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Archive for June 1st, 2013
RELEASE: Victory as British Columbia Government Opposes Northern Gateway Tar Sands Pipeline
Posted by Water Conservation Blog on June 1st, 2013
The decision means it is highly unlikely the Northern Gateway pipeline [search] - to carry Albertas filthy tar sand bitumen to China - will commence any time soon. Ecological Internet is pleased to have successfully been the first to lead international opposition to the project, achieving with many others the second major delay to the flawed proposal. Concerns expressed over the inability to cleanup spilled bitumen in water apply equally to the flawed Keystone XL pipeline, for which President Obama is now clear to deny approval. One down, one to go!
By Ecological Internet, http://www.climateark.org/
Contact: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org
(Madison, WI) - Ecological Internet (EI) is enormously pleased to note British Columbia (B.C.), Canadas thumbs down to the proposed Northern Gateway tar sand pipeline. Announced yesterday, the decision virtually guarantees that the flow of filthy tar sands oil from Canadas interior to China will not commence through a Western Pacific route any time soon. EI was the first to protest internationally on the issue, doing so since 2010, over a full year earlier than other global affinity efforts successfully laying the groundwork for the victory.
EIs President, Dr. Glen Barry, states: The B.C. pipeline victory against tar sands ecocide is the result ...
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Climate change threatens 82% of native California fish
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 1st, 2013
USA Today: Four of five native fish in California, including salmon and steelhead trout, likely will be driven to or near extinction within 100 years if climate change continues on its current path, a new study predicts. Of 121 native fish species, 82% will plummet in number or disappear because they need cool, flowing water yet climate change is boosting temperatures and lessening stream flow, according to scientists at the University of California-Davis' Center for Watershed Science. In contrast, only 19%...
Peak water, peak oil…now, peak soil?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 1st, 2013
Inter Press Service: Soil is becoming endangered.This reality needs to be part of our collective awareness in order to feed nine billion people by 2050, say experts meeting here in ReykjavÃk.
And a big part of reversing soil decline is carbon, the same element that is overheating the planet."Soils are like a bank account. You should only draw out what you put in." -- Rattan Lal of Ohio State University
"Keeping and putting carbon in its rightful place" needs to be the mantra for humanity if we want to continue...
How the oil sands industry is distorting Canada’s economy
Posted by Globe and Mail: Thomas Homer-Dixon on June 1st, 2013
Globe and Mail: By 2030, Canada's output from the oil sands will reach about five million barrels a day, more than twice today's output. Yet, by 2030, chances are also good that the world will have placed a price on carbon emissions to spur energy innovation and wean humanity off carbon-based fuels. By then, climate change's impact on global food security will have become starkly obvious. Already, heat waves and droughts in major grain-producing regions have caused food-price shocks and political unrest around the...
The shale revolution and its unintended side effects
Posted by Globe and Mail: Eric Reguly on June 1st, 2013
Globe and Mail: "Drill, baby, drill" has been replaced by "Frack, baby, frack."
That's supposed to be good for the planet, because fracking - the hydraulic fracturing of rock formations such as shale - releases great dollops of gas, whose carbon content is about half of that of oil. So bring it on. Electricity plants, cars, trucks and furnaces fed by gas should bring down carbon-dioxide emissions, preventing humanity from burning alive as global temperatures rise.
Or so we are led to believe.
The terms...
New Maps Aim To Raise Awareness Of Storm Surge Danger
Posted by National Public Radio: Greg Allen on June 1st, 2013
National Public Radio: Hurricane season begins Saturday, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting an active season, with perhaps seven to 11 hurricanes.
With memories of last year's destruction from Hurricane Sandy still fresh, meteorologists are working on ways to improve how they forecast storms and communicate warnings to the public.
When Sandy was making its way northward in the Atlantic and began to turn toward the East Coast, the National Hurricane Center tried to emphasize the...
British Columbia Opposes Planned Oil Sands Pipeline
Posted by New York Times: Ian Austen on June 1st, 2013
New York Times: A pipeline for exporting oil sands bitumen to Asia-bound tankers was dealt a severe blow on Friday when the province of British Columbia urged a federal review panel to reject the $6 billion plan.
The proposal to build the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline and its port is effectively Alberta's backup plan in case the Obama administration turns down the Keystone XL, a pipeline that would link the oil sands with American refineries on the Gulf Coast. Several of the concerns raised by British Columbia...