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Archive for February 14th, 2015
Germany moves to legalise fracking
Posted by Guardian: Arthur Neslen on February 14th, 2015
Guardian: Germany has proposed a draft law that would allow commercial shale gas fracking at depths of over 3,000 metres, overturning a de facto moratorium that has been in place since the start of the decade. A new six-person expert panel would also be empowered to allow fracks at shallower levels Shale gas industry groups welcomed the proposal for its potential to crack open the German shale gas market, but it has sparked outrage among environmentalists who view it as the thin edge of a fossil fuel wedge....
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Every politician should tell us what they think about evolution and climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Puneet Kollipara on February 14th, 2015
Washington Post: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker probably wasn’t expecting a science quiz while he was on a trade-related trip in the United Kingdom. But when you’re considering seeking your party’s nomination for president, you can’t rule out any questions.
At a question-and-answer session in London, after Walker had already dodged other, non-science questions, he was asked whether he accepts evolution. His response: “I’m going to punt on that one as well.”
In recent years, Republicans in particular have sought...
‘Megadroughts’ and why we ask politicians about evolution
Posted by Washington Post: James Downie on February 14th, 2015
Washington Post: Another week, another alarming report about the potential effects of climate change. Researchers from NASA and Columbia and Cornell universities released a paper Thursday that projects “unprecedented” risk of drought in the coming decades for the southwest and central United States. The increasing likelihood of “megadroughts” that could last decades is “an unprecedented fundamental climate shift with respect to the last millennium.”
This report, of course, is far from the first paper pointing...
US should prepare for ‘unprecedented drought conditions’ unlike anything past 1,000 years
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 14th, 2015
Independent: Since the turn of this century, the US south-west has spent more than a decade in drought. Last year was the warmest on record in California, which is in the middle of its driest spell for more than 400 years. But according to a new scientific study, that's nothing compared to what comes next.
In the paper, published by the journal Science Advances, researchers from Nasa and Columbia and Cornell universities warn that a vast swathe of the US, including the south-west states and the central plains,...
Judge dismisses Louisiana wetlands suit against big oil firms
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 14th, 2015
Reuters: A federal judge in Louisiana threw out a lawsuit Friday against more than 90 oil, gas and pipeline companies accused of collectively damaging the state's coastline, according to court records.
The suit was filed in 2013 by the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East, accused the companies of destroying the state's fragile wetlands that protect the greater New Orleans area from catastrophic flooding, such as that which occurs during hurricanes.
The suit says the companies cut at...