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Archive for June 7th, 2013
How fracking companies exploit Amish farmers
Posted by Grist: None Given on June 7th, 2013
Grist: It`s no secret that fracking companies engage in some shady behavior. But a report in The New Republic reveals just how low they`ll sink in the rush to exploit natural gas: Energy companies in eastern Ohio - home to the world`s largest Amish population and billions of dollars worth of oil and gas reserves - have been convincing Amish farmers to sign away drilling rights to their land for far less than they`re worth, knowing that because their religious tradition frowns on lawsuits, the landowners...
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Indonesia’s Jatigede Dam Marred by Land Compensation Problems
Posted by Mongabay: Diana Parker on June 7th, 2013
Mongabay: As Indonesia’s controversial Jatigede dam project moves closer to completion, West Java residents whose homes are set to be flooded for the planned 4,973-hectare reservoir brought their complaints to Jakarta, demanding that the country’s president step in to resolve land compensation issues.
Around 30,000 people will be affected by the $408 million project, which is scheduled to be completed in February 2014. The government in May announced plans to begin filling the reservoir in September this...
Canadian power plant is buying up Detroit’s pile of tar-sands waste, burning it
Posted by Grist: John Upton on June 7th, 2013
Grist: Residents of Detroit who`ve railed against the recent mushrooming of a three-story-high pile of petrochemical waste on their riverfront may be pleased to know that the petcoke is gradually being shipped back to Canada.
But while the news might be good for Detroiters, it`s not so good for Canadians - or anyone who cares about a livable climate. A Nova Scotia power plant is now burning the cheap, filthy fuel to produce electricity.
The petcoke is a byproduct of refining tar-sands oil, which began...
Detroit’s mountains of petroleum coke are ‘dirtier than the dirtiest fuel’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 7th, 2013
Guardian: It was the dirty secret of Alberta's tar sands – until the black mountain of petroleum coke on the banks of the Detroit River grew to occupy an entire city block three storeys high.
Now it could become a familiar feature at storage yards and water fronts across the country as the oil industry in the US and Canada struggles to deal with a glut of waste from Alberta's tar sands production.
"This is dirtier than the dirtiest fuel," Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat who represents the area where...
Detroit struggles with tar sands refinery – in pictures
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 7th, 2013
Guardian: One day in November, mysterious black piles appeared on the banks of the Detroit River, not far from the Motor City's downtown and right next to the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest international crossing in North America. These huge stockpiles of petroleum coke, the byproduct of refining tar sands oil at the Marathon refinery in south-west Detroit, are owned by Koch Carbon, run by businessmen Charles and David Koch. This series of photographs takes a closer look at the people the petroleum coke piles...
Keystone XL isn’t even built yet and already it’s faulty
Posted by Grist: John Upton on June 7th, 2013
Grist: Property owners who watched with disgust and fear as TransCanada contractors ripped up their land to lay the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline are being treated to a repeat performance. The pipeline isn’t even in service yet, but already TransCanada is digging up stretches of faulty piping and replacing them, raising fresh safety fears. The pipeline is intended to link up with the Keystone XL northern leg — which is still waiting for approval from the Obama administration — and then carry...
Large-scale biodiversity is vital to maintain ecosystem health
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 7th, 2013
ScienceDaily: Over the years ecologists have shown how biological diversity benefits the health of small, natural communities. New analysis by ecologists at UC Santa Cruz demonstrates that even higher levels of biological diversity are necessary to maintain ecosystem health in larger landscapes over long periods of time.
Think of it as patches on a quilt, says Erika Zavaleta, UCSC associate professor of environmental studies. Each patch may be a diverse habitat of plants, animals, and insects but it is equally...
Brazil: Climate conditions determine Amazon fire risk
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 7th, 2013
ScienceDaily: Using an innovative satellite technique, NASA scientists have determined that a previously unmapped type of wildfire in the Amazon rainforest is responsible for destroying several times more forest than has been lost through deforestation in recent years.
In the southern Amazon rainforest, fires below the forest treetops, or "understory fires," have been hidden from view from NASA satellites that detect actively burning fires. The new method has now led to the first regional estimate of understory...
Amazon forest fire risk to increase in 2013
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 7th, 2013
ScienceDaily: University and NASA researchers predict that the severity of the 2013 fire season will be considerably higher than in 2011 and 2012 for many Amazon forests in the Southern Hemisphere. The outlook is based on a fire severity model that produced a successful first forecast in 2012.
The model, produced by a group led by Jim Randerson of the University of California, Irvine, considers historical fire data from NASA's Terra satellite, along with sea surface temperature data from NOAA. Previous research...
U.S. govt has role to play in stopping commodity-driven deforestation
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 7th, 2013
Mongabay: The U.S. government could play a key role in breaking the link between commodity production and greenhouse gas emissions associated with tropical deforestation, argues a new report released by seven environmental groups.
The report, titled Breaking the Link between Commodities and Climate Change, looks at the opportunity to address deforestation by targeting four commodities that drive the bulk of tropical forest clearing today: beef, palm oil, pulp and paper, and soy. These commodities are directly...