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'Difference of opinion' on BP's oil rig hours before explosion
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7140776.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=3392178
Times (UK): It was shortly before noon on April 20, only ten hours before a torrent of crude oil ripped through the Deepwater Horizon rig, that the quarrel broke out. "There was a slight argument that took place and a difference of opinions,' Doug Brown, the rig's chief mechanic and a survivor of the accident to come, told a federal board of investigators last week in Kenner, Louisiana. In a room next to the rig's galley three employees of Transocean, owner of the Deepwater Horizon, and ...
Mon, 31 May 10
After fix fail, a dispiriting summer of oil, anger
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100531/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill
Associated Press: There is still a hole in the Earth, crude oil is still spewing from it and there is still, excruciatingly, no end in sight. After trying and trying again, one of the world's largest corporations, backed and pushed by the world's most powerful government, can't stop the runaway gusher. As desperation grows and ecological misery spreads, the operative word on the ground now is, incredibly, August -- the earliest moment that a real resolution could be at hand. And even then, there's no ...
Mon, 31 May 10
Political Stakes Climb for Obama
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704254004575275252563367276.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop
Wall Street Journal: The failure of BP PLC's latest effort to stop the undersea gusher in the Gulf of Mexico leaves the Obama administration to face multiple political and policy challenges against the backdrop of an environmental disaster that could drag on for weeks. Despite an escalating federal response, President Barack Obama has faced growing criticism of his response to the worst oil spill in U.S. history. On Saturday, Mr. Obama, in a statement, said the administration would pursue "any and all ...
Mon, 31 May 10
Oil complicates forecasts on hurricane season eve
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100530/ap_on_re_us/us_oil_spill_hurricane_season
Associated Press: As hurricane season approaches, the giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is taking weather forecasters into nearly uncharted waters. The Gulf is a superhighway for hurricanes that form or explode over pools of hot water, then usually move north or west toward the coast. It's now the site of the worst oil spill in U.S. history and along the general path of some of the worst storms ever recorded, including Hurricane Camille, which wiped out the Mississippi coast in 1969, and Hurricane ...
Mon, 31 May 10
BP, White House Oil Spill Blame Game Heats Up
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/30/ftn/main6532922.shtml
CBS News: In the wake of the failure of the "Top Kill" experiment to stop the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the White House and BP are showing deep divisions over accountability and responsibility five weeks after the explosion that started the oil spill. On CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday, BP's Managing Director Bob Dudley and Carol Browner, assistant to the president for energy and climate change, clashed over the initial estimates of the spill which showed flow rates much below what we ...
Mon, 31 May 10
BP spill is 'biggest environmental disaster' in US history - officials
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/bp-spill-is-biggest-environmental-disaster-in-us-history-officials/story-e6frf7lf-1225873274236
Herald Sun: THE White House Energy and Climate Change adviser Carol Browner described the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as "probably the biggest environmental disaster we've ever faced in this country." "It's certainly the biggest oil spill and we're responding with the biggest environmental response," Ms Browner added. Speaking on NBC's Meet The Press, she also admitted that following the failure of BP's "top kill' procedure, oil could continue to leak into the gulf until August when ...
Mon, 31 May 10
Bangladesh: PM calls for poor nations' unity to deal with climate change
http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=101753&date=2010-05-31
Financial Express: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Sunday opened the Asia Conference of the Global Climate Change Alliance, calling upon the most vulnerable countries to forge greater unity to establish their rights in the international forums, reports UNB. Addressing the inaugural session at Hotel Sheraton in the morning, she urged the developed economies to provide adaptation fund and technical assistance for the climate-victim countries soon to tackle the climate calamities. High-level ...
Mon, 31 May 10
BP unsure how much oil in reservoir in Gulf spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100530/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_reservoir
Associated Press: BP spokesman John Curry says the company does not know how much oil is contained the vast reservoir nearly three miles beneath the seafloor. Curry said Sunday that the company didn't have time to properly analyze how much was in the discovery well. He says if the oil rig had not exploded, BP PLC ultimately would have drilled another well to complete that analysis. Curry says the uncertainty over how much oil is in the reservoir does not change BP's response. The company has ...
Mon, 31 May 10
United Kingdom: Scotland plugs into Forth coal
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Scotland-plugs--into-Forth.6329104.jp
Scotsman: Fife-based Thornton New Energy has gone into partnership with an Australian company to extract energy from coal seams lying deep under the estuary inaccessible to conventional mining techniques. The technique – underground coal gasification (UCG) – involves pumping oxygen and steam down a borehole into the seam, where heating under controlled conditions extracts gases from the coal. The gases are then pumped ashore to be used to generate electricity. Talks will take place this ...
Mon, 31 May 10
Environmental disasters, seen and unseen
http://www.dailynewstribune.com/features/x644095595/Holmes-Environmental-disasters-seen-and-unseen
Daily News Tribune: There's one good thing about the environmental disaster in the Gulf: At least we aren't arguing about whether it's a problem or a hoax. There are no oil spill deniers keeping government from acting. No one's arguing that stopping the flow from BP's busted pipe would cost too much or hurt the economy. A certain clarity comes from being able to watch 12,000 barrels a day spew into the Gulf on a live video feed. The conversation starts with "what do we do about it?" instead of "is it ...
Mon, 31 May 10
NGO to Noynoy: Link land policies to climate change
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/192217/ngo-to-noynoy-link-land-policies-to-climate-change
GMA news: More Share With farmers and the rural poor most vulnerable to the destructive effects of climate change, a non-government organization is asking president-apparent Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III to take up new agrarian reform policies. On Sunday, Project Development Institute executive director Ria Miclat-Teves said land reform is "critically" linked to addressing the devastations caused by climate change. "The first effects of climate change are erosions, drought, ...
Mon, 31 May 10
United States: Radioactive leak found, fixed at Vt. nuke plant
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100530/ap_on_bi_ge/us_vermont_yankee_leak
Associate Press: A new leak of radioactive material has been found and fixed at the troubled Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, officials said Saturday. Vapor and water containing 13 different radioactive substances was found late Friday coming from a pipe in a hole workers dug to find the source of an earlier leak. "This was a new leak," Vermont Yankee spokesman Larry Smith said in an e-mail. "The leak has been stopped. ... There is no threat to public health or safety." The federal ...
Mon, 31 May 10
'Top kill' fails to stop oil leak
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10191622.stm
BBC: The latest attempt to stop the Gulf of Mexico oil leak has failed, the oil giant BP has said. BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said the firm was now shifting to a new strategy to stop the spill. In the failed procedure - known as "top kill" - the firm had been blasting waste material and heavy mud into a ruptured well. US President Barack Obama said the continued flow of oil was "as enraging as it is heartbreaking". The worst oil spill in US history began ...
Mon, 31 May 10
Early hunters may have caused climate change
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/health/early-hunters-may-have-caused-climate-change_100372233.html
Thaindian: If you believe human activities in the last century or so are responsible for climate change you may have to think again - a new research says early hunters could have upset the atmosphere`s methane balance. While extensive hunting in North America drove mammoths and other large mammals to extinction, it could have also disturbed the methane balance of the atmosphere, sparking off the global cool spell that followed. The large grazing animals would have been producing plentiful ...
Mon, 31 May 10
Biomass Sweden's primary energy source
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=2018
Carbon Positive News: Biomass energy has now surpassed oil to become Sweden's number one source for energy generation, according to Wood Resource Quarterly. Biomass now generates 32 per cent of all energy in Sweden, causing increased competition for pulpwood, WRQ reports in its latest market update. As a result, increased competition for logs and wood chips between the pulp industry and energy sector has pushed wood fibre prices to new highs in the country. Pulp-log prices in the first quarter of ...
Mon, 31 May 10
Breakthrough for climate talks far away amid European debt crisis, US reluctance
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-05/30/c_13323924.htm
Xinhua: The chance for a breakthrough in world's efforts to seal a legally binding deal on curbing global warming remains slim as a result of the current European debt crisis and U.S. reluctance to take bold actions to fight climate change, analysts say. After rounds of lengthy talks failed, people began to question the possibility of cutting a binding deal on fighting climate change in a few years: "Are the conditions right at this very moment? Would it make sense right now?" they ...
Sun, 30 May 10
Nigeria's agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/30/oil-spills-nigeria-niger-delta-shell
Guardian: We reached the edge of the oil spill near the Nigerian village of Otuegwe after a long hike through cassava plantations. Ahead of us lay swamp. We waded into the warm tropical water and began swimming, cameras and notebooks held above our heads. We could smell the oil long before we saw it – the stench of garage forecourts and rotting vegetation hanging thickly in the air. The farther we travelled, the more nauseous it became. Soon we were swimming in pools of light Nigerian crude, ...
Sun, 30 May 10
Mo Constantine's innovation: finding an alternative to palm oil
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/30/lucy-siegle-innovator-lush-cosmetics-war-palm-oil
Guardian: Mo Constantine's previous hits include bath bombs and Lush soap. If you haven't had the pleasure, just follow your nose: Lush shops have become familiar fixtures on the high street. You can smell their "zingy" ingredients a mile off. Constantine and her husband Mark (a familiar face on TV) have been tinkering with ingredients to "detox" bathtime since the 1970s, when they sold products to a fledgling Body Shop. They have taken on animal testing and the iniquities of trade in cosmetic ...
Sun, 30 May 10
BP's behaviour in the Gulf is appalling. But our thirst for oil is the real issue
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/30/bp-oil-spill-gulf-mexico
Guardian: As this piece is written, act one of the Gulf of Mexico tragedy continues, agonisingly, to unfold. We, the people of the region, keep hoping to leave behind the terrifying explosions and ghastly loss of human life, the dread invoked by black jets billowing endlessly from below and the floating oil spreading over an ever-growing area. We want to move on to act two, which will feature many dirty shovels, corpses of birds and people crying over the loss of a landscape they love. Act ...
Sun, 30 May 10
Oil spill creates huge undersea 'dead zones'
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/oil-spill-creates-huge-undersea-dead-zones-1987039.html
Independent (UK): The world's most damaging oil spill -- now in its 41st continuously gushing day -- is creating huge unseen "dead zones" in the Gulf of Mexico, according to oceanologists and toxicologists. They say that if their fears are correct, then the sea's entire food chain could suffer years of devastation, with almost no marine life in the region escaping its effects. While the sight of tar balls and oil-covered birds on Louisiana's shoreline has been the most visible sign of the spill's ...
Sun, 30 May 10
Summertime 2100, and the living isn't easy
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/summertime-2100-and-the-living-isnt-easy-1984392.html
Independent (UK): The year is 2100. Londoners and their guests need a pastiche of Arcadia in the heart of the capital. Peak summer daily temperatures are nearly seven degrees hotter than they were in 2000, and the city is far more crowded. By mid-afternoon the day's heat is starting to hang heavy, and will not disperse until the small hours. Evenings are febrile and nights fitful. Shaded open spaces draw people out of doors like a magnet summoning iron filings. The natural appearance of St James's Park ...
Sun, 30 May 10
BP "top kill" fails
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100530/ts_nm/us_oil_rig_leak
Reuters: BP Plc said on Saturday the complex "top kill" maneuver to plug its Gulf of Mexico oil well has failed, crushing hopes for a quick end to the largest oil spill in U.S. history already in its 40th day. The beleaguered London-based energy giant said its next option is a "lower marine riser package" that will not plug the well ruptured in a rig blast, but rather capture most of the oil on the sea floor and channel it to the surface for collection. BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward ...
Sun, 30 May 10
Obama says ongoing leak of oil is 'enraging'
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100530/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_obama
Associated Press: President Barack Obama said Saturday that the failure of BP's latest effort to stop the damaging flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico is "as enraging as it is heartbreaking." Obama commented after BP officials reached the disappointing conclusion that a dayslong effort to stop the flow of oil, known as a "top kill," by packing the well with mud had failed. It was the latest in a series of failed attempts by BP to cut off the flow of oil. BP will now try anew by cutting ...
Sun, 30 May 10
BP's top kill effort fails to plug Gulf oil leak
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100530/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill
Associated Press: BP admitted defeat Saturday in its attempt to plug the Gulf of Mexico oil leak by pumping mud into a busted well, but is readying yet another approach after repeated failures to stop the crude that's fouling marshland and beaches. BP PLC Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said the company determined the "top kill" had failed after it spent three days pumping heavy drilling mud into the crippled well 5,000 feet underwater. More than 1.2 million gallons of mud was used, but most of it ...
Sun, 30 May 10
United Kingdom: Royal Society to publish guide on climate change to counter claims of 'exaggeration'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7778917/Royal-Society-to-publish-guide-on-climate-change-to-counter-claims-of-exaggeration.html
Telegraph: The most prestigious group of scientists in the country was forced to act after fellows complained that doubts over man made global warming were not being communicated to the public. In particular they were unhappy that the long term effects of greenhouse gases were being oversimplified. Lord Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society, admitted that the case for man-made global warming has been exaggerated in the past. He emphasised that the basic science remains sound ...
Sun, 30 May 10
And Not a Drop to Drink for Palestinians
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51629
Inter Press Service: A new desalination facility has come up here on Israel's Mediterranean seashore, to soothe Israel's chronic fresh water shortage. An elaborate network of pipes beneath the beach reaches westward far into the sea. Eastward, it links up with the national water system. Just inaugurated, the plant, one of the largest in the world, turns seawater into drinking water. "The new plant definitely makes our slender reserves more secure," says Abraham Tenne, head of the Desalination ...
Sun, 30 May 10
Virginia attorney general demands scientist's e-mails
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127244613
National Public Radio: MICHELE NORRIS, host: The University of Virginia says it will fight a demand from the state's attorney general. He wants the school to turn over private e-mails and documents related to a former professor's climate research. The case has sparked a national debate over academic freedom. From our member station WVTF, Sandy Hausman reports. SANDY HAUSMAN: Virginia's attorney general is a skeptic when it comes to global warming. So when e-mails sent by climate scientists ...
Sun, 30 May 10
Blocking the EPA
http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=10-P13-00022&segmentID=3
Living on Earth: YOUNG: The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced tough new emissions standards for cars and trucks--the country's first limits on greenhouse gases from vehicles. And early next year the EPA will ask big industrial polluters to cut back on C02. These moves come thanks to the EPA's new authority to regulate greenhouse gases. But that upsets some members of Congress who think the agency has no business regulating its way to climate change policy. Living on Earth's Mitra Taj ...
Sun, 30 May 10
Pakistan: World Bank not to fund Thar coal project
http://paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?228032
Pak Tribune: The World Bank will not finance coal-fired power plants in Pakistan, which faces a severe energy crisis in the wake of depleting gas fields and too much dependence on the expensive imported oil, officials said. "Yes, the bank has decided that it will not proceed with the Thar coal technical assistance project," the World Bank's spokesperson in Islamabad informed The News in an email. "The limited financing available can more effectively be directed towards investment that will ...
Sun, 30 May 10
Community solar projects sprout up across US
http://www.cnbc.com/id/37335250
CNBC: Inspired by Al Gore's documentary on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth," more than three years ago, 12-year-old Walter Schoolman told his mom he wanted to help reduce his impact on global warming and "go solar." Photo: Mt. Pleasant Solar CooperativeAnya Schoolman and the other founders of the Mt. Pleasant Solar Co-op The Schoolmans, along with another neighborhood family, started to research what it would take to install solar panels on their roofs. "We called a ...
Sun, 30 May 10
BP Says 'Top Kill' Method To Plug Oil Leak Has Failed
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127258287&ft=1&f=1025
Associated Press: BP admitted defeat Saturday in its attempt to plug the Gulf of Mexico oil leak by pumping mud into a busted well, but said it's readying yet another approach to fight the spill after a series of failures. BP PLC Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said the company determined the "top kill" had failed after it spent three days pumping heavy drilling mud into the crippled well 5,000 feet underwater. More than 1.2 million gallons of mud was used, but most of it escaped out of the ...
Sun, 30 May 10
Maldives president calls for direct action over climate change
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/may/29/maldives-president-climate-hay
Guardian: A 1960s-style campaign of direct action must ignite on the streets as a catalyst for decisive action to combat climate change, according to President Mohamed Nasheed of the imperilled Maldives. Nasheed told the Hay festival that it was the United States, not China, that was the biggest obstacle to a global agreement to check carbon emissions. Nasheed, who held an underwater meeting of his cabinet last autumn and is presiding over the relocation of people from some islands because of ...
Sun, 30 May 10
Documents Show Earlier Worries About Safety of Rig
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/us/30rig.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: Internal documents from BP show that there were serious problems and safety concerns with the Deepwater Horizon rig far earlier than those the company described to Congress last week. The problems involved the well casing and the blowout preventer, which are considered critical pieces in the chain of events that led to the disaster on the rig. The documents show that in March, after several weeks of problems on the rig, BP was struggling with a loss of "well control." And as ...
Sun, 30 May 10
Scientists Build Case for Undersea Plumes
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/science/earth/29plume.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: The ocean caught fire. As it blazed, a dense column of black smoke rose toward the sky. Oily water, the color of strong tea, slopped up the sides of boats. The breeze carried an acrid smell, like gasoline fumes. Aboard the research vessel F.G. Walton Smith, anxiety was growing. Five scientists and six students had come to study the oil leak and its effect on the sea. They brought flasks and gloves, refrigerators and freezers, tiny tools and huge cylinders of ...
Sat, 29 May 10
BP's massive spill threatens Gulf's vast undersea life
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100528/sc_mcclatchy/3519708
McClatchy Newspapers: As the magnitude of BP's oil spill becomes clearer, scientists fear that the volume of oil, the depth of the leak and the chemical dispersants the company is using will combine to threaten a vast array of undersea life for years. At risk are such endangered species as Kemp's ridley sea turtles and the Atlantic bluefin tuna, as well as the Gulf of Mexico 's 8,300 other creatures from plankton to birds. The contamination, some say, is likely to undo years of work that brought some ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Huge air pollution study under way in California
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jlLFP-arKPyC2ro6reoCKnmdJbwwD9G04O1O0
Associated Press: Instrument-laden aircraft and a research ship equipped to sniff the atmosphere and ocean have joined land-based monitoring stations in a huge field study of air pollution and climate change in California. The goal of the $20 million state and federal project is to understand the origin of pollutants and greenhouse gases, where they go and what becomes of them as an integrated air-quality and climate-change issue. "Many chemicals that change climate are also air pollutants and ...
Sat, 29 May 10
As oil spill damages Gulf, will U.S. change energy use?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100528/sc_mcclatchy/3519585
McClatchy Newspapers: The Gulf oil spill has triggered a crisis of confidence, shaking Americans' views about BP, the oil industry, technology and President Barack Obama and slowing a planned expansion of domestic offshore oil drilling. Are the worst spill in U.S. history and images of dead birds and toxic syrup lapping at Gulf shores shocking enough to be a tipping point for energy policy and consumer behavior, however? Will Americans rush to smaller cars or spend more to buy hybrids? Will ...
Sat, 29 May 10
United Kingdom: Rebel scientists force Royal Society to accept climate change scepticism
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7139407.ece
Times (UK): Britain's premier scientific institution is being forced to review its statements on climate change after a rebellion by members who question mankind's contribution to rising temperatures. The Royal Society has appointed a panel to rewrite the 350-year-old institution's official position on global warming. It will publish a new "guide to the science of climate change' this summer. The society has been accused by 43 of its Fellows of refusing to accept dissenting views on climate ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Cheap prices and high tax revenues underpin America's love of Big Oil
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/may/28/us-regulation-oil-industry-mms
Guardian: The American public have been told by government that oil industry regulation has been undermined by drugs, pornography and ethical transgression. But politicians in Washington are less keen to admit that they and the wider public have all allowed themselves to be seduced by the cheap petrol and tax provided by BP and the rest of Big Oil. The interior department has created good headlines and bought time for Barack Obama by releasing details of a report into the working of one of its ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Mining for Cold, Hard Facts
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704655004575114010457906340.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Wall Street Journal: At a camp here on Earth's remotest continent, American researchers have constructed a towering drill that, like a biopsy needle, periodically plunges thousands of feet into the ice to extract an exotic marrow of frozen gases and isotopes. Their work could settle a central question in the dispute over climate change, by documenting how greenhouse gases influenced temperatures in the past. Only then can researchers accurately analyze climate changes that may be under way ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Britain to export fuel made from household waste
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7778378/Britain-to-export-fuel-made-from-household-waste.html
Telegraph: The UK faces massive fines if landfill is not reduced over the next few years but recycling rates remain low. In their search for new ways to dispose of household rubbish, councils are to export fuel pellets made from the contents of hundreds of thousands of bins to countries like Holland and Germany. Because the European nations have been more sucessful in encouraging their citizens to recycle, they are faced with a shortage of material they can burn to power factories and ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Land management chief to take over drilling agency
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100528/ap_on_bi_ge/us_interior_offshore_drilling
Associated Press: The chief of the Interior Department's land management bureau has stepped in to run the much-criticized agency that oversees offshore oil drilling after its director resigned under pressure. Bob Abbey took over Friday as acting director of the Minerals Management Service and will also keep his post at the Bureau of Land Management. He replaces Elizabeth Birnbaum, who left Thursday after 10 months as director of the agency that oversees drilling on federal land and water. It has been ...
Sat, 29 May 10
UK Royal Society revives confusion as US concludes climate change certainty
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/28/climate-change-royal-society
Guardian: Two weeks ago, the United States National Academy of Sciences published its clearest ever report on the science of climate change. It concluded: "Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for a broad range of human and natural systems." Over recent years, particularly during the George W Bush administration, the academy has faced great challenges in presenting the science of climate change to domestic policymakers, many of whom ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Did early hunters cause climate change?
