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Archive for November 20th, 2014
These terrible governors won reelection and will keep wreaking environmental havoc
Posted by Grist: Ben Adler on November 20th, 2014
Grist: Among the many bits of bad news for the environment from this year’s midterm elections, one that got lost in all the drama around control of the Senate is that a trio of far-right governors of swing states managed to win reelection: Wisconsin’s Scott Walker, Florida’s Rick Scott, and Maine’s Paul LePage. They were elected in the 2010 Republican wave, with support from the Tea Party movement, despite being way to the right of their states` electorates. They looked vulnerable this year but they held...
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Groups Sue Ohio Gov for Illegally Making State a Fracking Waste Dump
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on November 20th, 2014
EcoWatch: Two environmental watchdog groups have sued Ohio Governor John Kasich and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), charging that they illegally approved 23 facilities to handle the handling, storage, processing and recycling of fracking waste, bypassing the official rulemaking process. The lawsuit was filed by the Fresh Water Accountability Project and Food & Water Water Watch in the Franklin County court.
The suit says that ODNR skirted the formal process, including a legally required...
Australia’s Chance El Niño Rises To 70%; Heatwaves & Drought To Persist
Posted by International Business Times: Reissa Su on November 20th, 2014
International Business Times: The weather bureau has revised its El Niño forecast from a 50 percent probability to the current 70 percent. According to the bureau's latest report, above average sea temperatures continue to rise in the Pacific Ocean in the last two weeks. Surface temperatures have increased higher than El Niño thresholds in the past three months. The bureau's El Niño southern oscillation tracker status was changed from "watch" to "alert" level.
The eastern part of Australia may be facing dry conditions in the...
Does Germany’s Draft Law Leave Door Open for Fracking?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 20th, 2014
Reuters: Germany's government plans to stop short of an outright ban on the controversial technique of fracking for gas, bowing to pressure from industry, according to the latest draft of a law from the environment ministry seen by Reuters.
Fracking or hydraulic fracturing to extract gas and oil has transformed the U.S. energy market, boosting domestic supplies. The process is banned in France on environmental grounds. It is allowed in Britain but has strict environmental and safety guidelines.
German...
Groups Sue Ohio over ‘Illegal’ Fracking-Waste Permits
Posted by Columbus Dispatch: Randy Ludlow on November 20th, 2014
Columbus Dispatch: State officials illegally have approved 30 permits allowing the storage and treatment of fracking waste, two environmental groups claimed in a lawsuit filed in Columbus yesterday.
The lawsuit asks the Franklin County Court of Appeals to revoke the permits, thus closing the waste-handling sites, and order the Department of Natural Resources to create legally required rules regulating the operations.
The Dispatch previously reported that the state is granting permits to companies that take drilling...
Buffalo mega snowstorm tied to climate change?
Posted by Minnesota Public Radio News: None Given on November 20th, 2014
Minnesota Public Radio News: We wear extreme weather as a badge of honor in Minnesota.
But you have to admit we may be feeling a little "weather inferiority complex" given the incredible snowfall totals near Buffalo, New York. The snowfall in Buffalo is the equivalent of two to three Halloween Mega Storms this week.
Shoveling out in south Buffalo. Some progress. #lakeeffect Posted by Nick D'Angelo to WIVB. pic.twitter.com/2h4H2rycje
-- The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) November 19, 2014
Overall snowfall totals...