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Archive for August 25th, 2013
Rising ocean acidity will exacerbate global warming
Posted by Nature: Eliot Barford on August 25th, 2013
Nature: The slow and inexorable increase in the oceans’ acidity as they soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere could itself have an effect on climate and amplify global warming, according to a new study. Acidification would lead certain marine organisms to emit less of the sulphur compounds that help to seed the formation of clouds and so keep the planet cool.
Atmospheric sulphur, most of which comes from the sea, is a check against global warming. Phytoplankton -- photosynthetic microbes that drift...
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Estonia becomes self-sufficient on shale gas boom
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 25th, 2013
Telegraph: "We are the most energy independent country in the European Union, and we will not compromise our energy security. We have a large neighbour,' said Juhan Parts, the economy minister.
It is the same story wherever you go across Eastern Europe: the fuel debate comes down to Vladimir Putin's Russia, and Gazprom's stranglehold on gas supplies. Global warming inevitably plays second fiddle. "Estonia is not rich enough to experiment with immature technologies,' said Mr Parts.
"Even if we had to invest...
A look at findings of Pa. fracking health project
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 25th, 2013
Associated Press: An environmental project is providing some of the first specific numbers about people who may have been affected by the boom in natural gas drilling. Here’s what the Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project has found in Washington County south of Pittsburgh and how experts and the industry are reacting to it: — Air pollution seems to be more of a threat than water pollution. Only seven of 27 cases of people who believed they were hurt by nearby natural gas activities involved water pollution....
Fracking health project puts numbers to debate, suggests air pollution may be bigger concern
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 25th, 2013
Associated Press: A project examining the local health impacts from natural gas drilling is providing some of the first preliminary numbers about people who may be affected, and the results challenge the industry position that no one suffers but also suggest the problems may not be as widespread as some critics claim.
The Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project has been trying to help people who feel they've been sickened by natural gas drilling or processing for about 18 months in one county south...
Why Won’t Obama Visit North Dakota?
Posted by National Journal: None Given on August 25th, 2013
National Journal: North Dakota is like an overachieving child who attracts the attention of everyone--except Dad.
The oil boom taking over western North Dakota and transforming America's energy landscape has prompted visits from people around the world--Germany, Turkey, Japan, Dubai, and elsewhere--to see what they can learn and how they can benefit.
President Obama, however, has not visited the state since moving into the White House (although he did drop in twice during the 2008 presidential campaign).
Sen....
Nuclear waste can’t wait
Posted by LA Times: Editorial on August 25th, 2013
LA Times: In the 1957 Isaac Asimov short story "Silly Asses," Earthlings are added to a galactic book of planetary races that have reached maturity -- defined as those that have developed nuclear capability. But then the keeper of the book learns that atomic tests are being conducted on Earth and crosses the planet off the list. Asimov was writing during the A-bomb years, before the construction of nuclear power plants. How unacceptable would it seem to the fictional keeper of the book that we have been building...
United Kingdom: The anger over fracking is real: but the truth is, we can’t manage without gas
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 25th, 2013
Guardian: The battle for Balcombe is a distraction. It allows politicians and businesspeople who want to ditch the green agenda to depict environmentalists as mindless nihilists opposed to modernisation of Britain's energy infrastructure.
It is also fair to ask why anti-frackers are willing to go down to Sussex in large numbers while the oil and gas explorers in Aberdeen and Great Yarmouth are ignored. If climate change is the target of the protesters, there is a case for demonstrating against those who...
Risk at Coast From Fire at Yosemite
Posted by New York Times: Michael Schwirtz on August 25th, 2013
New York Times: Gov. Jerry Brown of California declared a state of emergency for the city and county of San Francisco over the weekend, as a large wildfire near Yosemite National Park threatened water and electricity going to the area. The fire could cause “temporary interruption” of water and electricity, Mr. Brown said on Friday, as reservoirs and hydroelectric plants were at risk. The fire is approaching the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, which delivers water to about 2.6 million customers in San Francisco and the...
Domestic natural gas: From boom to overkill
Posted by USA Today: Meghan Foley on August 25th, 2013
USA Today: Natural gas was first a boon for domestic energy producers and then an albatross. Hydraulic fracturing, or 'fracking', a process that cracks rock deep underground to release oil and natural gas, made production possible in many previously untapped shale fields, sparking a land grab that began a decade ago.
During President Obama's tenure in the White House, soaring production of natural gas from horizontal drilling and fracking has pushed supplies to record highs for many years. The boom in domestic...
Wildfire forces new closures at Yosemite National Park
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 25th, 2013
Reuters: A fast-moving wildfire on the edge of Yosemite National Park has forced the closure of two more areas of the park, but an official said on Saturday he was cautiously optimistic that firefighters could halt the advance of flames.
The so-called Rim Fire, which had grown to just over 125,000 acres as of early Saturday, remained largely unchecked with extreme terrain hampering efforts at containment, which stood at 5 percent.
The fire had blackened about 12,000 acres in the northwest corner of...