RSS Feed
Archive for September 13th, 2013
#FearlessSummer: How the Climate Change Battle Got Ferocious
Posted by Yes!: Kristin Moe on September 13th, 2013
Yes!: In Richmond, Calif., over two hundred people sat down at a Chevron oil refinery and refused to leave. Outside Boston, Mass., they were handcuffed at the state`s largest coal plant. On Seneca Lake in New York, they paddled a flotilla of kayaks across the water to protest a natural gas storage facility. In Utah, and Texas, and West Virginia, and in other places across the country, they simply placed their bodies in front of the land they wanted to protect.
This has been a #FearlessSummer: three...
Posted in 
New Study Once Again Proves Mountaintop Removal is Simply Not Worth It
Posted by EcoWatch: Brian Sewell on September 13th, 2013
EcoWatch: To meet current U.S. coal demand through surface mining, an area the size of Washington, DC--about 68 square miles--would need to be mined every 81 days, according to a new study.
We talk a lot about the external costs of mountaintop removal. And by understanding the true costs that coal puts off on the landscapes, water and communities of Central Appalachia, it’s abundantly clear that the costs far outweigh the benefits to all but a few.
But still we hear arguments about the need for a balance...
Indigenous Rights Controversies Around Belo Monte Dam Tie Up Brazil’s Courts
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on September 13th, 2013
EcoWatch: Recent lawsuits by Brazil`s Federal Public Prosecutors (MPF) concerning the Belo Monte dam are demanding accountability from the dam-building Norte Energia consortium, Brazil`s National Development Bank (BNDES) and the state environmental agency IBAMA for noncompliance with mandated mitigation measures concerning the Juruna and Xikrin Kayapó, two indigenous groups affected by the mega-project.
The lawsuits demonstrate that conditions placed upon the dam`s environmental licensing have not been...
Underlying Ocean Water Melting Ice Shelf, Accelerating Glacier Movement
Posted by Nature World News: None Given on September 13th, 2013
Nature World News: Rising ocean temperatures, not atmospheric temperatures, are melting the Antarctic floating ice shelf Pine Island Glacier and possibly other ice shelves, an international team of researchers found.
The scientists examined the remote glacier, which represents a major outlet of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, in hopes shedding new light behind its rapid thinning in recent years.
By placing a variety of instruments deep below the ice's surface and using radar to map the underside of the ice shelf...
Warmer Ocean Water Is Key Factor in Melting Ice Shelves, Study Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2013
Yale Environment 360: Recent research into one of West Antarctica's most rapidly melting glaciers and ice shelves has shown that rising ocean temperatures and a series of channels lacing the underside of the shelf are the key factors in the rapid thinning of the shelf and the swift advance of the glacier behind it. Reporting in NASA Edge of Pine Island ice sheet Science, U.S. scientists said that instruments deployed on and under the Pine Island Glacier and ice shelf over the past two years have shown that warmer ocean...
Judge halts shipment on Idaho road of giant tar sands equipment
Posted by Reuters: Laura Zuckerman on September 13th, 2013
Reuters: A U.S. judge has temporarily blocked a shipment of massive oil field equipment from traversing a scenic Idaho roadway that cuts through the homeland of the Nez Perce Tribe and runs alongside two federally protected rivers.
U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill halted next week's planned shipment on U.S. Highway 12 of an oversized water treatment system destined for Canadian tar sands in a decision handed down late Thursday.
He also ordered the U.S. Forest Service to ban the so-called megaload...
Judge rules against ‘megaloads’ of tar sands equipment in Idaho
Posted by LA Times: Rick Rojas on September 13th, 2013
LA Times: A federal judge has ruled that the massive hauls of equipment bound for the Canadian oil tar sands cannot use a narrow highway that runs through forested areas and Nez Perce tribal lands in Idaho.
Judge Lynn Winmill granted an injunction Thursday that halts the so-called megaloads -- the most recent reportedly weighing 644,000 pounds and stretching more than 200 feet -- until U.S. Forest Service officials finish a review of U.S. Highway 12 and consult with the Nez Perce, whose reservation is part...
Deadly 1,000-year floods strike Colorado
Posted by Grist: None Given on September 13th, 2013
Grist: Biblical hell has broken out in Colorado, where more than six inches of rain fell in 24 hours, contributing to flash floods that killed at least three people.
(Before you complain about our use of "biblical," note that it`s the word federal forecasters chose to describe the flooding in an official update on the National Weather Service website.)
"It`s insane right now, I`ve lived in Colorado my whole life, and this is nothing that I`ve ever, ever seen before," Andra Coberly, spokesperson for...
States need FEMA’s help to prepare for climate change
Posted by Hill: Peter Lehner on September 13th, 2013
Hill: Last year U.S. taxpayers paid nearly $100 billion for damages caused by climate-related extreme weather events like wildfires, storms, flooding, and droughts. As our climate continues to rapidly warm, the science indicates that many natural disasters will become more frequent, more severe, and more costly.
Preparing for natural disasters can no longer be just an exercise in learning from the past. We must also take into account new information on how climate change will affect the frequency and...
United Kingdom: High Court to rule on Balcombe fracking protest
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2013
Independent: The seven-week protest against potential fracking in the West Sussex village of Balcombe could end abruptly next week after the High Court agreed to rule on whether the protestors should be forcibly evicted or allowed to stay.
About 80 people are camped out along the grass verges on the side of the London Road, where the fracking company Cuadrilla has been drilling in search of oil.
On Monday, the protestors were served with an eviction order demanding that they vacate the area by 9am on Tuesday....