RSS Feed
Archive for July 7th, 2013
‘Gasland’ sequel accuses energy industry of corrupting government
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 7th, 2013
Associated Press: Josh Fox galvanized the U.S. anti-fracking movement with his incendiary 2010 documentary "Gasland." Now he`s back with a sequel -- and this time, he`s targeting an audience of just one.
"We want the president to watch the movie, and we want him to meet with the people who are in it," says Fox, whose "Gasland Part II" makes its HBO debut Monday.
He contends President Barack Obama`s professed support of drilling and fracking for natural gas ignores the environmental and public health toll of...
Posted in 
The elements of destruction
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 7th, 2013
Herald: As well extreme weather including floods, snow, storms and droughts, there could be plagues of pests, ravaging diseases and toxic algal blooms. Power cuts, food shortages, wildfires, mass travel disruptions and wildlife extinctions are all forecast. As if that were not enough, the list of potential problems caused by global warming also includes more sewer overflows, soil erosion and landslides. More deaths and illness are likely during heatwaves, while air and water pollution could worsen and fogs...
Enbridge’s tar sands pipelines
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 7th, 2013
Living on Earth: CURWOOD: In his recent address on climate change, President Obama pledged not to approve the Keystone XL pipeline if it would add significantly to global warming. Many Keystone opponents heard that as a death-knell for the project, but the overall climate impact of the pipeline will depend on whether the diluted bitumen, dilbit, from the Canadian Tar Sands would be able to get to the market anyway. And there may be another way. According to the online publication InsideClimateNews, the Enbridge Company...
Firefighters warn of extreme fire danger in central California
Posted by Fresno Bee: Mark Grossi on July 7th, 2013
Fresno Bee: Nineteen of the country's best firefighters died last week in Arizona defending Yarnell, population about 700 -- "where a desert breeze meets the mountain air," as the town's entrance sign reads.
It also is where urban living meets wildlands. Firefighters dig in to protect people and property in places like this all over the arid West. Sometimes, nature suddenly takes their lives.
No one remembers this kind of heartbreak over the last century along Fresno County's Highway 168 up to Shaver Lake,...
Convoy to take remains of fallen Arizona firefighters home
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 7th, 2013
Reuters: A solemn caravan of vehicles carrying the remains of 19 firefighters killed battling an Arizona wildland blaze a week ago is set to leave Phoenix on Sunday on a final journey passing through the crew's hometown.
The convoy is to leave the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's office in central Phoenix late morning, passing beneath crossed fire ladders on a street flanked with fire trucks as it heads for Prescott Valley, about 100 miles north of Phoenix.
It was the greatest loss of life fighting...
Canadian freight train blast death toll hits three, set to rise
Posted by Reuters: Richard Valdmanis and Julie Gordon on July 7th, 2013
Reuters: At least five people died and 40 were missing on Sunday after a runaway train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in the center of a small Canadian town in a disaster that raised fresh questions about shipping oil by rail.
The train was hauling crude in 72 tanker cars from North Dakota to eastern Canada. It was parked, without a driver, but then it rolled downhill, gathered speed and derailed on a curve in the small town of Lac-Megantic at 1 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Saturday.
Montreal, Maine...
Oil Freight Train Explodes in Canadian Town, People Killed
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 7th, 2013
Reuters: A fast-moving, driverless train hauling tankers of crude oil derailed and exploded into a sky-high fireball in the middle of a small Canadian town early on Saturday, destroying dozens of buildings and killing several people.
The disaster took place soon after 1 a.m. when the runaway freight train with 72 cars and five locomotives hurtled into Lac-Megantic, a lakeside town of about 6,000 in the province of Quebec, and left the tracks.
Police spokesman Guy Lapointe said one person had died, and...
Climate change fanned the flames of the Arizona wildfire
Posted by Independent: Rupert Cornwell on July 7th, 2013
Independent: The show must go on – and so it was that Prescott celebrated Independence Day as usual last week, with parades and what it bills as "The Oldest Rodeo in the World", first held in 1887. This year, however, the festivities in the one-time frontier town in Arizona's high desert were darkened by tragedy. Just four days earlier, 19 of the town's finest young men had died in the deadliest single incident for US firefighters since the New York terrorist attacks of 9/11.
They were members of the Granite...
Canada train blast: At least one dead in Lac-Megantic
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 7th, 2013
BBC: Police say at least one person has died after a driverless train carrying light crude oil exploded in the Canadian town of Lac-Megantic. The blast sent a fireball and black smoke into the air, forcing the evacuation of 1,000 people. Dozens of buildings were destroyed in the town, about 250km (155 miles) east of Montreal. The train's cars reportedly uncoupled from a parked engine and derailed early on Saturday. Rail company spokesman Christophe Journet said the train had been immobilised in a...