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627623.300-did-early-hunters-cause-climate-change.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=magcontents
New Scientist: IT'S not just for the last century that humans have been messing up the climate. It may have been going on for thousands of years. When hunters arrived in North America and drove mammoths and other large mammals to extinction, the methane balance of the atmosphere could have changed as a result, triggering the global cool spell that followed. The large grazing animals would have produced copious amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from their digestive systems. They vanished ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Local power generation can overcome renewable nimbys
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263893/local-power-generation-overcome
Business Green: Local ownership of distributed power generation is the key to overcoming nimby objections to renewable energy schemes, says the head of a company looking to establish a geothermal plant in rural Cornwall. "Planning is the big unknown in renewables,' Ryan Law, founder of Geothermal Engineering Ltd (GEL) told BusinessGreen.com. "Communities object to mega-projects which supply the whole country, but if people realise they can have a direct stake in local schemes I think this is the key ...
Sat, 29 May 10
BP's Top Kill to Quell Oil Spill Begins in Gulf
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100528/hl_time/08599199252600
Time Magazine: The spiraling disaster that is the BP oil spill has at least one more day to run. That was the word from BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles at a press conference on Thursday, May 27, more than 25 hours after the company's much awaited top-kill procedure got under way. Following a day of encouraging news - and a false report from the Los Angeles Times that the leak had actually been stopped - a weary-looking Suttles had one message: Not so fast. Part of the reason for the caution ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Texas gov. asks Obama to halt expected EPA actions
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100528/ap_on_re_us/us_epa_vs_texas
Associated Press: Gov. Rick Perry took a spat between state and federal environmental regulators to the country's highest authority Friday, asking President Barack Obama to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from taking over Texas' air quality program. A dispute that began as an environmental fight about granting permits to some of the nation's largest refineries has recently evolved into a political battle over state rights. The argument reached a tipping point earlier this week after the ...
Sat, 29 May 10
United Kingdom: Government's chief scientific adviser hits out at climate sceptics
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/28/chief-scientific-adviser-criticises-climate-sceptics
Guardian: The government's chief scientific adviser has hit out at climate sceptics who attack global warming science on spurious grounds. The statements from Professor John Beddington appeared to be a veiled attack on the former Tory chancellor and arch climate sceptic Nigel Lawson. Beddington said that he had met Lord Lawson to brief him about the science of global warming. His comments came as the Royal Society announced that it would publish a new guide to climate science for ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Could climate change and biodiversity of marine plankton in North Atlantic affect carbon cycle?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100528093212.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: Over the last decades, global warming has been accompanied by an increase in the taxonomic biodiversity of phytoplankton and zooplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean and a reduction in the average size of these organisms, according to researchers. These results have been obtained by a researcher from the Laboratoire d'Océanologie et de Géosciences (CNRS/Université Lille 1/Université du Littoral-Cote d'Opale, Wimereux) in collaboration with the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean ...
Sat, 29 May 10
United Kingdom: Community hydro scheme hopes to raise £1m
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263884/community-hydro-scheme-hopes
Business Green: Social enterprise H2ope is aiming to raise £1m for three community hydro electric schemes in the UK from small businesses and individual investors looking for a long-term ethical punt. The company is holding an event for interested investors on Wednesday 2 June in London. "We're looking for people who want a blended return on their investment; people who are serious about ethical investments and are interested in long-term benefits,' said Steve Welsh, managing director of ...
Sat, 29 May 10
University of Virginia goes to court to fight subpoena
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/27/AR2010052705374.html
Washington Post: Virginia's flagship university went to court Thursday to fight an effort by Virginia Attorney Gen. Ken Cuccinelli II (R) to get documents from a former climate scientist at the school, an unusual confrontation that will test the bounds of academic freedom and result in the college facing down its own lawyer in court. In a motion filed in Charlottesville, the University of Virginia argued that Cuccinelli's subpoena for papers and e-mail from global warming researcher Michael Mann ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Canada: Polar bear population could fall by 30 per cent in a year, says study
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/815309--polar-bear-population-could-fall-by-30-per-cent-in-a-year-study
Toronto Star: A mathematical analysis for the first time has uncovered the prospect of a sudden, dramatic decline among Canadian polar bears as they starve to death. "This is much, much different. This is not a gradual change," said Dr. Andrew Derocher, one of the world's leading polar bear authorities and co-author of the study. "We're looking at a decrease by 20 or 30 per cent or even much more in a year." The study was released this week just as Environment Canada is meeting to decide, ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Going green is good business, say CEOs
http://www.canada.com/business/Going%20green%20good%20business%20CEOs/3074085/story.html
Canwest News Service: A growing realization that there's money to be made from going green has helped take environmental initiatives from the grassroots to the executive suite. According to a recent survey commissioned by Ernst & Young, 82 per cent of Canadian executives say responding to climate change is ``imperative,'' and plan to increase spending on climate change initiatives. ``This reflects the growing strategic importance of climate change for many organizations who understand that climate ...
Sat, 29 May 10
U.S.-China climate talks 'useful' but no new ground
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTOE64P073?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a54:g12:r1:c0.488770:b34317650:z3
Reuters: Talks between the world's top two carbon emitters this week did not cover new ground, U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern said, with Beijing and Washington apparently still struggling to bridge differences blocking a global deal. Stern was in Beijing as part of a delegation to the high-level China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue, and met counterparts including Xie Zhenhua, China's top climate negotiator, and members of his team. "I don't think new ground, I think we were working ...
Sat, 29 May 10
China may start state-guided carbon-emissions market by 2014, Feng says
http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/2010-05-27/china-may-start-state-guided-domestic-carbon-market-by-2014-director-says.html
Bloomberg: China will likely set up a domestic market for trading carbon emissions by 2014 and hand companies "half-mandatory" targets for limiting their greenhouse gases, said a government official who oversees climate-change issues. Authorities are drawing up rules for a market to be run by "associations" overseen by the government, Feng Shengbo, deputy director of the China Clean Development Mechanism Management Center, said in an interview. "The government will not directly control ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Climate change seriously affects Arctic diversity, says report
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/sci/2010-05/28/c_13320817.htm
Xinhua: Climate change is the most far-reaching and significant stress factor on Arctic biodiversity, according to the newest Arctic biodiversity trends report issued here Thursday. The Arctic Biodiversity Trend 2010 report, based on 22 indicators, was released by the Arctic Council's CAFF (Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna) at a Arctic Council's meeting. It presents a broad spectrum of changes in the Arctic ecosystem and biodiversity. One of the major impacts of the changes is ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Climate change targets 'limited'
http://news.scotsman.com/environment/Climate-change-targets-limited.6325893.jp
Scotsman: THE Scottish Government is trying to "limit" the progress needed to tackle climate change, Liberal Democrat leader Tavish Scott claimed yesterday. Ministers want to see a 42 per cent cut in emissions by 2020, but the immediate year-on-year targets have attracted criticism for not going far enough. The proposals would see a target of no change this year, followed by a 0.5 per cent reduction in 2011 and 1 per cent in 2012. But Mr Scott said that the government should "aim ...
Sat, 29 May 10
China faces great pressure to attain emission cut targets, official says
http://china.globaltimes.cn/chinanews/2010-05/536345.html
Global Times: As figures showing that energy consumption in the first quarter rebounded, China will face great pressure this year to reach the targets of emission cuts in the Eleventh Five-Year plan, according to Xie Zhenhua, Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Energy consumption per unit of GDP in the six high-energy-consuming industries, including electricity, steel and chemical industries, saw a 3.2 percent year-on-year increase in the first quarter this ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Canada: Norwegian, French giants join carbon capture study
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Norwegian%20French%20giants%20join%20carbon%20capture%20study/3080397/story.html
Guardian: Major oil firms with international experience in carbon capture and storage are joining a $50-million study of the huge tropical reef formation 1,000 metres deep in an area north of Fort Saskatchewan, says project operator ARC Energy. The Canadian arms of France's Total and Norway's Statoil have signed on, with another international oil firm and a major Canadian firm expected to sign on shortly. The four will pick up a share of the $7-million industrial partnership tab. "We are ...
Sat, 29 May 10
President hopes for Indonesia-Congo cooperation in climate change
http://www.antara.co.id/en/news/1275044348/president-hopes-for-indonesia-congo-cooperation-in-climate-change-d
Antara: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed hope that Indonesia and Congo would cooperate in making their tropical forest a global solution to climate change. Presidential spokesman for foreign affairs Dino Patti Djalal said here on Thursday that President Yudhoyono expressed the hope on the sidelines of the ongoing International Conference on Climate Change and Forest in Oslo, Norway. "The Indonesian head of state expressed hope that the Democratic Republic of Congo with ...
Sat, 29 May 10
A new vision of climate change needed to combat skepticism
http://sify.com/news/a-new-vision-of-climate-change-needed-to-combat-skepticism-news-scitech-kf2qEmdgigj.html
Asian News International: A British is looking into ways new 'visual strategies' can communicate climate change messages against a backdrop of increased climate scepticism. Dr Manzo, from Newcastle University, said: "There have been various efforts to put a face on the climate change issue. "Communicators need to move away from the traditional images of polar bears or fear-laden imagery to find new, inspirational motifs to engage people with climate change. My research has uncovered a variety of ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Companies will look to IT to cut carbon, say analysts
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263874/companies-look-cut-carbon-say
Business Green: IT will play an increasingly significant role in companies' efforts to reduce their carbon footprint in response to the burden of regulation and public opinion, according to a report published recently by tech industry advisory agency Gartner. By 2014, most business cases for new IT systems will factor in "carbon remediation' advantages, says the report, entitled Gartner top end user predictions for 2010: coping with the new balance of power. Public policy and public opinion ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Barack Obama to 'take charge' of Gulf of Mexico oil spill
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7777341/Barack-Obama-to-take-charge-of-Gulf-of-Mexico-oil-spill.html
Telegraph: Mr Obama seized ownership of what he called a "tremendous catastrophe," after weeks of allowing Cabinet members take the public lead as the crippled BP PLC well spewed millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf from nearly a mile (1,500 meters) below the surface. "I take responsibility. It is my job to make sure that everything is done to shut this down," Mr Obama declared at a White House news conference dominated by the spill on Thursday. Even at the lowest estimate -- 18 ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Graham's hopes fade on climate
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/100393-grahams-hopes-fade-on-climate
Hill: Sen. Lindsey Graham warns that President Barack Obama will kill the last hopes for comprehensive energy and climate change legislation if he cracks down on offshore oil drilling. In a sit-down interview with The Hill, the Republican senator from South Carolina said he is at a "crossroads" in deciding how to proceed on energy and climate change. He doesn't think the signs look good given the fallout from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. "Why would a person who really ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Cutting Emissions, and Costs
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51618
Inter Press Service: Deeper cuts to the European Union's greenhouse gas emissions than those approved by its governments would be less expensive than previously thought, according to a new analysis. Since 2007, the EU has been officially committed to lowering the amount of carbon dioxide and other climate changing pollutants released into the atmosphere by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. But a paper published by its executive branch, the European Commission, May 26 indicates that meeting a more ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Decision to halt offshore drilling stirs debate
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100528/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_drilling_ban
Associated Press: Sitting at the end of a pinewood bar at the back of his seafood shop, Dimitri Hionis stares out over the calm waters of Lynnhaven Inlet as he struggles with whether the Gulf oil spill should halt oil and gas exploration off Virginia's coast. Supplying more of the oil we need would be great, he says, but not at the expense of places like this -- "paradise," where he sits each morning watching the birds and fishermen go in search of the bay's treasures. "I really want to see an ...
Sat, 29 May 10
BP's spill costs hit $930 million
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100528/bs_nm/us_bp_cost
Reuters: BP Plc still does not know whether its "top kill" operation designed to plug the biggest oil spill in United States history will be successful and puts the cost of tackling the disaster so far at $930 million. "The top kill procedure has never before been attempted at these depths and its ultimate success is uncertain," the British oil giant said in a statement on Friday. President Barack Obama is set to visit the Louisiana coast as BP battles deep on the sea floor to stem a ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Royal Society 'to re-examine climate message'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7776326/Royal-Society-to-re-examine-climate-message.html
Telegraph: The Royal Society is to create a panel to put together a consensus statement after the assertion by 43 Fellows that its messages failed to draw a line between fact and conjecture, the BBC claimed. The panel, chaired by John Pethica, vice-president of the Society, will publish the document in September after reviews by two subgroups, who are said to have questions about the popular view of the threat posed by increasing quantities of C02 in the atmosphere. A panel member told ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Novozymes sees China's commercial cellulosic ethanol in 2013
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100528/hl_nm/us_china_novozymes
Reuters: The world's top industrial enzymes producer, Novozymes A/S, said on Friday that it expects China to launch its first commercial cellulosic ethanol facility by 2013. The Denmark-based company signed an agreement to provide enzymes for a demonstration plant in China that will produce 3 million gallons of ethanol from corn stalks by the third quarter of 2011, the company said at a briefing in Beijing. Cellulosic ethanol is part of a worldwide move toward "second generation" ...
Sat, 29 May 10
Indonesia freezes forest clearing
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=2016
Carbon Positive: Indonesia has announced a freeze on native forest clearing for two years in return for $1 billion funding from Norway for forest protection in the tropical nation. The bilateral deal, first announced ten days ago, would see Norway receive forest offset credits - verified emission reductions - to count towards future UN climate commitments. The announcement came in Oslo in conjunction with the Paris-Oslo process to kick-start international REDD+ efforts aimed at halting deforestation ...
Fri, 28 May 10
AfDB to create facility to mitigate against climate change
http://www.apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article_eng&id_article=125169
African Press Agency: The Governors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) have decided to propose to the Board of Directors, the establishment by the bank of a facility for climate change, serving as a tool to fund actions designed to mitigate the effects of climate change in Africa, a source close to the bank told APA Thursday in Abidjan. The establishment of this new structure was desired by African negotiators during the last summit on Climate Change held in Copenhagen (Denmark), said the AfDB ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Fixing oil spill my responsibility, Obama says
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100528/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_washington
Associated Press: Thrown on the defensive, President Barack Obama acknowledged his administration could have done better in dealing with the biggest oil spill in the nation's history and misjudged the industry's ability to cope with a worst-case scenario. Obama will make his second tour of the battered Gulf Coast on Friday. "I take responsibility. It is my job to make sure that everything is done to shut this down," Obama declared in a lengthy news conference at the White House on Thursday. As he ...
Fri, 28 May 10
U.Va. fights subpoena of climate-change research
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/05/uva-seeks-dismissal-subpoena-climatechange-research
Virginian-Pilot: University of Virginia officials Thursday asked a court to dismiss Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's demand for records related to grant-funded research by a prominent climate scientist who once taught at the school. The filing with Albemarle County Circuit Court comes after weeks of exhortations by academics within the university community, and some outside it, to fight Cuccinelli's subpoena, which they view as potentially having a chilling effect on academic ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Obama press conference: 'anger and frustration' over oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100527/ts_csm/304492
Christian Science Monitor: President Obama rejected criticism Friday of his handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, saying, "This has been our highest priority since this crisis occurred." It has been more than five weeks since an oil rig leased by BP exploded and sank in the Gulf, and only now does there appear to be progress in plugging the massive leak. Speaking in a more than hour-long press conference in the East Room, Mr. Obama defended his administration's performance and said he was "angry ...
Fri, 28 May 10
In offshore drilling freeze, rumblings of a new era for oil industry
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100528/ts_csm/304529
Christian Science Monitor: In itself, President Obama's decision to impose a six-month pause on offshore oil leasing, announced Thursday, is unlikely to have any great impact on US oil supplies or prices in the short run. But within the oil industry, there is some concern that this offshore drilling moratorium could be the beginning of a new oil regime, with significantly tougher regulations to follow, as Mr. Obama promised. US companies still see the Gulf of Mexico as their backyard with a stable, ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Indonesia announces moratorium on granting new forest concessions
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0527-hance_moratorium.html
Mongabay: With one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, the world's third largest greenhouse gas emissions due mostly to forest loss, and with a rich biodiversity that is fighting to survive amid large-scale habitat loss, Indonesia today announced a deal that may be the beginning of stopping forest loss in the Southeast Asian country. Indonesia announced a two year moratorium on granting new concessions of rainforest and peat forest for clearing in Oslo, Norway, beginning in January ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Obama: 'I take responsibility' to make sure oil spill stops
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100527/sc_mcclatchy/3518614
McClatchy Newspapers: Under pressure to step up his response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, President Barack Obama tried to assure the country Thursday that he and his administration are in charge and working feverishly to clean up the mess. "My job is to get this fixed," Obama said a day before leaving for his second tour of the Gulf since an April 20 oil rig explosion triggered what's now acknowledged to be the worst spill in the nation's history. "I take responsibility. It is my job to make ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Gulf leak eclipses Exxon Valdez as worst US spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100528/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill
Associated Press: As BP labored for a second day Thursday to choke off the leak at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, dire new government estimates showed the disaster has easily eclipsed the Exxon Valdez as the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. After an 18-hour delay to assess its efforts and bring in more materials, BP resumed pumping heavy drilling mud into the blown-out well 5,000 feet underwater. Officials said it could be late Friday or the weekend before the company knows if the procedure known ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Hurricane plus oil equals more problems
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/27/hurricane.season.worries/index.html?eref=rss_latest&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+%28RSS%3A+Most+Recent%29
CNN: A predicted busy hurricane season this summer is on a collision course with an unprecedented oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and the results are anyone's guess, weather experts say. "The problem is that this is a man-made experiment we wish we hadn't made," said Jenni Evans, a professor of meteorology at Penn State University. Scientists on Thursday said as much as 19,000 barrels of oil have been spewing every day from the BP well in the Gulf, making it the largest oil spill ...
Fri, 28 May 10
United Kingdom: Energy efficiency to be tested in 'Coronation Street' homes
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263842/energy-efficiency-tested
Business Green: Salford University is launching a research project to test the psychology behind domestic energy consumption. The University will be home to the world's first 'Energy House' -- a traditional pre-1920s style terraced house, built in a sealed off chamber and subjected to a wide range of advanced energy experiments. The university hopes the house will provide important data on how the 4.5 million UK homes built before 1920 consume energy, by testing insulation and a using a ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Mexico 'cannot wait' to follow US lead on climate change: President
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/mexico-cannot-wait-to-follow-us-lead-on-climate-change-president-says/article1583574/
Globe and Mail: Mexico's president, in Ottawa as Stephen Harper's guest, has taken a whack at his host's wait-for-the-U.S. policies on climate change. Prime Minister Harper has said Canada will wait to see what policies the U.S. adopts to regulate major emitters of greenhouse gases, because the two countries' economies are so closely integrated. But Felipe Calderon, who leads the United States' other border nation and trade-bloc partner, expressed exasperation at waiting for rich countries to step ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Obama outlines security strategy in new report
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sc-dc-security-strategy28-20100527,0,3287102.story
LA Times: The Obama administration on Thursday released a sweeping statement of its national security goals, emphasizing a strong counterterrorism effort, but also citing the importance of government action on issues such as climate change and the economy. The 52-page manifesto, called the National Security Strategy, aims to draw contrasts with President Bush's 2006 version, which centered heavily on the anti-terror fight, and began by saying, "America is at war." By contrast, the Obama ...
Fri, 28 May 10
A historic moment for anyone who cares about the environment
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/a-historic-moment-for-anyone-who-cares-about-the-environment-1985107.html
Independent (UK): History doesn't always come in thunderclaps or cheering crowds, and yesterday it was made with very little outward fuss when a woman in a pale blue trouser suit got to her feet from a green leather bench and began to speak. It was precisely 3.30 in the afternoon, and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, Hugh Bayley, had just issued a two-word invitation: "Caroline Lucas." And with that, the first MP of the Green Party, in fact the first MP of a new national party for many ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Gulf Oil Spill Worst in U.S. History; Drilling Postponed
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/100527-energy-nation-gulf-oil-spill-top-kill-obama/
National Geographic: Today federal officials expressed cautious optimism that BP's "top kill" effort to cap the leaking well causing the Gulf oil spill is working. Meanwhile, the true size of the disaster--and its potential to reshape U.S. energy policy--has become clearer. Hours after the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released estimates that affirm the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico is the worst in U.S. history, President Obama announced new limits on U.S. offshore drilling to allow for ...
Fri, 28 May 10
US predicts up to 7 major Atlantic hurricanes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100527/ap_on_sc/us_hurricane_forecast
Associated Press: The Atlantic hurricane season could be the busiest since 2005, when Katrina and Rita caused massive destruction along the same part of the Gulf Coast now struggling with the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, government scientists said Thursday. The 2010 season may spawn as many as 23 named tropical storms, including up to seven major hurricanes, a number not likely to be affected by the spill, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted. Eight to 14 ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Barack Obama orders six-month freeze on offshore drilling and expansion
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/27/obama-strategy-offshore-oil-drilling
Guardian: Barack Obama reversed a planned expansion of offshore drilling today, admitting he had been wrong to believe that oil companies were prepared to deal with a catastrophic oil spill. He told a White House press conference he was ordering a six-month freeze on the opening up of the remote waters of the Arctic to oil exploration and on the drilling of 33 deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico. Proposed lease sales off the coast of Virginia and in the western Gulf would also be ...
