RSS Feed
Archive for October 9th, 2014
Global Frackdown on Saturday Calls Worldwide Ban on Fracking
Posted by EcoWatch: Stefanie Spear on October 9th, 2014
EcoWatch: Global Frackdown is an international day of action calling for a ban on fracking. This year`s event on Saturday, Oct. 11 will send a message to elected officials across the globe that the future should be powered by clean, renewable energy, not dirty, polluting fossil fuels.
Climate scientists warn that continued extraction and burning of fossil fuels will lead to catastrophic climate change. A report released in September by Food & Water Watch, The Urgent Case for a Ban on Fracking, shows how...
Posted in 
India approves projects in dash for growth, alarming green groups
Posted by Reuters: Tommy Wilkes on October 9th, 2014
Reuters: In late August, India's environment ministry rejected a proposal to build what would be the country's largest hydropower plant in a remote and pristine part of the country's northeast because of the potential damage to an area rich in biodiversity.
Less than a month later and, according to two environment ministry officials, after pressure from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office, permission was granted for the 3,000 megawatt Dibang plant, the construction of which will mean clearing some 4,000...
Wildfire burns five homes near Sacramento, threatens 1,000 more
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 9th, 2014
Reuters: A major wildfire burning northeast of Sacramento has charred more than 420 acres (170 hectares) and destroyed five homes, California fire officials said on Thursday.
The blaze, which started as five separate fires along Interstate 80 near the community of Applegate on Wednesday, prompted evacuations and the closure of all but one lane of I-80 eastbound, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said on its website.
The fire threatened about 1,000 homes and was 20...
Few US states preparing for climate change, study says
Posted by LA Times: Neela Banerjee on October 9th, 2014
LA Times: Fewer than half of American states are working to protect themselves from climate change, despite more detailed warnings from scientists that communities are already being damaged, according to a new online clearinghouse of states’ efforts compiled by the Georgetown Climate Center.
Fourteen states have plans to prepare for the effects of climate change. California, New York and Maryland are among those that have made the greatest progress toward the dozens of goals their plans set forth, such...
White House pushes climate protections for natural resources
Posted by Hill: Timothy Cama on October 9th, 2014
Hill: The White House launched a set of initiatives aimed at protecting natural resources like landscapes and water from the effects of climate change.
The actions center around making natural resources resilient to climate change, improving plants and ecosystems that capture carbon dioxide and better incorporating natural systems into infrastructure and communities, the White House said Wednesday.
The plan “identifies a suite of actions the federal government will take to enhance the resilience...
Cleveland Enviro Group Pushes for More Chemical Disclosure at Fracking Sites
Posted by Columbus Dispatch: Danielle Keeton-Olsen on October 9th, 2014
Columbus Dispatch: Disclosure of complete chemical information before oil and gas companies break ground on a fracking site could better prepare emergency-response teams for the worst fires, a Cleveland-based environmental and consumer organization said yesterday.
Based on its study of a Monroe County well-pad fire in June, the nonprofit Ohio Citizen Action Education Fund, which opposes fracking, came up with recommendations for state government to clarify chemical-disclosure laws for oil and gas companies working...
Fracking Ban Drive in Denton, Texas Is Most Expensive Campaign in Town History
Posted by Denton Record-Chronicle: Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe on October 9th, 2014
Denton Record-Chronicle: The first round of campaign finance reports show the proposition against hydraulic fracturing inside the city is already the most expensive campaign in Denton’s history, with both sides vying for the right to call themselves “grass roots.”
Two specific-purpose committees, one formed for and another against the ban, filed reports with the city secretary showing more than $280,000 raised since the City Council voted to put the proposition on the Nov. 4 ballot.
The city has not seen six-figure...