Archive for April 8th, 2015

Drought-hit California tightens low-flow toilet, faucet rules

Reuters: California on Wednesday moved to tighten already stringent regulations on how much water can flow through toilets and faucets, part of the state's effort to respond to prolonged drought. The regulations passed by the California Energy Commission come on the heels of action on Tuesday to propose a framework for California's first-ever mandatory cutbacks in water use as the drought enters its fourth year. “In the face of California’s current drought, we must use water as efficiently as possible,"...

How Meat Consumption Is Linked to Climate Change and Drought

EcoWatch: As news keeps pouring in about California’s epic drought, Democracy Now! looks at the link between water shortages, climate change and meat consumption. Last week, Gov. Brown ordered residents and businesses to cut water use by 25 percent. The order, which was the first mandatory water restriction, was issued when the April 1 snowpack assessment revealed that snowpack levels are at 6 percent of normal for the state. The mandate, however, exempts some of the biggest water users in the state—Big Agriculture...

Canada needs to get ready for climate-change refugees, and soon

Metro News: What happens when the most crowded places in the world are displaced by climate change? Canada could become a refuge for those fleeing their homes in search of greener pastures. What can we do? Be ready for an influx of climate refugees. The world’s first official climate refugee is now making his case against deportation from New Zealand to his former home on the Central Pacific atolls of Kiribati, where climate change is wreaking havoc, threatening to put the country underwater. There will...

For Wisconsin state workers, ‘climate change’ isn’t something you can talk about

Bloomberg: Discussing climate change is out of bounds for workers at a state agency in Wisconsin. So is any work related to climate change--even responding to e-mails about the topic. A vote on Tuesday by Wisconsin’s Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, a three-member panel overseeing an agency that benefits schools and communities in the state, enacted the staff ban on climate change. “It’s not a part of our sole mission, which is to make money for our beneficiaries,” said State Treasurer Matt Adamczyk,...