Fri, 28 May 10
The real cost of cheap oil
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/may/27/cheap-oil-cost-developing-countries
Guardian: Big Oil is holding its breath. BP's shares are in steep decline after the debacle in the Gulf of Mexico. Barack Obama, the American people and the global environmental community are outraged, and now the company stands to lose the rights to drill for oil in the Arctic and other ecologically sensitive places. The gulf disaster may cost it a few billion dollars, but so what? When annual profits for a company often run to tens of billions, the cost of laying 5,000 miles of booms, or ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Highlights of Obama's orders on offshore drilling
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100527/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_obama_glance
Associated Press: Highlights of President Barack Obama's new orders on offshore oil drilling safety. Obama and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar discussed the measures Thursday, but no report was released publicly. ___ SAFER DRILLING? Obama ordered a number of changes designed to ensure offshore drilling is safer going forward, based on a 30-day review by Salazar, including: _Extending a moratorium on new deep water drilling leases for six months, until the presidential commission on ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Scientists decry attacks by skeptics of climate change
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_15176317?source=rss
Contra Costa Times: A few years ago, Ben Santer, a climate scientist with Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, answered a 10 p.m. doorbell ring at his home. After opening the door, he found a dead rat on his doorstep and a man in yellow Hummer speeding away while "shouting curses at me." Santer shared this story last week before a congressional committee examining the increasing harassment of climate scientists, and the state of climate science. After the online posting in November of 1,073 stolen ...
Fri, 28 May 10
The Economics Of Offshore Drilling
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127220246&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Gas advocates say the results of new drilling techniques could significantly alter the future U.S. energy picture. But environmental concerns over possible groundwater contamination still linger.
Fri, 28 May 10
Gulf Oil Spill Has Eclipsed Exxon Valdez Disaster
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127220238&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Federal officials acknowledged on Thursday that the Gulf oil spill has substantially eclipsed the Exxon Valdez spill, making it the worst in U.S. history. A scientific task force convened by the federal government says the spill estimate of 5,000 barrels a day that BP has been using is far off the mark. The task force says the true flow has been more than double that rate, and quite possibly more than five times that figure -- and this is a best-case scenario. They're still trying to ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Federal Gulf cleanup costs at $87M and rising
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100527/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_cleanup_cost
Associated Press: Federal officials say cleaning up the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has already cost the government $87 million, making it the third-most expensive cleanup effort in the nation's history. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry has distributed that money to state and federal agencies directly involved in the cleanup. Those include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which projects the oil slick's trajectory, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which rescues ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Oil spill shows drilling is not the answer
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/may/27/oil-spill-bernie-sanders-energy-offshore-drilling
Guardian: The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is an unmitigated disaster. Its full consequences will not be known for decades. What we do know, however, is that BP president, Tony Hayward, was incredibly wrong when he stated that the spill will have "a very, very modest environmental impact". Quite the contrary! In fact, one of the most beautiful and productive coastal regions of the world is being turned into a giant cesspool and, in the midst of a major recession, thousands of workers are going ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Hurricanes could damage pipelines
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10177743.stm
BBC: Hurricanes could complicate the clean-up of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and damage other offshore pipelines, US scientists warn. With the hurricane season looming, a study says storm-induced underwater currents may spark mudslides on the seafloor. This could break oil pipes, but the leaks could be small and difficult to detect, they say. The study will be released on 10 June by the American Geophysical Union (AGU). The researchers further warn that the ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Indonesia Agrees to Curb Commercial Deforestation
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/world/asia/28indo.html
New York Times: Indonesia has declared a two-year moratorium on clearing natural forests as part of a billion-dollar deal aimed at reviving efforts to fight climate change after the collapse of global talks in Copenhagen last year. The deal, signed Wednesday at a climate conference in Oslo, is open to other countries and would tie the $1 billion in funding to "verified emissions reductions' as part of the United Nations-backed effort known as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest ...
Fri, 28 May 10
United States: Small mammals -- and rest of food chain -- at greater risk from global warming than thought
http://www.physorg.com/news193846393.html
Physorg: The balance of biodiversity within North American small-mammal communities is so out of whack from the last episode of global warming about 12,000 years ago that the current climate change could push them past a tipping point, with repercussions up and down the food chain, say Stanford biologists. The evidence lies in fossils spanning the last 20,000 years that the researchers excavated from a cave in Northern California. What they found is that although the small mammals in the area ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Canada to talk with Greenland on offshore drilling
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100527/wl_canada_nm/canada_us_arctic_drilling
Reuters: Canada will ask Greenland for more information on its plans for offshore drilling in the waters separating the two jurisdictions, responding to heightened international concerns about environmental precautions. But with no immediate plans by the oil industry to drill in Canada's Arctic territory, Canada has no need to match U.S. restrictions on Arctic drilling that were announced on Thursday, Canadian Environment Minister Jim Prentice said. Prentice said he will talk with ...
Fri, 28 May 10
United Kingdom: Society to review climate message
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10178124.stm
BBC: The UK's Royal Society is reviewing its public statements on climate change after 43 Fellows complained that it had oversimplified its messages. They said the communications did not properly distinguish between what was widely agreed on climate science and what is not fully understood. The society's ruling council has responded by setting up a panel to produce a consensus document. The panel should report in July and the report is to be published in September. It ...
Fri, 28 May 10
London launches low carbon Green Enterprise District
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/10171031.stm
BBC: A "Green Enterprise District" spreading six east London boroughs is to be created to help the city be a "global leader in the low carbon economy". London Mayor Boris Johnson has said the scheme will create 6,000 jobs and help regenerate one of the most deprived areas of the capital. The project hopes to use undeveloped industrial land to attract up to £140bn of investment. A £30m exhibition centre will also be built by technology firm Siemens. The Siemens Pavilion ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Germany: Cooling buildings with the power of the sun
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5597668,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf
Deutsche Welle: "Cooled using sunlight" – it may not be that unusual to find that label on food packaging in the future. Researchers are hoping to use the sun's rays to keep fruits, vegetables and other perishable goods fresh for longer periods, particularly in developing nations where refrigerators are often a luxury and only densely populated regions are connected to the electricity grid. Poorer southern nations also need technologies to cool medicines and vaccines to avoid spoilage, especially in ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Indonesia to suspend deforestation for two years
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/australian-news/7305687/indonesia-to-suspend-deforestation-for-two-years/
Reuters: Indonesia will place a two-year moratorium on new concessions to clear natural forests and peatlands under a deal signed with Norway aimed at reducing greenhouse gases. Norway will invest $1.2 billion in forest conservation projects in Indonesia under a deal struck by Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg in Oslo. "In the second phase of the partnership, Indonesia is prepared to suspend for two years new concessions for the ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Emerging countries can have better future in green growth
http://business.globaltimes.cn/world/2010-05/535889.html
Xinhua: Emerging countries can have better future in terms of green growth compared with developed countries, Fatih Birol, the chief economist of Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), said Wednesday. "Emerging countries have a big potential, because they are now establishing the infrastructure," Birol said at the sidelines of the 2010 OECD Forum and Ministerial Meeting, which focus on innovation and green growth. In Mr. Birol's view, developing countries should take the ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Oil Spill Poses Risk to Gulf Power Plants
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/102705-energy-oil-spill-risks-gulf-power-plants/
Guardian: Even before the big Deepwater Horizon spill, an oil boom stretched across the intake canal at the Anclote power plant near Holiday, Florida, just east of the Gulf of Mexico. It's there to keep the oil in, should there be any accidental spill at the oil-fired electricity station. But now it's part of Progress Energy's defense plan for keeping the oil out. The Anclote facility, which provides electricity to about 600,000 households north of Tampa-St. Petersburg, is just one of at least ...
Fri, 28 May 10
New, giant sea oil plume seen in Gulf
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100527/ap_on_re_us/us_oil_spill_new_plume
Associated Press: Marine scientists have discovered a massive new plume of what they believe to be oil deep beneath the Gulf of Mexico, stretching 22 miles from the leaking wellhead northeast toward Mobile Bay, Alabama. The discovery by researchers on the University of South Florida College of Marine Science's Weatherbird II vessel is the second significant undersea plume recorded since the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20. The thick plume was detected just beneath the surface down to ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Researchers Calculate Greenhouse Gas Value Of Ecosystems
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1871521/researchers_calculate_greenhouse_gas_value_of_ecosystems/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a new, more accurate method of calculating the change in greenhouse gas emissions that results from changes in land use. The new approach, described in the journal Global Change Biology, takes into account many factors not included in previous methods, the researchers report. There is an urgent need to accurately assess whether particular land-use projects will increase or decrease greenhouse gas emissions, said Kristina ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Gas build-up threatens North Sea oil rig
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/27/north-sea-oil-rig-gas-threat
Guardian: Ninety oil workers have been evacuated from a North Sea rig as engineers fight to control a huge build up of pressure in a well which critics say has the potential to blow-up the platform and cause a major environmental problem. The Norwegian company Statoil has been pumping cement into an offshore well on the Gullfaks field in an operation similar to the one being attempted today by BP in the Gulf of Mexico. The equivalent of around 70,000 barrels of oil a day of production ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Countries agree to spend big to save world's forests
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/27/oslo-conference-aid-to-save-forests
Reuters: Rich and poor countries today agreed on guidelines for releasing aid to save forests, in the first concrete sign of global action on climate change since Copenhagen. Norway, which chaired this week's climate conference, said aid pledges to save forests had risen by $500m (£345m) since the UN climate conference in Copenhagen last December. But this is less than was expected just weeks ago – showing the limits of more state funding amid economic crises and unrest in the financial ...
Fri, 28 May 10
NASA studies Martian climate change data
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/05/27/NASA-studies-Martian-climate-change-data/UPI-80781274975069/
United Press International: NASA says its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is providing new information about climate change on Mars and the planet's sub-surface geology. Space agency officials said the spacecraft's Shallow Radar, or SHARAD, instrument has allowed scientists to reconstruct the formation of a large chasm and a series of spiral troughs on the northern ice cap of Mars. "SHARAD is giving us a beautifully detailed view of ice deposits, whether at the poles or buried in midlatitudes, as they changed ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Teaming Up To Fight Climate Change
http://www1.voanews.com/policy/editorials/Teaming-Up-To-Fight-Climate-Change-95024364.html
Voice of America: The U.S., Mexico and Canada are teaming up to fight another environmental threat linked to human activity: global climate change. Scientists in the U.S. believe that phasing out HFCs would produce environmental benefits equal to removing the greenhouse gas emissions of 420 million cars each year through 2050. In 1985, research scientists in Antarctica discovered a thinning of the layer of ozone gas above the earth that protects life here from the sun's ultraviolet rays. ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Toxic legacy
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8706077.stm
BBC: To be present during the early sessions of the Congressional inquiries into the cause of the Deepwater Horizon explosion last month, was to get a sense that this is not a great time to be trading on the word "British" in Washington. Congressmen were lining up to heap scorn on both BP's response to the spill and its prior safety record in the United States. Although BP has not been called British Petroleum for the best part of a decade, it has become fashionable for ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Oil From Spill Threatens Louisiana's Marshes
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127201085&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: The oil spill from the blown-out well off the coast of Louisiana is seeping into marshlands that serve as critical wildlife habitat and as buffers against violent storms. Officials are considering a range of cleanup options -- including burning out the oil, and the marshes with it -- but some of them may do more harm than good. At the Venice Marina in Venice, La., the scene on a recent day was one of summer serenity. It was a stark contrast to the sight of petroleum sliming the ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Indonesia puts moratorium on new forest clearing
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64Q0V220100527?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Indonesia will place a two-year moratorium on new concessions to clear natural forests and peatlands under a deal signed with Norway aimed at reducing greenhouse gases, the government said in a statement. Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday witnessed the signing of an agreement in Oslo under which Norway will invest $1 billion in forest conservation projects in Indonesia. "In the second phase of the ...
Fri, 28 May 10
AP source: Salazar delays Arctic Ocean drilling
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100527/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_arctic_drilling
Associated Press: The Obama administration is suspending proposed exploratory drilling in the Arctic Ocean. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says in a report to be delivered to the White House on Thursday that he will not consider applications for permits to drill in the Arctic until 2011. Shell Oil is poised to begin exploratory drilling this summer on leases as far as 140 miles offshore. An administration official familiar with the plan said Salazar wants to allow further study of proposed ...
Fri, 28 May 10
Singapore closes popular beaches after oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100527/wl_asia_afp/singaporeoilpollutionmaritimetransportenvironment
Agence France Press: Emergency crews on Thursday rushed to clean up popular public beaches stained by an oil slick on the eve of Singapore's summer school holidays. A pungent chocolate-coloured sludge marred the seawater and sand in parts of the East Coast Park after crude spilled from a tanker damaged in a collision on Tuesday in the Singapore Strait slipped out of a floating cordon. Officials said that most of the spill was still far from the shores of the city-state, which has one of the world's ...
Thu, 27 May 10
AP source: Obama to extend lease moratorium
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100527/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_obama
Associated Press: President Barack Obama is expected to announce an extension Thursday of a moratorium on some offshore oil drilling leases enacted in the wake of the devastating Gulf oil spill. It will be one of various recommendations aimed at ensuring the safety of drilling offshore, particularly in deep ocean waters, that Obama will announce after receiving a safety report he ordered from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. The recommendations are also expected to tighten up safety regulations ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Obama seeks control of 'heartbreaking' crisis
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100527/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama
Associated Press: Struggling to seize control of a disastrous oil spill on his watch, President Barack Obama is rolling out tougher rules for oil rigs, accepting questions about his own leadership and heading back to the Gulf Coast to reassure the country of every effort to "put a stop to this thing." Even as the White House insists it has been engaged in halting the crisis since it began, Obama is raising his public profile in an attempt to show he is in command. He has been pounded not just by ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Obama, under pressure, plans a rare news conference
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-pressure-20100527,0,5715572.story
LA Times: Republicans won't deal with him. Blame for the historic Gulf Coast oil spill is heading his way. The left is mad at him, and so is the right. President Obama is confronting pressures that are testing his natural unflappability. He was abrupt with Republican senators in a closed-door meeting Tuesday. "Thin-skinned," one Republican senator scribbled in his notebook during the session. Later that night, the president complained publicly about drooping poll numbers, hateful attacks ...
Thu, 27 May 10
The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement Reconsidered
http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/3450
Dominion: Last week's announcement of the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement (CBFA) was celebrated by environmental groups as a historic deal that could save a significant amount of sensitive woodland caribou habitat. An early criticism of the deal was that Indigenous governments and organizations were left out of the creation of the agreement. The public was also left in the dark while the CBFA was negotiated in secret between nine environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) and 21 ...
Thu, 27 May 10
U.S. farm group sees gains from deforestation halt
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64Q06W20100527?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Stopping global deforestation would boost U.S. agricultural revenue by $190 billion to $270 billion through 2030 by cutting unfair competition, a U.S. farm group and a nonprofit focused on climate change argued on Wednesday. Deforestation accounts for about a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, chiefly from the destruction of tropical forests. Proponents of climate change legislation are mustering their forces for what is seen as an uphill fight to pass a bill in the U.S. ...
Thu, 27 May 10
BP says 24 hours will tell if oil leak plug works
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100527/ts_nm/us_oil_rig_leak
Reuters: BP Plc's chief executive said a difficult deep-sea operation to plug a gushing oil well was proceeding as planned on Wednesday and the next 24 hours will determine the energy giant's success in stanching the leak deep on the Gulf of Mexico floor. BP remained cautious about the outcome of the much anticipated "top kill" procedure, as did President Barack Obama, whose credibility stands to suffer if one of the country's worst environmental catastrophes does not end soon. But the ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Polluters must pay climate bill, says Oslo
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/eddd00e2-6925-11df-aa7e-00144feab49a,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Feddd00e2-6925-11df-aa7e-00144feab49a.html&_i_referer=
Financial Times: The private sector will have to pay more towards efforts to tackle climate change as the European sovereign debt crisis leaves governments facing pressure to cut spending, Norway has warned. Jens Stoltenberg, Norwegian prime minister, said industrial polluters must foot the bill through emissions trading and other market-based schemes as governments could not be relied on to find the money. "We all see that many European states have to focus on debt reduction and that will of ...
Thu, 27 May 10
United Kingdom: Judgement day looms for Neville's zero-carbon footprint
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/judgement-day-looms-for-nevilles-zerocarbon-footprint-1983905.html
Independent (UK): To its supporters it blends seamlessly into the commanding moorland setting, evoking the high principles of green-thinking with the mystical atmosphere of an Orcadian neolithic settlement. Those who are not so keen on the planned futuristic dwelling of Manchester United star Gary Neville believe that it bears more than a passing resemblance to the troglodyte abode of the Teletubbies. Bolton Council is expected to give the go-ahead imminently to the former England defender's plans for ...
Thu, 27 May 10
United Kingdom: Extreme droughts to be 'more common'
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/extreme-droughts-to-be-more-common-1983913.html
Independent (UK): Britain is heading for water shortages and crop failures as extreme droughts like that of 1976 become more frequent, experts have warned. A Met Office study on how climate change could affect the frequency of extreme droughts in the UK has found they will become more common by 2100, and to put the droughts in context, conditions seen in 1976 were used as a benchmark -- one of the worst droughts on record. The Met Office climate model was used to run a number of simulations and ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Top tips for your own eco-warriors
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/top-tips-for-your-own-ecowarriors-1983689.html
Independent (UK): One of the most exciting things about being a parent is teaching your child new skills, values and talents. So why not invest quality time teaching them how to keep their planet clean, green and beautiful -- for all our futures? One of the most exciting things about being a parent is teaching your child new skills, values and talents. So why not invest quality time teaching them how to keep their planet clean, green and beautiful -- for all our futures? Recycling ...
Thu, 27 May 10
UN Task Force Works on Climate Change Mitigation
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/environment/UN-Task-Force-Works-on-Climate-Change-Mitigation-94932729.html
Voice of America: Members of a U.N. high-level task force on climate change reports good progress is being made in developing a system of climate information that will help vulnerable communities mitigate and adapt to Climate Change. The 14-member task force, established by the World Meteorological Organization, has just wrapped up a three-day meeting in Geneva. The World Meteorological Organization says countries can adapt to climate change if they have information that can alert them to extreme ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Collaborate on water, Himalayan scientists urged
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/collaborate-on-water-himalayan-scientists-urged.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment
SciDev.Net: Himalayan countries must set aside their differences and collaborate on science in order to avoid a common water crisis, says a report. Environmental pressures, including those from climate change, could have unprecedented effects on the livelihoods of millions of people in the Hindu-Kush Himalaya region, according to the study, published by the UK-based Humanitarian Futures Programme, the Aon Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre, and China Dialogue. Yet scientific research is ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Stripe rust threat to wheat worse than predicted
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/stripe-rust-threat-to-wheat-worse-than-predicted.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_agricultureandenvironment
SciDev.Net: An epidemic caused by a new strain of wheat fungus could cause billions of dollars in crop losses across North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, according to researchers. The wheat stripe rust -- or yellow rust (Yr) -- epidemic is far worse than predicted, scientists from various Middle-Eastern institutions have found. "The situation is severe, some farmers will suffer 30--60 per cent yield loss. In the worst cases, yield loss is 100 per cent," said Maarten Van Ginkel, ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Germany, Norway give $1.5B to fight deforestation
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100526/ap_on_sc/eu_climate_forests
Associated Press: Germany and Norway will pledge $1.5 billion to fight deforestation, blamed for releasing some of the carbon dioxide contributing to global warming, Norway's prime minister said Wednesday on the eve of a conference in Oslo. The contributions give a boost to talks starting Thursday on creating a single international agency for monitoring and financing efforts to help poor nations protect their forests and biological diversity. The program -- called REDD Plus, for Reducing ...
Thu, 27 May 10
EU stops short of recommending 30% cut in emissions by 2020
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/26/eu-analysis-carbon-emissions-target
Guardian: The European commission today reopened the debate on whether Europe should volunteer to cut its carbon emissions further, but stopped short of recommending such a move. Connie Hedegaard, climate commissioner, said the recession would make it cheaper than expected for the continent to hit its target to reduce carbon pollution 20% by 2020. Raising the target to 30% by 2020 would also cost less than first calculated. Hedegaard said: "Whether to increase our reduction target for ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Cousteau dives into 'nightmare' US oil slick
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100526/en_afp/usoilpollutionenvironmentcousteau
Agence France-Presse: Legendary explorer Jacques Cousteau would have been "horrified" by the devastation being wrought by a huge Gulf of Mexico oil spill, his grandson said after diving down into the seas. "There's a chemical dispersant/oil mixture that is now... over vast areas of the Gulf and as we feared it's not concentrated at the surface," Philippe Cousteau Jr. told CNN, adding "this absolutely is a nightmare." "We were about 15 to 20 feet down and it was dispersed into smaller and smaller ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Norway hopes to unlock climate cash to fight tropical deforestation
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/26/norway-climate-deforestation
Guardian: Norway hopes to boost aid to fight tropical deforestation at a conference tomorrow, and to set in motion a partnership to unlock cash pledged at the Copenhagen summit to help slow climate change. Norway says developed nations have promised $500m (£347m) to fight deforestation by 2012 on top of $3.5bn agreed at Copenhagen, and new pledges at the conference may bring the total aid closer to $5bn. Fifty nations will take part in the Oslo meeting, to be attended by Britain's Prince ...
