring a deceased professor who had sparked his passion for the environment.
Apologizing for “sounding impolite and undiplomatic,” Gore praised a student group, which sought his support in a push to make Harvard sell investments in fossil-fuel companies. Gore equated the effort to a campaign that helped end apartheid after investors were pressed to shun companies linked to South Africa....
Climate Change Will Double Area Burned In U.S. Wildfires By 2050, Report Warns
Posted by ClimateProgress: Katie Valentine on April 4th, 2013
ClimateProgress: Wildfires in the U.S. will be at least twice as destructive by 2050, burning around 20 million acres nationwide each year, according to a federal report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Scientists from the U.S. Forest Service, who authored the report, found regions such as western Colorado - which already experienced its most destructive wildfire in history last summer - will face an even greater risk fire risk: those regions are expected to face up to a five-fold increase in acres...
Canada: New Niagara Tunnel Helps Ontario Replace Coal with Hydro
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on April 4th, 2013
Environment News Service: The province of Ontario is harnessing more renewable electricity from Niagara Falls through the just-completed Niagara Tunnel Project, as part of its plan to phase out its coal-fired power plants by the end of 2014.
The new tunnel, which is more than 10 kilometers (six miles) in length, carries water from the Niagara River to the Sir Adam Beck Generating Station. This will supply Ontario with enough electricity to power the homes and businesses of a city the size of Barrie, a central Ontario city...
Ruptured pipe pours 200,000 gallons of oil into suburban neighborhood
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 4th, 2013
Mongabay: Last Saturday, an oil pipeline carrying tar sands oil from Canada ruptured in Mayflower, Arkansas spilling between 3,500-5,000 barrels of crude (at most 210,000 gallons) into neighborhood streets and lawns. Families from 22 homes have been evacuated while clean-up crews have scrambled to contain the spill. ExxonMobil, which runs the 65-year-old Pegasus pipeline, has stated it will pay for any damage, however critics say the oil spill is more evidence that the Obama Administration should turn down...
Tropical Ice Reveals Rare Climate Record
Posted by LiveScience: Becky Oskin on April 4th, 2013
LiveScience: A new and rare ice core record of tropical temperatures highlights changes in the enfants terribles of world climate, the El Niño/La Niña–Southern Oscillation.
The climate record comes from Peru's stunning Cordillera Oriental mountain range, home to Quelccaya, the world's largest tropical ice cap. Researchers trekked to an altitude of more than 18,000 feet (5,600 meters) to probe the ice.
The two ice cores (or cylinders of ice) drilled from the Quelccaya hold 1,800 years of climate history,...
Another Summer of Drought Looms for Texas and West
Posted by Climate Central: Daniel Yawitz on April 4th, 2013
Climate Central: The outlook for the western half of the U.S. continued to be bleak on Thursday, as forecasters said drought conditions are expected to expand and intensify all across the West and Southwest.
And Texas, which has been in the throes of drought for the better part of two years, may be hardest hit as its bone-dry conditions are expected to continue into summer, leading to shortages of drinking water.
An update to the Seasonal Drought Outlook released Thursday forecasts drought to intensify in southern...
Groups Ask State Dept for 120-Day Comment Period on Keystone Pipeline
Posted by InsideClimate: John H. Cushman Jr. on April 4th, 2013
InsideClimate: The Sierra Club and other environmental groups have asked the State Department to extend until early summer the looming deadline for public comments about the agency's controversial draft environmental impact statement on the Keystone XL pipeline.
Unless the State Department agrees to allow more time for comments on the impact statement, which exceeds 3,500 pages and was released on March 1, the groups will be hard pressed to fully present their "significant concerns," representatives of 15 organizations...
Time is Short: War of the Flea: A Review
Posted by Deep Green Resistance: Alex Budd on April 4th, 2013
Deep Green Resistance: As radicals, we believe that another world--a world without patriarchy, white supremacism, capitalism, colonialism, or ecocide--is possible. But in the face of the reality in which we live our day to day lives, it can become difficult to remember not only the possibility of successful resistance to power, but also its rich and proud history, of which we are a part. This is all the more true when we recognize that a potent resistance movement will have to include militant, underground resistance....
Climate change means a big financial hit for some industries
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 4th, 2013
Minnesota Public Radio: Last year was an expensive year for insurers. Global economic losses from natural and man-made disasters totaled $186 billion. Extreme weather events in the United States were the most expensive -- Hurricane Sandy alone caused $70 billion worth of damage. On Climate Cast, Kerri Miller and MPR News' Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner talked about the economic impact of climate change. Here is an edited transcript of their conversation:
Kerri Miller: We've been reading a report from the international...