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Republicans in Congress poised clash with Obama over environment
Posted by LA Times: Neela Banerjee on November 8th, 2014
LA Times: Despite postelection nods toward cooperation, Republicans, who will hold the majority in Congress next year, appear poised to clash with President Obama over a range of energy and environmental issues, including the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and important rules addressing climate change, smog and water pollution.
Congressional Republicans have long argued that environmental regulations kill jobs and that fossil fuel development, especially on federal lands, should be expanded.
Now...
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Scientists sound the alarm in climate change report
Posted by LA Times: Neela Banerjee on November 2nd, 2014
LA Times: Climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels is already affecting life on every continent and in the oceans, and the window is closing rapidly for governments to avert the worst damage expected to occur later this century, scientists warned in one of the loudest alarms yet sounded by the international scientific community.
The report, to be issued Sunday, arrives as international negotiators prepare to meet in Lima, Peru, in December to establish parameters for an eventual agreement on...
Few US states preparing for climate change, study says
Posted by LA Times: Neela Banerjee on October 9th, 2014
LA Times: Fewer than half of American states are working to protect themselves from climate change, despite more detailed warnings from scientists that communities are already being damaged, according to a new online clearinghouse of states’ efforts compiled by the Georgetown Climate Center.
Fourteen states have plans to prepare for the effects of climate change. California, New York and Maryland are among those that have made the greatest progress toward the dozens of goals their plans set forth, such...
EPA report on fracking in Texas raises new concerns
Posted by LA Times: Neela Banerjee on December 24th, 2013
LA Times: The Environmental Protection Agency was justified in intervening to examine possible risks of gas drilling to Texas drinking water, the agency's internal watchdog reported Tuesday.
But environmentalists say the report raises fresh concerns about the EPA's 2012 decision to halt its investigation into possible well-water contamination in Parker County, Texas.
The EPA inspector general's report is the latest analysis to spotlight the regulator's handling of high-profile cases of alleged drinking-water...
Keystone XL’s true effect on emissions is Obama’s main issue
Posted by LA Times: Neela Banerjee on December 14th, 2013
LA Times: Can the Keystone XL pipeline be built without significantly worsening greenhouse gas emissions and climate change? For President Obama, that is the main criterion for granting a federal permit to allow the pipeline to cross from southern Alberta into the United States.
Canadian authorities and the oil industry say measures already in place or under consideration to cut greenhouse gases ensure that Keystone XL can pass that test.
"We absolutely think we can maintain growth in oil and gas, and...
North Dakota Pipeline Spill Raises Questions Amid State’s Oil Boom
Posted by LA Times: Neela Banerjee on October 24th, 2013
LA Times: About sundown one Sunday in September, North Dakota farmer Steven Jensen noticed that his combine was running over wet, squishy earth in a wheat field he was harvesting. When he took a closer look, he saw that oil had coated the wheels and that it was bubbling up about 6 inches high in spots.
That was Sept. 29; Jensen contacted authorities immediately. At least 20,600 barrels of oil leaked onto the Jensens' land from a pipeline owned by Tesoro Logistics, one of the largest land-based spills in...
In Canada’s Alberta province, oil sands boom is a two-edged sword
Posted by LA Times: Neela Banerjee on October 21st, 2013
LA Times: In the Cree language, the word "athabasca" means "a place where grass is everywhere." Here in Alberta, the Athabasca River slices through forests of spruce and birch before spilling into a vast freshwater delta and Lake Athabasca. But 100 miles upstream, the boreal forest has been peeled back by enormous strip mines, where massive shovels pick up 100 tons of earth at a time and dump it into yellow trucks as big as houses. The tarry bitumen that is extracted is eventually shipped to refineries,...
Obama to outline plan to combat global warming
Posted by LA Times: Neela Banerjee on June 25th, 2013
LA Times: President Obama plans to roll out the first U.S. regulations designed to cut carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants by next June, making that the central element of a sweeping initiative to rein in emissions of gases that drive climate change.
Obama plans to describe his proposals in a speech Tuesday afternoon at Georgetown Universityin Washington, D.C. He is expected to unveil a strategy that works across the federal government to pare greenhouse gases sharply by the end of the decade,...
Feds don’t do enough to prepare for severe weather, report says
Posted by LA Times: Neela Banerjee on June 19th, 2013
LA Times: Federal efforts to bolster community preparedness for extreme weather events are a fraction of what the government spends on cleaning up the damage from storms, tornadoes and drought, according to a new analysis of federal data by the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning Washington think tank.
The report estimated that from 2011 to 2013, the federal government spent about $136 billion on weather-related disaster relief and recovery but only $22.4 billion on a total of 43 preparedness programs,...
Arkansas pipeline spill casts shadow over Keystone XL
Posted by LA Times: Neela Banerjee on June 6th, 2013
LA Times: On warm spring evenings, North Starlite Drive buzzed with children. They cycled around the cul-de-sac at the end of the wide, block-long road, shot baskets in driveways and inevitably wound up on the swing set and trampoline behind the Bartletts' large brick house.
These days, there are no children. Yellow police tape stretches across the turns from the main road onto the street. All 22 families who lived there are gone.
About 2:45 p.m. on March 29, an underground ExxonMobil oil pipeline ruptured...