Archive for the ‘Water Conservation’ Category

TransCanada launches lawsuit, NAFTA challenge against Keystone rejection

Bonham Journal: TransCanada filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday in Houston alleging President Barack Obama's decision in November to kill the pipeline exceeded his power under the U.S. Constitution. They say the case announced Wednesday, in which TransCanada Corp.is seeking arbitration to recover $15 billion tied to the Obama administration's rejection of Keystone, shows how companies could use provisions of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement to challenge government decision making. All the...

Dealing with climate change in Costa Rica’s treasured Monteverde cloud forest

Tico Times: Climate change is one of the most troubling problems of the decade. It already has caused significant consequences across the globe, and Costa Rica is no exception. The cloud forest of Monteverde, in north-central Costa Rica, is one of the greenest tourist destinations in the country, and it has witnessed the consequences of climate change. Since the 1970s, the Tropical Scientific Center, or TSC, has been tasked with recording these consequences in different areas of the country, especially in...

California declares state of emergency after methane gas leak forces thousands from homes

Mongabay: An ongoing methane gas leak at a facility in Southern California — what’s been called “the nation’s biggest environmental disaster since the BP oil spill” — has officially been declared an emergency by Governor Jerry Brown. Natural gas, or methane, first started leaking from Southern California Gas Co.’s Aliso Canyon storage facility on October 23 last year. Some 2,300 homes have been evacuated in nearby Porter Ranch, a neighborhood of Los Angeles, after residents began experiencing nosebleeds,...

Telescope protester found not guilty after trial in Hawaiian

Associated Press: A man arrested while blocking telescope construction crews on a Hawaii mountain was acquitted Friday after a trial that was conducted in Hawaiian. Kahookahi Kanuha was among dozens of protesters arrested during attempts to resume construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea. One of the reasons protesters oppose the $1.4 billion project is that many Native Hawaiians consider the mountain sacred. Kanuha's case had been postponed because he insisted on defending himself in the language...

TMT protest leader found not guilty

Associated Press: A man arrested while blocking telescope construction crews on a Hawaii mountain has been found not guilty after a trial where he testified in Hawaiian. Kahookahi Kanuha’s case had been postponed because he insisted on defending himself in the language he’s most comfortable speaking. The trial went forward Friday with a Hawaiian interpreter. Judge Barbara Takase found him not guilty of obstructing. Even though Hawaiian is one of the state’s official languages, court cases are primarily conducted...

Talking to kids about extinction — with hope

Mongabay: wo months ago, on November 2, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park made the sad announcement that Nola, a 41-year old northern white rhino — one of only four left in the world — had passed away. “Nola, who lived here since 1989, was under veterinary care for a bacterial infection, as well as age-related health issues,” the announcement said. “In the last 24 hours, Nola’s condition worsened and we made the difficult decision to euthanize her. We’re absolutely devastated by this loss, but resolved to fight...

Humans adding less nitrogen to oceans than models predict

ScienceDaily: A new study finds that human activities are likely contributing far less nitrogen to the open ocean than many atmospheric models suggest. That's generally good news, but it also nullifies a potential side benefit to additional nitrogen, says Meredith Hastings, associate professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Brown University and one of the study's co-authors. "People may not be polluting the ocean as much as we thought, which is a good thing," said Hastings, who is also a fellow...

U.S. Coal Production Dropped to 30-Year Low in 2015

Climate Central: Coal production in the U.S. has dropped to its lowest level in 30 years thanks in part to low natural gas prices and climate policies encouraging utilities to switch to natural gas to generate electricity. It was 1986 when coal production in the U.S. was as low as it is today, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data released Friday. Coal is the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change. Burning natural gas to generate electricity emits about half...

Mississippi River seen cresting in Tennessee, Arkansas this weekend

Reuters: The Mississippi River, a major artery for U.S. commercial barge traffic, was expected to crest in Tennessee on Friday and Arkansas over the weekend as it pushed south toward the Gulf of Mexico, officials said. The river is predicted to rise just below 40 feet (12.2 meters) in Memphis, Tennessee, on Friday afternoon, above the 34 feet at which the city considers it a flood event, while it is expected to crest in Helena, Arkansas, on Sunday, according to Jeff Graschel, a hydrologist at the National...

All is not OK: Oklahoma records 70 earthquakes in a week

Grist: The state experienced two of its largest earthquakes on record this week, measuring 4.7 and 4.8 on the Richter scale. And, the New York Times reports, this could be a harbinger of things to come. Big things. From the Times: The two quakes followed a series of smaller ones last week that peeled brick facades, toppled columns and caused a power failure in Edmond, an upscale Oklahoma City suburb. Some experts said those quakes hinted at the possibility of a larger shock. “I do think there’s a...