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Archive for May 3rd, 2013
Fill gaps in Keystone XL draft environment report or reject pipeline
Posted by Indian Country Today: None Given on May 3rd, 2013
Indian Country Today: Noting a lack of “critical information” about potential impacts to water supply, sacred sites and other aspects of tribal life governed by treaty and environmental stewardship, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) has urged the U.S. government to either fill the gaps in its environmental assessment of the Keystone XL pipeline or reject it entirely. “While grateful for the opportunity to submit these comments, it is with great concern that NCAI submits our comments related to the proposed...
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Water conservation becomes a higher priority in United Arab Emirates
Posted by New York Times: Sara Hamdan on May 3rd, 2013
New York Times: Running a farm is not easy in the Middle East, part of a region, along with North Africa, defined by the World Bank as the most water-scarce in the world. Farmers in Abu Dhabi are now working with the government on ambitious new plans to cut agricultural water use in half by 2014 to conserve water and ensure sustainability. According to the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council, as reported last month by a local English-language newspaper, The National, the emirate annually uses 275 billion...
Enbridge expansion could turn into Keystone-like fight
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 3rd, 2013
Bloomberg: A new front may soon open in the battle over pipelines that transport Canadian oil to the U.S.
And this one involves a line that would carry even more oil derived from Alberta’s tar sands than TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s proposed Keystone XL, a project that has inflamed environmentalists who say it would exacerbate climate change.
Enbridge Inc. (ENB)’s request for a permit to boost the volume of oil on an existing pipeline from Alberta to Wisconsin has so far escaped controversy. That may change...
New Yorkers Win Frack Fight at Local Level
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on May 3rd, 2013
EcoWatch: Local residents and elected leaders in Dryden, N.Y. are celebrating victory in a closely watched case over local fracking bans. A state appeals court ruled in favor of the towns of Dryden and Middlefield, affirming lower court decisions upholding the towns’ right to ban oil and gas development activities--including the controversial technique of fracking--within town limits. The legal battle first began in 2011 and industry is widely expected to seek review of the ruling by New York’s high court...
Nicaragua cloud forest ‘under siege’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 3rd, 2013
BBC: A famed rainforest in Nicaragua is under growing threat from illegal loggers, say indigenous leaders.
The Bosawas Biosphere Reserve is Central America's largest tropical forest with clouds constantly drifting over the hilly terrain.
But the Mayangna and Miskito people who live there say 30,000 hectares a year are being deforested by "colonists".
They are calling on US president Barack Obama, who is visiting the region, to support their battle.
Described by the United Nations as a global...
New York appeals court upholds municipalities banning fracking through zoning laws
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 3rd, 2013
Associated Press: A mid-level appeals court says New York municipalities can use local zoning laws to ban the use of hydraulic fracturing to drill for natural gas. The four-judge appellate division panel ruled unanimously Thursday that state mining and drilling law doesn’t trump the authority of local governments to control land use. The case of Norse Energy Corp.’s challenge to a ban in the Tompkins County town of Dryden has been closely watched by industry hoping to drill in New York’s piece of the Marcellus Shale...