Thu, 27 May 10
EU climate target analysis bears scars of industry lobbying
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/may/26/eu-climate-targets-emissions-trading
Guardian: Analysis from the European commission today that sets out options to move beyond a 20% cut by 2020 bears the scars of an uncomfortable fight between different factions. Those who have yet to accept the fact that weaning ourselves off imported fossil fuels and investing in a new clean energy system will boost the European economy have had their knives out. Although they haven't been able to challenge the fundamental analysis that it is now much cheaper and easier to reach more ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Biofuels learn to eat less
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627624.300-biofuels-learn-to-eat-less.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=magcontents
New Scientist: THE feast is coming to an end for biofuel producers. Their supposedly clean, green fuel has been gobbling up some of the choicest food crops, including corn, rape and soya, leading to controversy and protests around the world. Now the industry increasingly finds itself forced to dine on more meagre fare: the inedible scraps left by other industries. But it is now finding ways to turn these scraps into a hearty dinner - and it could even provide for others, too. First-generation ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Indonesia announces two-year moratorium on deforestation
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100526/wl_asia_afp/norwayindonesiaclimatewarmingforestry
Agence France-Presse: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Wednesday he would introduce a two-year moratorium on deforestation, a large source of income for his country which also contributes heavily to global warming. "We will ... conduct a moratorium for two years where we stop the conversion of peat land and of forest," Yudhoyono said at a joint press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg a day before an international deforestation conference starts in Oslo. The ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Air Traffic Poised To Become Major Factor In Global Warming
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1870889/air_traffic_poised_to_become_major_factor_in_global_warming/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: The first new projections of future aircraft emissions in 10 years predicts that carbon dioxide and other gases from air traffic will become a significant source of global warming as they double or triple by 2050. The study is in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal. Bethan Owen and colleagues note that aviation is not now one of the main drivers of global warming, with international aviation (source of 60 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from ...
Thu, 27 May 10
EPA May Federalize Texas Air Program
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127197879&ft=1&f=1025
Associated Press: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency may take over the entire job of regulating air quality in Texas if the state continues to violate the Clean Air Act, a top EPA official told The Associated Press on Wednesday -- intensifying a dispute over regulating pollution from the country's largest refineries and petrochemical plants. The comment by regional EPA chief Al Armendariz comes a day after he said the federal government would issue the operating permit for one refinery in Corpus ...
Thu, 27 May 10
EU cools rhetoric on deeper unilateral emissions cuts
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100526/sc_afp/euenvironmentclimate
Agence France-Presse: The European Commission, under pressure from states and industry, on Wednesday cooled its enthusiasm for the EU to unilaterally commit to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent. "Are conditions right? Would it make sense at this moment? The answer would be no," admitted EU Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard, presenting a much-awaited climate paper. A day earlier Germany, France and others had voiced opposition to the main thrust of the paper, that the EU ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Australia: Even higher power charges on the way?
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/even-higher-power-charges-on-the-way-20100524-w8b2.html
WA Today: While the state government claims power prices are near the cost of producing electricity, it has failed to come clean on what an inevitable spike will cost consumers in the not-too-distant future, a leading environmental group claims. As WA residents digest a 16 per cent increase in power charges this year, along with a steep hike in 2009, the Conservation Council says that by not accounting for an "inevitable" emissions trading scheme, the government has ensured the price hikes ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Australia lags in renewable energy
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/Resource-Wars/2010/05/25/Australia-lags-in-renewable-energy/UPI-80741274805476/
United Press International: Australia lags behind in renewable energy investment despite having "world class" renewable energy resources, a new study indicates. The "Renewable Energy Investment Opportunities and Abatement in Australia" study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, commissioned by The Climate Institute and Westpac, predicts record investment globally in renewable energy for 2010. While Australia has "excellent" clean energy resources, the report says, 82 percent of its electricity generation ...
Thu, 27 May 10
United States: Greening the Bronx, one job at a time
http://www.thenation.com/article/greening-bronx-one-job-time
The Nation: On a dreary March morning, dozens of people crowded into the lobby of a former bank building in the Bronx now occupied by the Osborne Association, a nonprofit organization that helps people with criminal histories find jobs. They had come to watch Osborne launch a Green Career Center. The tablecloths were green. The goody bags were green. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. took a three-foot pair of scissors to a green ribbon, but couldn't cut it. Only after repeated chops and a few more ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Australia: Warmer water warning
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2010/05/26/148505_tasmania-news.html
Mercury: CLIMATE change will challenge Tasmania's thriving aquaculture industry as sea temperatures rise, experts say. The Tasmanian industry produces $318 million worth of seafood products a year and will need to plan carefully to avoid the worst consequences of a warming planet. More than 800 delegates from 40 nations are attending the Australasian Aquaculture conference in Hobart this week. CSIRO climate scientist Alistair Hobday said climate change was already a reality for ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Paris, Berlin pour cold water on EU climate proposals
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Paris_Berlin_pour_cold_water_on_EU_climate_proposals_999.html
Agence France-Presse: The outgoing head of the UN's climate forum on Tuesday urged rich countries to make good on promises they made last December in Copenhagen to help rebuild trust after the storm-tossed summit. Yvo de Boer said a 12-day negotiation round starting in Bonn next Monday had to lay down the foundations for work leading up to the climate treaty that notoriously eluded world leaders in Copenhagen. "The priority for the industrialised countries is to deploy the 30 billion (dollars) they pledged from ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Global warming is 'making Mount Everest more dangerous to climb.'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/globalwarming/7763595/Global-warming-is-making-Mount-Everest-more-dangerous-to-climb.html
Telegraph: Rising temperatures have melted much of the ice on the steep trail to the summit and climbers are struggling to get traction on the exposed rock surface, according to the 49-year-old Sherpa, known only as Apa. The melting ice has also exposed deep crevasses which climbers could fall into, and experts have warned that people scaling the mountain risk being swept away by "outburst floods' from rising volumes of glacial meltwater. Apa, who grew up in the foothills to Mount ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Push to teach 'other side' of global warming heats up in Colorado's Mesa County
http://www.denverpost.com/technology/ci_15161879
Denver Post: A national group that thinks global warming is "junk science" and that teaching it is unnecessarily scaring schoolchildren brought its first petition effort for "balanced education" to Mesa County Schools on Tuesday night. Rose Pugliese, an unsuccessful candidate for a District 51 school board seat in the last election, presented a petition with 700 signatures to the board asking that science teachers stop giving lessons on global warming. Pugliese, a 32-year-old Grand Junction ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Maasai pastoralists adopt new habits to cope with climate change
http://www.alertnet.org/db/an_art/60167/2010/04/26-093233-1.htm
Reuters: As they recover from the worst drought in many years, Maasai pastoralists in Kenya's south Rift Valley are adopting new habits to help them overcome future disasters. As the recent drought tested the coping ability of Maasai communities, the leaders of "group ranches" - large communal grazing areas, each with their own government-appointed chief - invited researchers to study the situation and help them develop strategies to prepare for future droughts. A survey was conducted ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Govt plans to increase green cover to check climate change
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Govt-plans-to-increase-green-cover-to-check-climate-change/articleshow/5975068.cms
Times of India: As part of its efforts to check the climate change phenomenon, the government has come out with a mission document aiming to increase forest cover to serve as 'carbon sinks' removing greenhouse gases. The draft of Green India Mission document aims to double the country's afforestation and eco-restoration efforts in the next 10 years, with the primary objective of reducing GHG emissions. Under the "ambitious" mission document, being put up for public consultation, the government ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Electric cars can win 10 pct share by 2020: report
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64O5SD20100525
Reuters: Pure and hybrid electric cars may grab five to 10 percent of a European autos market by 2020 if governments help overcome cost hurdles, said the authors of an engineering academy report published on Tuesday. Limits included infrastructure costs of about 5,000 pounds ($7,152) per roadside charge spot, plus costly lithium batteries with a limited range of about 100 miles. In addition, cross-border standards were needed for plugs and billing. "There is no obvious source of funding for ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Stormy debate over greenhouse gases
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37775.html
Politico: A bipartisan group of senators will move after the Memorial Day recess on a resolution to block the Environmental Protection Agency's regulation of greenhouse gases. It is uncertain whether the group will have the votes by the time the resolution comes to the Senate floor June 10, but it has stirred concern among environmentalists and the EPA. The disapproval resolution, introduced by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), has 41 co-sponsors, including Democrats Ben Nelson of ...
Thu, 27 May 10
More pollen, meaner allergies
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/05/post_14.html
Oregonian: Pollen coats the leaves of a Japanese maple. With climate change, allergy seasons look to be longer and meaner. If you want to track the Northwest's changing climate, follow your nose. Early or extended periods of sneezing and wheezing could be signs our world is warming. The environment has a huge impact on human health, influencing everything from the home territory of animals that spread disease to sunburns and skin cancer. And our environment is changing, with notable increases in ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Nissan says electric car is sold out for this year
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/business/26auto.html
New York Times: Nissan's chief executive, Carlos Ghosn, said Tuesday that the company had already received 19,000 orders in the United States and Japan for the electric car that it would start selling at year-end. More than six months before the car, the Nissan Leaf, arrives at dealerships, the preorders mean that the car is sold out for this year and that the company might stop taking reservations, Mr. Ghosn said during a visit to the Detroit Economic Club. "The preorders are such that we are ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Biomass plants have critics barking
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127121363
National Public Radio: Billions of dollars in tax credits for alternative energy were included in the federal stimulus package. Some of the money is going to encourage Americans to do something man has done for centuries: burn wood. Plans for electricity-generating "biomass" plants are in the works around the country -- and they're under attack from critics who worry that burning more wood may not be as environmentally friendly as other kinds of alternative energy. Dozens of new biomass plants are in ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Oil from stricken tanker off Singapore being moved
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64P19A20100526?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Crude from the tanker MT Bunga Kelana 3 is being transferred out of the vessel on Wednesday after a collision with a bulk carrier in the Singapore Strait a day ago, spilling some 2,500 tonnes of oil, the shipowner said. The incident caused significant damage to the vessel's hull and resulted in a spill of Bintulu light crude oil that is now being cleaned up by specialists, AET Tanker Holdings said. Clean-up operations led by Singapore's Marine and Port Authority (MPA) and ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Govt regulators hired by companies
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100526/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_revolving_door
Associate Press: At a 2005 workshop, a senior official in the U.S. government's Minerals Management Service raised concerns about ultra-deepwater drilling and included the bullet point, "Few or no regulations or standards." Within two years, Jim Grant left his post as chief of staff of the government's Gulf of Mexico region to take a job with BP PLC -- one of the companies his former agency regulated in its oversight of offshore drilling. Grant's change is one example of the revolving door between the ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Greenpeace praises Nokia in 'green' study
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100526/tc_afp/japanenvironmentelectronicsitconsumer
AFP: Greenpeace panned Nintendo and Toshiba for low environmental standards Wednesday but praised Nokia and Sony Ericsson for recycling, energy efficiency and phasing out hazardous substances. In its quarterly "Guide to Greener Electronics," released in Tokyo's Akihabara electronics district, the group rates 18 of the world's major consumer electronics companies on their environmental credentials. It targets elimination of two toxic chemicals in particular -- polyvinyl chloride ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Queen's speech: Plans for a new energy bill announced
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/may/26/queens-speech-energy-bill-announced
Guardian: The new coalition government promised a raft of green initiatives in yesterday's Queen's speech that will see a radical overhaul of the country's housing stock and loans to allow more households to invest in measures such as solar panels. Promising a new energy bill in the next parliament, the new government, led by David Cameron, wants to create a green investment bank that would loan individual households the money to invest in carbon-reducing measures, including ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Oil slick 'contained' off Singapore
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100526/wl_asia_afp/singaporeoilpollutionmaritimetransportenvironment
AFP: An oil slick from a crude tanker damaged in a collision off Singapore reached the city state's eastern coast on Wednesday as emergency crews worked to stop the spill from spreading. Oil patches were sighted around a naval base, ferry terminal, sailing centre and resort near Changi Airport, and environmental crews battled to limit the impact of the disaster, the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said. A black film of oil could be seen floating in the waters off the Tanah Merah ...
Thu, 27 May 10
Dams to provide clean energy
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/Environment/199941/Dams-to-provide-clean-energy-.html
Vientnam News: HA NOI "" Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai emphasised the opportunity more than 800 delegates from 90 countries had to ensure water security as well as cope with water deterioration and climate change when he opened the 78th annual meeting of the International Commission for Large Dams in Ha Noi yesterday. The meeting would also provide the chance to promote the development of technology in dam safety, he said. "The Viet Nam Government has given much attention to the use ...
Thu, 27 May 10
De Boer confirms plan to integrate Copenhagen Accord in UN climate text
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263678/boer-confirms-plan-incorporate
Business Green: Outgoing UN climate change chief Yvo de Boer yesterday confirmed that the extent to which parts of the Copenhagen Accord should be included in the formal UN negotiating process would form a central part of the agenda at the climate talks in Bonn next month. The latest summit, which will run from Monday 31 May to Wednesday 9 June, represents the first major UN climate meeting since the end of the Copenhagen summit and observers have warned that significant progress is required if there ...
Thu, 27 May 10
How to develop a sustainable marketing campaign
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/analysis/2263677/develop-sustainable-marketing
Business Green: Notorious American comedian Bill Hicks once famously invited members of his audience who admitted to working in marketing to kill themselves. Whether the controversial stand-up would have taken a more sympathetic view of marketing professionals who ply their trade pushing sustainable products is doubtful, but maybe he could have been convinced to stop short of advocating suicide. Extremist comedians aside, it is probably fair to say that the majority of consumers are more well ...
Wed, 26 May 10
Six gas mileage myths
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ygreen/20100525/sc_ygreen/sixgasmileagemyths
Yahoo Green: Do Americans care about fuel economy as oil spills into the Gulf of Mexico and gasoline hovers around $3 a gallon? You bet they do, though they also have a fair number of misconceptions about how to squeeze a few more miles out of every drop. The Consumer Federation of America's (CFA) most recent survey says that if we had a 50-mile-per-gallon car fleet today, we'd save more oil than the entire proven reserves in the entire Gulf of Mexico. And people care about that. According ...
Wed, 26 May 10
BP Prepares for 'Top Kill'
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/us/26spill.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: With frustration growing in the Gulf region over BP's inability to contain the oil spill, the company on Tuesday morning outlined its next plan for stopping the underwater leak. BP said equipment was in place for what is known as a top kill procedure, in which heavy drilling fluids twice the density of water are pumped through two narrow lines into the blowout preventer to essentially plug the runaway well. Depending on pressure readings taken Tuesday, officials said they might start ...
Wed, 26 May 10
UN urges rich to honor $30 billion climate aid pledge
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64O5SW20100525?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The United Nations urged rich nations on Tuesday to keep a pledge to give $30 billion to poor nations by 2012 to cope with climate change, saying it was "not an impossible call" despite budget cuts in Europe. Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, also said it was extremely unlikely that a new U.N. climate treaty would be agreed in 2010 after the Copenhagen summit in December fell short of a full, legally binding treaty. He said that one priority for 2010 was ...
Wed, 26 May 10
Scientists to study deepwater Gulf "oil plume"
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64O5TH20100525?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: U.S. scientists will embark on a second mission on Tuesday to investigate whether a catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill is damaging deepwater marine life and the surrounding environment. Samantha Joye, a University of Georgia marine sciences professor who is part of the research team, said the two-week government-funded mission will focus on a plume of dispersed oil that she says is from the leaking BP undersea well. The plume, which is roughly 20 miles long, six miles wide, ...
Wed, 26 May 10
Congressman: BP will cut video feed for top kill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100525/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_top_kill_video
Associated Press: BP says it hasn't decided yet whether to cut off a live video feed when it begins trying to cut off the Gulf oil leak by injecting heavy drilling mud into the well. Democratic Congressman Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts said Tuesday the company will shut off the video feed supplied by an underwater robot when it begins the so-called top kill maneuver it hopes to try Wednesday. But BP spokesman John Curry said Tuesday the company is still evaluating whether it will be possible ...
Wed, 26 May 10
Iberdrola deal to finance Maine power grid upgrade
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100525/ap_on_bi_ge/me_iberdrola_maine_grid
Associated Press: The parent company of Central Maine Power is selling three natural gas utilities in New England to help pay for a $1.4 billion power grid upgrade in Maine that's aimed at assuring reliability and creating capacity for future wind power projects in the state. Utility company UIL Holdings said Tuesday that it will buy Southern Connecticut Gas Co., Connecticut Natural Gas Corp. and the Berkshire Gas Co. from Iberdrola USA for $885 million. Under the deal, UIL Holdings also will take on ...
Wed, 26 May 10
Oil spill off Singapore after vessels collide
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100525/wl_asia_afp/singaporeoilpollutionmaritimetransportenvironment
AFP: Emergency teams scrambled to contain thousands of tonnes of crude oil that spilled into waters near one of the world's busiest ports Tuesday after two ships collided in the Singapore Strait. Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said in its latest update that 5,000 tonnes of crude had leaked from the Malaysian-registered tanker MT Bunga Kelana 3, double its estimate just a few hours earlier. A crude oil slick about four kilometres (2.5 miles) long and one kilometre wide ...
Wed, 26 May 10
70 percent of firms will spend more on climate change
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE64O0T720100525
Reuters: Seventy percent of firms with revenue of $1 billion or more say they plan to increase spending on climate change initiatives in the next two years, a global survey reported on Tuesday. Nearly half of the 300 corporate executives who responded to a survey conducted for the accounting and consulting giant Ernst & Young said their climate change investments will range from 0.5 percent to more than 5 percent of revenues by 2012. More than four out of five respondents, or 82 ...
Wed, 26 May 10
Indonesia: President to attend climate change and forest conference in Oslo
http://www.antara.co.id/en/news/1274705955/president-to-attend-climate-change-and-forest-conference-in-oslo
Antara: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to attend an international conference on climate change and forests in Oslo, Norway, on May 26-27, presidential spokesman Dino Pati Djalal said. The president would leave for the conference upon an invitation from Norway`s Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg. "During the conference attended by 40 delegates representing 50 countries, President Yudhoyono will act as co-chair accompanying Prime Minister Stoltenberg as the host of the ...
Wed, 26 May 10
Electric cars cannot cut CO2 emissions on their own, warn engineers
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/25/electric-cars-carbon-emissions
Guardian: Electrifying the UK's cars will require a relatively modest expansion of energy generation but will not be enough on its own to cut CO2 emissions, engineers said today. Switching all the UK's petrol and diesel road transport vehicles to electric models will require 16% extra electricity capacity, equivalent to 10GW or around six new nuclear power stations, they said. The 30m vehicles on British roads are responsible for a quarter of the UK's carbon emissions. In a report for ...
Wed, 26 May 10
Lake Tanganyika under threat, scientists record highest ever temperatures
http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/-/2558/924292/-/pek10kz/-/index.html
East African News: East Africa's second biggest inland water, Lake Tanganyika has heated up sharply over the past 90 years and is now warmer than at any time for at least 1,500 years, according to a new scientific study published in Nature Geoscience. The lake, which straddles the border between Tanzania, Burundi, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is a vital source of both protein for the thousands of people living on its shores and employment for the hundreds of fishermen who take their ...
Tue, 25 May 10
Gulf oil spill: White House orders BP to cut use of dispersant by half
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/25/bp-ordered-cut-in-dispersant
Guardian: The White House directed BP to cut its use of chemical dispersants to break up the Louisiana oil slick by as much as 50% yesterday, reflecting concerns that the clean-up of the spill could be worsening the economic disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Lisa Jackson, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said the Obama administration wanted the oil company to scale back its use of chemicals on the water surface. The order came amid increasing tension between the administration and ...
Tue, 25 May 10
India proposes renewable energy certificate scheme
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263607/india-proposes-renewable-energy
Business Green: The Indian government is reportedly working on plans for a new renewable energy certificate (REC) scheme designed to drive investment in low-carbon energy projects. According to local reports, the country's power regulator last week announced new rules that would allow generators of renewable energy to obtain RECs that could be bought by companies and government bodies to count towards renewable energy targets. The scheme, which appears to be loosely modelled on the system of ...
Tue, 25 May 10
Despite BP oil spill, Louisiana still loves Big Oil
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100524/ts_csm/303130
Christian Science Monitor: One week after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig collapsed into the Gulf of Mexico, a letter arrived on President Obama's desk from Sen. Bill Nelson (D) of Florida, demanding an immediate moratorium on offshore oil drilling. The same day, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist – a man once seen cheering as Sarah Palin said "drill here, drill now" – called for a special state legislative session to ban offshore drilling. Even on the other side of the continent, the effects of the Gulf oil spill ...
Tue, 25 May 10
Oil tax increase would help pay to clean up spills
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100524/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_tax
Associated Press: Responding to the massive BP oil spill, Congress is getting ready to quadruple -- to 32 cents a barrel -- a tax on oil used to help finance cleanups. The increase would raise nearly $11 billion over the next decade. The tax is levied on oil produced in the U.S. or imported from foreign countries. The revenue goes to a fund managed by the Coast Guard to help pay to clean up spills in waterways, such as the Gulf of Mexico. The tax increase is part of a larger bill that has grown ...
Tue, 25 May 10
Pressure piles on BP as Gulf spill widens
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100524/ts_nm/us_oil_rig_leak
Reuters: The U.S. government piled pressure on BP Plc on Monday to clean up a "massive environmental mess" in the Gulf of Mexico amid growing anger at the oil giant's failure to contain a five-week-old oil spill. The company insisted it was doing all it could to try to seal a blown-out oil well spewing hundreds of thousands of gallons (liters) of oil into the Gulf every day, a disaster that threatens to become the worst U.S. oil spill in history. London-based BP said it would make ...
Tue, 25 May 10
United Kingdom: Red light for green discount
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/24/electric-cars-discount-under-review
Guardian: The £5,000 discount on all new electric cars, which had been due to be introduced next year, could be scrapped as part of the government's cost-cutting drive, the Guardian has learned. The Department for Business has told car industry executives the planned offer was being reviewed. Scrapping the discount would be a set back for the electric car market, which accounts for 1% of the 26m cars on British roads. The industry has already begun marketing its new electric models on the basis ...
