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Archive for July 6th, 2013
Deepwater Horizon: BP cry foul as 10,000 claims flood in each month
Posted by Observer: Dominic Rushe on July 6th, 2013
Observer: The Deepwater Horizon oil disaster had some awful, undisputed consequences: 11 people died when the BP oil rig exploded on 20 April 2010, and oil poured unchecked into the Gulf of Mexico for 86 days.
After that, however, the picture gets murkier. Hundreds of thousands of people and businesses were affected by the disaster but, as every month goes by, 10,000 more claimants emerge. Tomorrow, lawyers for BP will appear in court in New Orleans to argue that its huge bill for compensation is out of...
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Will fracking in Lancashire’s green hills solve Britain’s energy crisis?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 6th, 2013
Guardian: For a site symbolising a future that will either poison our countryside or bring us unlimited amounts of cheap, pollution-free energy, Elswick is a distinctly underwhelming destination for a visit. The gas-power station, owned by the UK drilling company Cuadrilla, lies in the Fylde area of Lancashire and consists of a large square of cleared ground, a few cabins and some metal pipes. For most of the week, the site – surrounded by farmland – is unmanned.
Yet according to Cuadrilla, Elswick is a...
SAARC report: ‘To reduce risk to crop yields, understand climate change’
Posted by International Herald Tribune: Waqas Naeem on July 6th, 2013
International Herald Tribune: To reduce the risk to crop yields from erratic weather patterns, understanding climate variability and examining climate information are needed.
These were the suggestions of a country status report on Pakistan, released by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Agriculture Centre, whose aim is to review the present situation and identify strengths and weaknesses.
The report, titled “Impact of Climatic Parameters on Agricultural Production and Minimising Crop Productivity...
A Painful Mix of Fire, Wind and Questions
Posted by New York Times: Fernanda Santos and Jack Healy on July 6th, 2013
New York Times: They trained their eyes on the mountain that smoldered in the distance as they carved a path through a forest choked by fire and drought. The ground crackled underfoot. Packs sagged from their backs, heavy with the gear frontline firefighters must carry: pickaxes, temperature gauges, spades, radios, plenty of water.
Down in the valley, a village burned. "This is pretty wild," one of the firefighters, Andrew Ashcraft, wrote in a text message to his wife, Juliann, at 2:02 p.m. that Sunday as the...
Increased oil activity accompanied by risk
Posted by Portland Press Herald: Tux Turkel on July 6th, 2013
Portland Press Herald: New technologies and global demand have led energy companies to develop large petroleum reserves in the upper Plains States and in Alberta. But strong opposition by environmental activists has stalled the construction of new pipelines to move the oil to North American refineries, and that has created an opportunity for freight railroads.
But the new activity also carries some risk.
Last March, a Pan Am Railways train carrying 445,000 gallons of crude oil derailed in Mattawamkeag. The accident...
ALERT! Tell Greenpeace to Stop Greenwashing Old-Growth Forest Logging
Posted by Water Conservation Blog on July 6th, 2013
By Ecological Internet's Rainforest Portal
TAKE ACTION to stop Greenpeaces support for old-growth forest logging:
http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/alerts/sendsm.aspx?id=greenpeace_supports_logging
TAKE ACTION!
Greenpeace continues to espouse nonsense that logging old-growth forests is protection and can be done in an environmentally acceptable manner. Their recent case studies claim that Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification of first time industrial logging of hundreds of millions of acres of old-growth forests has led to a substantial improvement in forest management practices. Loss and diminishment of primary rainforests and other old-growth forests are never ecologically sustainable and threaten local peoples, species, ecosystems, climate, and the biosphere with collapse and death. Please demand that Greenpeace and pals resign from FSC immediately, end all involvement with primary rainforest and other old-growth logging, and work exclusively for old forest protection, restoration, and small-scale local eco-forestry. We have been asking Greenpeace politely to stop helping log old-growth for the past six years (see http://bit.ly/GPlogold) and been stonewalled and ridiculed, during which time many old forests have fallen and the fate of the biosphere become more unclear (read the science by our own Dr. Glen Barry at http://bit.ly/EICollapse).
Discuss Alert: http://www.rainforestportal.org/shared/alerts/sendsm.aspx?id=greenpeace_supports_logging#discuss
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Automobile Production Sets New Record in 2012
Posted by Worldwatch Institute: Michael Renner and Maaz Gardez on July 6th, 2013
Worldwatch Institute: World auto production set yet another record in 2012 and may rise even higher during 2013. According to London-based IHS Automotive, passenger-car production rose from 62.6 million in 2011 to 66.7 million in 2012, and it may reach 68.3 million in 2013. When cars are combined with light trucks, total light vehicle production rose from 76.9 million in 2011 to 81.5 million in 2012 and is projected to total 83.3 million in 2013. ust four countries—China, the United States, Japan, and Germany—produced...
Homes keep rising in West despite growing wildfire threat
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 6th, 2013
New York Times: The death of 19 firefighters in Arizona this week highlights what has become a fact of life in the West: Every summer, smoke fills the big skies yet people continue to build in the places that burn most. More people live in these areas, and many balk at controls on how and where to build. “There’s a self-selection factor in there — people who don’t want the government to do things tend to move to places where the government isn’t around to do things,” said Don Elliott, a senior consultant at Clarion...
Obama’s remarks offer hope to opponents of oil pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 6th, 2013
New York Times: The political ground may be shifting under the Keystone XL pipeline. Just weeks ago, the smart money in Washington had President Obama approving the cross-border oil pipeline later this year, perhaps balanced with a package of unrelated climate change measures. The seemingly inevitable decision would leave the pipeline’s opponents — a group that includes a large number of Mr. Obama’s most ardent supporters and generous donors — dispirited and disillusioned by what one called the president’s half-a-loaf...
Alberta must adapt and upgrade in disasters’ wake
Posted by Edmonton Journal: Graham Thomson on July 6th, 2013
Edmonton Journal: On May 29, Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) president Don Forgeron gave a speech in Calgary that wrapped up with a few questions: “Are your homes and businesses ready for extreme weather?”
And: “Do you have measures in place to respond when the heavy rains fall?
Eerily, Forgeron’s questions came precisely three weeks before torrential downpours inundated southern Alberta, flooding homes and businesses in downtown Calgary.
As far as I know, Forgeron is neither clairvoyant nor an exceptionally...