RSS Feed
Archive for February, 2014
Floods and storms predicted across Britain as weather misery continues
Posted by Guardian: Steven Morris on February 2nd, 2014
Guardian: The Met Office is warning the weather pattern that has caused flooding across swaths of the UK may continue for the rest of the month as the weekend's storms resulted in 180 more homes being inundated and led to a series of dramatic rescues.
Forecasters say this week is likely to be blighted by torrential rain and winds of more than 70mph, while high tides and a heavy Atlantic swell will continue to add to the problems for the next day or so. But, looking further forward, the Met Office said unsettled...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Floods and storms predicted across Britain as weather misery continuesIn Alberta, fresh optimism for Keystone after pivotal US review
Posted by Globe and Mail: Shawn McCARTHY, Kelly Cryderman AND Jeffrey Jones on February 2nd, 2014
Globe and Mail: The U.S. State Department has boosted hopes in Calgary and Ottawa for approval of the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline with a report that concludes the project would not significantly boost greenhouse gas emissions.
While TransCanada Corp.'s five-year battle for approval is far from over, the report addresses a key concern of U.S. President Barack Obama, who said last summer that he would not approve the pipeline if it drove up carbon pollution from the oil sands.
"Approval or denial of any...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on In Alberta, fresh optimism for Keystone after pivotal US reviewThe new threat from shale
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 2nd, 2014
Globe and Mail: The nighttime satellite photos are a handy reference guide to man’s creeping takeover of the planet. Densely packed southern England is a blanket of white light. Ditto the stretch between Washington, D.C., and Boston—in effect, one big city. As you move west in the United States, black becomes the dominant colour, interspersed with small islands of white. Wait, has a new megacity popped up in North Dakota?
It seems so, but they're not city lights. They're the gas flares from the vast Bakken shale...
Keystone XL: Conservatives make final push for US approval
Posted by Toronto Star: Tonda MacCharles on February 2nd, 2014
Toronto Star: Canada’s Conservative government seized on a new report to push U.S. President Barack Obama to swiftly approve the cross-border Keystone pipeline, while its political arm lashed out at U.S. opponents in a new ad.
“The benefits to the U.S. and Canada are clear. We await a timely decision on this project,” said Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver.
Speaking shortly after the report’s release, Oliver said Obama has no reason to dally once the 90-day review period is up.
More at thestar.com:...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Keystone XL: Conservatives make final push for US approvalEPA scrutiny could be linchpin to Keystone review process
Posted by Reuters: Valerie Volcovici on February 2nd, 2014
Reuters: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's critical assessment of the proposed northern leg of the Keystone pipeline could have outsized influence on the final decision of whether to approve the project, experts familiar with the process said.
Friday's State Department report contained the EPA's evaluation that crude produced from Canada's oil sands, which the pipeline would carry, are 17 percent more greenhouse gas intensive than average oil used in the United States. The EPA also said oil sands...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on EPA scrutiny could be linchpin to Keystone review processDespite report, final Keystone decision not near
Posted by CNN: Kevin Liptak on February 2nd, 2014
CNN: A final decision on whether or not to approve the hotly debated Keystone XL oil pipeline isn’t imminent, the White House chief of staff said on Sunday, despite a State Department report last week showing the project wouldn’t have a major impact on carbon emissions.
That report encouraged supporters of the project, which environmentalists warn could lead to more oil spills. Obama has said that he’ll only approve the pipeline if it doesn’t intensify carbon pollution.
Obama’s chief of staff, Denis...
Prince Charles right about climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 2nd, 2014
Independent: The old man who used to live next door was almost 80 and still smoking. His wife did not like it and made him take his ciggie outside. We would chat over the back fence if I was in the garden. "It's a rum do," Mr T would say, "Smoked all my life. Never did me any harm. My old ma lived till she was 92 and she was a smoker too."
We choose the evidence which suits us. The facts on smoking are overwhelmingly clear to scientists and statisticians. But anecdotes and exceptions can provide a handy excuse...
United Kingdom: Flooding: five lessons we have learned
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 2nd, 2014
Guardian: For centuries flood protection has meant building ever higher walls and radically straightening and clearing rivers, to rush water ever faster to the sea. But a more crowded island, rising sea levels and increasing extreme weather caused by climate change mean the hard engineering approach is hitting its limit.
Dredging is a prime example: experts say it would not have prevented flooding in the Somerset Levels, nor drained the water significantly quicker. A desire for immediate action is understandable,...
Battered Britain: More wet weather… and still no sign leadership
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 2nd, 2014
Independent: The Government braced itself for a further onslaught of storms and flooding? last night, as the Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson, promised that "everything possible" was being done to help potential flood victims and prepare for the further storms and tides forecast to hit the UK today.
Mr Paterson, speaking yesterday afternoon after the latest meeting of Cobra, the Government's emergency committee, promised that the Government was "offering full assistance" to emergency services and local...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Battered Britain: More wet weather… and still no sign leadershipUnited Kingdom: The more the experts warn against, the more we build on flood plains
Posted by Independent: Tom Bawden, Natasha Clark on February 2nd, 2014
Independent: Flooding may have shot up the political agenda but that hasn't stopped local planning authorities driving through housing developments in areas at severe risk of flooding. From Cornwall to London, to Cardiff, Leeds and Northumberland, local authorities across England and Wales have been ignoring the Environment Agency's (EA) protests and waving through developments on flood-prone land. As Britain endures another weekend of torrential rain and further flooding, figures obtained by The Independent...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: The more the experts warn against, the more we build on flood plains