Tue, 25 May 10
BP CEO inspects La. beach stained by Gulf oil
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100524/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_bp_ceo
Associated Press: The chief executive of BP PLC walked the oil-stained sands of a closed Louisiana beach as workers in white coveralls and yellow boots tended to equipment being used to keep away crude gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. CEO Tony Hayward talked with the workers Monday at Fourchon Beach while the crews tended to booms meant to soak up the oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Reporters were kept at a distance. Fourchon Beach is one of the few sandy beaches in Louisiana, where ...
Tue, 25 May 10
Australia: Pacific climate change could drive droughts
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/24/2907921.htm
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Climate scientists are concerned a rise in temperature in the Pacific region due to climate change, could increase droughts in Australia. New research, published today in Nature Geoscience, has found the region will have significant temperature changes, which will affect the natural El Nino - La Nina weather cycle. One of the report's authors Scott Power says the cycle and temperatures in the Pacific have a direct link to drought conditions in Australia. But Dr Power ...
Tue, 25 May 10
Climate Change To Hit Vietnam's Mangrove Forests
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=500614
Bernama: The impacts of climate change would severely affect the biodiversity of mangrove forests across the country, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported experts as saying. Addressing a forum on the impacts of climate change and biodiversity held on May 22, Dr Hoang Nghia Son, director of the Institute of Tropical Biology said that biodiversity was a crucial base for the existence and development of countries around the world but it had been severely affected by climate change. "Sea ...
Tue, 25 May 10
United Kingdom: Industry threats to relocate over carbon targets exposed as 'misleading'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/24/industry-relocate-carbon-targets-misleading
Ecologist: Heavy industry has pleaded for special treatment since the European Emissions Trading System was set up, but a new report suggests their complaints were exaggerated Steel and cement giants Arcelor Mittal and Lafarge are lobbying hard against tougher carbon targets at the same time as making millions in windfall profits from surplus carbon permits, new research shows. Under the EU trading scheme, set up in 2005, companies are allowed to emit carbon dioxide (CO2) up to a certain ...
Tue, 25 May 10
UK honeybee numbers suffer further decline after harsh winter
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/24/honeybees-winter-decline
Guardian: Honeybee numbers in the UK dropped again over the winter, though the rate of decline appears to have slowed slightly despite the harsh weather. In an encouraging note, the number of hives has doubled in three years to an estimated 80,000, according to the British Beekeepers Association, which released the survey of winter honeybee losses. On average, beekeepers lost 17% of their colonies in 2009-10, compared to 19% the previous year and 30% during the winter of 2007-08. There ...
Tue, 25 May 10
United Kingdom: Schools back the 10:10 campaign
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/may/24/schools-1010-climate-change-energy-saving
Guardian: Beneath the soaring ceiling of 4PD class, Susie Price is encouraging her year 4 pupils to think about how energy is wasted at Argyle primary school in north London. "What sometimes rattles against the windows?" she asks. There's a pause before a small voice replies hesitantly:"Is it twigs?" Actually, Price explains, it's more likely to be wind. The Victorian windows are feeling their age. Paired with those high ceilings and the natural inclination of heat to rise, staff are fighting a ...
Tue, 25 May 10
How far should we let Big Oil go?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/may/24/oil-chevron-alternative-annual-report
Guardian: In the month since BP's oil rig exploded in the US Gulf Coast, what has struck me the most is not, unfortunately, the magnitude of the spill, the damage caused that is likely to continue for decades, the inability of BP or federal agencies to clean up – much less stop – the spill, or the revelations of BP's pre-explosion lobbying, which likely contributed greatly to the disaster taking place. I have instead been most moved by the rapid, overwhelming and broad-based demand from people ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Obama moves to take political control of BP Gulf oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100522/ts_csm/303251
Christian Science Monitor: A month after the BP Deep Horizon drill rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana, spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, President Obama has moved to take greater political control of what is becoming one of the nation's worst environmental disasters. On Saturday, Obama named a bipartisan commission to report on the causes of the oil spill but also "to take a comprehensive look at how the oil and gas industry operates and how we regulate them." While environmental protection and ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Anger, frustration over oil mounts along the Gulf
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100522/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill
Associated Press: Anger grew along the Gulf Coast as an ooze of oil washed into delicate coastal wetlands in Lousiana, with residents questioning the federal government and others wondering how to clean up the monthlong mess that worsens with each day. "It's difficult to clean up when you haven't stopped the source," said Chris Roberts, a councilman for Jefferson Parish, which stretches from the New Orleans metropolitan area to the coast. "You can scrape it off the beach but it's coming right ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Russia to help Bangladesh set up nuclear power plants
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100522/wl_nm/us_bangladesh_russia_nuclear
Reuters: Bangladesh said on Saturday Russia had formally agreed to assist the energy-starved South Asian country in building nuclear power plants. "An agreement on cooperation for the peaceful use of nuclear energy to meet the growing power demand in the country was signed between the two countries in Moscow on Friday," a foreign ministry spokesman told Reuters. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov witnessed the signing of the agreement between ...
Sun, 23 May 10
U.S. could fall behind China in clean energy: Locke
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64L0QD20100522?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The United States could fall behind China and other countries in clean energy technology unless Congress passes energy legislation, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said on Saturday. Many U.S. investors were reluctant to plough money into big solar, wind and other clean energy sectors until they knew what technologies U.S. government policy was going to favor, he said. "There's too much capital sitting on the sidelines for lack of an energy policy," Locke said during a stop ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Obama: More Gulf drilling only if assurances
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64L11320100522?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: President Barack Obama said on Saturday that offshore oil drilling could only go forward if there were assurances that a disaster like the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill would not happen again. As Obama officially unveiled a commission to investigate the accident, he issued a stern message that while keeping pressure on firms involved in the still-uncapped spill -- BP, Halliburton and Transocean Ltd -- he would also hold Washington accountable for mending its ways. In his ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Obama unveils commission to probe oil spill
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/obama-unveils-commission-to-probe-oil-spill-1980228.html
Reuters: US President Barack Obama said today that offshore oil drilling could only go forward if there were assurances that a disaster like the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill would not happen again. As Obama officially unveiled a commission to investigate the accident, he issued a stern message that while keeping pressure on firms involved in the still-uncapped spill - BP, Halliburton and Transocean Ltd - he would also hold Washington accountable for mending its ways. With ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Obama names chairmen of Gulf oil spill commission
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100522/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_oil_spill
Associated Press: The Environmental Protection Agency chief on the job during the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in 1989 and a former Florida senator will lead the presidential commission investigating the Gulf of Mexico disaster. President Barack Obama on Saturday announced the appointments of William K. Reilly, EPA administrator under Republican President George H.W. Bush, and Bob Graham, a Democrat who also was Florida governor, as the panel's heads. Obama intends to name five others to the ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Obama forms commission to probe oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100522/wl_afp/usoilpollutionenvironmentpoliticsobama
Agence France-Presse: An independent presidential commission has been set up to probe the huge oil spill from a wrecked BP-leased rig in the Gulf of Mexico, US President Barack Obama said on Saturday. The main task of the bipartisan body, formed by an executive order, is to provide recommendations on how the oil industry can prevent -- and mitigate the impact of -- any future spills that result from offshore drilling. "Now, this catastrophe is unprecedented in its nature, and it presents a host of ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Bangladesh signs nuclear deal with Russia
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100522/wl_sthasia_afp/bangladeshrussiaenergynuclear
Agence France-Presse: Bangladesh has signed a cooperation deal with Russia which will led to two nuclear power plants being built in the energy-starved South Asian nation, an official said Saturday. Under the deal, signed in Moscow on Friday, Russia will help construct the two 1,000-megawatt nuclear plants in the north of the country, Bangladesh's nuclear energy commission chief Mosharraf Hossain told AFP. "It is the first step towards setting up the two nuclear power plants. A full-fledged ...
Sun, 23 May 10
New Zealand: NZ takes a 'smooth path' to emissions trading
http://www.smh.com.au/world/nz-takes-a-smooth-path-to-emissions-trading-20100521-w1up.html
Sydney Morning Herald: ITS greenhouse gas emissions are minuscule - 0.2 per cent of the world's annual total and it's 21st among rich countries on absolute levels. Rank it on emissions per person and New Zealand does not look so good: fifth among rich nations, behind Australia, Luxembourg, Canada and the United States. But it is doing more than most to counter it. From July 1, its emissions trading scheme begins operating - from forestry (a massive carbon sink) to petrol, electricity and ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Obama seeks fuel efficiency standards for large trucks
http://www.detnews.com/article/20100522/AUTO01/5220323/1022/Obama-seeks-fuel-efficiency-standards-for-large-trucks
Detroit News: President Barack Obama on Friday ordered work to begin on setting first-ever fuel-efficiency standards for heavy-duty trucks. He also called for progress toward establishing higher standards for cars and light trucks in model years 2017 through 2025. "It's possible in the next 20 years for vehicles to use half the fuel and produce half the pollution that they do today," Obama said at a Rose Garden ceremony where he signed a presidential memorandum. A 2007 energy law requires ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Engineering a cooler Earth
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/59391/title/Engineering_a_cooler_Earth
ScienceNews: None of the scientists in the room so much as blinked when David Keith suggested saving the world with spy planes spraying sulfuric acid. Keith, a physicist at the University of Calgary in Canada, was facing an audience not likely to be shocked: nearly 200 other researchers, some of whom had their own radical ideas for fighting global warming. His concept was to spray a mist of sulfuric acid high in the stratosphere to form particles called sulfate aerosols, which would act like a ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Canada: Reports contrast on environmental impact
http://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2589766
Fort McMurray Today: While one report warns the oilsands are on a collision course with climate change regulations, another says major strides have been made in reducing environmental impacts. In its report, Canada's Oil Sands: Shrinking Window of Opportunity, Ceres said Monday oilsands risks to investors are as great as those in the BP spill. While deepwater oil production in the Gulf has huge environmental risks that are obvious today, this report concludes that long-term risks from development in the ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Brazil environment officials arrested for logging
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8698451.stm
BBC: Police in Brazil have arrested at least 70 people suspected of illegal logging in the Amazon - including officials employed to protect the rainforest. Several environmental officials in Mato Grosso state are accused of providing false licences for the extraction of timber from protected areas. Loggers, landowners and forest managers have also been charged. Police estimate that the illegal logging operation has caused damage amounting to about $500m (£345m). The ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Climate sceptics rally to expose 'myth'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8694544.stm
BBC: In the Grand Ballroom Of Chicago's Magnificent Mile Hotel, dinner was over. Beef, of course. A great pink hunk of it from the American Mid-West. At the world's biggest gathering of climate change sceptics, organised by the right-wing Heartland Institute, vegetarians were an endangered species. Wine flowed and blood coursed during a rousing address from Heartland's libertarian president Joseph Bast. Climate change is being used by governments to oppress the people, he ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Despite fears, gains in fighting malaria
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0521/Despite-global-warming-gains-in-fighting-malaria-study-finds
Christian Science Monitor: Malaria may not deserve its high-profile spot as a leading public-health concern tied to global warming. A research team has found that over the past century, malaria's prevalence has declined significantly, despite a century-long warming of global average temperatures. The finding was published in this week's issue of the journal Nature by the Malaria Atlas Project, an international consortium of researchers that maps and tracks incidence of the disease, as well as social and ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Michigan rejects permit for proposed coal plant
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-mi-wolverinepowerpla,0,7236882.story
Associated Press: Michigan regulators denied an air quality permit Friday for a proposed 600-megawatt coal-burning power plant in Rogers City, saying the project would damage the environment and hit customers with big rate increases. The ruling by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment dooms the plant unless Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative mounts a successful court challenge. A telephone message left Friday with the co-op, a wholesaler that provides electricity to more than 220,000 ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Kansas utilities worry about greenhouse gas measure
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9FRE4681.htm
Associated Press: Two major Kansas utilities oppose a move by Kansas legislators to block limits on greenhouse gases, and Gov. Mark Parkinson's spokesman said Friday that he is considering their objections. The Republican-controlled Legislature added a provision to the next state budget to prohibit the Department of Health and Environment from spending any money on drafting rules on greenhouse gas emissions, linked by scientists to global warming. The provision is really directed at the federal ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Glitzy Google gathering launches green-product institute
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/05/21/21greenwire-glitzy-google-gathering-launches-green-product-91373.html
Greenwire: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) was joined by executives from Google Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., YouTube LLC, and designer chairmaker Herman Miller Inc. yesterday to launch a nonprofit group created to help scrub hazardous chemicals from consumer products. The Green Products Innovation Institute, formally announced at Google corporate headquarters here, builds on a 2008 state law that seeks to establish the nation's first "green chemistry" program. The institute is meant to serve as a ...
Sun, 23 May 10
United States: Climate computer coming: Supercomputer to join other powerful machines at ORNL
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/may/22/climate-computer-coming/
Knoxville News Sentine: Oak Ridge National Laboratory already hosts the world's fastest computer (Jaguar), as well as the world's fastest computer for academic uses (Kraken). Soon, the laboratory also will house the world's most powerful machine devoted exclusively to climate research. The new computer doesn't have a name yet, but Cray Inc. announced this week that it had won a $47 million contract to provide the next-generation machine to ORNL. The Cray award is part of a multiyear, $215 million ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Tourists not too happy about Baguio's heat
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20100522-271471/Tourists-not-too-happy-about-Baguios-heat
Philippine Inquirer: The Philippines' summer capital has started to review its tourism plan after realizing it can no longer rely on its cool weather to attract visitors. Metro Manila residents who fled to Baguio this summer to escape the torturous heat wave in the lowlands have not been happy either about Baguio's average temperature of 18 to 26 degrees Celsius, and this has affected its summer tourist arrivals, said Benedicto Alhambra, city tourism officer. He said the city government has ...
Sun, 23 May 10
White House aims to halve fuel use within 20 years
http://www.freep.com/article/20100522/BUSINESS01/5220328/1322/White-House-aims-to-halve-fuel-use-within-20-years
Detroit Free Press: President Barack Obama kicked off plans for new fuel economy standards for 2017 through 2025 on Friday, setting a goal of cutting fuel use and pollution from vehicles by half in 20 years. The move was hailed by automakers, which have been pushing to keep a single national fuel rule, and environmental groups anticipating even higher standards beyond the 35.5 m.p.g. average required by 2016. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation have to come up ...
Sun, 23 May 10
India: Draft climate change plan moots mining investment
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/draft-climate-change-plan-moots-rs-115-cr-investment/395709/
Business Standard: The draft Action Plan on Climate Change prepared by the Orissa government in association with the World Bank to address concerns pertaining to climate change has envisaged an investment of Rs 115 crore in the mining sector to implement mitigation and adaptation measures. The mining sector specific plan has suggested 42 action points in all which includes 29 mitigation measures, seven adaptation measures and the remaining six measures being both mitigation as well as adaptation ...
Sun, 23 May 10
Toyota buys Tesla stake for electric car tie-up
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=asnhzAvRHRbQ
Bloomberg: Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest automaker, is buying a $50 million stake in electric-car producer Tesla Motors Inc. as the companies seek to offer low- polluting models. Tesla also will buy a closed Toyota joint-venture plant in California to build its Model S and other vehicles, Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said yesterday. The companies plan to cooperate in developing electric cars, parts, production systems and engineering. The deal may help Toyota compete ...
Sat, 22 May 10
Obama Mandates Rules to Raise Fuel Standards
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/22/business/energy-environment/22fuel.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: President Obama ordered the government on Friday to develop tougher fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks, advancing the fight against climate change without waiting for Congress. Mr. Obama announced the creation of a national policy that will result in less greenhouse gas pollution from medium- and heavy-duty trucks for the first time, and will further reduce exhaust from cars and light-duty trucks beyond the requirements he had already put in place. "Today's ...
Sat, 22 May 10
UK Arrests Four More In Suspected CO2 Tax Probe
http://planetark.org/wen/58110
Reuters: British tax investigators arrested four more people on Thursday they said were believed to be connected to a 38 million pound ($54.5 million) suspected tax fraud in European carbon credit trading. The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigators also found firearms and large amounts of cash during the early morning raids on seven properties in London and Leicester areas, the agency said in a statement. "These arrests are the result of the hard work that our investigators have ...
Sat, 22 May 10
Tax breaks for solar firms could create 200,000 US jobs
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263458/tax-breaks-solar-firms-create
Business Green: The solar industry has this week stepped up its lobbying for the extension of a cash grant for solar projects and new tax breaks for equipment manufacturers, claiming that over 200,000 green jobs could be created. Launched as part of the US stimulus package in early 2009, the Treasury Grant Program (TGP), gave a cash grant in lieu of a tax credit to solar project owners. However, the grant is due to expire this December, raising fears that the recent boom in solar energy ...
Sat, 22 May 10
Toyota and Tesla team up to create electric car powerhouse
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263468/toyota-tesla-team-create
Business Green: Two of the biggest names in green motoring, Toyota and Tesla Motors, announced a wide-ranging deal yesterday that promises to send shockwaves through the global auto industry, after the Japanese giant said it would take a $50m stake in the high-profile electric car startup. Under the terms of the agreement, announced at a press conference in California hosted by Toyota chief executive Akio Toyoda and his Tesla counterpart Elon Musk, Toyota will purchase $50m of Tesla's common stock ...
Sat, 22 May 10
Executive order expected to raise fuel standards
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/business/energy-environment/21fuel.html?src=busln
New York Times: President Obama has decided to use his executive power to order tougher fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, accelerating the fight against climate change without waiting for Congress, administration officials said Thursday. Mr. Obama plans to announce on Friday that he is ordering the creation of a new national policy that will result in less greenhouse-gas pollution from medium- and heavy-duty trucks for the first time and will further reduce exhaust from cars and ...
Sat, 22 May 10
Malta: Food poisoning likelier as climate warms
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2010/05/19/t3.html
Malta Today: A study on the health effects of climate change in the Maltese islands warns that rising temperatures increases the likelihood of food-borne diseases like salmonella. "The rise of ambient temperatures in the future is likely to result in an increase in the number of salmonellosis cases," a study published in joint publication by the Environmental Health Directorate and WHO warns. Studies quoted in the report already show an alarming 450 cases of diarrhoea occurring every day ...
Sat, 22 May 10
Next UN climate review 'will assess economy'
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=nw20100520222652748C215269
Reuters: The United Nations panel of climate scientists plans to tackle the way societies adapt to a changing climate and the effects of food insecurity in its next report on climate change, senior officials said on Thursday. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is currently selecting 600 to 700 lead authors from over 3 000 nominations to produce the fifth flagship report, due in 2014, said IPCC head Rajendra Pachauri. Earlier this year the IPCC said that ...
Sat, 22 May 10
Oceans warming with climate change
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=2007
Carbon Positive: The top layer of world's oceans has warmed significantly since the early 1990s, consistent with the pattern of global warming, a new study shows. The results of a 15-year study up to 2008 by a research team led by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found that temperatures in the top 700 metres of oceans worldwide increased significantly from 1993 to 2003 and continued to rise a lesser rate in the following five years. The scientists say it has been harder to ...
Sat, 22 May 10
United States: Paper Bags or Plastic Bags? New Proposals Like Neither
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/us/21sfplastic.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: Three years ago, San Francisco was the first city in the country to ban the ubiquitous plastic shopping bag, but it was quickly followed by Palo Alto and Oakland. These cities, and the Bay Area generally, were at the forefront of the movement to keep single-use, filmy carry-out bags out of landfills, out of the bay and out of the innards of marine mammals. But now cities are reconsidering, in part because of lawsuits filed by opponents, but also because too many shoppers in San ...
Fri, 21 May 10
BP accused of cover-up
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6430AR20100521?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The U.S. government Thursday accused energy giant BP of falling short in the information it has provided about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, in a clear sign of Washington's growing frustration with BP's handling of the spiraling environmental disaster. "In responding to this oil spill, it is critical that all actions be conducted in a transparent manner, with all data and information related to the spill readily available to the United States government and the American people," ...
Fri, 21 May 10
New twist in debate on climate change and malaria
http://www.scidev.net/en/climate-change-and-energy/new-twist-in-debate-on-climate-change-and-malaria.html?utm_source=link&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=en_climatechangeandenergy
SciDev.Net: Bednets and drugs will influence the spread of malaria far more than will climate change, according to a study that challenges fears that warming will aggravate the disease in Africa. Many researchers have predicted that rising temperatures will cause malaria to expand its range and intensify in its current strongholds. But unlike usual models, which aim to predict how climate change will affect malaria in the future, researchers looked at how warming affected the disease ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Oil threatens French-speaking Cajuns, native Choctaw
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100520/ts_alt_afp/usblastoilenergypollutionculturecajun
Agence France-Presse: The encroaching Gulf of Mexico oil spill may have sounded the death knell for the vanishing cultures of the last French-speaking Cajun communities and Louisiana native Americans. Here in the deep Louisiana south, the Cajun people and the French-speaking Choctaw Indians can do nothing but maintain an anxious vigil, angrily accusing US authorities of abandoning them to their fate. Since the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig unleashed a huge oil leak in the Gulf, no ...
Fri, 21 May 10
US Should Lead The Way On Climate Change
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1868143/us_should_lead_the_way_on_climate_change/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: Scientists said Wednesday that the U.S. has to lead the global fight on climate change by breaking with business-as-usual and setting tough standards for the amount of greenhouse gases it emits into the atmosphere. The National Research Council scientists said the U.S. should set a budget that would limit greenhouse gas emissions to a total of between 170 and 200 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent between 2012 and 2050. The report said that limit would correspond to a ...
