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Archive for July 8th, 2013
Keystone XL’s Petcoke Byproduct Could Single Handedly Wreck the Climate
Posted by EcoWatch: David Turnbull on July 8th, 2013
EcoWatch: In the President’s recent speech on climate change, he said “our national interest will be served only if [Keystone XL] does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution.”
There are many reasons that the Keystone XL pipeline will clearly exacerbate the problem of climate pollution … but one that is often overlooked (at our peril) is the problem of petroleum coke a.k.a. “petcoke.” Petcoke is a refining byproduct of tar sands oil, and when burned is substantially dirtier than coal...
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Enbridge Seeks Exemption to Fast Track Pipeline Before Opposition Builds
Posted by EcoWatch: Karen Uhlenhuth on July 8th, 2013
EcoWatch: It may sound like a familiar story: a proposed pipeline that will carry hundreds of thousands of barrels of Canadian oil sands crude across the Midwest prairies is embroiled in a permit controversy.
But this is not a story about Keystone XL.
Enbridge Energy’s proposed Flanagan South pipeline, like Keystone XL, would connect with existing pipes to ferry crude oil from Alberta--and Montana and North Dakota--to refineries in the Midwest and the Gulf Coast. The 600 miles of 36-inch pipe would run...
Storm warning: Climate change to spawn more hurricanes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 8th, 2013
USA Today: The world could see as many as 20 additional hurricanes and tropical storms each year by the end of the century because of climate change, says a study out today. The study was published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), written by top climate researcher Kerry Emanuel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. On average, about 90 tropical cyclones form each year around the world, Emanuel says. ("Tropical cyclone" is an umbrella term that includes hurricanes,...
Hurricane intensity, frequency to increase with climate change
Posted by Mongabay: None Given on July 8th, 2013
Mongabay: Warmer ocean temperatures will increase the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones, typhoons and hurricanes in "most locations" this century, concludes a new study based on simulations using six global climate models.
The research, published by MIT's Kerry Emanuel in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, projects the largest increase in cyclones in the western North Pacific. The only region that may see a decline in storm activity is the southwestern Pacific, according to the...
Amid Destruction, Canadian Oil Train Crash Pollutes Rivers
Posted by Nature World News: None Given on July 8th, 2013
Nature World News: Near the Maine border, a runaway train likely carrying hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of gallons of crude oil derailed Saturday and crashed into a downtown area in the Canadian town of Lac-Mégantic, Québec, causing death, destruction and untold environmental damage.
At least 40 people are missing and five are confirmed dead. A large swath of the town is destroyed and thousands were forced to evacuate.
As the community is still coming to terms with the tragedy, regional concerns over...
Keystone XL Pipeline: Deciding Without Data
Posted by Environment News Service: Thomas Bachand on July 8th, 2013
Environment News Service: The U.S. State Department is in the process of deciding whether the proposed Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline would be in the U.S. national interest, but the determination is being made without Keystone XL`s digital GIS data, such as the longitude and latitude of milepost markers, waterbody crossings and the centerline route.
In response to a Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, request for the proposed pipeline`s digital GIS data, the U.S. State Department stated that not only did the proposing...
U.S. system for flagging hazardous chemicals is widely flawed
Posted by Reuters: M.B. Pell, Ryan McNeill and Selam Gebrekidan on July 8th, 2013
Reuters: A 27-year-old U.S. program intended to warn the public of the presence of hazardous chemicals is flawed in many states due to scant oversight and lax reporting by plant owners, a Reuters examination finds.
Under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, private and public facilities must issue an inventory listing potentially hazardous chemicals stored on their properties. The inventory, known as a Tier II report, is filled with state, county and local emergency-management...
My dream is to make renewable energy affordable for all
Posted by Economic Times: Narayani Ganesh on July 8th, 2013
Economic Times: Steven Chu was awarded the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics jointly with compatriot William D Phillips and Claude Cohen-Tannoudji of France for "developing methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light". Chu is now better known as US President Barack Obama's former energy secretary, a post he resigned from in April to return to Stanford University. An advocate of sustainable development and renewable energy, Chu speaks to Narayani Ganesh on the sidelines of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings with young...
Key to Keystone XL Pipeline May Be Canada
Posted by Fuel Fix: Jennifer A. Dlouhy on July 8th, 2013
Fuel Fix: The final verdict on the Keystone XL pipeline rests with Obama administration officials in Washington, but the project’s fate may hinge on decisions made in Canada.
Analysts say that the administration is telegraphing willingness to approve the project, which would transport diluted bitumen from Alberta’s oil sands, as long as stakeholders north of the border do more to shrink their carbon footprint.
In a June 25 speech, President Barack Obama vowed that his administration will approve the...
Province Investigates After Spill Complaint on Athabasca River
Posted by CBC: None Given on July 8th, 2013
CBC: The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) is demanding answers and action from the province following reports of a large petrochemical spill in the Athabasca River.
A member of the ACFN first reported seeing a large oily sheen on the river about 60 kilometres north of Fort McMurray on Saturday morning.
By the afternoon, the sheen had grown to over 100 kilometres in length, said Chief Allan Adam in a release made Sunday.
Believing the sheen to be the result of a petrochemical leak, the...