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Archive for July 18th, 2013
United Kingdom: Fracking: tax breaks raise questions over agenda for tackling climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2013
Guardian: Providing tax breaks to the frackers can be justified by the government as a way of trying to develop an industry that could eventually provide Britain with lower-cost and lower-carbon energy – if all goes fantastically well.
In the US, the shale "revolution" has cut natural gas prices by almost 75% and allowed a reduction in carbon emissions as gas has displaced coal in the generation of electricity.
But that coal has been exported to Britain and Germany to be burned over here. A new domestic...
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George Osborne unveils ‘most generous tax breaks in world’ for fracking
Posted by Guardian: Terry Macalister and Fiona Harvey on July 18th, 2013
Guardian: George Osborne has infuriated environmentalists by announcing big tax breaks for the fracking industry in a bid to kickstart a shale gas revolution that could enhance Britain's energy security but also increase its carbon emissions.
The Treasury has set a 30% tax rate for onshore shale gas production. That compares with a top rate of 62% on new North Sea oil operations and up to 81% for older offshore fields.
So far, no shale gas has been produced in Britain, but exploratory drilling is under...
Ohio lawmakers who oppose fracking tax have gotten lots of money from frackers
Posted by Grist: None Given on July 18th, 2013
Grist: Oil and gas companies have been on a fracking spree in Ohio for a couple of years now, but they`re not bringing many jobs to the state, so Republican Gov. John Kasich has been trying to get them to give back in another way: via a fracking tax.
Under Kasich`s proposal, revenue from the fracking tax would be used to reduce income taxes, an idea that proved overwhelmingly popular with voters, including many Republicans. And the tax would be in line with those imposed by most other oil- and gas-producing...
Hundreds Intervene in Federal Review of Fracked Gas Pipeline
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on July 18th, 2013
EcoWatch: A coalition of environmental groups, along with more than 300 residents are intervening in proceedings over the Constitution Pipeline Project, a 122-mile natural gas pipeline proposed to run through portions of New York and Pennsylvania, subjecting the already unpopular project to an added layer of controversy.
The flurry of intervention filings is the latest sign that residents and advocates are prepared to fiercely challenge infrastructure projects that will allow more fracking-enabled gas development...
Wildfire warning: Heatwave death toll as high as up to 760 – and farms at risk
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2013
Independent: Farmers will be on high-alert this weekend as the heatwave threatens to unleash a wave of fires that could ruin crops across the country, a senior Met Office scientist has warned.
As Britain clocked up its sixth consecutive day of plus-30C temperatures - with the thermometer peaking at 30.4C – soon-to-be harvested crops such as wheat and winter barley are looking particularly vulnerable to fire, said Karl Kitchen, the Met Office scientist with responsibility for wildfires. He issued his crop-fire...
Early society ‘not driven by war’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2013
BBC: Primitive society was not driven by war, scientists believe.
Researchers from Abo Academy University in Finland say that violence in early human communities was driven by personal conflicts rather than large-scale battles.
They say their findings suggest that war is not an innate part of human nature, but rather a behaviour that we have adopted more recently.
The study is published in the journal Science.
Patrik Soderberg, an author of the study, said: "This research questions the idea...
United Kingdom: Fracking companies should not get tax breaks, says No 10 adviser
Posted by Guardian: Fiona Harvey, on July 18th, 2013
Guardian: Shale gas fracking companies should not be granted tax breaks, a leading Downing Street adviser has said, because their operations are likely to be profitable without such incentives – even as the government prepared to offer developers a new "pad allowance" for the wells they drill, to encourage more of the controversial exploration.
Peter Lilley, the climate sceptic Tory MP who is an adviser on foreign policy in No 10, said in a debate on shale gas in Westminster Hall on Thursday afternoon:...
Treatment Plants Accused of Illegally Disposing Radioactive Fracking Wastewater
Posted by EcoWatch: Sharon Kelly on July 18th, 2013
EcoWatch: A Pennsylvania industrial wastewater treatment plant has been illegally accepting oil and gas wastewater and polluting the Allegheny river with radioactive waste and other pollutants, according Clean Water Action, which announced today that it is suing the plant.
“Waste Treatment Corporation has been illegally discharging oil and gas wastewater since at least 2003, and continues to discharge such wastewater without authorization under the Clean Water Act and the Clean Streams Law,” the notice...
Exclusive: Chile indigenous likely to appeal Barrick ruling – lawyer
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2013
Reuters: A Chilean indigenous group will likely ask the Supreme Court to review a lower court decision on Barrick Gold Corp's Pascua-Lama gold mine, because the ruling does not go far enough to protect the environment, a lawyer representing the group told Reuters on Thursday.
The appeal will probably also seek a re-evaluation of the suspended $8.5 billion project and ask that Barrick present a new environmental impact assessment study, a potentially lengthy and costly process, the lawyer, Lorenzo Soto,...
Drought persists though worst levels shrinking
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 18th, 2013
Reuters: Severe levels of dryness persisted in the nation's midsection, south and in the western half of the country, though the land area suffering from the worst of it was shrinking, according to a weekly drought report issued on Thursday.
The U.S. Drought Monitor, issued by state and federal experts, said drought areas in the "moderate to exceptional" range reached 46.13 percent, up from 44.85 percent a week ago. But the numbers reflected an increase in moderate and severe levels and a decrease in the...