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Archive for July 16th, 2014
Effort Avoid Vote on Fracking Falters in Colorado
Posted by New York Times: Jack Healy on July 16th, 2014
New York Times: Efforts by leading Colorado Democrats to head off a costly and divisive election-year fight over oil and gas drilling appeared to crumble on Wednesday as Gov. John W. Hickenlooper announced that he did not have enough support to pass a compromise law giving local towns more control over fracking in their backyards.
“Despite our best efforts and those of other willing partners, we have not been able to secure the broader stakeholder support necessary to pass bipartisan legislation in a special...
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Donors pledge 1.8 billion euros for flood-stricken Balkan states
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 16th, 2014
Reuters: A conference of international donors pledged more than 1.8 billion euros ($2.43 billion) on Wednesday to help Bosnia and Serbia recover from devastating floods in May. The European Commission, the EU executive, said the conference had mobilized pledges of 809 million euros for Bosnia and 995 million euros for Serbia, plus 41 million euros for cross-border activities. The financial aid would be used for rebuilding houses and public buildings, the rapid restoration of water and energy supplies and...
Australia: We’ll sell next ETS better, says Shorten
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 16th, 2014
AAP: With the carbon tax gone, Labor will continue to pursue emissions trading scheme, Bill Shorten says.
Bill Shorten has vowed Labor will take an emissions trading scheme (ETS) to the next federal election, despite the carnage climate policy has inflicted on past Labor leaders.
Carbon pricing became political poison for the former Labor government, contributing to the downfalls of both Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.
But Mr Shorten has re-committed his party to pursuing an ETS in the wake of...
California Sets Sizzling Record for 2014 So Far
Posted by Climate Central: Andrea Thompson on July 16th, 2014
Climate Central: California just finished the hottest first half year on record, a period going back 120 years, according to the national climate overview for June released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The statewide average temperature for the period was 58°F, or 4.8°F above the 20th century average. That bests the previous warmest January-June in 1934 by 1.1°F -- a substantial difference, said Jake Crouch, a climate scientist with NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.
The...
Could Giant Viruses Be the Origin of Life on Earth?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 16th, 2014
National Geographic: Chantal Abergel and Jean-Michel Claverie were used to finding strange viruses.
The married virologists at Aix-Marseille University had made a career of it. But pithovirus, which they discovered in 2013 in a sample of Siberian dirt that had been frozen for more than 30,000 years, was more bizarre than the pair had ever imagined a virus could be.
In the world of microbes, viruses are small-notoriously small. Pithovirus is not. The largest virus ever discovered, pithovirus is more massive than...
Obama to help communities adapt to climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 16th, 2014
Reuters: U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced new measures to make the country's infrastructure stronger and more resilient, to help states and communities adapt to climate change.
"Climate change poses a direct threat to the infrastructure of America that we need to stay competitive in this 21st-century economy," Obama said during a meeting with state, local and tribal officials to discuss global warming.
"That means that we should see this as an opportunity to do what we should be doing...
Obama: Climate change a direct threat to US cities
Posted by Associated Press: Josh Lederman on July 16th, 2014
Associated Press: Harsher storms, worsening flooding and rising seas threaten the public's safety and health across the country, President Barack Obama warned Wednesday as he urged local communities to prepare for the effects of climate change.
Joined by top federal officials and local, state and tribal leaders at the White House, Obama said communities experiencing negative effects firsthand know that climate change is already upon us. He said boosting the nation's resilience and fighting climate change shouldn't...
United Kingdom: Battle to stop capture England’s first wild beavers in 500 years
Posted by Guardian: Steven Morris on July 16th, 2014
Guardian: Mike Flynn was fly-fishing for brown trout when an unexpected creature hove into view. "We often see otters here – they are lithe, playful things – but this was quite different," said Flynn. "It chugged down the middle of the river a couple of rod-lengths away from me like a tug boat. There was no doubt it was one of the beavers. It took no notice of me; it was an amazing sight."
If the government gets its way, the presence of these beavers in a corner of Devon – the first to be sighted in England...
Japan Plan Restart Nuke Plants Ignores Lessons Learned From Fukushima
Posted by EcoWatch: Kazue Suzuki, Greenpeace Japan on July 16th, 2014
EcoWatch: The decision of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) to approve the draft assessment for the two Sendai nuclear reactors in Kyushu is a clear and dangerous signal that Japan`s nuclear village--industry, regulators and government--is deliberately and cynically ignoring the lessons of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The approval of the assessment is the first step in restarting the Sendai reactors.
The two Sendai reactors have been shutdown since 2011. These are old reactors--29 and 30 years respectively....
Massive Natural Gas Protest in D.C. Highlights How Fracking Is Invading Our Coastlines
Posted by Alternet: Dylan Tokar on July 16th, 2014
Alternet: Two dozen protestors were arrested Monday morning in Washington D.C. in a demonstration against proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals in the U.S., according to environmental groups reporting from the scene. Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay is the latest battleground in a campaign to halt the export of fracked gas and slow the damage done by increased drilling. The protesters were arrested at a sit-in in front of the headquarters of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, after demanding...