Fri, 21 May 10
EU calls for Europe to make unilateral 30% emissions cut
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100520/sc_afp/euenvironmentclimate
Agence France-Presse: The European Commission will next week urge EU nations to hike their targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions from 20 to 30 percent, saying the costs and risks to industry are less than previously estimated. "Both the international context and the economic analysis suggest that the EU is right to continue preparing for a move to a 30 percent target," the commission argues in a paper to be given to the 27 European Union member states on May 26. Until now Europe has agreed ...
Fri, 21 May 10
United Kingdom: Blue and yellow promises to be 'greenest government ever'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7745900/Blue-and-yellow-promises-to-be-greenest-government-ever.html
Telegraph: The Conservative Lib Dem coalition has pledged to cut its own emissions by 10 per cent in the first year and will push for all of Europe to cut emissions by 30 per cent by 2020. Mrs Spelman, who described herself as a keen recycler and composter, said Britain will be a zero waste society and pledged to help communities plant one million new trees. "It will be the greenest Government we have ever had," she said. But environmental groups complained that the new "blue/ ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Oil Fouls Louisiana Marshes, Seeps Into Gulf Current
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127012041&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: A BP official conceded Thursday that more oil is spewing into the Gulf of Mexico than the company had previously acknowledged, as crude from the massive spill seeped into coastal areas from Louisiana to Alabama. Company spokesman Mark Proegler said about 5,000 barrels of oil a day are being diverted by a mile-long tube inserted into the leaking pipeline -- equal to the amount that BP and the government have estimated is gushing out. But Proegler said some oil is still escaping into ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Warmest April on record
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0520-hance_april.html
Mongabay: According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the past April was the warmest globally since record taking began in the late 19th Century. Combining both land and ocean temperatures, the NOAA recorded that April 2010 was 0.76 degrees Celsius (1.37 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 20th Century average. Particularly warm areas on land included South Asia, northern Africa, Canada, Alaska, the Eastern US, northern Russia, and Australia. The NOAA also reports ...
Fri, 21 May 10
US National Research Council calls for urgent action to price carbon
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/analysis/2263417/national-research-council-calls
Business Green: The premier scientific agency in the US, the National Research Council, yesterday released its most comprehensive study of climate change to date, warning that climate change is largely caused by human activity and that the US must act urgently to cut greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impact of inevitable temperature rises. The research is summarised in five major new reports, two of which are to be released later this year, that have been produced by the Council in response ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Burn mulled for US wetlands soiled by oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100520/sc_afp/usoilpollutionenvironmentburn
Agence France-Presse: Officials are considering a controlled burn of Louisiana's fragile wetlands now soiled by heavy oil, the US Coast Guard said Thursday, stressing the move would be a last-ditch option. For the first time since an explosion rocked the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform a month ago and triggered a massive spill, Louisiana officials confirmed that heavy crude had reached the state's coastline on Wednesday. But Coast Guard Captain Edwin Stanton, downplayed the impact as ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Obama pushing higher fuel efficiency standards
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100520/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_fuel_efficiency
Associated Press: President Barack Obama, seeking a gas-sipping fleet of the future, will order the government to begin working on fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars and trucks in the 2017 model year and beyond. The White House will announce plans to extend a national fuel-efficiency program for cars and trucks developed in the past year while also asking federal agencies, for the first time, to create standards for heavy work trucks beginning with the 2014 model ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Louisiana marshes hit by Gulf oil slick
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100520/sc_afp/usoilpollutionenvironment
Agence France-Presse: Crude oozed Thursday into US wetlands, prompting furious Louisiana officials to accuse BP of destroying fragile marshes beyond repair and leaving coastal fishing communities in ruin. With some of the worst fears of environmental disaster being realized in the marshlands of the Mississippi Delta, BP was also forced to concede it had underestimated the amount of oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. The British energy giant had always maintained only 5,000 barrels -- or 210,000 ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Placing Blame For The BP Oil Spill
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127015738&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: NEAL CONAN, host: This is TALK OF THE NATION. Im Neal Conan in Washington. BP claimed today that a mile-long hose siphons 5,000 barrels of oil every day from the massive leak in the Gulf of Mexico, which is about the size of the leak, according to a recent BP estimate. Independent analysts believe the leak could be as much as 20 times bigger than that. Large swaths of the Gulf have been closed to fishing, a thick blanket of oil has begun to wash into marshes and onto ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Senate climate bill a jobs creator: study
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100520/pl_nm/us_climate_usa_jobs
Reuters: A climate change bill unveiled last week in the Senate would create hundreds of thousands of jobs as the country moves away from fossil fuels toward more nuclear energy and renewable sources of power, according to a nonpartisan study released on Thursday. "Between 2011 and 2020, average annual employment in the U.S. increases by 203,000," concluded the study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics. The study is the first to assess the economic impact of ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Gene Discovery Potential Key To Cost-competitive Cellulosic Ethanol
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1868456/gene_discovery_potential_key_to_costcompetitive_cellulosic_ethanol/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are improving strains of microorganisms used to convert cellulosic biomass into ethanol, including a recent modification that could improve the efficiency of the conversion process. Biofuels researchers and industrials have generated improved mutant microorganisms previously, but authors of a paper in the on-line Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences identify a key Z. mobilis gene for the first time and ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Activists press US on overseas climate funding
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100520/sc_afp/unclimatewarmingusaidcongress
Agence France-Presse: Environment and anti-poverty campaigners on Thursday urged the United States to ramp up support for poor nations to cope with climate change, saying that current funding proposals fell far short. The groups broadly support legislation introduced last week in the Senate to set up the first US nationwide plan to fight climate change, but said the bill neglected so-called "adaptation" funding for the developing world. "When it comes to adaptation, this bill is pathetic. It just ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Wind turbine parts maker to build Arkansas plant
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100520/ap_on_bi_ge/ar_wind_power_osceola
Associated Press: German manufacturer Beckmann Volmer said Thursday it plans to build a $10 million plant in Osceola to produce steel components for wind turbines that will employ up to 500 people. The company said it will initially hire 300 people to work at the plant, and will later spend an additional $7.5 million more to expand and hire another 200 workers. The factory will pay an average wage of $18 per hour. The turbine parts will be used about 60 miles away at a turbine manufacturing ...
Fri, 21 May 10
La. Pushes Sandbars To Fight Oil; Scientists Skeptical
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127018713&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Louisiana officials are pleading for federal approval to build colossal sandbars outside barrier islands in the Gulf of Mexico to protect the state's vast wetlands from the oil spurting from the Deepwater Horizon rig. Heavy oil started showing up in state wetlands earlier this week, heightening the officials' urgency. "This is an extremely important component of our own plan to protect our coast from this oil, and this will also help to protect Louisiana from future hurricane ...
Fri, 21 May 10
New Nuclear Energy Grapples With Costs
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/102005-new-nuclear-energy-grapples-with-costs/
National Geographic: President Obama may be pressing for the nation to increase its supply of nuclear power, but the market is pushing in the opposite direction--at least in the view of one of the leading figures in the U.S. nuclear business. John Rowe, chief executive of Chicago-based Exelon, operator of the nation's largest fleet of nuclear power stations, says the economics of the electricity business have changed sharply in just the past two years, dimming the prospects for a significant number of new ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Task force working on new Gulf oil flow estimate
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100520/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_flow_estimate
Associated Press: A federal agency says a task force of scientists is working around the clock to get a better idea how much oil is gushing from the blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief Jane Lubchenco would not give a new estimate of how much oil the scientists think is leaking. BP conceded Thursday that the leak is more than the 210,000 gallons a day that the company and the Coast Guard had estimated after an offshore oil rig exploded a ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Luminaries urge Obama to act on energy after spill
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64J73D20100520?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Actor Robert Redford and other big name clean energy advocates are piling pressure on U.S. President Barack Obama to seize upon the giant Gulf oil spill as a catalyst to steer America clear of its oil addiction. "The Gulf disaster is more than a terrible oil spill," Redford says in a television ad sponsored by environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council that began airing late Wednesday. "It's the product of a failed energy policy." Redford, New York Times columnist ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Polluted by profit: Johann Hari on the real Climategate
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/polluted-by-profit-johann-hari-on-the-real-climategate-1978770.html
Independent (UK): Why did America's leading environmental groups jet to Copenhagen to lobby for policies that will lead to the faster death of the rainforests -- and runaway global warming? Why are their staff dismissing the only real solutions to climate change as "unworkable" and "unrealistic"? Why are they clambering into corporate "partnerships" with BP, which is responsible for the worst oil spill in living memory? At first glance, these questions will seem bizarre. Groups such as Conservation ...
Fri, 21 May 10
National Grid seeks £3.2bn to upgrade Britain's ageing network
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263446/national-grid-seeks-2bn-upgrade
Business Green: National Grid blind-sided shareholders yesterday by launching a rights issue designed to raise £3.2bn to help upgrade the UK grid in order to accommodate new renewable energy projects over the coming decades. The announcement was made alongside the gas and electricity infrastructure provider's preliminary end of year results, in which it confirmed plans to invest £22bn in the UK gird over the next five years. Money will be ploughed into a range of projects including upgrading ...
Fri, 21 May 10
NY skyscraper wins highest "green" certification
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64J3LW20100520?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The U.S. Green Building Council gave the Bank of America Tower its highest rating for environmental performance and sustainability on Thursday, meaning New York City's second-tallest building is also its greenest. The 54-story building completed in 2008 at a cost of $2 billion became the first commercial high-rise to win the "platinum" certification from the non-profit council that promotes environmentally friendly construction and design. The certification was based on water ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Double trouble in acidic, warming oceans: Study
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-48634120100519
Reuters: Acidification of the oceans means "double trouble" for marine life from corals to shellfish since it is adding to stresses caused by global warming, a study showed on Wednesday. "The oceans are more acidic than they have ever been for at least 20 million years," according to the report by the European Science Foundation. On current trends, seas could be 150 percent more acidic by 2100 than they were in pre-industrial times. Sea water is acidifying because carbon dioxide, ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Limited biofuel land compatible with food: Industry
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64I4KU20100519
Reuters: A large but limited amount of land can be used to provide plant-based fuel without cutting the world's food supply, environmentalists and consultants told a global biofuels gathering on Wednesday. Governments around the world have promoted biofuels in order to cut greenhouse emissions and their dependence on fossil fuels, as well as prevent pollution. "In climate change, in oil spills, the Earth is paying the price for providing us with all this easy, unsustainable oil," Margo ...
Fri, 21 May 10
2010 on track to be hottest ever: U.S. climate data
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64I2YF20100519
Reuters: This year is on track to be the hottest ever after data published by America's climate agency this week showed record global temperatures in April and the first four months of 2010. "The combined April global land and ocean average surface temperature was the warmest on record at 58.1 degrees Fahrenheit (14.5 degrees Celsius), which is 1.37 degrees F (0.76 degrees C) above the 20th century average of 56.7 F (13.7 C)," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Australia: Energy efficiency efforts will hurt our profits, says big polluter
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/energy-smart/energy-efficiency-efforts-will-hurt-our-profits-says-big-polluter-20100519-vfcj.html
Sydney Morning Herald: A confidential submission released accidentally by the federal government shows the owners of the the heavy-polluting Hazelwood brown coal power plant will resist energy efficiency efforts because they could hit their bottom line. International Power's submission to a taskforce developing an energy efficiency policy also states that energy efficiency is only about power use, not energy production. ''International Power rejects any proposal to introduce climate change policy ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Report: Forest cover declining across New England
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/economy/report-forest-cover-declining-across-new-england-group-urges-new-woodlands-protections-94299714.html
Associated Press: After more than 150 years of natural regrowth, forest cover is declining across all six New England states, threatening the region's landscape and chipping away at a natural buffer against global warming, according to a study released Tuesday by Harvard University's laboratory for ecological research. The study by Harvard Forest found that New England forests, having grown back after a spate of land clearings by European settlers, have come under increasing pressure from a new wave of ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Oceans warmed in recent decades
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/59362/title/Oceans_warmed_in_recent_decades
ScienceNews: Oceanographic data, including some collected by robotic probes like this Argo float, reveal that the uppermost 700 meters of the world's ocean warmed substantially (about 0.18 degrees Celsius, on average) between 1993 and 2008.Sea Education Association Earth's upper ocean warmed substantially between 1993 and 2008, a new analysis reveals. The trend signals growing heat storage in oceans, researchers say, a result of human-caused warming. The new study, reported in the May 20 ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Robot floats record sharp increase in upper ocean warming
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/05/20/20climatewire-robot-floats-record-sharp-increase-in-upper-67924.html
ClimateWire: The upper ocean warmed considerably over the past decade and a half, according to a new study that attempts to make sense of conflicting analyses of the amount of heat stored in the world's seas. Between 1993 and 2008, the study finds, the upper 700 meters of the oceans absorbed about 0.6 watts per square meter of energy. That is roughly equivalent to the power of 2 billion copies of the atomic bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II, said lead author ...
Fri, 21 May 10
United States: Disputed renewable power bill signed
http://www.jsonline.com/business/94344129.html
Journal Sentinel: Gov. Jim Doyle on Wednesday signed into law a bill that wind power developers and environmental groups had asked him to veto. The bill, known as the Renewable Resource Credits bill, would allow energy generation produced from waste such as garbage to be classified as renewable and qualify that electricity for the state's renewable power mandate. The bill was drafted to grant renewable status to the Apollo light pipe, a a small glass skylight dome that, when mounted in a roof, ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Australia: Critics slam policy to ban coast wind farms
http://www.senews.com.au/story/89252
Star: A sustainability group has slammed the state opposition for vowing to establish "no-go" zones for wind farms on the Surf Coast and Bellarine Peninsula. Geelong Sustainability Group president David Campbell labelled the policy "disappointing and negative". "This is disappointing given it's the first we've heard of the Victorian Liberals' policies on climate change and energy," Mr Campbell said. "Rather than taking a restrictive and negative approach on wind farms, the ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Scientists Fault U.S. Response in Assessing Gulf Oil Spill
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/science/earth/20noaa.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: Tensions between the Obama administration and the scientific community over the gulf oil spill are escalating, with prominent oceanographers accusing the government of failing to conduct an adequate scientific analysis of the damage and of allowing BP to obscure the spill's true scope. The scientists assert that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other agencies have been slow to investigate the magnitude of the spill and the damage it is causing in the deep ocean. ...
Fri, 21 May 10
National Research Council Urges Action on Climate
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/science/earth/20climate.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: In its most comprehensive study so far, the nation's leading scientific body declared on Wednesday that climate change is a reality and is driven mostly by human activity, chiefly the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. The group, the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, issued three reports describing the case for a harmful human influence on the global climate as overwhelming and arguing for strong immediate action to limit emissions of ...
Fri, 21 May 10
Market players reject climate bill curbs
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=2006
Carbon Positive: Opposition is mounting within financial markets against curbs to market trading contained in the proposed US Senate climate bill, unveiled last week. The International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) and the NYMEX Green Exchange have criticised the provisions as counterproductive. The Kerry-Lieberman bill calls for maximum and minimum prices to be set for the carbon allowances issued under a cap and trade scheme to curb market volatility. They start at $12 and $25 and are indexed ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Unexpected consequence: Increased CO2 could affect nutritional value of crops
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ygreen/20100520/sc_ygreen/unexpectedconsequenceincreasedco2couldaffectnutritionalvalueofcrops
Yahoo Green: A new study published in the journal Science states that rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere aren't just affecting climate, but could affect the nutrition contained in the world's food crops too. Scientists at the University of California, Davis found that increased CO2 could reduce the protein content of crop plants by as much as 20 percent. This slash in nutritional value happens because higher concentrations of CO2 interfere with a plant's ability to convert nitrates into proteins, ...
Thu, 20 May 10
UK on course to reap massive renewable energy harvest
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/may/19/wind-wave-power-north-sea
Guardian: Britain could become the "Saudi Arabia of the renewables world" on the back of North Sea wind and wave resources, according to a study carried out by government and industry. The review by independent consultants for the Offshore Valuation Group estimates that by 2050 the UK could generate the equivalent in electricity to the 1bn barrels of oil and gas being produced annually offshore. Green energy experts in the City are sceptical claiming it would require herculean efforts to ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Strong evidence on climate change underscores need for actions to reduce emissions and begin adapting
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100519112723.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: As part of its most comprehensive study of climate change to date, the National Research Council has issued three reports emphasizing why the U.S. should act now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop a national strategy to adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change. The reports by the Research Council, the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering, are part of a congressionally requested suite of five studies known as America's ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Malaria in retreat despite warmer climate
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627615.800-malaria-in-retreat-despite-warmer-climate.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: IN A rare instance of humans beating one of the impacts of climate change, measures to combat malaria appear to be neutralising the expected global increase of the disease driven by rising temperatures. Peter Gething of the University of Oxford compared a map of the range of malaria in 2007 with one from 1900, when the world was 0.7 °C cooler. He found the proportion of Earth's landmass where malaria is endemic has fallen from 58 per cent to 30 per cent (Nature, vol 465, p 342). ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Gulf oil 'reaches major current'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/us_and_canada/10127904.stm
BBC: The first oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill has entered an ocean current that could take it to Florida and up the east coast of the US, scientists say. A "small portion" of oil sheen is in the Loop Current, which circulates in the Gulf, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said. Diluted oil could appear in isolated parts of Florida if persistent winds pushed the current that way, it added. European scientists warn the spill could reach Florida ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Disease control, not climate change, key to future of malaria
http://www.physorg.com/news193492260.html
Physorg: A study published today in the journal Nature casts doubt on the widely held notion that warming global temperatures will lead to a future intensification of malaria and an expansion of its global range. The research, conducted by the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP), a multinational team of researchers funded mainly by the Wellcome Trust, suggests that current interventions could have a far more dramatic - and positive - effect on reducing the spread of malaria than any negative effects ...
Thu, 20 May 10
3 climate change reports call for setting price on carbon emissions
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/environment/2010-05-19-climate20_ST_N.htm?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29
USA Today: In three reports on global warming, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences Wednesday called for limiting greenhouse gas emissions by setting a price on them. The three "America's Climate Choices" reports, requested by Congress under the Bush administration, come as roiling debate over climate and energy legislation in Washington and the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico cloud future energy decisions. Echoing past reports such as the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Big compromise made on Canada's Boreal by environmental groups and forestry industry
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0519-hance_boreal_agreement.html
Mongabay: In what is being heralded as the 'world's largest conservation agreement' 20 Canadian forestry companies and nine environmental organizations have announced an agreement covering 72 million hectares of the Canadian boreal forest (an area bigger than France). Reaching a major compromise, the agreement essentially ends a long battle between several environmental groups and the companies signing on, all members of the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC). The companies will ...
Thu, 20 May 10
U.S. Scientists Urge Action On Climate Change
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126985040&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: The nation's pre-eminent scientific organization says the Earth is definitely warming and is calling on the government to organize a massive and sustained effort to slow that warming. The National Research Council in Washington also says scientists need to figure out how to predict and limit the effects of climate change, and how to adapt. The report from the NRC is the culmination of two years' work and is the most comprehensive it has issued on climate to date. NRC is the ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Oil Spill Has Florida Worried About Hit to Tourism
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/science/earth/20tourism.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: Off Florida's Gulf Coast, the seas are calm and the king mackerel are running. Capt. Joe Meadows's telephone should be ringing with bookings for his 42-foot sport-fishing boat for the summer season. Instead, the calls are from reservation holders wondering if they should cancel. In a state already reeling from foreclosures and unemployment, those whose livelihood depends on visitors lathered in sunscreen are trying to persuade tourists scared off by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico ...
Thu, 20 May 10
EU agrees mandate for "nearly zero energy" homes
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64I6LO20100519?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: All new buildings constructed in Europe after 2020 will have to be virtually carbon-neutral after the European Parliament gave new energy standards the last approval they needed Tuesday. The standards are expected to have a significant long-term impact on the EU's bills for gas imports for heating from Russia, Norway and Algeria, worth tens of billions of euros each year. The European Union's mandate for "nearly zero-energy buildings" will kick in for all new public buildings ...
Thu, 20 May 10
U.S. reports urge a price on climate emissions
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64I6I820100519?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The best way to curb global warming is to put a price on climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions, according to a trio of reports from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences released on Wednesday. In blunt language at odds with the unwieldy climate change debate in the U.S. Congress, the academy said: "A carbon-pricing system is the most cost-effective way to reduce emissions. Either cap-and-trade, a system of taxing emissions, or a combination of the two could provide the needed ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Four endangered mountain gorillas die in Rwanda
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64I6FH20100519?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Three baby mountain gorillas and an adult female have died in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park, possibly from a combination of extremely cold and rainy weather, wildlife authorities said on Wednesday. Around 680 mountain gorillas remain in the wild, making them one of the world's most endangered great apes, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said in a statement. The cause of death is not yet known but there was no indication of foul play, the statement added. "We are all ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Climate change doesn't have to mean more malaria: Study
http://www.montrealgazette.com/Climate+change+doesn+have+mean+more+malaria+Study/3048229/story.html
Montreal Gazette: A new report casts doubt on the commonly held belief that rising global temperatures will cause malaria to spread into more temperate regions and become more common in areas where the tropical disease is already prevalent. Fears climate change might lead to deadly malaria outbreaks and an expansion of the global range of the mosquito-borne disease are overblown, according to a new study released Wednesday. The research, published in the journal Nature, casts doubt on the ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Academy of Sciences defends climate-change research, conclusions
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/19/1637726/academy-of-sciences-defends-climate.html
McClatchy Newspapers: The National Academy of Sciences, the nation's most prestigious scientific body, issued a strong defense of the science of climate change Wednesday and called for a long-lasting national policy to limit its effects. One of its surprising findings was that the United States won't be able to meet its goal for cutting greenhouse gas emissions with the technology that's available now or even with what's expected to be developed in the next decade. New research and development on other ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Man-made climate change blamed for 'significant' rise in ocean temperature
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/manmade-climate-change-blamed-for-significant-rise-in-ocean-temperature-1977669.html
Independent (UK): The world's oceans are warming up and the rise is both significant and real, according to one of the most comprehensive studies into marine temperature data gathered over the past two decades. Measuring the temperature of the oceans has not been easy, but the scientists behind the latest study believe there is now incontrovertible evidence to show that the top few hundred metres of the sea are warming -- and that this temperature rise is consistent with man-made climate ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Detergent-based technology aims to clean up fuel cell market
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263347/detergent-fuel-cell-heads
Business Green: A UK start up that promises to significantly reduce the cost of fuel cell technologies by replacing expensive platinum components with a liquid developed from detergents is set to deliver a commercial roll out of its technology by 2012, after securing £3.5m of new funding. ACAL Energy has developed a novel FlowCath technology, which replaces the platinum cathode typically used in many fuel cell designs with a liquid regenerating catalyst system. The firm was co-founded in 2004 by ...
