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Endangered species could be screwed by rising seas
Posted by Grist: None Given on December 27th, 2013
Grist: Sea-level rise isn`t just bad news for coastal-dwelling humans. It`s also bad news for coastal-dwelling critters and plants, including one out of every six threatened and endangered species in the U.S.
That`s according to a Center for Biological Diversity analysis of federal data. From the new report:
Left unchecked, rising seas driven by climate change threaten 233 federally protected species in 23 coastal states. ...
The most vulnerable groups are flowering plants, which represent a third...
Five years after Tennessee coal-slurry disaster, EPA has produced no new rules
Posted by Grist: None Given on December 26th, 2013
Grist: Five years ago, in the dead of night, a torrent of more than a million gallons of slurry broke free from its holding place at a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant in Tennessee. The toxic stew of coal fly ash, which is produced when coal is burned, polluted waterways and 300 acres of land. The disaster triggered anger from residents and promises from the EPA to introduce new rules to prevent such accidents.
The anger is still there. But the government promises appear to have been broken. The...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Five years after Tennessee coal-slurry disaster, EPA has produced no new rulesHow to land a green job in 2014
Posted by Grist: None Given on December 25th, 2013
Grist: You want an environmental job. And who wouldn’t? You get to go to bed at night knowing you’ve done something good for the world. You can be smug about your job with less nobly employed friends. You can move out of your parent’s basement. These are all good things.
Still, you wonder. Are there any educated guesses about what employers are thinking? We’ve got you covered. Our prognosticator has traveled throughout the green employment community and returned with some predictions to get you going....
Native American groups increasingly at center of fights over oil and gas
Posted by Grist: None Given on December 4th, 2013
Grist: In the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries, European settlers stole a lot of land from Native Americans. They killed them, they cheated them, and they robbed them of most of the continent. But they made one mistake. Back then good land was fertile land for growing crops. The Great Plains and interior West - dry, dusty, freezing cold in winter and broiling hot in summer - had little to offer.
Now, however, the Europeans and their descendants lust for oil and gas to provide electricity, heat, and...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Native American groups increasingly at center of fights over oil and gasColorado voters tell fracking industry frack off
Posted by Grist: None Given on November 6th, 2013
Grist: Maybe it`s the polluted groundwater, river water, and air. Perhaps it`s the toxic stew that gushed over Colorado when it flooded. Or it could be the abject lies. Whatever the fracking industry has done to earn the hostility of voters in at least three Colorado cities, it couldn`t be undone by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a pro-fracking ad blitz in recent weeks. On Tuesday, voters in Boulder, Fort Collins, and Lafayette all approved measures that either banned or placed a moratorium...
Climate change is decreasing farm yields just when we need them to go up
Posted by Grist: None Given on November 6th, 2013
Grist: One of the most disturbing details included in the recently leaked IPCC report is that climate change could begin reducing farm yields worldwide by up to 2 percent a decade. Meanwhile, demand for crops is increasing 12 percent per decade.
You don’t have to be a math whiz to see how that (doesn`t) add up.
A collision between a rising need for food and falling yields would be terrible for the environment, as well as for people. When people are starving, they are forced to make really bad tradeoffs:...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change is decreasing farm yields just when we need them to go upBangladesh biggest power plant will harm world’s biggest mangrove forest
Posted by Grist: None Given on November 1st, 2013
Grist: Burning coal is a surefire way of damaging the climate, and harming mangroves is a surefire way of worsening climate impacts. Which makes the planned construction of Bangladesh’s largest coal-fired power plant at the edge of the world’s biggest mangrove forest doubly troubling.
Construction is beginning on the 1,320-megawatt Rampal power plant less than 10 miles from the Sundarbans, the sweeping mangrove system that straddles Bangladesh and India, helping to protect an eastern chunk of the Subcontinent...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Bangladesh biggest power plant will harm world’s biggest mangrove forestHundreds of oil spills kept secret by North Dakota
Posted by Grist: None Given on October 28th, 2013
Grist: North Dakota`s fracking frenzy is leaking like a sieve. And you haven`t heard about it because fracking companies, oil pipeline owners, and state officials have been keeping information about hundreds of oil spills secret for years.
After a huge spill of more than 20,000 barrels on a wheat farm was hushed up for 11 days, the Associated Press discovered the extent of the years-long cover-up:
Records obtained by the AP show that so far this year, North Dakota has recorded 139 pipeline leaks that...
Say goodbye to Yosemite’s largest glacier
Posted by Grist: None Given on October 3rd, 2013
Grist: Hasta la vista, glacier.
The world`s glaciers are withering quickly - researchers say they are contributing to nearly one-third of sea-level rise, despite holding just 1 percent of the planet`s surface ice. And while the glaciers in California`s Yosemite National Park aren`t the largest, they are suffering the same alarming fate as their icy ilk in other parts of the world.
Yosemite`s granite cliffs and valleys were carved during the Ice Age as glaciers expanded. Now these vestigial masses...
Super foodie Alice Waters launches anti-fracking fight
Posted by Grist: None Given on September 26th, 2013
Grist: Some of California’s best-known chefs and restaurateurs are whipping up a fight against fracking in the Golden State. High hopes that California would impose a moratorium on fracking, a process in which chemicals are injected into the ground to extract oil and gas, were dashed on Friday when Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation that regulates the process but does not stop it. Opponents say fracking pollutes water and threatens farms. California is the source of 15 percent of the nation’s crops. ...