RSS Feed
Archive for February 13th, 2014
12 reasons to reject Keystone XL
Posted by Rainforest Action Network: Chris Eaton on February 13th, 2014
Rainforest Action Network: It’s not a matter of if Keystone XL will spill, but when.
Pipelines carrying tar sands have a horrible track record. In early 2013, 80,000 gallons of tar sands crude devastated a residential neighborhood in Mayflower, AK. And 2010 saw the worst oil spill in Michigan State history when a tar sands pipeline spilled 900,000 gallons into the Kalamazoo River.
TransCanada, the company building Keystone XL, might have the worst record of any pipeline company. Its Keystone 1 pipeline, the predecessor...
Posted in 
Climate change: hard rain, hard truths
Posted by Editorial: None Given on February 13th, 2014
Editorial: Canoes, community spirit and sandbags; the very occasional watery tragedy, and heartening tales of rescued old ladies. These have been the currents of British conversation in recent days, or at least of those parts of it not directly dealing with the appalling realities of being submerged. Marvelling from a safe distance at Blackpool sea-foam that looks just like snow, or tittering at troops who turn up without knowing what to do, the general mood has been "oh, to be alive in such times". Meanwhile...
Underestimated Methane Leaks Make Natural Gas Dirtier Than Previously Thought, Says Study
Posted by Forbes: None Given on February 13th, 2014
Forbes: Methane emissions are worse than the conventional wisdom would have you believe, according to a new study by researchers at Stanford University.
Methane, which is the primary component of natural gas, is an especially powerful greenhouse gas, packing more than two dozen times as much global warming potential than carbon dioxide.
Traditionally, environmental regulators and energy industry groups have estimated methane emissions by multiplying the amount of methane emitted by a specific source...
United Kingdom: Ex-environment minister hits back at politician ‘armchair hydrologists’
Posted by Guardian: Patrick Wintour on February 13th, 2014
Guardian: A former Conservative environment minister who has been criticised along with the Environment Agency for mismanaging flood prevention has hit back at what he described as "politicians seeking to become armchair hydrologists".
Richard Benyon has been accused by some south-west MPs and the communities secretary, Eric Pickles, of blocking dredging on the Somerset Levels during his period as environment minister.
Writing for the Guardian, Benyon said he was "uncomfortable with those that reach...
Highly Contaminated Water Still Pouring Into Public Drinking Source on Dan River
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on February 13th, 2014
EcoWatch: Waterkeeper Alliance and Yadkin Riverkeeper have obtained the results from a second round of water sampling on the Dan River in the wake of the third largest coal ash spill in recent U.S. history. Their results confirm that highly-contaminated coal ash seepage is still pouring out of the same Duke Energy ash impoundment where an estimated tens of thousands of tons of raw ash erupted into the river last week. The newly-confirmed leak is located about a third of a mile upstream of the pipe where last...
Global warming gas methane exceeds government estimates, new study contends
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 13th, 2014
Washington Post: The amount of the heat-trapping gas methane in the atmosphere is considerably greater than government estimates, a problem significantly fueled by leaks from the U.S. natural gas system, according to a study released Thursday.
The leak rate probably is large enough to negate the value of converting buses and trucks from diesel to natural gas, as governments and private companies have done to help slow the warming of the planet, the scientists concluded.
But even with the current leaks,...
Flooding and storms in UK are clear signs of climate change, says Lord Stern
Posted by Guardian: Conal Urquhart on February 13th, 2014
Guardian: The devastating floods and storms sweeping Britain are clear indications of the dangers of climate change, according to Lord Stern, the author of a 2006 report on the economics of climate change.
Writing in the Guardian, the crossbench peer said the flooding and storm damage demonstrate the need for Britain and the rest of the world to continue to implement low-carbon policies to reduce the probability of greater tragedies in the future.
He said the five wettest years and the seven warmest...
North Carolina coal ash spill under federal criminal investigation
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 13th, 2014
Guardian: Federal authorities have launched a criminal investigation into a massive coal ash spill into a North Carolina river, demanding that Duke Energy and state regulators hand over reams of documents related to the accident that left a waterway polluted with tons of toxic sludge.
The US attorney’s office in Raleigh issued grand jury subpoenas seeking records from Duke and the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). The subpoenas seek emails, memos and reports related...
Study Finds Methane Leaks Negate Climate Benefits of Natural Gas
Posted by New York Times: Coral Davenport on February 13th, 2014
New York Times: The sign is ubiquitous on city buses around the country: "This bus runs on clean burning natural gas."
But a surprising new report, to be published Friday in the journal Science, concludes that switching buses and trucks from traditional diesel fuel to natural gas could actually harm the planet's climate.
Although burning natural gas as a transportation fuel produces 30 percent less planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions than burning diesel, the drilling and production of natural gas lead...
UK storms should be catalyst for climate change treaty, says Ed Davey
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 13th, 2014
Guardian: The energy and climate change secretary, Ed Davey, has warned that the floods should act as a catalyst for a new international treaty to tackle global warming.
While the link between the current UK storms and climate change remains under dispute, Davey said that extreme weather conditions in the United States had changed the debate over there.
"I hope it will stiffen the arm of British people arguing for it [action against climate change]. I am arguing for it very strongly both in Europe and...