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Archive for December, 2013
Federal Envoy Offers Blueprint Better Engage First Nations on Pipeline Projects
Posted by Vancouver sun: Derrick Penner on December 6th, 2013
Vancouver sun: Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s envoy to First Nations on western energy projects concluded there “has not been constructive dialogue” with aboriginal communities -- something the federal government must take drastic steps to change if it expects to win support for the projects.
That was the blunt assessment delivered Thursday by Douglas Eyford, appointed eight months ago by Harper to engage with First Nations, industry and governments to figure out a way forward on issues of aboriginal rights...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Federal Envoy Offers Blueprint Better Engage First Nations on Pipeline ProjectsNational Energy Board Sidestepping B.C. on Northern Gateway Pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 6th, 2013
Globe and Mail: The National Energy Board is planning to bypass British Columbia as it unveils a long-awaited decision on whether it supports or opposes the Northern Gateway pipeline that will have a massive impact on the province.
The board plans to hold a media lock-up in Calgary, but does not have similar plans to brief reporters in British Columbia, says an official with the independent federal agency established to regulate international and interprovincial issues around the electrical utility, gas and oil...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on National Energy Board Sidestepping B.C. on Northern Gateway PipelineTransCanada’s Keystone Southern Leg Won’t Deliver Oil Before Mid-January
Posted by Bloomberg: Dan Murtaugh and Edward Welsch on December 6th, 2013
Bloomberg: TransCanada Corp. (TRP) told shippers the Gulf Coast portion of its Keystone pipeline won’t be in service before mid-January, three days after it said in a letter to regulators that it anticipated beginning service on Jan. 3.
The Calgary-based pipeline company estimates it will begin taking receipts and delivering oil in mid- to late January, a bulletin to shippers shows. Customers will receive a letter about 30 days before service begins.
The pipeline section has the capacity to carry 700,000...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on TransCanada’s Keystone Southern Leg Won’t Deliver Oil Before Mid-JanuaryClimate Change Could Affect Southeast Salmon Habitat
Posted by Alaska Public Radio: Matt Miller on December 5th, 2013
Alaska Public Radio: Map based on the latest climate change research shows a projected average annual temperature increase of 6.1 degrees Fahrenheit by 2080 which could mean more rain and less snowfall for Southeast Alaska and western British Columbia. Courtesy Colin Shanley/The Nature Conservancy.
Researchers expect that salmon productivity could shift in Southeast Alaska streams over the next 70 years as temperatures rise and rainfall increases because of climate change.
Projections suggest that the average annual...
Geoengineering approaches to reduce climate change unlikely to succeed
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 5th, 2013
ScienceDaily: Reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the planet's surface by geoengineering may not undo climate change after all. Two German researchers used a simple energy balance analysis to explain how Earth's water cycle responds differently to heating by sunlight than it does to warming due to a stronger atmospheric greenhouse effect. Further, they show that this difference implies that reflecting sunlight to reduce temperatures may have unwanted effects on Earth's rainfall patterns.
The results are...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Geoengineering approaches to reduce climate change unlikely to succeedWorst-case scenario for oil sands industry revealed in leaked document
Posted by InsideClimate: Katherine Bagley on December 5th, 2013
InsideClimate: As environmentalists began ratcheting up pressure against Canada's tar sands three years ago, one of the world's biggest strategic consulting firms was tapped to help the North American oil industry figure out how to handle the mounting activism. The resulting document, published online by WikiLeaks, offers another window into how oil and gas companies have been scrambling to deal with unrelenting opposition to their growth plans. The document identifies nearly two-dozen environmental organizations...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Worst-case scenario for oil sands industry revealed in leaked documentOilsands environmental agency in danger of folding
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 5th, 2013
Edmonton Journal: A key environmental agency working to clean up the oilsands is within weeks of folding, but board members say they’re still hopeful Environment Minister Diana McQueen will find a way to renew its industry funding. The Fort McMurray-based agency, which needs about $5 million to $8 million from the energy industry to carry on, does technical reports on issues such as air and water pollution and most of its recommendations are adopted as government policy. This is the second year the oil industry...
Could China combat smog with artificial rain?
Posted by New Scientist: Michael Slezak on December 5th, 2013
New Scientist: China plans to open the heavens to bring back its blue skies.
According to local news reports, a document released by the China Meteorological Administration says that from 2015, local weather authorities will be allowed to use cloud seeding to create rain and clear the country's notorious smog. It's part of the government's plan to invest 1.7 trillion yuan ($277 billion) in tackling air pollution. But will it work?
Programmes to generate artificial rain have been running since the 1950s. In...
United Kingdom: Protesters removed from fracking site
Posted by Guardian: Luke Dale-Harris and Vlad Ursulean on December 5th, 2013
Guardian: US energy company Chevron has resumed its search for shale gas at a controversial site in north-east Romania after hundreds of riot police forcefully removed protesters from the village of Pungesti.
For more than two months, the village, which is believed to be sitting on large reserves of the valuable natural resource, has been the site of largely peaceful protests. Villagers, many of whom are elderly farmers, have set up camp next to the fields targeted for drilling, spending their nights in...
Gates’ scheme to reinvent the toilet is ‘too high-tech’
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on December 5th, 2013
SciDevNet: Bill and Melinda Gates's competition to produce a high-tech toilet for the developing world has been questioned by toilet experts.
An environmental engineer and an NGO worker have criticised the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for funding the development of advanced toilets that would be too expensive to provide sanitation for the 2.5 billion people without access to a toilet.
The foundation should instead focus on cheaper technologies and ways to get toilets into communities in a sustainable...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Gates’ scheme to reinvent the toilet is ‘too high-tech’