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Archive for January, 2014
New study: Babies near gas wells more likely to have birth defects
Posted by EHN: Brian Bienkowski on January 31st, 2014
EHN: Women who live near natural gas wells in rural Colorado are more likely to have babies with neural tube and congenital heart defects, according to a new study.
As natural gas extraction soars in the United States, the findings add to a growing concern by many activists and residents about the potential for health effects from the air pollutants.
Researchers from the Colorado School of Public Health analyzed birth defects among nearly 125,000 births in Colorado towns with fewer than 50,000 people...
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Keystone (XL) Cops, Part XLVIII: Pipeline Gets State Department’s Green Light
Posted by Bloomberg: Brad Wieners and Matthew Philips on January 31st, 2014
Bloomberg: Even the timing is too much: 3 p.m. on a Friday. And not just any Friday--the one just before the Super Bowl.
That’s when--moments ago; go Seahawks!--the U.S. Department of State decided to release its hotly anticipated report on the environmental safety of the Keystone XL, the $5.4 billion, 875-mile final leg of a network of pipelines carrying Alberta crude to refineries and tankers in Port Arthur, Tex. It’s genius. You can almost hear a State Department bureaucrat telling her colleagues: We’ll...
Obama’s Keystone Options Shrink as State Downplays Impact
Posted by Bloomberg: Mark Silva on January 31st, 2014
Bloomberg: President Barack Obama is in no hurry to decide whether construction of TransCanada Corp.’s $5.4 billion Keystone XL pipeline serves U.S. national interests, the next step in the process of measuring its worthiness.
Even so, an environmental report released today by the U.S. State Department noting only limited impact on carbon emissions from the project is diminishing the rationale Obama could use to reject it.
“I can’t imagine the president standing up and saying, ‘I don’t see a problem on...
US says no major climate impact from Keystone pipeline
Posted by Agence France-Presse: Jo Biddle on January 31st, 2014
Agence France-Presse: The US State Department on Friday released a long-awaited review of a controversial pipeline project to bring oil from Canada to Texas, concluding it would have little impact on climate change or the environment.
The final environmental impact assessment could now pave the way for US President Barack Obama to approve the $5.3 billion, 1,179-mile (1,897-kilometer) Keystone XL pipeline, first proposed back in 2008.
The project has pitched environmental groups against the oil industry, which has...
Keystone XL oil pipeline clears significant hurdle
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 31st, 2014
Washington Post: The long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline cleared a major hurdle toward approval Friday, a serious blow to environmentalists' hopes that President Barack Obama will block the controversial project running more than 1,000 miles from Canada through the heart of the U.S. The State Department reported no major environmental objections to the proposed $7 billion pipeline, which has become a symbol of the political debate over climate change. Republicans and some oil- and gas-producing states in the U.S....
UK shale gas viability check will take five years, says Cuadrilla boss
Posted by Guardian: Fiona Harvey, on January 31st, 2014
Guardian: It will take five years and the drilling of 20 to 40 fracking wells to judge whether the UK has a viable shale gas industry, the chairman of the only company yet to have used modern hydraulic fracturing techniques here has told the Guardian.
Lord Browne of Madingley, former chief of BP and now chairman of Cuadrilla, said the work must be done, because exploiting shale gas was "a national imperative".
He said the process would take so long because of the UK's strict planning laws. "We have very...
Keystone XL review ‘say pipeline will not appreciably increase emissions’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 31st, 2014
Guardian: The US State Department is poised to issue an environmental review of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline that will likely say the project will not appreciably increase carbon emissions, sources said late Thursday, forcing President Barack Obama closer to a tough decision.
Rumours swept through Washington late Thursday that the long-delayed review of the 1,179-mile (1,900-km) pipeline to bring oil from Canada to Nebraska would finally be released as soon as Friday.
"The Environmental Impact...
This Is Not the Keystone Decision That You Think It Is
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 31st, 2014
Bloomberg: The U.S. State Department released its long-awaited report on the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would connect the Alberta oil sands to the Gulf of Mexico. If you think it’s time to break out the shovels, this is not the Keystone decision that you think it is.
The environmental impact study says the pipeline won’t greatly boost oil-sands production or have a significant climate impact. The report calls for additional safety measures to prevent and deal with spills, but it’s generally being received...
Bolivian leader urges world powers to tackle climate change
Posted by Xinua: None Given on January 31st, 2014
Xinua: Bolivian President Evo Morales on Thursday called on world's economic powers to seek solutions to climate change and the natural disasters it causes. "The world powers are responsible for the climate disasters plaguing the planet, and as such they are also called on to resolve these problems," Morales said, addressing members of the diplomatic corps at the presidential palace in La Paz. Parts of Bolivia are now suffering from the rainy season flooding, Morales told the envoys, saying that he will...
Weeks Later, More Questions Than Answers In W.Va. Chemical Spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 31st, 2014
National Public Radio: State officials in West Virginia say they can no longer detect any of the industrial chemical that spilled recently, called MCHM, in most areas.
They say based on federal guidelines, the water is safe for people to drink and use; including most pregnant women. But other public health specialists say they don't trust those assurances.
One of those specialists is Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the Kanawha Charleston Health Department, the largest public health department in West Virginia. Gupta...