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Archive for February 6th, 2015
8-Year Fracking Moratorium Bill Introduced Maryland as Calif Demand Real Climate Action
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on February 6th, 2015
EcoWatch: On his way out of office last November, former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley opened the door to allowing fracking in that state, albeit under heavy regulation. That raised concerns that incoming pro-fracking Republican Governor Larry Hogan would dispense with many of the regulations, allowing extraction companies free reign.
Yesterday a group of Maryland legislators introduced a bill to head off that possibility. Forty-eight legislators introduced the Protect Our Health and Communities Act...
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NY Landfills Accept 460,000 Tons of PA Drilling Waste, Study Says
Posted by LoHud: None Given on February 6th, 2015
Lohud: At least 460,000 tons and 23,000 barrels of waste from Pennsylvania drilling operations have been taken in by a few New York landfills since 2010, a new analysis Thursday indicates.
The report from Environmental Advocates of New York analyzed state data from Pennsylvania showing where natural-gas drillers reported taking their waste. Drillers hauled waste to five New York landfills from 2010 through 2014, including three along the Pennsylvania border: Chemung County Landfill in Lowman; Hakes Landfill...
White House: Climate change threatens national security
Posted by Hill: Timothy Cama on February 6th, 2015
Hill: The Obama administration looks at climate change as a threat to national security on par with terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and disease outbreaks.
President Obama’s national security strategy released Friday updates the previous plan published in 2010, with focuses on Russia, Islamic militants and health.
“Climate change is an urgent and growing threat to our national security, contributing to increased natural disasters, refugee flows, and conflicts over basic resources like food...
Agricultural movement tackles challenges of warming world
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 6th, 2015
Yale Environment 360: Rice is a thirsty crop. Yet for the past three years, Alberto Mejia has been trying to reduce the amount of water he uses for irrigation on his 1,100-acre farm near Ibague in the tropical, central range of the Colombian Andes.
He now plants new kinds of rice that require less water. He floods his paddies with greater precision and has installed gauges that measure the moisture content of the soil. On a daily basis he can determine how much nitrogen the plants need, and he relies on more advanced...
Funding drought threatens Zimbabwe climate change response
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 6th, 2015
Reuters: Zimbabwe is struggling to pay for measures to cope with climate stresses and weather-related disasters, such as recent floods, amid domestic spending cuts and slow progress in accessing international finance.
The budget for the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate has been reduced to $52 million for 2015, from $93 million set aside for 2014.
As this year began with floods that have claimed some 20 lives and washed away villages, the funding squeeze has raised concerns about the country's...
Fracking moratorium sought in Maryland
Posted by Baltimore Sun: Timothy B. Wheeler on February 6th, 2015
Baltimore Sun: Regulations that would impose a variety of best practices and safeguards on drilling for shale gas were proposed in the final days of the O'Malley administration, and are out for public comment. The rules were drawn up by the O'Malley administration as an advisory commission he appointed neared the end of a three-year study of fracking's risks. But critics, including some members of the advisory commission, contend the study gave short shrift to health concerns. cComments I wonder where Spam and...
UN climate chief tempers expectations on Paris deal
Posted by Associated Press: Karl Ritter on February 6th, 2015
Associated Press: Tempering expectations on a global climate deal in Paris this year, the U.N.'s top climate diplomat on Thursday warned against assuming the pact will suffice to prevent dangerous levels of warming.
As negotiators prepare for a new round of talks in Geneva next week, U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres said the role of the deal is not to fix the problem, but to chart the course for countermeasures that can be scaled up over time.
"It is a fundamental misinterpretation or misunderstanding...
Ancient snow patches melting at record speed
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 6th, 2015
PhysOrg: Norway is dotted with small glaciers and permanent snow patches that contain all sorts of archaeological treasures, from ancient shoes to 5000-year-old arrowheads. But climate change has turned up the temperature on these snowfields and they are vanishing at an astonishing rate.
They actually shouldn't be found in Norway. Summers are too hot and winters too dry for glaciers or perennial snow patches to form here. Yet, the Kringsollfonna ice patch in Sør-Trøndelag county and the Storbreen glacier...