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Archive for June 7th, 2013
Sandra Steingraber’s Manifesto: Illinois Fracking Rules a Betrayal of Democracy and Science
Posted by YES! Magazine: Jeff Biggers on June 7th, 2013
YES! Magazine: A new salvo has been fired in the national battle against fracking.
Within hours of the Illinois General Assembly`s vote on its controversial bill on hydraulic fracking last Friday night, the Associated Press's headline rippled across nationwide newspapers: "Illinois lawmakers approve nation`s toughest fracking regulations."
Not so fast, says Dr. Sandra Steingraber, the renowned scientist whom Rolling Stone has called the "toxic avenger." She returned to her native Illinois last week to join...
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France looks at America, says non to fracking
Posted by Grist: John Upton on June 7th, 2013
Grist: France`s energy minister looked at the destruction being wrought on America`s environment by hydraulic fracturing and said "non, merci" to the latest push by her country`s business lobby to make fracking legal.
Fracking was banned in France in 2011, and it looks like it`s going to stay banned. From Bloomberg:
France’s ban on hydraulic fracturing should not be eased because the oil and gas drilling technique is causing “considerable” environmental damage in the U.S., according to a government...
Fracturing in California
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 7th, 2013
Wall Street Journal: Few issues divide Democrats more than energy policy, as we've learned as unions and environmentalists fight over the Keystone XL pipeline. More evidence now comes from California, where greens have lost an attempt to ban oil and gas hydraulic fracturing. Democratic leaders brought their fracking moratorium bill to the Assembly floor last week, and their rank and file revolted. The bill lost 37-24, with 12 Democrats joining 25 Republicans to defeat it. Another 18 Democrats abstained, and it's a good...
Canadian Utility Finds a Use for Detroit’s Pile of Oil Sands Byproduct
Posted by New York Times: Ian Austen on June 7th, 2013
New York Times: In something resembling a bottle return program, Detroit’s enormous petroleum coke pile, a byproduct of Canadian oil sands, is making its way back to Canada. A Canadian electrical power plant, owned by Nova Scotia Power, is chipping away at the three-story-high, blocklong pile of petroleum coke on Detroit’s waterfront. The company is burning the high-carbon, high-sulfur waste product because it is cheaper than natural gas. The uncovered black pile, which has angered and upset some residents of...
A closer look at northern British Columbia’s ‘transition’ fuel
Posted by Tyee: Hayley Dunning on June 7th, 2013
Tyee: At Dan's Neighbourhood Pub near the outskirts of Fort Nelson, Randy Stainky takes another swig of beer and laments the straggly state of the moose he sees in the area these days.
Lana Lowe, director of the Fort Nelson First Nation Lands Department, chose the local character bar as a venue to introduce me to some of the townspeople. It happened to be Halloween, and an initial lack of costumes was soon overcome by a troop of Kiwi helicopter pilots dressed as various Sacha Baron Cohen characters...
2013 California fire season brings stronger fires
Posted by KQED: None Given on June 7th, 2013
KQED: After two years of sparse rains, California fire officials say this year's wildfire season has started a month earlier than usual and that the fires are stronger. We'll discuss fire danger in Northern California and what residents can do to help prevent it. What can the state can do in the long term to adapt to the possibility of increasingly long fire seasons and more deadly fires due to climate change?
Host: Dave Iverson
Guests:
Bill Stewart, cooperative extension specialist, U.C. Berkeley...
Peru: Protest against state oil land grab
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 7th, 2013
Guardian: Members of the Achuar indigenous people in the northern Peruvian Amazon have been protesting against Peru's state oil company's plans to enter their territory and exploit an estimated 42 million barrels of light oil.
A protest was held against Petroperu last month in an Achuar community called Wisum near the border with Ecuador, just 12 days after it was confirmed the company would take over operations in a concession called "Lot 64."
Petroperu's involvement in this region follows the decision...
In Alaska’s oilfields, drones countdown to takeoff
Posted by Reuters: Krithika Krishnamurthy on June 7th, 2013
Reuters: No pilot was required when the Aeryon Scout took off into the leaden skies of Alaska to inspect a stretch of oil pipeline. The miniature aircraft was guided by an engineer on the ground, armed only with a tablet computer.
The 20-minute test flight, conducted by BP Plc last fall, was a glimpse of a future where oil and gas companies in the Arctic can rely on unmanned aircraft to detect pipeline faults, at a fraction of the cost of piloted helicopter flights.
It could become reality as soon as...
How Corporations and Law Enforcement Are Spying on Environmentalists
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on June 7th, 2013
EcoWatch: In February 2010, Tom Jiunta and a small group of residents in northeastern Pennsylvania formed the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition (GDAC), an environmental organization opposed to hydraulic fracturing in the region. The group sought to appeal to the widest possible audience, and was careful about striking a moderate tone. All members were asked to sign a code of conduct in which they pledged to carry themselves with “professionalism, dignity and kindness” as they worked to protect the environment...
China’s environmental problems are grim, admits ministry report
Posted by Guardian: Jennifer Duggan on June 7th, 2013
Guardian: China's environmental situation has been described as "grim" in an annual update on the country's environment released this week.
The update by China's Ministry of Environmental Protection said that overall pollution problems were serious last year and reporting on the update, the state-controlled newspaper China Daily said there has been a "marked deterioration in China's air, water and land quality".
The 2012 Environmental Conditions Report addressed water and air pollution, the two types...