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Archive for March 4th, 2014
Aboriginal rights a threat to Canada’s resource agenda, documents reveal
Posted by Guardian: Martin Lukacs on March 4th, 2014
Guardian: The Canadian government is increasingly worried that the growing clout of aboriginal peoples’ rights could obstruct its aggressive resource development plans, documents reveal.
Since 2008, the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs has run a risk management program to evaluate and respond to “significant risks” to its agenda, including assertions of treaty rights, the rising expectations of aboriginal peoples, and new legal precedents at odds with the government’s policies.
Yearly government reports...
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Water, Water, Everywhere To Green our Deserts
Posted by Inter Press Service: Hazel Henderson on March 4th, 2014
Inter Press Service: Providing water for our still growing human population is reaching crisis levels. Water is vital for agriculture, energy production and industrial processes worldwide. Floods and droughts in Asia, Latin America, Europe and the United States accompanied unprecedented typhoons and winter storms. While none could be linked directly to climate change, the debate surfaced. Mainstream media started covering these issues more broadly.
The Earth's surface is largely covered with water. So, why has the...
Now you can link UK winter deluge to climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 4th, 2014
Guardian: “You can’t link climate change to specific weather events.” That is the accepted wisdom that has been trotted out repeatedly as the wettest winter in at least 250 years battered England and Wales. But the accepted wisdom is wrong: it is perfectly possible to make that link and, as of today, you can play a part in doing so.
A new citizen science project launched by climate researchers at the University of Oxford will determine in the next month or so whether global warming made this winter’s extreme...
Home computers help scientists assess climate role in UK’s wet winter
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 4th, 2014
Guardian: Citizen scientists can help to solve a critical question raised by England's wettest winter in at least 250 years: was climate change to blame?
Spare home computer time lent to researchers at the University of Oxford will allow an intensive modelling effort to determine whether global warming made the deluge more likely.
The role of climate change in the downpours, that resulted in at least £1bn of flood damage, has been fiercely debated. The prime minister, David Cameron, told parliament he...
Utility Cited for Violating Pollution Law in North Carolina
Posted by New York Times: Trip Gabriel on March 4th, 2014
New York Times: North Carolina regulators said Monday that five power plants owned by Duke Energy have been cited for violating water pollution laws, three days after announcing a similar action against Duke’s plant in Eden, N.C., where 39,000 tons of coal ash fouled the Dan River last month. The citations, which charge Duke with failing to obtain storm-water permits under federal law, could lead to fines of $25,000 per day for each of the six plants. The enforcement actions by the state’s Department of Environment...
Waste crime ‘costing UK over £800m a year’
Posted by BusinessGreen: None Given on March 4th, 2014
BusinessGreen: Escalating waste crime could be costing the country over £800m each year as a "culture of criminality" in parts of the waste sector forces up costs for legitimate businesses.
That is the conclusion of a new report by the Environmental Services Association Education Trust (ESAET), which added up the costs of illegal waste sites, tax evasion by waste operators deliberately misclassifying waste to avoid higher rates of landfill tax, and the clean-up costs of fly-tipping.
Its top of the range estimate...