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Archive for May 22nd, 2013
Hundreds March for Ban on Fracking and End to Democratic Governors Taking Dirty Money
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on May 22nd, 2013
EcoWatch: Today a coalition led by Americans Against Fracking, 350.org, Democracy for America and Food & Water Watch, among others marched at the Spring Policy Conference of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) calling for a ban on fracking and demanding that the organization “Stop Taking Dirty Money,” citing the more than $3.5 million the DGA has taken from companies in the oil and gas industry since 2008, according to analysis out this week by Food & Water Watch.
The march takes place in the wake...
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Water and biodiversity pictures for the UN International Day for Biological Diversity
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 22nd, 2013
Mongabay: Today is the United Nations' International Day for Biological Diversity, an initiative that aims to raise understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. This year marks the 12th International Day for Biological Diversity. The theme is "Water and Biodiversity".
“Water is central to the well being of people and the planet," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a March address. "We must work together to protect and carefully manage this fragile, finite resource."
In recognition of 2013's...
New Effort Targets the Leading Killers of Children
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 22nd, 2013
Inter Press Service: PATH, a Seattle-based global health development organisation, is aiming to save two million lives by 2015 by jointly tackling diarrhea and pneumonia, the leading killers of children globally.
Steve Davis, president and CEO of PATH, delivered the message at the ninth annual PATH Breakfast for Global Health held in Seattle on Tuesday.
"Today we placed a bold stake in the ground, with partners around the world, to save two million lives by the end of 2015," Davis told IPS.
PATH will begin...
After One Arrest, Sit In Continues Demanding Moratorium on Fracking
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on May 22nd, 2013
EcoWatch: After more than a hundred Illinoisans packed a hearing and rallied in the Capitol yesterday for a moratorium on fracking, they demanded a meeting with Gov. Quinn to voice their concerns about fracking. The residents from Southern Illinois and across the state pointed to how fracking will pollute the air, contaminate the water and put the health and well-being of their families at risk.
Sandra Steingraber, PhD biologist, distinguished scholar at Ithaca College and founder of Concerned Health Professionals...
Tornadoes and Global Warming: Is There a Connection?
Posted by National Geographic: Robert Kunzig on May 22nd, 2013
National Geographic: It sounds intuitive: Of course global warming should lead to more-and more powerful-tornadoes.
We're adding energy to the atmosphere by trapping heat with greenhouse gases, and tornadoes are the very picture of terrifying atmospheric energy.
Linking any particular weather event to climate change is always tricky, because weather is inherently random. But weather patterns can speak to a warming planet. Scientists can detect that extreme rain events, for instance, are already happening more often...
Countdown to Nuclear Ruin at Paducah
Posted by EcoWatch: Geoffrey Sea on May 22nd, 2013
EcoWatch: Disaster is about to strike in western Kentucky, a full-blown nuclear catastrophe involving hundreds of tons of enriched uranium tainted with plutonium, technetium, arsenic, beryllium and a toxic chemical brew. But this nuke calamity will be no fluke. It’s been foreseen, planned, even programmed, the result of an atomic extortion game played out between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the most failed American experiment in privatization, the company that has run the Paducah plant into the...
Nearly 70 Groups: Environmental Defense Fund Does Not Speak For Us On Fracking
Posted by Yahoo: None Given on May 22nd, 2013
Yahoo: A total of 67 leading grassroots organizations focused on citizen and environmental issues today released a joint letter to the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) disapproving of the group's willingness to be coopted by industry interests on the issue of hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking") for shale gas.
Available online at http://www.civilsocietyinstitute.org/frackingEDF, the letter addressed to EDF President Fred Krupp states: "Those of us concerned with charting a rational and sustainable energy...
Limiting Methane Leaks Critical to Gas, Climate Benefits
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 22nd, 2013
Climate Central: Knowing how much methane is leaking from the natural gas system is essential to determining the potential climate benefits of natural gas use. Our extensive review of the publicly available studies finds that a pervasive lack of measurements makes it nearly impossible to know with confidence what the average methane leak rate is for the U.S. as a whole. More measurements, more reliable data, and better understanding of industry practices are needed.
It has been widely reported that shifting from...
House passes GOP bill to speed pipeline approval
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 22nd, 2013
Associated Press: House Republicans pushed through a bill Wednesday to bypass the president to speed approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas. Democrats criticized the legislation as a blatant attempt to allow a foreign company to avoid environmental review.
The bill was approved, 241-175, largely along party lines.
Republicans said the measure was needed to ensure that the long-delayed pipeline, first proposed in 2008, is built.
"This is the most studied pipeline in the history of mankind,"...
Why Colorado Residents Can’t Keep Fracking Industry Out of Their Backyards
Posted by EcoWatch: Phillip Doe Do on May 22nd, 2013
EcoWatch: Do you want to know how cold it can get in Antarctica in midwinter? Go to a city council meeting in Greeley, CO, any time regulation of the oil and gas industry is on the agenda. You’ll get an idea.
Last week, the room temperature felt near absolute zero from the iciness of the council’s reaction to citizen petitions to rein in industry designs on their neighborhood, a place called Fox Run.
What was up for debate was a proposal to approve permits for 16 horizontally fracked oil wells on a small...