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Archive for September, 2013
California passes bill to strictly regulate oil well ‘fracking’
Posted by LA Times: Marc Lifsher on September 11th, 2013
LA Times: A bill that would give California the nation's toughest regulation of a controversial oil drilling technique won easy passage Wednesday from the state Assembly.
SB 4 by Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) cleared the Assembly on a 47-17 vote and went back to the Senate for concurrence in amendments. The Senate previously passed it by a 28-11 vote.
The measure had widespread support from most environmental groups, but they pulled their support just before the Assembly vote Wednesday. They argued...
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Comments Off on California passes bill to strictly regulate oil well ‘fracking’Record heat wave blasts U.S. Midwest
Posted by Reuters: Carey Gillam on September 11th, 2013
Reuters: A blast of late summer heat baked the U.S. Midwest on Tuesday, with officials closing public schools in Illinois and Ohio and opening cooling centers as record high temperatures roasted parts of the region.
Record temperatures were tied or broken in several Midwestern cities, according to the National Weather Service. In Chicago, the temperature reached 95F (35C), tying a record set in 1983.
The temperature reached 99F (37C) in Des Moines, Iowa, breaking a record set in 1927, the weather service...
California Takes Steps to Ease Landmark Law Protecting Environment
Posted by New York Times: Adam Nagourney on September 11th, 2013
New York Times: A landmark law that has been a symbol of California's tough environmental philosophy for more than 40 years is facing an unlikely challenge from Democrats, including Gov. Jerry Brown, who contend that regulations protecting the environment have been abused and are thwarting legitimate development.
With the Legislature moving toward adjournment this week, prospects of weakening the law, known as the California Environmental Quality Act, seem stronger than in recent memory, lawmakers said. Mr. Brown...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on California Takes Steps to Ease Landmark Law Protecting EnvironmentKenya water discovery brings hope for drought relief in rural north
Posted by Guardian: Martin Plaut on September 10th, 2013
Guardian: Two vast underground aquifers, storing billions of litres of water, have been discovered in the poorest and least developed area of Kenya.
The finds, in Turkana county in the north west, were uncovered using new technology to interpret ground-penetrating radar from satellites. Professor Judy Wakhungu, appointed minister of environment, water and natural resources in April, described the find as extremely significant. "It is not too deep and ought not to be not too expensive to develop," she added....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Kenya water discovery brings hope for drought relief in rural northU.S. decision on Keystone XL pipeline likely to slip into 2014
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 10th, 2013
Reuters: As the State Department drags out the approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, it is more likely President Barack Obama's final decision on the project to help link Canada's oil sands to U.S. refineries will slip into 2014, experts said.
The department has yet to finalize a controversial environmental review of more than 2,000 pages it issued on March 1 that it had been expected to complete by mid-summer. Instead, the department is reviewing and publishing in batches the more than 1.5 million public...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on U.S. decision on Keystone XL pipeline likely to slip into 2014Dust Bowl Worries Swirl Up As Shelterbelt Buckles
Posted by National Public Radio: Joe Wertz on September 10th, 2013
National Public Radio: In the 1930s, the Dust Bowl ravaged crops and helped plunge the U.S. into an environmental and economic depression. Farmland in parts of Texas, Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas disappeared.
After the howling winds passed and the dust settled, federal foresters planted 100 million trees across the Great Plains, forming a giant windbreak - known as a shelterbelt - that stretched from Texas to Canada.
Now, those trees are dying from drought, leaving some to worry whether another Dust Bowl might...
Rim Fire Suppression Costs Exceed $100 million
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on September 10th, 2013
Environment News Service: The cost for battling a three-week old wildfire both within and outside Yosemite National Park has reached $100.4 million. Although fire officials say the Rim Fire is 80 percent contained, the fire has burned 254,000 acres, or 398 square miles, and is still intensifing within the containment area.
Hot and extremely dry conditions combined with shifting winds and low humidity continue to plague firefighters. U.S. Forest Service officials say more than 3,500 personnel continue to patrol, mop-up,...
How Drought Helped Spark Syria’s Civil War—Is it One of Many Climate Wars to Come?
Posted by EcoWatch: John Light on September 10th, 2013
EcoWatch: Climate change is already hurting the world’s most vulnerable populations. Those who live in areas hit hard by drought, severe storms or rising seas and can’t relocate because of economic or social factors bear the brunt of our planet’s increasing volatility.
One way the changing climate has already made itself known is through a devastating drought--and ensuing food shortage--in Syria; it created a powder keg, and played a significant role in sparking the country’s civil war. We can expect to...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on How Drought Helped Spark Syria’s Civil War—Is it One of Many Climate Wars to Come?How Climate Change Threatens A Double Blow To The Caribbean’s Drinking Water
Posted by ClimateProgress: Jeff Spross on September 10th, 2013
ClimateProgress: According to experts, the island nations of the Caribbean could see a double blow to their freshwater supplies thanks to climate change. Shifting rainfall patterns may not replenish the countries` underground water reservoirs as in the past, and rising sea levels threaten to contaminate those same supplies with salt water.
Scientists and officials gathered at the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia this past week for a conference entitled "Climate Change, Tourism and Agriculture -- Strategies and innovations...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on How Climate Change Threatens A Double Blow To The Caribbean’s Drinking WaterOil lobbyists seek environmental exemption ahead of California frack bill vote
Posted by EnergyWire: Anne C. Mulkern on September 10th, 2013
EnergyWire: Oil industry lobbyists sought to gain an exemption from the leading California environmental law as they pushed back against legislation mandating oversight of hydraulic fracturing, multiple people familiar with the activities said.
The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) last week offered language that would have given oil companies conducting fracking on wells a release from requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, legislative aides and green groups said.
The...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Oil lobbyists seek environmental exemption ahead of California frack bill vote