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Archive for October 29th, 2013
Brazil: Belo Monte dam suspended
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 29th, 2013
Mongabay: Construction on Belo Monte, Brazil's largest dam, was again halted by a federal court due to concerns over its license, reports Amazon Watch, an NGO that is mobilizing opposition to the project.
"Last week the Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region (TRF-1) accepted a request made by public prosecutors of the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) and suspended the installation license (LI- Licença de Instalação) which had authorized the start of construction sites of the Belo Monte Hydroelelctric Dam...
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U.S. lays out strict limits on coal funding abroad
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 29th, 2013
Reuters: The United States said Tuesday it plans to use its leverage within global development banks to limit financing for coal-fired power plants abroad, part of Washington's international strategy to combat climate change.
The U.S. Treasury said it would only support funding for coal plants in the world's poorest countries if they have no other efficient or economical alternative for their energy needs.
For richer countries, it would only support coal plants that deploy carbon capture and sequestration,...
Mercury Contamination: The Lesser-known Legacy of the California Gold Rush
Posted by Nature World: None Given on October 29th, 2013
Nature World: New research shows that sediment-adsorbed mercury -- a lesser known legacy of California's historic gold rush -- is being transported by major floods from the Sierra Nevada mountains to Central Valley lowlands where it is threatening to infiltrate a series of food webs.
These are the findings of Michael Singer, an associate researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara's Earth Resource Institute, writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
His report reveals the...
Bike path proposed for Keystone pathway
Posted by Bloomberg: Jim Snyder on October 29th, 2013
Bloomberg: The debate over the Keystone XL pipeline has gotten pretty heated and Kinder Baumgardner has an idea to cool the emotions: a really long bike path.
The creative director for the SWA Group, an Houston-based architectural firm that designed Google Inc.’s corporate campus, says building the lane along Keystone’s path through the country’s mid-section could turn what is now a source of rancor into a tourist attraction.
The firm sent a letter Oct. 17 pitching the plan to the State Department and...
Reckoning comes to western US coal country
Posted by Nation: Zoë Carpenter on October 29th, 2013
Nation: It's Friday night in the "energy capital of the nation,' a sprawled-out strip mall in Campbell County, Wyoming, called Gillette. In a bar on Highway 59, the liquor bottles are backlit in neon green, and a bartender covered in glitter slings Budweiser Selects to small groups of big men. Various iterations of dudes beating the daylights out of each other occupy the television screens. The man feeding the jukebox chooses rock, never country. In Gillette, coal is king, and the cattle boom is long over....
Sandy’s unfinished business
Posted by New York Times: Editorial on October 29th, 2013
New York Times: A year ago Tuesday evening, Hurricane Sandy slammed into the Eastern Seaboard, destroying lives and homes and entire neighborhoods. On the first anniversary of the storm, politicians are busily touting what they’ve done since, while, at the same time, assiduously dodging legitimate complaints from people who are still suffering. The delays have been excruciating for many. Although the federal government approved almost $60 billion in aid for the region, thousands of homeowners have seen barely a...
Scientists warn of big effects from climate change by 2047
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 29th, 2013
Herald: Climate change will arrive soon in South Carolina. Or maybe not -- if people act sensibly worldwide to do something to prevent it.
A recent study concluded that by 2047, average yearly temperatures in South Carolina will be consistently higher than in any year since 1860 because of climate change. If emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases continue to increase worldwide, South Carolina's climate would be subtropical by that year.
Some might not be alarmed that South Carolina might have...
The next superstorm
Posted by Philadelphia Inquirer: None Given on October 29th, 2013
Philadelphia Inquirer: New Jersey responded ably to the emergency of Superstorm Sandy a year ago today. Lives were saved, injuries prevented, and victims sheltered. And the Jersey Shore went on to have a far better summer than the wreckage of last October foretold. But the state and federal governments haven't done as well in preparing for the next storm or providing clarity for property owners. Too many still don't know whether they should stay or go, whether they will ever get enough money from the government and insurers...
Enbridge should do more to assure pipeline safety
Posted by Toronto Star: None Given on October 29th, 2013
Toronto Star: Enbridge has gone some distance in answering its pipeline critics, but not far enough. In a final submission to federal regulators, the company rejected calls for a special pressure test on an aging and controversial pipeline through the Greater Toronto Area. And it argued against having to carry $1 billion in liability insurance coverage.
By refusing those steps, Enbridge undermines public confidence in the safety of changes proposed for the pipeline that runs under communities — and across every...
A Year After Sandy, Climate Change Nearly Absent From NYC Mayoral Race
Posted by InsideClimate: Katherine Bagley and Maria Gallucci on October 29th, 2013
InsideClimate: The devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy a year ago today thrust the issue of climate change into the center of the presidential campaign and to the top of the national political agenda. And yet in the mayoral race for New York City, one of the epicenters of the tragedy, talk of climate is practically nowhere to be heard. In nearly all of the mayoral debates and forums held this year, the issues of global warming and Superstorm Sandy have not come up. That is despite New York's struggles to...