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Archive for June 26th, 2015
Fracking Health Complaints Received Little Follow-Up from Pennsylvania Officials
Posted by National Public Radio: Susan Phillips on June 26th, 2015
National Public Radio: Newly released documents from the Pennsylvania Department of Health on fracking-related health complaints reveal a lack of follow-through and inaccurate record-keeping. The telephone logs, which span four years from 2011 to 2015, were gained through a Right-to-Know request by the environmental group Food and Water Watch. The documents include about 87 separate complaints from residents and workers who feared exposure to fracking chemicals and were looking for advice from the Department of Health....
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Which States Leaking Natural Gas at Expense of Their Taxpayers?
Posted by ThinkProgress: Emily Atkin on June 26th, 2015
ThinkProgress: Oil and gas operations located on federal and tribal lands leaked $360 million worth of fuel in 2013, money which would have gone in part to taxpayers and tribes in the form of royalties, according to a new report.
Tuesday`s report was commissioned by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to track fugitive methane emissions, a term referring to methane released when natural gas is leaked, vented, or flared. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change, and is 86 times...
World Aquifers Losing Replenishment Race, Researchers Say
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 26th, 2015
New York Times: From the Arabian Peninsula to northern India to California’s Central Valley, nearly a third of the world’s 37 largest aquifers are being drained faster than they are being replenished, according to a recent study led by scientists at the University of California, Irvine. The aquifers are concentrated in food-producing regions that support up to two billion people. A companion study indicates that the total amount of water in the aquifers, and how long it will last at current depletion rates, is...
Hawaii protesters free after blockade halts telescope construction
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 26th, 2015
Guardian: Protesters arrested while preventing construction of a giant telescope posted bail and were returning to the Hawaii mountain they say they are protecting from desecration. Hundreds of protesters who flocked to the Big Island’s Mauna Kea on Wednesday successfully prevented workers from reaching the site for the planned $1.4bn Thirty Meter Telescope. The workers turned their vehicles around when they encountered boulders in the road leading to the site. The governor’s office said the road would need...
Hawaii: Hundreds protesters block controversial telescope
Posted by Digital Journal: None Given on June 26th, 2015
Digital Journal: On Hawaii's Mauna Kea volcano, construction on what would be one of the world's largest telescopes was blocked once again by protesters who say that the $1.4 billion dollar project would desecrate sacred land. Officials from the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and construction workers for the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT), wound up making their way back down the summit just after noon Wednesday. They cited concerns for public safety because the road was blocked by boulders, ScienceInsider...
Rocks removed from Mauna Kea Access Road
Posted by KITV: None Given on June 26th, 2015
KITV: Gov. David Ige said the boulders and rock structures that were found on the gravel road leading to the summit of Mauna Kea have been removed on Thursday. The University of Hawaii says there were four completed rock walls as of 7 a.m. Thursday. They were removed by around noon. All that is left are two newly-constructed ahu on Mauna Kea Access Road. The road has been temporarily closed until further notice. The Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan authorizes the University of Hawai'i to close...
Rocks removed, but Hawaii access road Thirty Meter Telescope closed
Posted by Pacific Business: Lorin Eleni Gill on June 26th, 2015
Pacific Business: Boulders and rocks placed by protesters to block the restart of construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope were removed Thursday, but the state of Hawaii temporarily closed the Mauna Kea access road and placed construction of the observatory on hold until further notice. "We are currently assessing the situation and our plans to restart,” TMT International Observatory Board Member Michael Bolte told PBN in an email Thursday afternoon. “We are concerned primarily about the safety of our team and...
Protesters in Hawaii block construction one world’s largest telescopes
Posted by Mashable: Chris Grasinger on June 26th, 2015
Mashable: Hundreds of protesters in Hawaii have blocked the construction of what would become one of the world's largest telescopes. Native Hawaiians say the billion-dollar, 18-story observatory called the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) will harm sacred land on the Big Island's Mauna Kea mountain. The protesters gathered more than 9,000 feet up the mountain to block workers who intended to install fencing near the summit. Construction crews eventually turned around and retreated from the site. Officials said...
These emotional photos cut to the heart the battle for this sacred Hawaiian mountain
Posted by Business Insider: Kelly Dickerson on June 26th, 2015
Business Insider: Hundreds of protestors flocked to Mauna Kea on Wednesday to block construction of the world's largest optical telescope.
It's the second time in the past few months that demonstrations have broken out on the dormant volcano.
Astronomers want to build the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) there because the cloudless air and dark skies offer one of the most pristine windows into the universe on Earth. From such a lofty perch, the observatory could reveal parts of the cosmos we've never glimpsed before....
Road to Mauna Kea closed while protesters remain
Posted by KHON: Kristine Uyeno on June 26th, 2015
KHON: Closed until further notice.
That`s what University of Hawaii officials decided to do regarding the road that leads to Mauna Kea`s summit.
KHON2 News learned Thursday only observatory workers were allowed up, with about a hundred protesters remaining on the mountain. That`s a big difference from Wednesday, when many more gathered to protest the Thirty Meter Telescope project.
It was a quieter day on Mauna Kea with less activity, as protesters stopped to enjoy the moment. "Knowing that at...