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Archive for January 21st, 2015
Obama Climate Change: “No Challenge Poses Greater Threat Future Generation”
Posted by Climate Desk: Tim McDonnell on January 21st, 2015
Climate Desk: In his State of the Union address tonight, President Obama issued a direct rebuke to climate change deniers and to members of Congress who seek to block action to slow global warming.
"I`ve heard some folks try to dodge the evidence by saying they`re not scientists; that we don`t have enough information to act," he said, referring to talking points that are popular among Republican politicians. "Well, I`m not a scientist, either. But…I know a lot of really good scientists at NASA, and NOAA, and...
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Filtering Polluted Stormwater Through Soil Can Protect Salmon, Study Shows
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 21st, 2015
Yale Environment 360: Filtering polluted runoff from urban areas through a simple soil mixture dramatically reduced the water's toxic metal and hydrocarbon content and made it safe for coho salmon and the insects they eat, according to new research. Scientists collected polluted runoff from a four-lane highway in Seattle, then filtered part of the water through a mixture of sand, compost, and shredded bark. Coho salmon and aquatic insects thrived in the filtered stormwater, but they quickly died in the unfiltered water,...
Keystone pipeline will be a disaster
Posted by Florida Times-Union: None Given on January 21st, 2015
Florida Times-Union: The news media have done little to help the American people understand how bad the safety record of Trans Canada has been. Rarely, if ever, has the mainstream press reported on the disastrous safety record of Trans Canada. The following is from The Hill website: “The pipeline would cross thousands of acres of farmland in the Great Plains; a spill could make this land unusable for years. In 2013, an oil pipeline spilled 840,000 gallons of crude near Tioga, North Dakota, and crews are still working...
TransCanada begins condemnation proceedings
Posted by Lincoln Journal Star: Nicholas Bergin on January 21st, 2015
Lincoln Journal Star: TransCanada, the company proposing to build the controversial $8 billion Keystone XL pipeline, filed court documents Tuesday in nine Nebraska counties to start eminent domain proceedings and get the 12 percent of easements it still needs here.
On the same day, Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers filed legislation (LB473) that would wrest the power to take land from the Canadian pipeline company.
"The pipeline is like King Kong, and the people and farms are like ants and grasshoppers," Chambers said....
TransCanada makes moves for Keystone pipeline land
Posted by Associated Press: Grant Schulte on January 21st, 2015
Associated Press: The developer of the Keystone XL oil pipeline took its first steps in Nebraska on Tuesday since the state’s high court removed a major legal barrier for the planned route. Officials with TransCanada said they’ve filed paperwork in nine counties to acquire access to the remaining land that’s needed to construct, operate and maintain the pipeline. The two-year window for TransCanada to invoke eminent domain in Nebraska closes Thursday. The pathway could still face legal challenges in Nebraska. Opponents...
Report recommends fracking refusal
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 21st, 2015
BBC: Fracking should not go ahead at two sites in Lancashire, a key report said.
The Lancashire County Council report follows an application by energy firm Cuadrilla to explore Little Plumpton and Roseacre Wood for shale gas.
It comes a week before councillors are due to make a final decision on the company's planning application to extract the gas near Blackpool.
Cuadrilla chief executive Francis Egan told BBC Radio Lancashire the planners' recommendation was a "set-back".
In a statement,...
Obama: No ‘Greater Threat’ Climate Change
Posted by US News: Alan Neuhauser on January 21st, 2015
US News: In remarks that spanned economic growth to income inequality, the Sept. 11 attacks at the start of the century to new partnerships abroad, President Barack Obama declared global warming the most profound danger to the future of the union.
“No challenge – no challenge – poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change,” Obama said in his sixth State of the Union address Tuesday night. “2014 was the planet’s warmest year on record. Now, one year doesn’t make a trend, but this does:...
Pope Amuses and Insults Remark on Parenting
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 21st, 2015
New York Times: Since he became pope nearly two years ago, the world has become accustomed to Pope Francis' folksy manner. Indeed, with his homespun anecdotes and off-the-cuff quips, the pope at times comes off more like a plain-spoken uncle than the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.
But with his latest choice of words - he said this week that Catholics should not feel compelled to breed "like rabbits" - the pope appears to have set a new standard for the papal vernacular, amusing to some and...
Yellowstone river suffers oil spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 21st, 2015
Guardian: An Exxon Mobil pipeline that runs under the Yellowstone river in Montana ruptured on Saturday, leaking hundreds of barrels of oil and causing a 25-mile (40km) plume that has fouled the riverbank.
The breach in south-central Montana led to the temporary evacuation of hundreds of residents along a 20-mile stretch of the river, a key tourist attraction in the region that runs through the famous national park of the same name. Cleanup crews deployed booms and absorbent material as the plume moved...
Changing California forests may help us prepare for the future
Posted by Mongabay: Mike Gaworecki on January 21st, 2015
Mongabay: A new study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examines how California’s forests have changed since the 1930s--and, according to its authors, can help us understand how forests will respond to the changing global climate in the future.
Entitled “Twentieth-century shifts in forest structure in California: Denser forests, smaller trees, and increased dominance of oaks,” the study looked at tree abundance and size across the state of California and in several different...