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Archive for August 29th, 2013
Record-Breaking $17 Billion in Crop Loss Stresses Need for Federal Insurance Program Reform
Posted by EcoWatch: Dana Gunders on August 29th, 2013
EcoWatch: Extreme weather means lost food as drought, flood and other weather-related farming hazards threaten and destroy crops. But what are we to do, since we can’t fight weather? Or can we?
As we enter this new frontier of the wild, wild weather, one of the most promising strategies for reducing both the material and financial losses is to build the resilience of our farms. Practices such as cover cropping, no-till and efficient irrigation have shown to reduce crop losses associated with extreme weather....
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Massive Wildfire Prompts New Travel Restrictions Through Yosemite
Posted by Reuters: Laila Kearney on August 29th, 2013
Reuters: Firefighters determined to keep a massive blaze from invading the heart of California's Yosemite National Park took advantage of cooler weather early on Thursday to slow the spread of flames ahead of a holiday weekend marking the end of the peak summer tourist season.
Progress came after a long stretch of Yosemite's main east-west road was closed on Wednesday through the western half of the park as crews tightened their grip on the blaze, extending containment lines around 30 percent of the fire's...
Throwing billions more at logging wrong
Posted by Missoulian: Mike Garrity on August 29th, 2013
Missoulian: From one fifth-generation Montanan to another, I’m calling U.S. Rep. Steve Daines’ recent column on forest issues misinformed parroting of Bush-era “Healthy Forests Initiative” propaganda, which was nothing but a smokescreen for more corporate logging. Sadly, Daines now follows Bush’s path to less environmental analysis, less public review and more deforestation of our dwindling old growth forests. Ironically, Daines’ column was published at the same time as numerous articles about how wonderful...
United Kingdom: Treasury confirms “secret meetings” with industry over shale gas tax breaks
Posted by BusinessGreen: James Murray on August 29th, 2013
BusinessGreen: Treasury officials have met with representatives of the shale gas industry to discuss the introduction of tax breaks at the rate of around twice a month since Chancellor George Osborne announced his intention to provide the nascent fossil fuel industry with one of the most generous tax regimes in the world.
The revelation came in response to a freedom of information request from Friends of the Earth, although the Treasury failed to respond to accompanying requests on the nature of the meetings...
Balcombe residents complain about continuing fracking protests
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 29th, 2013
Guardian: Residents of the West Sussex village at the heart of a battle over whether the UK should go ahead with fracking have complained at the ongoing protests against the controversial technique.
Earlier this month, hundreds of protesters blockaded the site outside Balcombe where Cuadrilla is undertaking exploratory drilling for oil, leading to 29 arrests including that of green MP, Caroline Lucas. Although a camp of activists in a nearby field has now left, around fifty people remain at a 'gate camp',...
India must stop viewing disasters as acts of God – report
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 29th, 2013
Reuters: India must stop viewing natural disasters as stand-alone acts of God or nature and recognise that its development policies are increasing the number of deaths and amount of devastation caused by such calamities, a new report says.
Written by academics, aid workers, scientists and analysts, the "India Disasters Report" says that development works carried out in pursuit of greater economic growth, such as the construction of dams and unsafe buildings, are putting people and the environment at greater...
California wildfire heads deeper into Yosemite, entry road closed
Posted by Reuters: Laila Kearney on August 29th, 2013
Reuters: Firefighters determined to keep a massive blaze from raging into the heart of California's Yosemite National Park have shut down half of its main east-west corridor, just days before a holiday weekend marking the end of the peak summer tourist season.
A long stretch of Tioga Road through the western half of the park was closed on Wednesday as fire crews tightened their grip on the blaze, extending containment lines around 30 percent of the wildfire's perimeter by the end of its 12th day.
The...
House Dems to Interior: Fracking Rule is Too Weak
Posted by Hill: Ben Geman on August 29th, 2013
Hill: Senior Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee say the Interior Department’s draft plan to regulate oil and gas fracking is too weak and even worse than an earlier proposal.
Ranking Democrat Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and five colleagues, in a letter, say the rule gives industry too much leeway to avoid chemical disclosure requirements by claiming trade secrets.
The lawmakers also say the rule would allow many wells in a given oil and gas field to escape oversight, alleging it assumes...