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Archive for November 7th, 2015
Death of Keystone XL an XL lift for Obama?
Posted by Associated Press: Josh Lederman on November 7th, 2015
Associated Press: For years, President Barack Obama chided Republicans and Democrats alike for treating the Keystone XL pipeline as a signal of whether the U.S. would seriously fight global warming. Now that he has killed the project, Obama is holding it up as Exhibit A as he works to lock in his environmental legacy with a powerful international climate accord.
Rejecting Keystone, the proposed 1,179-mile crude-oil pipeline from Canada to the U.S., was the latest in a long and growing list of steps Obama has taken...
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NY State Investigates ExxonMobil Climate Change Research
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 7th, 2015
Voice of America: New York's attorney general is investigating allegations that Texas-based ExxonMobil Corporation, the world's largest energy company, suppressed evidence of its own researchers linking fossil fuel emissions to climate change.
Investigators may also look into the company's support for political lobbying and public information campaigns that called climate change research into question.
Tracy Hester, a legal expert at the University of Houston, said the investigation centers on what the company...
No to Keystone disappointing for Canada-US relations: Wall
Posted by NYSE Post: None Given on November 7th, 2015
NYSE Post: He says the pipeline project would not make a meaningful long-term contribution to the economy and that Congress would be better off creating and passing a bipartisan infrastructure plan.
TransCanada is reviewing the decision and its rationale.
"While we understand the impact of this decision on Canada, I am confident that our close and long-standing relationship with Canada will continue to grow stronger in the years ahead". "If we want to prevent the worst effects of climate change before...
Brazilian rescue teams struggle reach village path dam burst
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 7th, 2015
Guardian: Rescue teams have struggled to reach villages devastated by a massive mudflow after two dams burst at a major iron ore mine in south-east Brazil.
The twin bursts, which mining executives think could have been triggered by an earth tremor, wrought havoc more than 50 miles downstream and prompted officials to warn that many people are likely to have died.
Nineteen people have been confirmed as missing, the local fire department said – six residents of nearby villages, along with 13 workers from...
Climate awareness and the economy influenced Obama’s rejection of Keystone XL pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 7th, 2015
LA Times: When a Canadian company first proposed building the Keystone XL oil pipeline in 2008, Barack Obama was a presidential candidate running to end wars, climate change was a fringe issue to many people and the nation was entering a devastating recession that would send the unemployment rate soaring to 10%.
But the politics of climate and oil shifted dramatically in the intervening years, and President Obama's announcement Friday that the controversial pipeline through the U.S. heartland "would not...
Obama’s Keystone pipeline rejection both symbolic & legacy-defining
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 7th, 2015
Washington Post: Given the opportunity to write the history of his presidency -- an opportunity he will soon be afforded, much to his bank account's benefit -- President Obama will almost certainly highlight three things.
First, of course, the fact the the Affordable Care Act provided health insurance to millions more Americans (with the percent of the country that lacks insurance just hitting a low of 9 percent.) Second, his efforts to repair relations with Iran and Cuba, on which the jury is out. And third,...
Indian authorities new attempt to shut down Greenpeace India
Posted by Blue and Green: None Given on November 7th, 2015
Blue and Green: Indian authorities have announced the cancellation of Greenpeace India’s legal registration – a move which marks an escalation in their attempts to shut down the organisation. The announcement, which comes just days before a high-profile UK visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is the latest and most serious in a series of attacks against Greenpeace India emanating from the Ministry for Home Affairs. Greenpeace India is preparing once again to challenge the decision in the courts where...
Arrogant TransCanada misread grassroots Keystone opposition
Posted by Star: David Olive on November 7th, 2015
Star: In his announcement Friday that he will not approve the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, U.S. President Barack Obama is signalling to world leaders his determination that more ambitious goals be set for confronting global warming at the upcoming climate-change summit in Paris next month.
In that cause, Obama has a kindred spirit in Justin Trudeau.
The new Canadian PM’s support for the Keystone XL has been tepid at most. And Trudeau’s own plans for the Paris summit are unprecedented: He has recruited...
10 Ways Ocean Pollution Makes Us Sick
Posted by EcoWatch: Cole Mellino on November 7th, 2015
EcoWatch: Our oceans are very polluted and full of plastic. Roughly 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into the world’s oceans every year, and according to a new study, the majority of this waste comes from just five countries: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Regardless of its source, plastic pollution has a devastating impact on marine life.
At EcoWatch, we`ve highlighted photos of sea turtles killed by ingesting plastic and other debris. And just recently, two whales have been...
New drought atlas maps 2,000 years of climate in Europe
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 7th, 2015
ScienceDaily: The long history of severe droughts across Europe and the Mediterranean has largely been told through historical documents and ancient journals, each chronicling the impact in a geographically restricted area. Now, for the first time, an atlas based on scientific evidence provides the big picture, using tree rings to map the reach and severity of dry and wet periods across Europe, and parts of North Africa and the Middle East, year to year over the past 2,000 years. Together with two previous drought...