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Archive for February 4th, 2014
United Kingdom: Cuadrilla confirms plans for two fracking sites in Lancashire
Posted by BusinessGreen: None Given on February 4th, 2014
BusinessGreen: Shale gas company Cuadrilla intends to begin fracking at two sites near Blackpool as early as next year.
Planning consent will be sought "to drill, hydraulically fracture and test the flow of gas from up to four exploration wells on each of the sites, one at Roseacre Wood and the other at Preston New Road", the company said in a statement today.
The proposal marks the first concrete fracking plans since a ban on the controversial extraction technique was lifted at the end of 2012.
Drilling...
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Senator: US coal sales might have cost taxpayers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 4th, 2014
Associated Press: Congressional investigators have found problems with federal coal sales that might have cost taxpayers $200 million or more in lost revenue, a senator said Tuesday.
Citing a new report by investigators at the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., called for the sales to be suspended until the problems are rectified.
Further details on losses -- including when they occurred and how much coal was involved -- were not provided, drawing skepticism from...
Pakistan Has A Month’s Worth Of Water Left – And 5 Percent Of Its Tree Cover
Posted by Think Progress: Ari Phillips on February 4th, 2014
Think Progress: Pakistan is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the impacts of climate change due to its location, population and environmental degradation. According to a 2013 report from the Asian Development Bank, Pakistan has one month of water supply on hand. The recommended amount is 1,000 days. 80 percent of Pakistan`s agriculture relies on irrigation from the overstressed water system. Pakistan`s average temperature is expected to increase around 3 degrees Celsius within the next 50 years...
Pipeline rupture report raises questions about TransCanada inspections
Posted by CBC: None Given on February 4th, 2014
CBC: A CBC News investigation has unearthed a critical report that the federal regulator effectively buried for several years about a rupture on a trouble-prone TransCanada natural gas pipeline.
On July 20, 2009, the Peace River Mainline in northern Alberta exploded, sending 50-metre-tall flames into the air and razing a two-hectare wooded area.
Members of Dene Tha’ First Nations community of Chateh, about 50 kilometres away from the site of the blast, also want to know why the report was not released...
Tar Sands Air Pollution May Be 2-3 Times Higher Than Industry Reported
Posted by Canadian Press: John Cotter on February 4th, 2014
Canadian Press: A new study suggests the environmental health risks of oilsands operations in Alberta's Athabasca region have probably been underestimated.
Researchers say emissions of potentially hazardous air pollution that were used in environmental reviews done before approving some projects did not include evaporation from tailings ponds or other sources, such as dust from mining sites.
The study, by the University of Toronto's environmental chemistry research group, looked at reported levels of polycyclic...
Tropical Tropopause Layer: Nature Selectively Buffer Human-Caused Global Warming
Posted by Science 2.0: None Given on February 4th, 2014
Science 2.0: Don't count nature out yet.
Some aspects of climate change are natural. And some mitigation will be also, according to researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Johns Hopkins University in the US and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. As the globe warms, ocean temperatures rise, leading to increased water vapor escaping into the atmosphere. Water vapor is really the most important greenhouse gas and its impact on climate is amplified in the stratosphere.
In their study, the researchers...
California governor pans Republican water plan in face of drought
Posted by Reuters: Sharon Bernstein on February 4th, 2014
Reuters: California Governor Jerry Brown, whose state is facing its worst drought in decades, harshly criticized on Monday an effort by Congressional Republicans to roll back environmental rules limiting how much water agencies can pump out of the fragile San Joaquin-Sacramento River delta in dry years.
The emergency legislation would allow state and federal water managers to send water to farms and communities in California's parched breadbasket next summer, when the impact of the drought begins to hit...
Great Barrier Reef park directors still face conflict of interest questions
Posted by Guardian: Bridie Jabour on February 4th, 2014
Guardian: Two of the board members who approved the dumping of 3m cubic metres of dredging spoil on the Great Barrier Reef are still under investigation for potential conflicts of interest including links to mining companies
The environment minister, Greg Hunt, ordered a probity inquiry last October into the appointments of former Townsville mayor Tony Mooney and Queensland public servant Jon Grayson to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) by the former Labor government.
Potential conflicts...