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Archive for July 16th, 2015
U.S. Proposes New Rules to Protect Streams From Coal Pollution
Posted by New York Times: Nicholas Fandos on July 16th, 2015
New York Times: The Interior Department on Thursday proposed a new rule aimed at protecting streams from the high level of pollution caused by a technique known as mountaintop removal mining. The proposed rule, which updates a 1983 regulation, quickly met fierce opposition from the mining industry and some Republicans. The rule would have the greatest effect on states in the Appalachian Mountains, where the disputed mining practice is most common. Obama administration officials and environmental groups said that...
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How Air Pollution May Have Caused Catastrophic Flooding in China
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 16th, 2015
National Public Radio: Air pollution isn't just bad for your health. It can have dramatic effects on weather and climate. In fact, a team of scientists believes that air pollution from industries and traffic could have caused the extreme floods that devastated southwest China in 2013.
In July of that year, China's Sichuan province was racked with floods from the worst storms it had seen in 50 years. The greatest damage occurred in a mountainous region northwest of the Sichuan Basin, where nearly 30 inches of rain fell...
Obama administration aims to protect streams from coal mining
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 16th, 2015
Reuters: The U.S. Interior Department on Thursday proposed a rule to strengthen protections of streams and rivers from coal mining operations, a move the beleaguered industry decried as the latest Obama administration attempt to squeeze it. The proposal would update 32-year-old mining rules by requiring coal companies to test and monitor streams located in the areas they mine before and after operations to ensure that operators can detect problems faster. It would also require coal companies to restore...
Telescope foes seek repeal emergency Mauna Kea rule
Posted by Hawaii News Now: None Given on July 16th, 2015
Hawaii News Now: Lawyers representing two men opposed to building a giant telescope in Hawaii are challenging a recently enacted emergency rule restricting access to the mountain where it will be built.
Williamson Chang filed a petition Wednesday with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources seeking to repeal the rule approved last week. The rule restricts being on Mauna Kea during certain nighttime hours and bringing certain camping-related gear.
Chang wants the department to hold a contested case...
Hawaii National Guard: there’s been no request to respond to Mauna Kea
Posted by Hawaii News Now: Mileka Lincoln on July 16th, 2015
Hawaii News Now: Hawai'i National Guard officials insist they have not been asked to respond to Mauna Kea and no planning is taking place to go to the mountain, but troops would mobilize immediately if requested by the governor. A day after telling reporters he would activate the National Guard on Mauna Kea "if need be", Governor David Ige told a town hall crowd Tuesday night there is no official plan at this time. "We are not planning for it. There have been no conversations about that, but we are also committed...
Ige emergency rule restricting Mauna Kea access
Posted by Hawaii News Now: Mileka Lincoln on July 16th, 2015
Hawaii News Now: Gov. David Ige signed the state's Board of Land and Natural Resources emergency rule Tuesday afternoon, further limiting access to Mauna Kea in an attempt to restore safety to the mountain following months of protests over the controversial Thirty Meter Telescope project.
The 120-day emergency rule will restrict access at night between the hours of 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. to anyone not traveling in a vehicle and will prohibit camping on the mountain within 1 mile of the summit road at all times.
The...
Gov Signs New Mauna Kea Rules, Talk Of National Guard
Posted by Big Island Video News: None Given on July 16th, 2015
Big Island Video News: Governor David Ige signed new rules for Mauna Kea on Tuesday. The rules were approved by the Board of Land and Natural Resources after a long public hearing on Friday, July 10th. The rules were supported by the University of Hawaii, state law enforcement and astronomers. However, a greater number of testifiers opposed the rules. Many are opponents of the Thirty Meter Telescope who stand in support of efforts to block the construction of the $1.4 billion observatory on the summit of the mountain....
Natural contaminants, arsenic and uranium, in one-fifth of California’s groundwater
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 16th, 2015
ScienceDaily: Natural contaminants are more prevalent than human-made contaminants in California groundwater used for public supply, is the conclusion of a decade-long study by U.S. Geological Survey scientists. The study evaluated the quality of nearly all of the groundwater used for public supply in California and is the most comprehensive assessment of groundwater in any state to date. Groundwater provides about one-third of California's drinking supply in a typical year, but more during drought conditions....
Small scale hydropower can provide stream new jobs to rural regions
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 16th, 2015
Guardian: Micro-hydro, the generation of electricity from small streams, has begun to take off in rural Wales. The country’s geography makes small-scale hydropower a viable alternative source of energy and, for struggling rural areas, a source of income and jobs.
Wales has long exploited its natural advantages in waterpower, from pre-industrial mills to six large hydropower schemes today. The vast Dinorwig plant alone generates 1,728MW, meeting peak-time electricity demand across the country. A typical...
Annual checkup Earth’s climate says we’re in hotter water
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 16th, 2015
Associated Press: In their annual, detailed physical of Earth's climate, scientists say the world is in increasingly hot and rising water. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the American Meteorological Society's annual state of the climate report delves into the details of already reported record-smashing warmth globally in 2014, giving special attention to the world's oceans. NOAA climate monitoring chief Deke Arndt, co-editor of the report, said the seas last year "were just ridiculous." ...