Archive for November 6th, 2015

Two Dams Collapse at Brazilian Mine, Village Engulfed in ‘Thick, Red Toxic Mud’

EcoWatch: Two dams collapsed at the Germano iron ore mine in Brazil’s state of Minas Gerais yesterday, unleashing “a deluge of thick, red toxic mud that engulfed a village,” according to RTE News. Dozens are missing, but the exact number of injured and dead are unknown. Rcurrently reports 30 injured and two dead, while RTE News reports 50 injured and 17 dead. The death toll is expected to rise as recovery efforts have been hampered by the mudslides, which knocked out roads and cell towers. “In reality there...

Obama rejects Keystone XL oil pipeline

Mother Nature Network: After seven years of debate, the Keystone XL pipeline saga may finally be over. President Obama announced Friday that he has rejected the proposal, arguing not only that it wouldn't be in the country's best interest, but that it would get in the way of U.S. efforts to rally global support in the struggle against climate change. "America is now a global leader when it comes to taking serious action to fight climate change, and frankly approving this project would have undercut that leadership,"...

Obama Rejects Keystone XL Pipeline, Ending a Seven-Year Battle

Yale Environment 360: President Barack Obama has rejected a Canadian company’s request to build the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would have carried 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta’s tar sands to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. The decision is a major victory for climate and conservation groups and burnishes Obama’s legacy in the battle to slow global warming. Obama’s announcement, made after a seven-year review by the U.S. State Department and other agencies, comes just weeks ahead of key United Nations climate...

8 Western States Have Warmest Year So Far

Climate Central: For eight western U.S. states, this has been the warmest year on record through October, according to new temperature data released Friday, and several of those states are likely to continue that record to year’s end. The Lower 48 as a whole is also trending hot, and could see the year end up among the 10 warmest in more than 120 years of records. “I think that it is more likely than not that we will see a Top 10 warm year for the contiguous United States,” Jake Crouch, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric...

Obama turns down Keystone XL pipeline: ‘Today the US is leading on climate change’

Guardian: Barack Obama announces at the White House on Friday that he is rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline because he does not believe it serves the national interest. Keystone XL, which has divided petroleum interests and environmentalists, was designed to pump crude oil from the Alberta tar sands for 1,700 miles to the Gulf coast

Prodded by Climate Campaigners and Aided by Cheap Oil, Obama Kills Keystone

New York Times: Congratulations are due to Bill McKibben, Jim Hansen and the tens of thousands of other climate campaigners who turned an obscure cross-border pipeline proposal into an effective national political campaign. After years of deliberations, President Obama today said the Keystone XL project was not in the national interest: In 2011, I split with McKibben and others as they were being arrested at the White House. I argued that the pipeline issue was “a distraction from the core issues involving our...

Autumn storms make small dent in California drought

Reuters: Fall storms that brought rain and snow to parts of California have made a small but measurable dent in the state's four-year drought, experts said. The storms dumped up to 3.5 inches of snow on the parched Sierra Nevada earlier this week and led the Mammoth Mountain ski resort to open two lifts at a time when most other ski areas are closed. The precipitation has put the state ahead of the normal rainfall for the season and nudged a few areas out of the worst drought designation, scientists at...

Obama: Keystone XL Pipeline ‘Would Not Make a Meaningful Long-Term Contribution to Economy’

EcoWatch: President Obama on Friday officially rejected TransCanada`s permit to build the Keystone XL, a massive pipeline connecting Alberta, Canada with Gulf Coast refineries that would carry 800,000 barrels per day across the breadbasket of America to be refined, exported and burned. In a letter to Sec. John Kerry Tuesday, Canadian oil giant TransCanada asked the State Department to “pause” its review of the Presidential Permit application for the Keystone XL pipeline. In response to TransCanada’s inquiry...

Here’s What You Need to Know About President Obama’s Decision to Reject the Keystone XL Pipeline

ClimateDesk: Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Here’s What You Need to Know About President Obama’s Decision to Reject the Keystone XL Pipeline Posted by Tim McDonnell on Friday, November 6, 2015 Watch Climate Desk’s explainer video. In the year’s biggest victory for environmentalists, President Barack Obama announced Friday that he will reject an application from Canadian company TransCanada to construct the Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline, which would allow crude oil from Canada’s oil sands to reach...

Breaking: Keystone is dead. For now

Grist: Victory! After years of protests by environmentalists and concerned citizens, President Obama has announced he will reject TransCanada’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline. Keystone XL would have run 800,000 barrels a day of dirty and carbon-heavy crude oil from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf Coast. Obama’s decision is the first time a president has rejected a major infrastructure project because of climate change. The president cited several reasons for his decision: 1.) The pipeline...