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Australia: Decision on coal mine ‘defies reason’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 3rd, 2016
Age: The decision on Sunday to approve mining leases for Queensland's Carmichael coal mine is akin to "evil", according to one of the world's foremost marine scientists.
"It defies reason," said Dr Charlie Veron, former chief scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science. "I think there is no single action that could be as harmful to the Great Barrier Reef as the Carmichael coal mine."
The $21.7 billion project, which involves mine, rail and port facilities, would allow Indian multinational...
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Great Barrier Reef pollution control efforts ‘not enough to meet targets’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 3rd, 2016
AAP: Australia is unlikely to meet water quality targets designed to protect the Great Barrier Reef, researchers from the federal government’s marine science agency have warned.
Scientists, including two from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), have published a study that says current efforts to reduce pollution run-off into the reef’s waters are not enough to meet set targets.
Their findings, published in the Global Change Biology journal on Sunday, came as the Queensland government...
Green and Indigenous groups furious over Queensland’s Carmichael coalmine lease approval
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 3rd, 2016
AAP: Conservationists and traditional owners have been floored by Queensland’s decision to grant mining leases for Adani’s mega-coalmine while two court challenges are unresolved.
The Queensland government has cleared the last major state hurdle for the Indian miner to proceed with its $22bn coalmine (which would be Australia’s largest), rail and port project in the Galilee Basin and at Abbot Point.
But even Adani says it won’t make a final investment decision on the project until legal challenges...
Australia: Adani’s Carmichael coalmine leases approved by Queensland
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 3rd, 2016
AAP: The Queensland government has granted three mining leases for Adani’s multi-billion dollar Carmichael coalmine, which will be the largest in Australia.
Environmental groups say the mine will fuel global warming and compound threats to the world heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef amid one of its worst coral bleaching events on record.
The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, and the mines minister, Anthony Lynham, made the announcement in Mackay on Sunday.
The premier put the value of the project...
Mega India-backed coal project awarded Australia mining leases
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 2nd, 2016
Agence France-Presse: A controversial India-backed giant coal project near Australia's Great Barrier Reef was Sunday awarded mining leases, but developer Adani said it would not commit to a final investment decision until legal challenges against it were resolved.
The Queensland state government said the Aus$21.7 billion (US$16.7 billion) project to build one of the world's biggest mines was awarded three leases.
"This is a major step forward for this project after extensive government and community scrutiny," Queensland...
Even In a Warming World, It Will Still Snow Somewhere
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 2nd, 2016
New York Times: Misconception: Climate change is not real because there is snow in my yard. Actually: Anyone who utters an argument like this is mixing up climate and weather. When Senator James Inhofe famously threw a snowball across the Senate floor in an attempt to undermine the validity of climate science, people who practice that science for a living pretty much rolled their eyes. Yet the Republican senator from Oklahoma, chairman of the environment committee in the Senate, is hardly alone is mixing up weather...
China braces for ‘severe’ flooding on Yangtze River
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 2nd, 2016
Reuters: Severe floods are expected on China's Yangtze River this year due to a strong El Nino weather pattern, state media said, raising the risk of deaths and damage to property and crops along the country's longest waterway. The El Nino conditions are the strongest since records collection began in 1951, and resemble a 1998 weather pattern that flooded the river and killed thousands, the official Xinhua news agency said on Friday, citing vice minister of water resources, Liu Ning. "Precipitation in the...
Flint considering lawsuit against Michigan: report
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 1st, 2016
Reuters: The city of Flint is considering suing the state of Michigan over lead contamination in the city's drinking water, but the mayor said on Friday she still plans to work with the governor to fix the problem.
Flint filed a motion of intent to sue on March 24 in the state Court of Claims, and it was reported by local media on Friday. The filing was made a day before the city's right to sue would have expired without the motion.
"As the elected leader of Flint, I needed to preserve the city's right...
Alaska Lawmakers Looking at Oil, Gas Tax Credit Changes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 1st, 2016
Associated Press: Oil and gas tax credits are poised to be the subject of major debate as the Alaska Legislature enters what are supposed to be its final weeks.
The oil and gas industry is warning against big changes at a time when the industry is being hit by low oil prices.
The state, which has long relied on oil revenues to fund government, is feeling the effects of chronic low prices, too, and lawmakers face some unpopular options, including changes to the dividend that most Alaskans receive each year, as...
Climate change drives UK wine production but not without weather shocks
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 1st, 2016
PhysOrg: As UK wine producers prepare for what they hope will be a bumper 2016 season a study published today reveals that year-to-year climate variability and hazardous weather at key points in the growing season leave the industry highly sensitive to the elements.
It also suggests that in vogue varieties such as Chardonnay and Pinot noir are more susceptible to UK climate variability than traditional varieties.
Over the last decade there has been a boom in English wine production. The amount of land...