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Archive for August 15th, 2013
Lessons From the U.S. for Countries About to be Fracked
Posted by EcoWatch: Jesse Coleman on August 15th, 2013
EcoWatch: The U.S. has blessed the world with many wondrous things. Atomic bombs and peanut butter. Assembly lines and CocaCola. And now there is another American invention posed to spread past our borders and into your water supply: Fracking. Fracking is a technique used by the oil industry to blast apart underground shale rock layers using liquids at high pressure. The process has allowed the oil and gas industry to reach deposits of fossil fuels that were previously unreachable, and has ignited a massive...
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Keystone Decision Seen as Climate Change Test for Obama Abroad
Posted by Inside Climate: Katherine Bagley on August 15th, 2013
Inside Climate: The Keystone XL tar sands pipeline has become a top priority for environmental groups and some politicians who oppose the project—and not just in America. With tensions over the controversial pipeline reaching fever pitch stateside, political activists and leaders abroad are closely watching the developments on the Keystone as a barometer of how willing and able President Obama is to make hard policy choices on global warming, according to an informal InsideClimate News survey. "Obama's intentions...
Heatwaves projected to double by 2020, study says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 15th, 2013
Reuters: The areas of the world hit by heatwaves are set to double in size by 2020 and continue to grow in coming decades, as heat-trapping greenhouse gases warm the global climate, scientists in Germany and Spain said on Thursday.
The projections, based on new computer models and reviewing what the scientists said was an "exceptional number of extreme heatwaves" in the past decade, are more alarming than the conclusions of the U.N. panel of climate scientists last year.
That report by the Intergovernmental...
Warren Buffett invests in oil sands producer Suncor
Posted by CNN: Steve Hargreaves on August 15th, 2013
CNN: Warren Buffett just injected himself into one of the hottest environmental debates in the country.
On Thursday Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA, Fortune 500) announced through a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it bought $524 million worth of Suncor stock last quarter.
Suncor (SU) is a Canadian oil company that derives most of its current oil production -- and future expansion plans -- from Alberta's oil sands.
Preventing oil sands expansion is the main...