RSS Feed
Archive for February 6th, 2014
Fracking’s Thirst for Water: Investors Warned of the Hidden Financial Risks
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 6th, 2014
Bloomberg: Some of the nation's driest, drought-plagued places have quickly become its busiest hot spots of drilling for shale gas and oil, especially in Texas, Colorado and California.
It's a dust-bowl-sized problem likely to become worse, according to a study released Wednesday by the nonprofit sustainability advocacy group firm Ceres. Fracking, the controversial drilling technique, is consuming billions of gallons of water each year in states where water is increasingly scarce. The report warns that investors...
Posted in 
Obama announces “climate hubs” to help boost agricultural resilience
Posted by BusinessGreen: James Murray on February 6th, 2014
BusinessGreen: The Obama administration has unveiled plans for a network of seven "climate hubs" designed to help farmers and rural communities enhance their resilience to extreme weather.
Announced yesterday as the latest component in President Obama's wide-ranging climate action plan, the hubs will act as information centres, providing farmers and ranchers with detailed advice on how to minimise the impact of climate risks, such as droughts, floods, wild fires, and extreme cold snaps like the recent polar...
Egypt’s Generals Face a Watery Battle
Posted by Inter Press Service: Shelly Kittleson on February 6th, 2014
Inter Press Service: Heavy reliance on water intensive crops, a major upstream dam project for the Nile basin, and rising groundwater levels pushing at pharaoh-era monuments will be pressing issues for the next Egyptian president -- whether military or civilian. As criticism continues over the military's heavy-handedness to quell protests, little attention is being given to the late January announcement by Egypt's minister of irrigation and water resources on the growing severity of the country's water shortage: share...
Beware: Investors should know about these ‘global risks’
Posted by CNBC: Jessica Morris on February 6th, 2014
CNBC: Over 10 percent of countries are increasingly vulnerable to "global risks" like terrorism, pandemics and climate change, according to a report published by Maplecroft on Thursday.
The risk consultancy firm studied 179 countries, and found that around 10 percent were more at risk from "global risks" than in 2012. The majority of these countries were in Sub-Saharan Africa or East Africa, including Mali, Guinea, Madagascar, Mozambique and Tanzania.
In its report on the subject, Maplecroft used...
State Department Closes Eyes To Truth In Keystone XL Pipeline Report
Posted by Forbes: Jeffrey Dorfman on February 6th, 2014
Forbes: The State Department just came out with its latest report on the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline. The report finds that the pipeline’s construction would create almost 2,000 jobs that last for two years and would support more than 40,000 jobs. The report further finds that the pipeline likely would not harm the environment when considered relative to what will happen if the pipeline is not built. Yet, even given these clear facts in favor of green lighting the pipeline, don’t expect an approval in...
Australian farmers should not be treated like protected species
Posted by Guardian: Paula Matthewson on February 6th, 2014
Guardian: Watching rural Liberal backbencher Sharman Stone give the prime minister a free character assessment and troll colleagues over the SPC Ardmona decision, it’s hard to avoid the impression that jobs in agriculture are somehow more important than other jobs in Australia.
It’s not unusual for local members to think their constituents’ jobs are crucial to the economy: we certainly heard that when the government effectively hounded GM Holden’s manufacturing operations from our shores (and not coincidentally...
U.S. House passes Republican-backed California water plan
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 6th, 2014
Reuters: The Republican-led House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would roll back federal rules to provide more water for farmers and municipalities in California's Central Valley as the state copes with its worst drought in decades. Backers said the legislation would provide drought relief by permitting federal and state authorities to pump more water out the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta. Opponents, including California's Democratic lawmakers, have termed the bill a water grab...
White House Announces Network Climate Hubs. So What Are They?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 6th, 2014
National Geographic: This aerial view of drought-stricken Arkansas shows damaged corn and sparse soybean crops. The ground is so dry that tractors leave several hundred yards of dust in their wake.
Saying it wants to help farmers and ranchers better cope with the effects of climate change, the Obama Administration on Wednesday announced a new network of regional "climate hubs."
The idea is to dispatch a cadre of climate change specialists across the nation to gather the latest science on how climate shifts may...