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Archive for August 11th, 2015
Health of Australians suffering as government again fails to address climate change
Posted by Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Sallie Forrest on August 11th, 2015
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: DOCTORS ARE DISMAYED by the inadequacy of the Abbott government's just-announced carbon emission targets of at least 26 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, which it aims to take to the United Nations climate change meeting in Paris in December.
We see a government who is again failing to acknowledge the enormity of the increasing health impacts of climate change, and failing to treat the problem with the urgency and seriousness it deserves.
Instead the government shows a reckless support for...
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Plunging prices, climate concerns hit Canadian oil sands producers hard
Posted by InsideClimate: Elizabeth Douglass on August 11th, 2015
InsideClimate: Canadian oil sands producers, facing a double whammy of low oil prices and higher taxes in Alberta, are slashing spending, suspending production, cutting jobs and halting shareholder dividends. They are fighting the same market forces that are putting pressure on the entire oil industry, but face even more hurdles than the oil majors.
Oil sands projects are among the industry’s most expensive endeavors, so they need sustained, higher oil prices. When prices are low--or even very volatile--companies...
4 Arrested Blockading the U.S. First Tarsands Mine in Utah
Posted by EcoWatch: Andy Rowell on August 11th, 2015
EcoWatch: Dozens of environmental activists have signaled that the expansion of the tar sands in Utah will not happen without a fight.
Yesterday, about 40 protestors disrupted the work on the Utah tar sands strip mine, the first to be built in the U.S., located in the Book Cliffs wilderness area.
The activists blocked a road using two tripods trying to stop traffic on the road which the tar sands firm, U.S. Oil Sands, is constructing south east of Salt Lake City.
The company is starting an $80 million...
TransCanada quietly plots response as Keystone XL rejection seems imminent
Posted by CBC: Alexander Panetta on August 11th, 2015
CBC: The Canadian company involved in the controversy-plagued Keystone XL project has begun planning its response as indications mount the proposed oil pipeline will be rejected by U.S. President Barack Obama.
In its public statements, TransCanada Corp. is expressing hope Obama might still approve the pipeline, which over the course of its years-long delay has become an irritant between the U.S. and Canadian governments.
The rumour is that the decision to deny has been made, and they're just waiting...
Thirsty Butterflies Disappearing from the UK
Posted by LiveScience: Elizabeth Goldbaum on August 11th, 2015
LiveScience: Green-veined white butterflies with pale-yellow wings, among other butterfly species, could disappear from southern Britain in the next 35 years if climate change and habitat loss continue, according to new research.
"The results are worrying," Tom Oliver, lead author of the study and an ecological modeler at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, said in a statement. "For drought-sensitive butterflies, and potentially other taxa [group of organisms], widespread population...