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Archive for December 11th, 2013
Keystone XL Southern Leg Now Being Injected With Oil
Posted by EcoWatch: Steve Horn on December 11th, 2013
EcoWatch: Keystone XL's southern half is one step closer to opening for business. TransCanada announced that "on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013, the company began to inject oil into the Gulf Coast Project pipeline as it moves closer to the start of commercial service."
The line fill comes weeks after an investigation revealing potentially dangerous anomalies such as dents, faulty welding and exterior damage that could lead to pipeline ruptures, tears and spills. Photo credit: Public Citizen
The Sierra Club's...
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Federal Court Hears Feverish Arguments Over Mercury Emissions
Posted by Forbes: None Given on December 11th, 2013
Forbes: While most of the energy sector’s attention this week has centered on the Supreme Court’s review of pollution crossing state lines, a sizable portion of it has been targeted to what a federal court will decide with regard to mercury releases.
The case is about whether coal-fired power plants should be required to install pollution controls that would limit mercury releases, which all sides concur is among the most insidious pollutants there is. The disagreement is over whether the technologies...
Court Appeals Upholds San Francisco Plastic Bag Ban
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on December 11th, 2013
EcoWatch: A unanimous California Court of Appeal upheld San Francisco’s expanded plastic bag ban, marking the latest in a string of victories for local laws phasing out single-use plastic bags.
The lawsuit, brought by the Save the Plastic Bag Coalition, had disputed the procedures San Francisco used to expand its plastic bag ban in 2012 and the legality of banning plastic bags in restaurants. This is the first appellate court to consider the restaurant issue. Yesterday’s ruling sets the stage for more cities...
Obama’s New Special Adviser Is Outspoken Critic of Keystone XL
Posted by InsideClimate: John H. Cushman Jr. on December 11th, 2013
InsideClimate: By asking John Podesta to come to the White House as a special counselor at a time of turmoil and tough choices, President Obama has created an unusually close tie to an outspoken critic of the Keystone XL pipeline and the Canadian tar sands it would carry. Podesta is a Washington policy insider who was Bill Clinton`s chief of staff and whose Center for American Progress, or CAP, is an influential voice of liberalism. He has kept climate change high on his agenda for years and will continue to do...
Melting Arctic sea ice could be altering jet stream
Posted by Ars Technica: Scott K. Johnson on December 11th, 2013
Ars Technica: The rapidly warming Arctic isn’t noteworthy only for its own sake. Changes there affect the rest of the planet in a number of ways. Recently, there has been a lot of interest in whether the dwindling Arctic summer sea ice could be weirding the weather in the mid-latitudes.
There have been a number of recent summer extremes--Russia’s hellish summer in 2010, the drought in the US last summer, a very wet 2011 in Korea and Japan, plus a streak of soggy summers in the UK. There have been suggestions...
Podesta to recuse himself from Keystone
Posted by Hill: Justin Sink on December 11th, 2013
Hill: Freshly minted White House counselor John Podesta will recuse himself from working on the approval process for the Keystone XL pipeline, an administration official told The New Yorker on Tuesday. “In discussions [with White House chief of staff] Denis [McDonough], John suggested that he not work on the Keystone Pipeline issue, in review at the State Department, given that the review is far along in the process and John’s views on this are well known,” the official said. “Denis agreed that was the...
Scientists Call For More Fracking Data Collection & Transparency
Posted by Climate Central: Bobby Magill on December 11th, 2013
Climate Central: A group of scientists and other academics investigating the environmental, climate change and social impacts of oil and gas development, particularly hydraulic fracturing, are calling for both state and federal governments and the oil and gas industry to be more transparent and provide more data about the energy drilling and production processes.
The scientists, each presenting at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting in San Francisco, said it is difficult to determine the effects of energy...