Thu, 20 May 10
GeoScience urges government to back flagship geothermal plant
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263344/geoscience-urges-government
Business Green: The coalition government is likely to face an early test of its commitment to the renewable energy sector after the company behind plans for the UK's first commercial-scale geothermal power plant revealed this week that it is likely to require government funding to move forward with the project. Cornwall-based GeoScience has developed plans for a pilot project near Redruth that would see three bore-holes drilled to depths of around 4,500 metres. According to Peter Ledingham, ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Google-funded hot rock 'water' drill could reduce cost of geothermal energy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/19/google-drill-geothermal
Guardian: A novel drill that is inspired by a jet engine and uses super-heated water to carve through rock could help harness to make clean energy from underground rocks more economically viable, according to its backers at Google. Potter Drilling is part-funded by Google.org - the internet search giant's philanthropic arm - and wants to use its technology to develop geothermal energy, which involves tapping the energy from hot rocks deep in the Earth. Geothermal energy is seen by ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Norway to provide Indonesia with $1 billion to protest rainforests
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0519-norway_indonesia.html
Mongabay: Norway will provide up to $1 billion to Indonesia to help reduce deforestation and forest degradation, reports The Jakarta Post. Agus Purnomo, head of the secretariat of Indonesia's National Climate Change Council, told the newspaper that the deal will be signed on May 27 and funds may start flowing as early as this year. The agreement comes two years after Norway pledged $1 billion to Brazil for reducing Amazon deforestation. Norway has also committed funds to Guyana, ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Attorney seeks to combine 100-plus oil lawsuits
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100519/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_lawsuits
Associate Press: An attorney wants more than 100 lawsuits filed against BP and other companies involved in the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill combined quickly in a single federal court to avoid what he called legal chaos that could delay potential payments of billions of dollars in damages. Louisiana lawyer Daniel Becnel on Wednesday asked a federal judicial panel in Washington state to order the lawsuits in five Gulf Coast states centralized in New Orleans or a federal court elsewhere in Louisiana, ...
Thu, 20 May 10
The Iran nuclear deal and the new premier league of global powers
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/19/iran-nuclear-brazil-turkey-us
Guardian: The furious row between the Obama administration and the leaders of Brazil and Turkey over how best to handle Iran's nuclear ambitions, following this week's controversial "uranium swap" deal in Tehran, reflects a more fundamental and widening disagreement over how the world should be run in the 21st century. On Iran, as on other issues that it regards as critical to its security and national interest, Washington expects to have its own way – and is accustomed to getting it. If ...
Thu, 20 May 10
US top scientists urge coal, oil use penalties
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/19/AR2010051901624.html
Associated Press: Ditching its past cautious tone, the nation's top scientists urged the government Wednesday to take drastic action to raise the cost of using coal and oil to slow global warming. The National Academy of Sciences specifically called for a carbon tax on fossil fuels or a cap-and-trade system for curbing greenhouse gas emissions, calling global warming an urgent threat. The academy, which advises the government on scientific matters, said the nation needs to cut the pollution that ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Offshore green energy could make UK net exporter by 2050
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/19/offshore-green-energy-uk
Guardian: The first study to put a financial value on the UK's offshore renewable energy resource has concluded that the nascent sector could transform the country from a net energy importer to a net energy exporter by 2050. The report, which was commissioned by a coalition of government and industry organisations known as the Offshore Valuation Group, argues that the creation of a North Sea supergrid would allow the UK to export energy generated by offshore wind farms and marine energy systems ...
Thu, 20 May 10
US and Cuba hold talks on oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100519/ap_on_bi_ge/cb_oil_spill_cuba
Associated Press: U.S and Cuban officials are holding "working level" talks on how to respond to the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill that is believed to be dumping some 5,000 barrels of crude a day into the Gulf of Mexico, two State Department officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The talks add to signs of concern that strong currents could carry the slick far from the site of the spill, possibly threatening the Florida Keys and the pristine white beaches along Cuba's northern ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Wave power firms roll out next-generation devices
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263327/wave-power-sector-rides
Business Green: Scotland's dream of becoming the "Saudi Arabia of marine energy" took another step towards reality this week after two of the UK's leading wave energy firms unveiled full-scale demonstration devices. E.ON and Pelamis yesterday launched the first prototype of the 750kW Pelamis P2 marine hydropower device, which the two companies hailed as the first wave energy generator to be purchased by a commercial utility. The P2 will be towed from Edinburgh to the European Marine Energy ...
Thu, 20 May 10
US top scientists urge coal, oil use penalties
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100519/ap_on_sc/us_sci_climate_reports
Associated Press: The nation's top scientists say global warming is so urgent that the United States must make it more expensive to use coal and oil. The National Academy of Sciences, an advisory panel to the government, is taking the unusual step of urging specific actions to curb global warming. Normally, the academy speaks out on scientific matters but doesn't recommend policy. The academy says the nation needs to cut its greenhouse gas emissions from 57 to 83 percent by 2050. That's about ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Shell pledges $2B to cut gas flaring in Nigeria
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100519/ap_on_re_af/af_nigeria_shell_gas_flaring
Associated Press: Royal Dutch Shell PLC announced Wednesday it will spend more than $2 billion to sharply reduce the burning off of natural gas at its oil wells in Nigeria -- gases that when burned contribute to global warming and sicken people living nearby. In a statement, Shell said its Nigerian subsidiary would use the money to capture the natural gas released at 26 flow stations in the oil-rich Niger Delta. The company said it had planned the work there for some time but funding problems and ...
Thu, 20 May 10
US oil spill in Loop Current 'heading for Florida'
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100519/wl_afp/usblastoilenergypollutioncurrent
Agence France-Presse: The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has entered the Loop Current, a powerful conveyor belt that flows clockwise around the Gulf towards Florida, the European Space Agency said Wednesday. Scientists monitoring the massive slick via ESA satellites say that oil has for the first time hit the current and is likely to reach Florida within six days. "We have visible proof that at least oil from the surface of the water has reached the current," said Bertrand Chapron, a scientist at the ...
Thu, 20 May 10
United Kingdom: Huhne 'sceptical' on nuclear power in talks with renewables boss
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/19/chris-huhne-nuclear-renewable-wind-power
Guardian: Chris Huhne, the new energy and climate change minister is sceptical about nuclear power but wanted to support the development of renewable energy, according to the UK's largest renewable generator. Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) said it had "good discussions" with Huhne on Tuesday. The company said he was very well-informed and fully supportive of its projects, including the huge Greater Gabbard wind farm off the coast of Suffolk which, when built, will be the largest offshore ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Tough US measures needed to beat climate change: experts
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100519/pl_afp/usclimatewarmingscience_20100519142102
Agence France-Presse: The United States has to lead the global fight on climate change by breaking with business-as-usual and setting tough standards for the amount of greenhouse gases it emits into the atmosphere, US scientists said Wednesday. In one of three multi-hundred-page reports on climate change by the National Research Council, scientists said the United States should set a budget that would limit greenhouse gas emissions to a total of between 170 and 200 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Smallest waterlily in the world saved from extinction - by Kew Gardens
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/19/thermal-waterlily-smallest-kew-gardens
Guardian: Plant experts at Kew Gardens have rescued the smallest waterlily in the world from the brink of extinction. The thermal waterlily has not grown in the wild since the last specimens vanished two years ago from its only known habitat, a hot spring in southwest Rwanda. After a year-long struggle, a Kew Gardens biologist worked out a way to grow the plants at the botanic gardens, paving the way for their reintroduction in the wild. Carlos Magdalena, the plant scientist who ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Fishing Ban Is Expanded as Spill's Impact Becomes More Evident
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/us/19spill.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration greatly expanded the fishing ban in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday in response to spreading oil from the BP well blowout. The prohibited area now covers 19 percent of the gulf, nearly double what it was, according to the agency. Officials are already seeing some impact on fish and wildlife in the region. Rowan W. Gould, the acting director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, said 156 sea turtle fatalities had been recorded in the gulf ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Gulf Oil Spill Represents a New Threat to a Sea Turtle
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/science/earth/19turtle.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: It is nesting season here, and just offshore, Kemp's ridley sea turtle No. 15 circles in the water before dragging herself onto the sand to lay another clutch of eggs. The sea turtle, affectionately nicknamed Thelma by a National Park Service employee, has already beaten some terrible odds. Still in the egg, she was airlifted here from Mexico in the years after the 1979 blowout of the Ixtoc 1 rig, which spilled millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and covered the ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Interior Secretary Acknowledges Lax Oil Regulation
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126967987&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Oil executives connected to the Gulf of Mexico blowout sat in the hot seat before congressional committees last week. Now top government officials get a turn before the panels. Much of that task fell on Tuesday to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, whose department oversees oil drilling.
Thu, 20 May 10
Study urges Australia to embrace green jobs revolution
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263266/study-urges-australia-embrace
Business Green: The Australian government could create over 750,000 new jobs by 2030 by acting now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent by 2020, according to a report released today by the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). The report claims that adopting an ambitious emission reduction target and a national emission trading scheme, coupled with strong policies on energy efficiency, renewable energy investment and cleaner transport would ...
Thu, 20 May 10
A bioblitz of a London garden
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/18/bioblitz-wildlife-garden
Guardian: Back garden Flower bed Digging up the flower bed reveals a handful of worms from the black-headed, grey, green, rosy-tipped and lobworm varieties. Lawn The team finds 27 species of moss alone, mostly common species such as Brachythecium rutabulum and Kindbergia praelonga – but, surprisingly, no liverworts. Log pile Usually a rich bug habitat, it proves most popular with spiders and springtails – tiny creatures that use their tails to spring away from ...
Thu, 20 May 10
For kids, video games top saving nature: survey
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100519/lf_afp/environmentbiodiversitychildrenun
AFP: Ten times more children around the world rank watching television and playing video games as more important to them than saving the environment, according to a survey released Wednesday. Earth's flora and fauna are disappearing 1,000 times faster than the natural extinction rate, but only nine percent of kids gave a top priority to protecting the planet's animal life. Many did not even know what is meant by "endangered species," reported the survey, released by the UN ...
Thu, 20 May 10
UK firm turns vertical farming vision into reality
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263276/uk-firm-turns-vertical-farming
Business Green: For years the concept of vertical farms has been consigned to the pages of architect's notebooks, but now a British-Canadian firm is poised to turn vertical farming into a reality -- albeit on a smaller scale than the farm skyscrapers you find in science fiction novels. Cornwall-based Valcent Products has developed a vertical horticultural system that promises to slash the amount of land, water and energy used to produce crops typically grown in greenhouse conditions. "The idea ...
Thu, 20 May 10
ENERGY: The Sun Lights Up the Night in Haiti
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51484
Inter Press Service: There are shortages of lots of things in Haiti: clean water, arable land, trees, living-wage jobs, housing, schools, fuel, reliable sources of electricity and Internet access. But one thing Haiti has in abundance is sunny days. The sun beats down relentlessly on Port-au-Prince: on the tin and plastic roofs of the shacks in the neighbourhood of Cité Soleil (not without reason named "Sun City") and on the red tiles of the mansions in the hills in the suburb of Pétionville. Even ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Figueres calls for "more ambition" at climate talks
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263282/figueres-calls-ambition-climate
Business Green: Christiana Figueres yesterday used her first interview after being confirmed as the next head of the UN's climate change secretariat to call for a step-change in the international talks to replace or extend the Kyoto Protocol. Speaking to the BBC's One Planet programme, the Costa Rican diplomat said it was time for countries to "make more effort, it's time to be more ambitious". She also urged negotiators to take a more "transparent" and "inclusive" approach to the talks, ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Report: UK could be net energy exporter by 2050
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263302/uk-offshore-renewables-sector
Business Green: The first study to put a financial value on the UK's offshore renewable energy resource has concluded that the nascent sector could transform the country from a net energy importer to a net energy exporter by 2050. The report, which was commissioned by a coalition of government and industry organisations known as the Offshore Valuation Group, argues that the creation of a North Sea supergrid would allow the UK to export energy generated by offshore wind farms and marine energy systems ...
Thu, 20 May 10
U.N. climate chief wants to build bridges
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/UN_climate_chief_wants_to_build_bridges_999.html
United Press International: Christiana Figueres of Costa Rica is the new U.N. climate protection chief. Appointed Monday by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Figueres is to succeed Yvo de Boer as the head of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change when the Dutchman steps down July 1. Figueres, 53, knows the climate circus well: She has been a negotiator for her country since 1995, has helped draft climate protection strategies all over Latin America, and has represented Latin America and the ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Climate change will worsen lake pollution
http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/88076/
Vermont Public Radio: (Host) A new study warns that climate change will aggravate Lake Champlain's pollution problems. The report for The Nature Conservancy says the lake's levels are higher because of increased precipitation. And the researchers say the wetter weather may cause more phosphorus pollution to wash off the land and harm the big lake. VPR's John Dillon has more: (Dillon) The study for the Adirondack and Vermont chapters of The Nature Conservancy is one of the first to forecast ...
Thu, 20 May 10
In search of a few good leaders
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2010/05/19/19climatewire-senate-climate-bill-in-search-of-a-few-good-20951.html
New York Times: The Senate climate and energy bill unveiled last week now resides in a no man's land without any clear consensus on who is responsible for collecting 60 votes. "It's a good question: Who's in charge?" said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). For starters, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) makes the decisions when it comes to what proposals reach the floor and how much time they get once they get there. But he is leaving the heaviest lifting on the climate issue to Sens. John Kerry ...
Thu, 20 May 10
A data center power supply that moos
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/technology/19cows.html
New York Times: America's dairy farmers could soon find themselves in the computer business, with the manure from their cows possibly powering the vast data centers of companies like Google and Microsoft. While not immediately intuitive, the idea plays on two trends: the building of computing centers in more rural locales, and dairy farmers' efforts to deal with cattle waste by turning it into fuel. With the right skills, a dairy farmer could rent out land and power to technology companies and recoup ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Now Turnbull accentuates the positives in Abbott's climate change stand
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/now-turnbull-accentuates-the-positives-in-abbotts-climate-change-stand-20100518-vcaa.html
Sydney Morning Herald: MALCOLM TURNBULL has embraced a more conciliatory tone on climate change policy, conceding that Tony Abbott's alternative scheme, which he once ridiculed as ''bullshit'', had positive aspects and could work in the short term. Mr Turnbull, who has reversed his decision to quit politics, complimented the Coalition policy during a speech to the NSW Bar Association last night. The speech followed a tough day for Mr Abbott, who came under government attack and internal criticism for ...
Thu, 20 May 10
Shipping faces turbulent ride on carbon cutting quest
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64I03V20100519
Reuters: What's a natural resource that is free, produces zero carbon emissions and has been used to power ships since time immemorial? The answer is of course the wind. The graceful sailing ships that sent the likes of Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama to the Americas and India are long gone, though, replaced by vast iron vessels loaded with crude oil, minerals and neat stacks of shipping containers to feed the voracious global economy. These massive vessels, which can reach as ...
Thu, 20 May 10
United Kingdom: Sunny Cornwall promises to maximise feed-in tariff returns
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263258/sunny-cornwall-promises
Business Green: Cornwall-based solar panel installation firm Plug Into The Sun yesterday launched an innovative service designed to help private and commercial investors maximise financial returns from the UK's new feed-in tariff (FIT) incentive scheme while also helping to increase the country's renewable energy capacity. The new FIT Investor service aims to pair investors with domestic and commercial properties in Cornwall with space for rooftop solar panels. The company will broker a deal that ...
Tue, 18 May 10
MMS drilling official retires in oil spill fallout
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100518/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_washington
Associated Press: The federal official overseeing offshore drilling announced his departure Monday in a fallout from the Gulf oil spill and criticism that federal regulators have been too cozy with industry. President Barack Obama, meanwhile, has decided to have a presidential commission investigate the cause of the rig explosion that unleashed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, where engineers are struggling after three weeks to stop the flow. The presidential panel will be ...
Tue, 18 May 10
To U.S. offshore drilling official abruptly retires
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100518/sc_mcclatchy/3508045
McClatchy Newspapers: The top federal official in charge of overseeing offshore drilling retired abruptly on Monday as BP's chief operating officer pledged that his company would never pump oil from the runaway Deepwater Horizon well that exploded, killed 11 workers and began spewing millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico . Some in Congress welcomed Chris Oynes' resignation as the head of the Minerals Management Service's offshore drilling program as a sign that the administration would ...
Tue, 18 May 10
Scientists worry current could carry oil to Keys
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100518/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill
Associated Press: With BP finally gaining some control over the amount of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, scientists are increasingly worried that huge plumes of crude already spilled could get caught in a current that would carry the mess all the way to the Florida Keys and beyond, damaging coral reefs and killing wildlife. Scientists said the oil will move into the so-called loop current soon if it hasn't already, though they could not say exactly when or how much there would be. Once it is in ...
Tue, 18 May 10
Presidential commission to probe Gulf oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100518/us_nm/us_oil_rig_leak
Reuters: President Barack Obama will create a presidential commission to probe the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and energy giant BP said on Monday it had "turned the corner" in its efforts to contain it. London-based BP Plc said its latest "quick fix" -- a mile-long siphon tube deployed by undersea robots down to the leaking well-- was capturing about a fifth of the oil leaking from the ruptured well. Officials cautioned that the tube is helping contain the oil but will not stop the ...
Tue, 18 May 10
Indonesia: Nestle bows to Greenpeace pressure with beefed up palm oil policy
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263166/nestle-bows-greenpeace-pressure
Business Green: After months of criticism from campaign group Greenpeace over its alleged use of palm oil grown in illegal plantations on previously forested land, Nestle yesterday announced a major overhaul of the food giant's supply chain policy designed to help bring an end to rainforest destruction. The company's executive vice president José Lopez announced that the company would partner with independent NGO The Forest Trust to develop a more responsible supply chain policy that takes better ...
Tue, 18 May 10
Small nations given voice on climate
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/small-nations-given-voice-on-climate-1975609.html
Independent (UK): The United Nations has appointed a Costa Rican diplomat as its new climate change chief after small island nations intervened to press for a choice who would represent their concerns about the risks of global warming. Christiana Figueres, a climate change expert, has been a negotiator for her country at international emissions reduction meetings since 1995, and regularly chairs UN meetings. Ms Figueres only emerged as secretary general Ban Ki-moon's choice after a late ...
Tue, 18 May 10
This is no forecast. Climate change is here and now
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/michael-mccarthy-this-is-no--forecast-climate-change-is-here-and-now-1975613.html
Independent (UK): You can look at the warming of Lake Tanganyika as a geographical and scientific curiosity; but you're probably wiser to look at it with a considerable sense of foreboding. Africa may well be the region where global warming hits hardest in the coming century, a possibility clearly spelled out in the last report of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published in 2007. The "multiple stresses" include increased water shortages, severely compromised ...
Tue, 18 May 10
Eco anarchists: A new breed of terrorist?
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/eco-anarchists-a-new-breed-of-terrorist-1975559.html
Independent (UK): Until last month the small market town of Langnau in the rolling Swiss hills had two claims to fame; it was both a centre for the production of Emmental cheese and also one of the sunniest places in Switzerland. Today, thanks to a routine police traffic inquiry, it has the dubious honour of being the location where one of Europe's biggest alleged acts of eco-terrorism was foiled. On the night of 15 April local officers pulled over a car on one of the town's quiet streets. Inside the ...
Tue, 18 May 10
Nissan unveils £23,350 price tag for electric Leaf
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263128/nissan-unveils-23-350-price-tag
Business Green: Nissan has today announced the long-awaited European pricing for its electric vehicle, the Leaf, confirming the soon-to-be-launched car will cost £23,350 in the UK after a government incentive of £5,000 has been included. The company said the car will be priced at less than EUR30,000 (£25,600) for most of its European target markets, putting the cost on a par with comparably equipped diesel or hybrid vehicles. As well as the UK, Nissan also confirmed pricing for the Republic of ...
Tue, 18 May 10
United Kingdom: The crucial role of activism in scrapping Heathrow's third runway
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/may/17/heathrow-third-runway-activism
Guardian: It was more than four years ago when George Monbiot wrote on these pages: "At last the battlelines have been drawn, and the first major fight over climate change is about to begin. All over the country, a coalition of homeowners and anarchists, Nimbys and internationalists is mustering to fight the greatest future cause of global warming: the growth of aviation." Now the frontline in that battle, the third runway at Heathrow, has been officially cancelled, and so too have the new ...
