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Archive for January 17th, 2014
Shale gas extraction ‘will transform Britain’
Posted by Guardian: Fiona Harvey, on January 17th, 2014
Guardian: The UK's push for shale gas will result in unavoidable changes to the countryside, the US energy secretary has warned. Ernest Moniz, who took over as energy chief for President Obama's second term, has overseen arguably the biggest changes to US energy production since the discovery of oil.
He said the exploitation of shale gas and oil on a vast scale in the US had been "transformative", vastly reducing energy prices, boosting industry and lowering carbon emissions as more electricity production...
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Chemical Company In West Virginia Water Crisis Files For Bankruptcy
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2014
National Public Radio: Freedom Industries, the West Virginia company that's been blamed for a chemical spill that left around 300,000 people without water for days, has filed for bankruptcy. The chemical used in cleaning coal leaked into the Elk River and into the public water system.
It was only around midday Friday that West Virginia American Water online "water safety map" all blue, as Mark reported for The Two-Way earlier today. But the all-clear came with some caveats, as some residents were told not to risk drinking...
Canadian environment groups challenge oil pipeline approvals
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2014
Reuters: A coalition of environmental groups on Friday launched a legal challenge to the preliminary approval last month for Enbridge Inc's C$7.9 billion ($7.21 billion) Northern Gateway pipeline project, filing suit to prevent Canada's government from using the approval in its final decision on the line. The groups are objecting to the approval granted Northern Gateway last month by the Joint Review Panel. The panel, which held 18 months of hearings into Northern Gateway, concluded the project posed little...
California is now really, truly, officially screwed by drought
Posted by Grist: Amelia Urry on January 17th, 2014
Grist: We tend to complain about precipitation in the winter: It’s cold, it’s depressing, it can make getting around dangerous and not fun. But as California can tell you right about now, there is definitely such thing as not enough “wintry mix.”
Friday morning, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) officially declared a drought emergency. He directed state agencies to use less water, and asked residents and businesses to voluntarily cut their usage 20 percent. Mandatory water limitations could follow, and...
Illinois Village Leads Charge for Tougher Oil Train Rules
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2014
National Geographic: When a freight train rolls through Barrington, Illinois, gates with flashing lights lower to block all four of the village's cross-town thoroughfares-often at the same time. It happens 20 times a day.
And as more and more of those trains have become "unit trains-carrying only one type of freight, crude oil-residents have been voicing concerns about matters far more urgent than the time they lose idling at grade crossings. "People are seeing those black cars and they know there's something different...
As California’s Drought Deepens, a Sense of Dread Grows
Posted by New York Times: Norimitsu Onishi and Malia Wollan on January 17th, 2014
New York Times: Cattle ranchers have had to sell portions of their herd for lack of water. Sacramento and other municipalities have imposed severe water restrictions. Wildfires broke out this week in forests that are usually too wet to ignite. Ski resorts that normally open in December are still closed; at one here in the Sierra Nevada that is open, a bear wandered onto a slope full of skiers last week, apparently not hibernating because of the balmy weather. On Friday, Gov. Jerry Brown made it official: California...
Threats Escalate Against Rhino Hunt Winner as Debate Intensifies
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2014
National Geographic: The death threats against Corey Knowlton have escalated, even as the hunter defends his right to shoot an African black rhinoceros as a way to raise money for conservation.
Knowlton paid $350,000 on Saturday for the right to one of five permits issued this year to shoot an endangered black rhino in Namibia, as part of the first auction for such a hunt held in the U.S. The auction sponsor, the Dallas Safari Club, says 100 percent of the proceeds will go to conserving rhinos in Namibia.
But some...
California governor declares drought puts residents in ‘extreme peril
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 17th, 2014
Associated Press: Governor Jerry Brown formally proclaimed California in a drought Friday, saying the state is in the midst of perhaps the worst dry spell in a century, and that conditions are putting residents and their property in "extreme peril".
Brown made the announcement in San Francisco amid increasing pressure in recent weeks from the state's lawmakers, including Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein. The proclamation allows California to request a broad emergency declaration from President Barack Obama,...
Chile’s environment lawyers say they’re just warming up
Posted by Reuters: Alexandra Ulmer and Fabian Cambero on January 17th, 2014
Reuters: Chile's leading environmental lawyers, who have helped stall around $30 billion in mining and energy projects, say the battle is only just beginning - and copper investments are poised to come under increasing fire this year.
In a significant shift for business-friendly Chile, empowered social groups are successfully suing massive projects over threats to glaciers, health, indigenous rights and biodiversity.
Power projects have so far fared the worse, but Santiago-based lawyers Alvaro Toro...
Why is it so hot in Australia?
Posted by LiveScience: Laura Poppick and Tanya Lewis on January 17th, 2014
LiveScience: Record-high heat has scorched Australia this week, with temperatures exceeding 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) for several days in a row in some areas. Relief is expected for this weekend, however. Blazing temperatures have hit athletes and fans at the Australian Open in Melbourne, in what forecasters said could be the hottest stretch of weather in a century for the city. So what's causing the inferno? "Almost all heat waves form due to unusually strong areas of high pressure at high...