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Archive for May, 2013
Fracking Regulation Is States’ Turf, 13 States Tell EPA
Posted by Tulsa World: Rod Walton on May 7th, 2013
Tulsa World: A letter by Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt and signed by his counterparts in 12 other energy-producing states tells the EPA it should not allow threats of litigation by six Northeast states to provide a back-door entry for federal oversight of fracking.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been studying the effects of hydraulic fracturing but so far has stayed out of an enforcement role.
The Pruitt letter, however, noted that New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, Delaware...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Fracking Regulation Is States’ Turf, 13 States Tell EPACanada: Debate on Kinder Morgan Tar Sands Pipeline Takes Center Stage in B.C. Election
Posted by Rabble: None Given on May 7th, 2013
Rabble: For a climate organizer, the ongoing British Columbia election campaign has been a rare treat. For the first time in a very long time, climate change and fossil fuels are taking centre stage in an election campaign.
The past two federal elections have been marked more by the absence of discussion of climate change than its presence. Even in the most recent U.S. federal election, climate only broke into the campaign thanks to the force of a climate supercharged hurricane crashing into New York...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: Debate on Kinder Morgan Tar Sands Pipeline Takes Center Stage in B.C. ElectionMaine Committee Eyes Moratorium on ‘Tar Sands’ Oil
Posted by Sun Journal: Scott Thistle on May 7th, 2013
Sun Journal: A bill creating a two-year moratorium on the transportation of "tar sands" oil in Maine pit environmental groups against those who say the ban would have far-reaching negative effects on the economy during testimony before the Legislature`s Environment and Natural Resources Committee on Monday.
The bill, LD 1363, calls for a legislative resolve setting the moratorium while directing the state`s Department of Environmental Protection to study the potential impacts of moving oil sands, known by...
Ottawa Strikes Back at Al Gore’s Remarks on Oil Sands as ‘Open Sewer’
Posted by Globe and Mail: Sean Silcoff on May 7th, 2013
Globe and Mail: Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver will make the Harper government's case for the Alberta oil sands in Europe this week. But before he can begin, he finds himself contending with inconveniently timed comments from Al Gore about Canada's climate-change record.
Mr. Oliver is none too happy about it.
"Well, he's off the mark," Mr. Oliver said in an interview Sunday, accusing the outspoken climate-change activist and former U.S. vice-president of making "wildly inaccurate and exaggerated comments."...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Ottawa Strikes Back at Al Gore’s Remarks on Oil Sands as ‘Open Sewer’Public Can Still Comment on Controversial Oil Sands Pipeline to Lake Superior
Posted by Detroit Free Press: Keith Matheny on May 7th, 2013
Detroit Free Press: he U.S. State Department has extended the public comment period on a controversial proposal to expand a Canadian tar sands oil pipeline to the western shores of Lake Superior. Respondents now have until midnight Monday to weigh in on Canadian oil transport giant Enbridge Energy’s plan to expand its Line 67 — or Alberta Clipper — pipeline. The comment period was originally slated to conclude April 29. As reported in the Free Press April 14, Enbridge is seeking federal approval to nearly double the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Public Can Still Comment on Controversial Oil Sands Pipeline to Lake SuperiorMidwestern frogs decline, mammal populations altered by invasive plant, studies reveal
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 7th, 2013
ScienceDaily: Researchers at Lincoln Park Zoo and Northern Illinois University have discovered a new culprit contributing to amphibian decline and altered mammal distribution throughout the Midwest region -- the invasive plant European buckthorn. This non-native shrub, which has invaded two-thirds of the United States, has long been known to negatively impact plant community composition and forest structure, but these two innovative studies slated to publish in upcoming editions of the Journal of Herpetology and...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Midwestern frogs decline, mammal populations altered by invasive plant, studies revealJerry Brown blames climate change for state’s early fire season
Posted by LA Times: Anthony York on May 6th, 2013
LA Times: Gov. Jerry Brown put the state’s early wildfire season in global terms Monday, saying the state would have to grow accustomed to more forest fires as a consequence of climate change. Brown’s remarks at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s aviation management unit in Sacramento came as firefighters in Ventura County said they expected to have the 28,000-acre Springs fire fully contained by Tuesday. State firefighters have responded to about twice the average number of wildfires...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Jerry Brown blames climate change for state’s early fire seasonBP Agrees to 28 Early Restoration Projects for Gulf States
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on May 6th, 2013
Environment News Service: The British oil company BP has agreed to pay $600 million to cover 28 early restoration projects in the Gulf Coast states damaged by the massive 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill.
In a preliminary agreement reached with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees, the company will pay for the 28 projects in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. These projects will restore marshes, barrier islands, dunes and near shore marine environments.
This funding...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on BP Agrees to 28 Early Restoration Projects for Gulf StatesTar Sands Disaster: Coming to a Neighborhood Near You?
Posted by EcoWatch: Lauren Berlekamp on May 6th, 2013
EcoWatch: New reports of tar sands oil-related disasters continue to reinforce that the Keystone XL pipeline is too risky for American families.
Despite a "massive cleanup effort," ExxonMobil has recovered only 2,000 of the total 5,000 barrels of spilled Canadian tar sands crude in Mayflower, AK, according to the accident incident report from last month`s Pegasus pipeline disaster. The report was released by the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)...
Concerns grow over effects of solar geoengineering
Posted by SciDevNet: Akshat Rathi on May 6th, 2013
SciDevNet: The latest studies on solar geoengineering to tackle climate change are reinforcing the case for a global governance system and further study before deployment, as they show that the approach may have little effect on preventing rainfall changes in the tropics — and may even lead to widespread drought in Africa. Several geoengineering initiatives plan to tackle climate change by cutting incoming sunlight, through methods such as spreading reflective aerosols in the stratosphere. But without also...