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Archive for August 26th, 2013
Majority of China’s Proposed Coal-Fired Power Plants Located in Water-Stressed Regions
Posted by World Resources Institute: Tianyi Luo, Betsy Otto and Andrew Maddocks on August 26th, 2013
World Resources Institute: To maintain its economic growth and provide for its massive population, China must reconcile two powerful, converging trends: energy demand and resource scarcity. One prime example of this tension is the country’s coal use and water supply.
According to a new WRI analysis, more than half of China’s proposed coal-fired power plants are slated to be built in areas of high or extremely high water stress. If these plants are built, they could further strain already-scarce resources, threatening water...
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Another Delay for Keystone XL Decision
Posted by Globe and Mail: Carrie Tait AND Jeffrey Jones on August 26th, 2013
Globe and Mail: A decision on the controversial and much-delayed oil sands pipeline to the U.S. Gulf Coast could be pushed into 2014 as a U.S. watchdog examines whether contracts tied to the Keystone XL review process were wrongfully awarded and regulatory safeguards fully adopted.
The U.S. State Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) is holding an inquiry into whether it was appropriate for the government to hire Environmental Resources Management, a private contractor selected to conduct an environmental...
Canadian Documents Suggest Shift on Keystone XL
Posted by New York Times: Ian Austen on August 26th, 2013
New York Times: Ever since President Obama said in June that a litmus test for the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada was whether it would “significantly” worsen global warming, Canadian government officials have insisted it would not. They reasoned that because the pipeline would not have any major effect on rate of development of Canada’s oil sands, as a State Department environmental review concluded in March, it would not significantly raise the amount of carbon emitted. But documents obtained by...
Flanagan South Oil Sands Pipeline Avoids Keystone XL Scrutiny
Posted by St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Jeffrey Tomich on August 26th, 2013
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The most valuable piece of farmland in Shelby County this summer isn’t growing soybeans or corn. It’s holding a hardier crop -- steel pipe.
On a field just north of this tiny farm town along Missouri Highway 15, about 60 miles of pipe is stacked neatly in four rows that stretch almost as far as the eye can see.
In the coming months, the hundreds of pieces will be strung together as part of Enbridge Energy Co.’s Flanagan South Pipeline, a new 589-mile artery that will transport heavy Canadian...
U.S. Chemical Safety Data Wrong About 90 Percent of the Time
Posted by Dallas Morning News: JON McCLURE, DANIEL LATHROP and MATT JACOB on August 26th, 2013
Dallas Morning News: Even the best national data on chemical accidents is wrong nine times out of 10.
A Dallas Morning News analysis of more than 750,000 federal records found pervasive inaccuracies and holes in data on chemical accidents, such as the one in West that killed 15 people and injured more than 300.
In fact, no one at any level of government knows how often serious chemical accidents occur each year in the United States. And there is no plan in place for federal agencies to gather more accurate information....