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Archive for February 1st, 2014
State Dept. gives Obama political cover to OK Keystone XL pipeline looming over his legacy
Posted by Associated Press: Nedra Pickler and Josh Lederman on February 1st, 2014
Associated Press: President Barack Obama is running out of reasons to say no to Keystone XL, the proposed oil pipeline that's long been looming over his environmental legacy.
Five years after the pipeline's backers first asked the Obama administration for approval, the project remains in limbo, stuck in a complex regulatory process that has enabled Obama to put off what will inevitably be a politically explosive decision. But the release Friday of a long-awaited government report removes a major excuse for delay,...
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Report: Keystone XL pipeline ‘won’t boost oil sands use’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 1st, 2014
BBC: The US state department has raised no major environmental objections to the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada, according to a new report.
Environmentalists say the pipeline will lead to increased carbon emissions, contribute to global warming, and risk spills on its route.
President Barack Obama has yet to decide whether he will permit it.
The 1,179-mile (1,897km) pipeline would carry tar sand oil from Alberta in Canada to Nebraska.
The oil would then be transported on existing pipes...
Want to cut Arctic warming in half? Curb emissions now, study says
Posted by LA Times: Tony Barboza on February 1st, 2014
LA Times: Global warming is changing the Arctic so quickly that experts say we should expect an ice-free Arctic Ocean in the summer within just a few decades.
But a group of scientists says there is a way to spare the Arctic from more disastrous climate change. In a new paper, they say that reducing global carbon emissions now could cut Arctic warming nearly in half by century's end.
Society already has released enough carbon dioxide into the Earth's atmosphere that over the next few decades temperatures...
Keystone XL foes undaunted by State Dept. report
Posted by Associated Press: Grant Schulte on February 1st, 2014
Associated Press: With yet another obstacle removed for the Keystone XL pipeline, opponents were pressing forward with a lawsuit to challenge the project, public protests and an effort to inject the issue into the November elections.
Supporters and opponents both were quick to claim victories with the U.S. State Department report released Friday, which raised no major objections to the pipeline. The oil industry, some union groups and congressional Republicans called on the Obama administration to move forward...
Pipeline Opponents’ Hopes Now Rest Largely on Kerry
Posted by New York Times: Sarah Wheaton and Coral Davenport on February 1st, 2014
New York Times: Environmental activists have not been shy in their fight against the Keystone XL pipeline. They have wrapped a giant pipeline around the White House fence, marched on Washington in the frigid cold, been arrested, and followed President Obama around the country to press their concerns while raising millions of dollars for the cause.
So on Friday, they largely dismissed the findings of a long-awaited State Department review that concluded the project - which would send 830,000 barrels of oil from...
State Dept. Admits Keystone XL Pipeline Climate Impact
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on February 1st, 2014
Environment News Service: In its final environmental review of TransCanada`s proposed Keystone XL pipeline, the U.S. State Department today acknowledges for the first time that the pipeline could "significantly impact" climate change.
Unlike its previous reviews of the pipeline, the State Department`s new Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement does not claim that the environmental impacts of the pipeline would be minimal.
Instead, the State Department FEIS says, "The total direct and indirect emissions associated...
Work begins clear road to Alaska town cut off by avalanche
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 1st, 2014
Reuters: Work crews began removing snow on Friday from an Alaska highway hit by avalanches last week that blocked the only road leading to the port city of Valdez, officials said. With the road cut off, ferry and plane routes have been added for people needing to leave the city of over 4,000 residents. Food and other goods are arriving by barge. Aside from providing road access to the town, the highway is used to transport fuel, goods and oil production equipment from Valdez to the state's interior region,...
Low impact: State Department says Keystone won’t hurt much at all
Posted by Grist: None Given on February 1st, 2014
Grist: It`s Friday, and nothing says Friday like the words "The Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Keystone XL Project is out." Am I right? Let`s just pretend I`m right. It`s out, everyone! Some people might get into conspiracy theories about governmental agencies that release highly controversial documents late on a Friday right before the Super Bowl, but surely those are just theories. Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Keystone XL Project party in the house!...