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How do we ditch dirty coal power without sending miners to unemployment line?
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 5th, 2016
LA Times: The nation - in fact, the world - needs to wean itself from fossil fuels if it is to have any hope of managing climate change. Burning coal is particularly bad for the environment, pumping far higher quantities of global-warming compounds into the atmosphere than natural gas, oil or other carbon-based products do. So it's heartening that the U.S. has been using less coal to generate electricity in recent years. An unrelated drop in coal-fired steel production in China has also reduced the amount...
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Comments Off on How do we ditch dirty coal power without sending miners to unemployment line?Divide grows in Southeast over offshore drilling plan
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 5th, 2016
New York Times: On a recent frigid night, anxious residents, many in "Protect Our Coast" sweatshirts, packed the town hall here, spilled onto the lawn, and then erupted in cheers as their town government gaveled in a resolution urging President Obama to block oil drilling off their shoreline. "Some things are just too precious to risk," Mayor Emilie Swearingen said.
That afternoon, 140 miles inland in Raleigh, the state capital, Obama administration officials and oil company representatives had outlined plans...
US top court denies bid to block mercury air pollution rule
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 4th, 2016
Reuters: The U.S. Supreme Court sided with the Obama administration on Thursday in rebuffing a bid by 20 states to halt an Environmental Protection Agency rule to curb emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants from power plants.
The action came about a month after the high court put on hold federal regulations to curb carbon dioxide emissions mainly from coal-fired power plants, the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's strategy to combat climate change.
Chief Justice John Roberts denied a petition...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on US top court denies bid to block mercury air pollution ruleStraight talking calms rural water conflicts in Tanzania
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 4th, 2016
Reuters: Daudi Nangole sits under a huge baobab tree, watching his herd of cattle drink from a dam in Ikolongo village - a place that until recently was a no-go area for pastoralists. The 56-year-old herder, his family and their 73 cattle, sheep and goats traveled several kilometers to reach the reservoir. “I was very afraid to come here before because angry farmers were killing our animals,” Nangole said, as dry leaves swirled around him. “But now cattle can roam freely.” Ikolongo is one of several villages...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Straight talking calms rural water conflicts in TanzaniaClimate change could cause an extra 500000 deaths in 2050
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 4th, 2016
Reuters: Climate change could cause significant changes to global diets, leading to more than half a million extra deaths in 2050 from illnesses such as stroke, cancer, and heart disease, experts said on Wednesday.
As extreme weather such as floods and heat waves wreaks havoc with harvests and crop yields, estimated increases in food availability could be cut by a third by 2050, according to the experts' study published in The Lancet medical journal.
This would lead to a reduction of 99 calories available...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate change could cause an extra 500000 deaths in 2050Australia: Up to 1,000 coalminers could have black lung disease, says mining union
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 3rd, 2016
AAP: As many as 1,000 coalminers may have black lung disease, the mining union says.
The potentially fatal disease is caused by the inhalation of coal dust over a long period, and can emerge up to 15 years after exposure.
A coalminer diagnosed with the first case of black lung in Australia in more than 60 years worked in an underground mine for six years after early signs of the disease were missed in a medical examination.
The CFMEU says it is very concerned about a backlog of screening x-rays...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Australia: Up to 1,000 coalminers could have black lung disease, says mining unionFuel or food? Study sees increasing competition for land, water resources
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 3rd, 2016
ScienceDaily: As strategies for energy security, investment opportunities and energy policies prompt ever-growing production and consumption of biofuels like bioethanol and biodiesel, land and water that could otherwise be used for food production increasingly are used to produce crops for fuel. About 4 percent of the world's agricultural land and 3 to 4 percent of its fresh water are now used for growing biofuels, according to a new study published March 3, 2016 in the Nature journal Scientific Reports. About...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Fuel or food? Study sees increasing competition for land, water resourcesParasites help brine shrimp cope with arsenic habitat contamination
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 3rd, 2016
ScienceDaily: Artemia (the scientific name of the small crustacean that is also commonly known as 'sea monkey') is famous for being able to live in extreme environments and has become a model organism used to test the toxicity of chemicals in water. In addition, Artemia can produce dormant eggs, known as cysts, that can be stored for long periods and hatched on demand to provide a convenient form of live feed for the seafood industry, and 2000 tonnes of Artemia cysts per year are sold worldwide. Marta Sánchez...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Parasites help brine shrimp cope with arsenic habitat contaminationGreenland’s ice is getting darker, increasing risk of melting
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 3rd, 2016
ScienceDaily: Greenland's snowy surface has been getting darker over the past two decades, absorbing more heat from the sun and increasing snow melt, a new study of satellite data shows. That trend is likely to continue, with the surface's reflectivity, or albedo, decreasing by as much as 10 percent by the end of the century, the study says. While soot blowing in from wildfires contributes to the problem, it hasn't been driving the change, the study finds. The real culprits are two feedback loops created by the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Greenland’s ice is getting darker, increasing risk of meltingAmerica’s ‘Lead Wars’ Go Beyond Flint, Mich: ‘It’s Now Really Everywhere’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on March 3rd, 2016
National Public Radio: Flint, Mich., isn't the only American city with a lead problem. Though the health crisis in Flint has highlighted the use of lead in water pipes, author David Rosner tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross that lead, which is a neurotoxin, can be found throughout the U.S. on walls, in soil and in the air.
"The problem with lead is that it's now really everywhere, and we've created a terribly toxic environment in all sorts of ways," he says.
Lead is particularly dangerous to young children. In their book,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on America’s ‘Lead Wars’ Go Beyond Flint, Mich: ‘It’s Now Really Everywhere’