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Archive for March 22nd, 2014
World Water Day: increased energy usage puts ‘pressure’ on water, says UN
Posted by Blue and Green: Ilaria Bertini on March 22nd, 2014
Blue and Green: Climate change and the continued use of polluting fossil fuels will “exacerbate water stress and scarcity” in many places, according to the UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon. Speaking in a video message to a Tokyo event ahead of World Water Day, Ban added that water and electricity must be used fairly. Michel Jarraud, chair of UN Water, echoed the secretary-general’s sentiments as the UN launched its World Water Development Report. He said, “The report shows that there will be a significant increase...
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What John Podesta’s annoying hippie-punching tells us about Obama’s climate agenda
Posted by Week: Ryan Cooper on March 22nd, 2014
Week: This week, President Obama's special adviser John Podesta dropped a few classic Washington bromides about those unreasonable environmentalists:
"If you oppose all fossil fuels and you want to turn that switch off tomorrow, that is a completely impractical way of moving toward a clean-energy future," Podesta told reporters during a roundtable discussion at the White House.
"With all due respect to my friends in the environmental community, if they expect us to turn off the lights and go home,...
Cities should tap reused water as dry spells become more prevalent, say experts
Posted by Channel NewsAsia: Monica Kotwani on March 22nd, 2014
Channel NewsAsia: Cities should tap reused water as droughts and dry spells become more prevalent, and local water agencies should better engage the public to create an awareness of conservation measures, experts said at a water reuse conference in California on Wednesday.
It shared how NEWater had helped Singapore get through a recent dry spell.
In Northern California's Yolo County, farmers are starting their planting season amid a grim backdrop.
California has entered its third year of drought, and recent...
New Mexico cancels permit to expand leaky nuclear waste site
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2014
Reuters: New Mexico on Friday withdrew a temporary permit allowing two new disposal vaults at a U.S. government nuclear waste dump grappling with a release of radiation in February, state regulators said.
Seventeen workers at the Carlsbad-area "waste isolation pilot project" (WIPP) were exposed to radiation after an accidental leak last month from the site which stores waste from U.S. nuclear labs and weapons production facilities.
State regulators were withdrawing the draft expansion permit to identify...
North Dakota Pipeline Rupture Spills 34,000 Gallons of Crude
Posted by Associated Press: Josh Wood and James MacPHERSON on March 22nd, 2014
Associated Press: Cleanup workers have contained about 34,000 gallons of crude that spewed from a broken oil pipeline in northwestern North Dakota, state health officials said Friday.
North Dakota Water Quality Director Dennis Fewless said the breach occurred Thursday morning on Hiland Crude LLC's pipeline about 6 miles northeast of Alexander. A gasket on the above-ground pipeline appears to have failed near a compressor station, spewing about 800 barrels of crude, Fewless said. A barrel holds 42 gallons.
Fewless...
E.P.A. Agrees to Join North Carolina in Reviewing Spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 22nd, 2014
New York Times: The federal Environmental Protection Agency will join North Carolina regulators in addressing potential violations of the Clean Water Act at Duke Energy power plants, including a massive spill of toxic coal ash last month in the Dan River, state officials said on Friday. The secretary of the state’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources, John Skvarla, invited the federal agency’s “participation and coordination” in a March 14 letter to the head of its regional office, the state department...