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EPA delays fracking safety study until 2016
Posted by Grist: John Upton on June 24th, 2013
Grist: We told you last week that the EPA is abandoning an investigation that linked fracking chemicals with groundwater contamination in Wyoming. Amid controversy over that move, news about EPA delaying another fracking study got overlooked by most media.
In 2010, Congress ordered the EPA to look into the dangers posed to drinking water sources by hydraulic fracturing. That research was expected to be completed in 2014. But last Tuesday, an EPA official told attendees of a shale-gas conference in Cleveland,...
Kerry implores India to tackle climate change, ticks off Indian enviros
Posted by Grist: John Upton on June 24th, 2013
Grist: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in India over the weekend and gave a speech urging the fast-developing country to work closely with the U.S. and other countries on solutions to climate change. Kerry is leading a delegation to Delhi for U.S.-India talks focused on trade and energy; Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz is part of the visiting group. The stop in Delhi is one leg of a trip Kerry is making throughout the region. The Americans` arrival in Delhi coincided with deadly floods in northern...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Kerry implores India to tackle climate change, ticks off Indian envirosEPA abandons investigation into fracking pollution
Posted by Grist: John Upton on June 21st, 2013
Grist: The EPA is dropping its only investigation that has found evidence of water contamination from fracking.
Following a three-year study of groundwater pollution around Pavilion, Wyo., the EPA concluded in a draft report in 2011 that fracking chemicals were a likely cause. The finding was obviously controversial -- frackers would like us to believe that injecting poisonous chemicals into the ground couldn’t possibly poison water. Critics of the research found fault with the EPA’s methodology and...
Nicaragua OKs plan for cross-country canal, environment be damned
Posted by Grist: John Upton on June 17th, 2013
Grist: Nicaragua is one step closer to being carved in half by a massive cross-country canal. Leftist President Daniel Ortega rammed the project through his country`s congress last week. The lawmakers gave the Hong Kong-based HKND Group a 50-year concession to excavate and operate the canal, which is intended to rival Panama`s. If it`s actually built - and that`s still a big if - it promises to give an economic boost to the bitterly poor country. Nicaragua would get a minority share of profits and, say...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Nicaragua OKs plan for cross-country canal, environment be damnedCanadian power plant is buying up Detroit’s pile of tar-sands waste, burning it
Posted by Grist: John Upton on June 7th, 2013
Grist: Residents of Detroit who`ve railed against the recent mushrooming of a three-story-high pile of petrochemical waste on their riverfront may be pleased to know that the petcoke is gradually being shipped back to Canada.
But while the news might be good for Detroiters, it`s not so good for Canadians - or anyone who cares about a livable climate. A Nova Scotia power plant is now burning the cheap, filthy fuel to produce electricity.
The petcoke is a byproduct of refining tar-sands oil, which began...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canadian power plant is buying up Detroit’s pile of tar-sands waste, burning itKeystone XL isn’t even built yet and already it’s faulty
Posted by Grist: John Upton on June 7th, 2013
Grist: Property owners who watched with disgust and fear as TransCanada contractors ripped up their land to lay the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline are being treated to a repeat performance. The pipeline isn’t even in service yet, but already TransCanada is digging up stretches of faulty piping and replacing them, raising fresh safety fears. The pipeline is intended to link up with the Keystone XL northern leg — which is still waiting for approval from the Obama administration — and then carry...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Keystone XL isn’t even built yet and already it’s faultyFrance looks at America, says non to fracking
Posted by Grist: John Upton on June 7th, 2013
Grist: France`s energy minister looked at the destruction being wrought on America`s environment by hydraulic fracturing and said "non, merci" to the latest push by her country`s business lobby to make fracking legal.
Fracking was banned in France in 2011, and it looks like it`s going to stay banned. From Bloomberg:
France’s ban on hydraulic fracturing should not be eased because the oil and gas drilling technique is causing “considerable” environmental damage in the U.S., according to a government...
Study: Climate change a death knell for most Californian fish
Posted by Grist: John Upton on May 31st, 2013
Grist: Cold-water-loving fish will find California`s rivers and streams to be increasingly inhospitable - and deadly.
A study published in the online journal PLOS ONE finds that rising water temperatures may drive many of the state`s native species extinct, while helping invasive fish flourish. From the study:
Most native fishes will suffer population declines and become more restricted in their distributions; some will likely be driven to extinction. Fishes requiring cold water [less than 72 degrees]...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Study: Climate change a death knell for most Californian fishFracking accident leaks benzene into Colorado stream
Posted by Grist: John Upton on May 24th, 2013
Grist: Once again, Colorado`s fracking boom has residents wondering if there`s something in the water - carcinogenic benzene, in this case. A plant for fracked natural gas processor Williams Energy, near Parachute, Colo., spilled an estimated 241 barrels of mixed natural gas liquid into the ground, some of which eventually washed as benzene into Parachute Creek.
More than two months after the spill was discovered, neighbors of the plant are wondering why the energy company is being put in charge of the...
House votes to take Keystone decision out of Obama’s hands
Posted by Grist: John Upton on May 23rd, 2013
Grist: Those rambunctious fossil-fuel flunkies in the U.S. House of Representatives were at it again Wednesday. They passed a bill that would allow Keystone XL to bypass environmental laws and be built without approval from President Obama.
The House voted 241-175 to do away with an ongoing environmental review for the northern leg of the tar-sands pipeline project and make it more difficult for opponents to file appeals. (The southern leg is already more than halfway built.) The vote was mostly along...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on House votes to take Keystone decision out of Obama’s hands