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Archive for February 15th, 2014
The economics of shale oil: Saudi America
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2014
Economist: DENNIS LITHGOW is an oil man, but sees himself as a manufacturer. His factory is a vast expanse of brushland in west Texas. His assembly line is hundreds of brightly painted oil pumps spaced out like a city grid, interspersed with identical clusters of tanks for storage and separation. Through the windscreen of his truck he points out two massive drilling rigs on the horizon and a third about to be erected. Less than 90 days after they punch through the earth, oil will start to flow.
What if they’re...
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EPA underestimated methane emissions including those from gas leaks
Posted by ClimateWire: Stephanie Paige Ogburn on February 15th, 2014
ClimateWire: In recent years, as the natural gas boom has led to the fuel playing an increasing role in the U.S. energy mix, a debate has been raging over its climate benefits.
A number of studies measuring emissions of methane, a key component of natural gas with 30 times the warming potential of CO2, have measured significant leakages of the gas.
If such leaks are common, the climate benefits of burning natural gas rather than coal diminish.
Drilling for natural gas (methane) in coal country can be...
Obama: US must rethink the way it uses water as climate changes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2014
Associated Press: Warning that weather-related disasters will only get worse, President Barack Obama said Friday the U.S. must rethink the way it uses water as he announced new federal aid to help drought-stricken California. Obama drew a clear connection between California's troubles and climate change as he toured part of a farm that will go unsown this year as the state faces its worst drought in more than 100 years. Even if the U.S. takes action now to curb pollution, the planet will keep getting warmer "for...
Burning natural gas is better than using coal: study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2014
National Public Radio: STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The latest news about natural gas arrives in an awkward moment. American gas drilling is booming. The market is expanding. And natural gas is promoted as a clean fuel, far better to run buses or heat homes than oil. A report in Science magazine concludes those benefits are real, but at the same time decades of studies have found that natural gas leaks into the air are a potent contributor to climate change. And the new study finds those leaks are greater than the Environmental...
President Obama: Fate California farms affects whole country
Posted by Politico: None Given on February 15th, 2014
Politico: It's not often President Barack Obama gives a speech centered on agriculture, but the three years of scorching drought in California prompted him to fly there Friday to speak to weary farmers and ranchers and pledge millions of dollars worth of aid. "As anyone in this state could tell you, California is living through some of its driest years in a century,' Obama said after touring a farm and a water facility. Moments before Obama briefly painted a bleak picture of the state's condition by describing...
Floods in Britain threaten farm output and investment
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2014
Reuters: Floods in southwest England and elsewhere have submerged crops and destroyed cattle bedding and feed, with the consequences likely to be felt for months, or even years, in terms of lower production of both crops and meat.
Britain's Environment Agency had issued 416 flood warnings and alerts, as of early Thursday, including 16 under its most serious category, indicating danger to life.
Thousands of acres of farmland in Britain are under water, with some submerged for weeks, although agricultural...
United Kingdom: Floods could remain until March, Environment Agency warns
Posted by Telegraph: Gordon Rayner on February 15th, 2014
Telegraph: Flooding will continue into March in some parts of Britain, the Environment Agency has warned, as the country braces itself for yet another Atlantic storm on Saturday.
With two inches of rain expected in the South West, it may be another week before the knock-on effects are felt downstream in major rivers, while overflowing groundwater levels will mean the water may not drain away until the spring.
Up to 3,000 homes could flood in the Thames Valley this weekend, with 24 "danger to life' severe...
Drought points to need climate fund: Obama
Posted by MarketWatch: Russ Britt on February 15th, 2014
MarketWatch: President Barack Obama wants to use California’s current drought as an example of the need for a $1 billion “climate resilience fund” that would aid research and help communities find ways to handle climate change, reports said Saturday.
Associated Press said Obama outlined the initiative as he announced more than $160 million in aid to California’s farms that are struggling to deal with the effects of the worst drought in more than a century.
“We have to be clear. A changing climate means...
Obama: Figure out how satisfy US water needs
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2014
Associated Press: President Barack Obama drew a link between climate change and California's drought, and said the U.S. must do a better job of figuring out how to make sure everyone's water needs are satisfied.
On a tour of central California on Friday, Obama warned that weather-related disasters will only get worse.
"We can't think of this simply as a zero-sum game. It can't just be a matter of there's going to be less and less water so I'm going to grab more and more of a shrinking share of water," Obama...
In parched Central Valley, message of aid & warning from Obama
Posted by Chicago Tribune: Diana Marcum and Evan Halper on February 15th, 2014
Chicago Tribune: Standing Friday afternoon on cracked, parched earth where melons would usually grow, President Obama brought both a message of aid and an ominous warning to drought-stricken California as he outlined more than $160 million in federal assistance.
The directives include aid for ranchers struggling to feed their livestock because of the drought, and for food banks serving families in hard-hit areas. Obama also called on U.S. government facilities in California to curb water use.
"These actions...