Tue, 18 May 10
UK, Ireland set new flying zone, cut ash disruption
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64G3E820100517?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Britain's air traffic control body said on Monday it had agreed the creation of a new flying zone with Irish officials and aircraft manufacturers to limit the disruption caused by ash emitted by an Icelandic volcano. The new "Time Limited Zone" will be put in place over UK and Irish airspace from midday on Tuesday, allowing airlines to fly through areas of medium ash density that were previously off limits, it said in a statement. The decision followed the grounding of 1,000 ...
Tue, 18 May 10
ADB promotes CO2 capture
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-05/17/content_9855902.htm
China Daily: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has called on China to promote the use of carbon dioxide capture and storage, an emerging technology that it said can greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, Chinese researchers said it was unlikely to be the first choice for China because of its high cost in comparison with alternatives. "Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) is the most effective technology for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions if heavy use of coal continues in China," ...
Tue, 18 May 10
Solar power shines in NJ
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/homepage/20100517_New_Jersey_shines_in_its_embrace_of_solar_power.html#axzz0oBMg17u6
Philadelphia Inquirere: If NFI Industries' calculations are right, the three acres of solar panels just installed on the roof of its Cherry Hill headquarters will save $750,000 in energy costs over 15 years and become a green feather in its cap. The 1.32-megawatt project could also be a launchpad. It is the first renewable development designed and installed by NFI Solar, a new division in the 77-year-old trucking and logistics company, which the Brown family started as a coal-hauling operation in North ...
Tue, 18 May 10
Indonesia: Norway pledges $1b for carbon cut
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/05/17/norway-pledges-1b-carbon-cut.html
Jakarta Post: The government is upbeat it can reach its target to slice carbon emissions from forests after Norway pledged US$1 billion in grants to help Indonesia reduce forest degradation. The financial pledge on climate change was made during a meeting between senior officials from the two countries in Oslo, last week. "The cooperation convinces us that there will be international funding if we reduce emissions from forest and peatland areas," the special assistant to President Susilo ...
Tue, 18 May 10
Costa Rican Christiana Figueres Named UN Climate Change Chief
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/may2010/2010-05-17-01.html
Environment News Service: Costa Rican Christiana Figueres Named UN Climate Change Chief Environment News Service (ENS) Costa Rican Christiana Figueres Named UN Climate Change Chief NEW YORK, New York, May 17, 2010 (ENS) - Christiana Figueres of Costa Rica has been selected to lead United Nations' efforts to combat climate change. Appointed today by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, she will become executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, when Yvo de Boer of ...
Tue, 18 May 10
Indoor air kills 2.2 million young Chinese: report
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100517/ts_afp/healthchinapollution
Agence France-Presse: More than two million Chinese youths die each year from health problems related to indoor air pollution, with nearly half of them under five years of age, state media cited a government study as saying. The study released by the China Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said indoor pollution levels can often be 5-10 times higher than those measured in the nation's notoriously bad outdoor air, the China News Service said. This indoor pollution causes respiratory and other ...
Tue, 18 May 10
Congressional Panels To Demand More Info From BP
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126877909&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Lawmakers plan several hearings on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico over the next few weeks. They'll be looking at reported safety lapses and inappropriate relationships between the oil industry and the agency that was supposed to enforce regulations agency.
Sun, 16 May 10
BP struggles with latest bid to contain oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100516/ts_nm/us_oil_rig_leak
Reuters: BP Plc struggled on Saturday to get its latest effort to contain the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill to work as the Obama administration demanded the British energy giant clarify its intentions on paying for damage caused by the accident. The accident at the offshore oil rig is threatening an ecological and economic calamity along the U.S. Gulf Coast. As BP pushed forward with its tricky undersea effort to redirect the flow of oil after another setback, two members of ...
Sun, 16 May 10
Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/us/16oil.html?hp
New York Times: "There's a shocking amount of oil in the deep water, relative to what you see in the surface water,' said Samantha Joye, a researcher at the University of Georgia who is involved in one of the first scientific missions to gather details about what is happening in the gulf. "There's a tremendous amount of oil in multiple layers, three or four or five layers deep in the water column.' The plumes are depleting the oxygen dissolved in the gulf, worrying scientists, who fear that the ...
Sun, 16 May 10
BP Tries Mile-Long Tube In Latest Bid To Plug Leak
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126848656&ft=1&f=1025
Associated Press: At first, BP tried to stop the oil rushing into the Gulf of Mexico by flipping a blowout preventer switch. A week ago, they attempted to capture the leak with a 100-ton box. The latest experiment? Trying to guide a skinny, mile-long tube into the gusher. BP PLC technicians were gingerly moving joysticks to guide deep-sea robots and thread the 6-inch tube with a rubber stopper into the 21-inch pipe spewing oil from the ocean floor. That work continued Saturday morning for a second day, ...
Sun, 16 May 10
New Jersey's solar rebate program deluged
http://www.northjersey.com/news/environment/energy/93751594_A_rush_on_solar_rebate_bids.html
North Jersey: The office that doles out state solar energy rebates for residential installations has been deluged with applications from people afraid that the program will run out of funds after Governor Christie took the money from it to help plug the state's budget gap. With future funds for the program uncertain, in a single day recently more than 1,100 people applied for $6 million in rebates for their residential solar installations, forcing the state Board of Public Utilities to cut off the ...
Sun, 16 May 10
Climate change and biodiversity: Enhance positive, minimize negative
http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25222:climate-change-and-biodiversity-enhance-positive-minimize-negative&catid=44:science&Itemid=69
Business Mirror: AMONG the major concerns on climate change and biodiversity are how to enhance the positive relationship between the two and minimize the negative. This matter was tackled in the latest book of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca), which underscores the relationship between climate change and biodiversity as it offers in-depth analysis on how they are interlinked and interrelated. Entitled Moving Forward: Southeast Asian ...
Sun, 16 May 10
United Kingdom: Caterpillar infestations on rise
http://www.independent.ie/and-finally/caterpillar-infestations-on-rise-2181696.html
Press Association: Global warming has been blamed for an increase in caterpillar infestations which can leave people with severe allergic reactions. In the latest incident, residents of West Street, Newport, Isle of Wight, have been forced to stay indoors or wear protective body suits and face masks to avoid coming into contact with tiny hairs shed by the brown tail moth caterpillars. The insects have set up home in an isolated plot of land next to gardens in the street which has become ...
Sun, 16 May 10
United Kingdom: Nuclear will not get atom of help from this Government, says Chris Huhne
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7127202.ece
Times (UK): David Cameron strode into the Department for Energy and Climate Change. "I want this to be the greenest government ever,' he told the civil servants who had gathered to meet their new boss. Whitehall departments have been told to cut their carbon emissions by 10 per cent over the next 12 months and roll out an environmentalist revolution across Britain. The Prime Minister is hoping that blue and yellow will make green, with "double the passion and double the achievement' of a ...
Sun, 16 May 10
Indonesia: Three ministers pledge to stop peatland conversion
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/05/15/three-ministers-pledge-stop-peatland-conversion.html
Jakarta Post: Activists from environmental group Greenpeace have said that three ministers told them the government would stop issuing new permits to convert peatland. Greenpeace made the announcement after speaking with Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan and Agriculture Minister Suswono in separate closed-door meetings earlier this week. "Both have promised to halt new permits for peatland conversion, including in areas that are less than three meters deep," Joko Arif, a Greenpeace forest ...
Sun, 16 May 10
Gary Locke to hawk U.S. clean energy on China trip
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64D4M720100514
Reuters: U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke heads to China this weekend, leading a delegation of 24 American companies hoping to break through barriers to China's vast and fast-growing clean energy market. China, the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, is plowing tens of billions of dollars -- if not more -- into wind, solar, nuclear and other non-fossil energy projects, a market U.S. companies are eager to tap. Predictions ...
Sun, 16 May 10
US asks BP to clarify cleanup intentions as Gulf spill gushes on
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100515/sc_afp/usblastoilenergypollution
Agence France-Presse: Crews worked to place a siphon tube into a ruptured pipe spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico Saturday as globs of oil washed ashore in new spots and US officials told BP to clarify what cleanup costs it will pay. The latest effort by British Petroleum to contain the thousands of gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf involves connecting an "insertion tube" to the leak site so oil can be siphoned to a container vessel at the surface. The process was supposed to be completed ...
Sun, 16 May 10
BP's own probe finds safety issues on Atlantis rig
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100515/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_bp_safety
Associated Press: The company whose drilling triggered the Gulf of Mexico oil spill also owns a rig that operated with incomplete and inaccurate engineering documents, which one official warned could "lead to catastrophic operator error," records and interviews show. In February, two months before the Deepwater Horizon spill, 19 members of Congress called on the agency that oversees offshore oil drilling to investigate a whistle-blower's complaints about the BP-owned Atlantis, which is stationed in ...
Sun, 16 May 10
Salazar: BP Has 'Problem' In Latest Oil Leak Effort
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126852086&ft=1&f=1025
Associated Press: BP was confident Saturday its latest experiment using a mile-long pipe would capture much of the oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, even as the company disclosed yet another setback in the environmental disaster. Engineers hit a snag when they tried to connect two pieces of equipment a mile below the water's surface. BP PLC chief operating officer Doug Suttles said one piece of equipment, called the framework, had to be brought to the water's surface so that adjustments could be ...
Sun, 16 May 10
White House keeps up heat on BP over oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100515/ts_nm/us_oil_rig_leak_obama
Reuters: Top Obama administration officials demanded "immediate public clarification" from BP Plc about paying for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in a letter released on Saturday, as the White House kept up heat on the British energy giant over the environmental disaster. "The public has a right to a clear understanding of BP's commitment to redress all of the damage that has occurred or that will occur in the future as a result of the oil spill," Obama's Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and ...
Sun, 16 May 10
US demands oil spill costs 'clarification' from BP
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8684912.stm
BBC: The US government has demanded immediate clarification from BP over its commitment to pay for costs caused by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Obama administration said it wanted to be sure BP would honour commitments not to limit payments for damages to a US statutory cap of $75m (£50m). Meanwhile, BP says oil dispersants applied at the source of the leak on Friday have begun to take effect. Mississippi has become the third US state to have oil wash up on its ...
Sun, 16 May 10
BP's devastating oil spill is jeopardising future offshore exploration including Cairn Energy's Greenland venture
http://business.scotsman.com/business/BP39s-devastating-oil-spill-is.6297573.jp
Scotsman: VIDEO footage of oil gushing from a ruptured pipe more than a mile below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico has transfixed the world and for Tony Hayward, the chief executive of BP, every escaping barrel is blackening his name. He has been getting hate mail, constant calls from the US cabinet, including the secretary of the interior Ken Salazar. He is not sleeping well. "I will be judged by the response," said Hayward from BP's control centre in Houston, as he acknowledged his career ...
Sun, 16 May 10
Louisiana oil spill: toxic chemical fear over BP's clean-up efforts
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/16/louisiana-oil-spill-toxic-chemical-bp
Guardian: Scientists have raised urgent new concerns over the latest efforts to mitigate the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the oil rig explosion on BP's Deepwater Horizon. Latest efforts to limit the environmental damage involve an untried deep-water technique, using a toxic dispersant that they believe may damage ocean life. But the new method has so far only succeeded in ratcheting up the growing controversy surrounding the spill. On Friday, Barack Obama appeared to ...
Sun, 16 May 10
BP fights to stop the Gulf of Mexico spill - and salvage its reputation
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/may/16/bp-gulf-of-mexico-oil-spill
Guardian: Late last Saturday afternoon, the helicopter reeled around for one last low sweep over the wetlands in the Mississippi delta. That was when Melanie Bell, normally a manager for BP's North American gas business in Houston, spotted a small oily sheen on the water. It was approaching a narrow stretch of beach at the end of a spit at South Point, near where the Mississippi river meets the Gulf of Mexico. Oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster had finally hit land. On Monday, BP's staging ...
Sun, 16 May 10
Insurers warn of price hikes as Deepwater Horizon losses head for $3.5bn
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/16/gulf-oil-spill-insurance-losses
Guardian: The insurance industry is forecasting a loss of up to $3.5bn (£2.4bn) from the growing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This will be the biggest energy insurance loss in more than 20 years, and could drive up premiums. According to Lloyd's of London insurer Catlin, the 20 April explosion, which triggered an undersea well leak, will be the biggest loss in the energy market since the explosion of the Piper Alpha platform in 1988. A spiral of reinsurance losses from that disaster cost ...
Sun, 16 May 10
The main points of the US climate bill
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-main-points-of-the-us-climate-bill-1974228.html
Agence France-Presse: US senators on Wednesday introduced long-awaited legislation to curb carbon emissions blamed for global warming, a key priority for President Barack Obama. Here are some of the main points of the "American Power Act" authored by Senators John Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut: - GOALS The bill seeks to reduce carbon emissions by 17 percent by 2020 compared with 2005 levels. Further cuts would eliminate 42 percent of ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Countryside to sprout solar farms as firms cash in on subsidy scheme
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7125779.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=3392178
Times (UK): Fields in Gloucestershire's rolling countryside, immortalised by Laurie Lee in Cider With Rosie, may soon be covered by thousands of solar panels. Despite the lack of guaranteed sunshine, the solar farms will make a guaranteed profit because of a generous subsidy funded through increases in household energy bills. The rate of installation of solar panels will increase five-fold in Britain this year because of this feed-in tariff, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Ecotricity, ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Hurricane Katrina's Impact On Ecological And Human Health
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1865771/hurricane_katrinas_impact_on_ecological_and_human_health/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: Scientists studying the environmental impact of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans have revealed the ecological impact and human health risks from exposure to chemical contaminants. The findings, published in a special issue of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, demonstrate how Hurricane Katrina caused significant ecological damage by altering coastal chemistry and habitat. The research reveals how chemical concentrations across coastal ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Obama slams oil companies for spill blame game
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6430AR20100515?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: President Barack Obama on Friday slammed the companies involved in a massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill as BP Plc readied a siphoning system to contain a growing environmental disaster. Obama applied further pressure on the companies involved in the unfolding drama, criticizing them for a "ridiculous spectacle" of publicly trading blame over the accident in his sternest comments yet on the situation. With oil gushing unchecked from a blown-out well a mile under the Gulf of ...
Sat, 15 May 10
With no end to Gulf oil spill in sight, Obama vows to get tough
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100515/sc_mcclatchy/3505676
McClatchy Newspapers: Three weeks after oil began spewing into the Gulf of Mexico , an angry President Barack Obama vowed Friday to end the cozy relationship between the oil industry and government regulators and impose tough new environmental safeguards on offshore drilling. Environmentalists, however, voiced skepticism that the president's denunciation of the three companies implicated in the spill is a watershed in the long relationship between federal regulators and the oil industry, which has written ...
Sat, 15 May 10
United Kingdom: Caterpillar plague on Isle of Wight was caused by climate change, says expert
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/caterpillar-plague-on-isle-of-wight-was-caused-by-climate-change-says-expert-1973955.html
Independent: Global warming was blamed yesterday for an increase in caterpillar infestations which can cause severe allergic reactions. In the latest outbreak, residents of a street in Newport, Isle of Wight, were forced to stay indoors or wear protective body-suits and face-masks to avoid coming into contact with tiny hairs shed by the brown-tail moth caterpillars. The insects have set up home in an isolated and overgrown plot next to gardens in the street. Steve Gardner, who has ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Utilities see bright side to new Senate energy legislation
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/may/14/utilities-see-bright-side-new-senate-energy-legisl/
Las Vegas Sun: Two East Coast senators unveiled climate-change legislation Thursday aimed at reducing carbon emissions in the U.S. and lessening the nation's dependence on foreign oil, but the bill likely will have little effect locally. The American Power Act, written by Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry and Connecticut Independent Joseph Lieberman, outlines goals for reducing the nation's carbon emissions by targeting the biggest polluters and providing incentives for businesses and individuals to ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Obama: No more cosying up to oil
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8683714.stm
BBC: Eleven people died when an explosion destroyed the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig on 20 April. Owned and operated by Transocean, the rig had been working on behalf of BP at a well site 48 miles (77km) off Louisiana. Thousands of barrels of oil have been gushing daily into the sea from the well's ruptured riser pipe, nearly a mile below the surface. BP is using underwater robots in its latest attempt to stop the leak, which involves jamming a tube into the pipe to siphon ...
Sat, 15 May 10
China's telecom sector credits telecommuting with huge emissions reductions
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ygreen/20100514/sc_ygreen/chinastelecomsectorcreditstelecommutingwithhugeemissionsreductions
Y! Green: China's telecom sector released a report this week claiming that it had slashed emissions by 48.5 million tons of CO2 emissions in 2008 by increasing telecommuting, a greater reliance on electronic data storage and more efficient logistics. This savings is comparable to the amount of emissions Sweden's entire economy is responsible for each year. The report came from the WWF and China Mobile who had Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications carry out the study. The report ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Huge BP spill means a high-stakes hurricane season
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100514/us_nm/us_oil_spill_hurricanes
Reuters: BP's oil spill could make for one of the highest-stakes U.S. Gulf hurricane seasons on record. Storms may scuttle clean-up efforts, force containment vessels to retreat, or propel spilled crude and tar balls over vast expanses of sea and beach, scientists said. Meteorologists say that climate conditions are ripe for an unusually destructive hurricane season, the storm-prone period that runs from June 1 to the end of November in the Gulf. Oceanographers say that could hurt the ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Gulf spill raises questions about future U.S. energy policy
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100514/sc_mcclatchy/3505481
McClatchy Newspapers: The Gulf oil spill not only has altered the landscape of the Gulf Coast , it also has completely changed the debate over national energy policy. "Drill, baby, drill," which drilling proponents chanted until a few weeks ago, has been replaced by "Spill, baby, spill," from opponents. Politicians from the West Coast to Florida propose banning new drilling on the outer continental shelf. Lawmakers from oil-producing states like Texas and Louisiana , however, warn that shutting off ...
Sat, 15 May 10
'Small city' at forefront of BP's oil clean-up
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7726152/Small-city-at-forefront-of-BPs-oil-clean-up.html
Telegraph: Covered in white tarpaulin tents, Winnebagos and makeshift offices, with a smattering of houseboats moored alongside, docks 51 and 52 at the Mississippi Delta deep water port are home to one of BP's 14 staging areas across the four main Gulf states, the first line of defence against the oil major's Gulf of Mexico spill. Slade Brockett is staging area manager at the Venice outpost. It is at the front of BP's attempts to deal with the oil leak, given that it is closest to the site of ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Environment group plans to sue U.S. over oil permits
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64D64320100514?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar improperly approved offshore oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico without regard to possible harm to marine mammals, an environmental group said on Friday in a legal notice. The Center for Biological Diversity said it plans to sue Salazar and the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service (MMS) for failing to get environmental permits required by two environmental laws -- the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Head defends UN climate panel at review
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g4IE5def_m6PKlpwXQEU1bpbiqQA
Agence France-Presse: The head of the United Nations' climate change panel defended the body Friday before an academic council charged with reviewing its research methods after a string of challenges to its findings. Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), admitted an error was made in warning that Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035, but said there was some value in the finding. "Alright, there was this error, but there is a whole lot of valid ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Global warming blamed for pattern of lizard deaths
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/13/AR2010051303521.html
Washington Post: When it comes to the hazards of global warming, it may turn out that lizards in burrows are the canaries in the coal mine. In a study to be published Friday in the journal Science, an international team of biologists reports that in more than one-tenth of the places in Mexico where lizards flourished in 1975, the reptiles now cannot be found. The researchers predict that by 2080, about 40 percent of local lizard populations worldwide will have died off and 20 percent of lizard species ...
Sat, 15 May 10
EPA moves to regulate industrial greenhouse gases
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jUnKQykaJMMAbcp8VBI1Ls5ELhlAD9FM7PT80
Associated Press: The Environmental Protection Agency moved Thursday to more tightly control air pollution from large power plants, factories and oil refineries, a step to limit emissions widely blamed for global warming. The EPA said it is completing a rule requiring large polluters to reduce the amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that they release into the air. Those emissions can boost many allergens and worsen smog, which can trigger asthma attacks and other respiratory ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Feds say WA plant deal not enough to reduce smog
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iteDlsJMLodz89On_Aa5vraVBL9wD9FMAT580
Associated Press: The Washington Department of Ecology is finalizing a deal to reduce pollution at a major coal-fired power plant using measures that two federal agencies say won't reduce haze at a dozen national parks and wilderness areas in Washington and Oregon. The department's tentative deal with TransAlta Corp. would allow the Canada-based company to control smog-causing nitrogen oxides, which is released when coal is burned, primarily through measures already in place, according to documents ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Oil spill fouls up climate bill
http://www.miller-mccune.com/politics/oil-spill-fouls-up-climate-bill-15890/
Miller McCune: The environmental movement has been pushed forward since its inception by catastrophes like the oil spill now spreading in the Gulf Mexico. The 1969 blowout off the coast of Santa Barbara helped spur the creation of the first Earth Day and, not long after, the Environmental Protection Agency. By the time the Exxon Valdez tanker started spewing oil in 1989 off the coast of Alaska, a grassroots movement had grown into a political force, some groups with Washington offices and lobbyists ...
Sat, 15 May 10
E.P.A. Unveils Rule to Regulate Greenhouse Gases
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/science/earth/14permit.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: The Environmental Protection Agency unveiled a final rule on Thursday for regulating major emitters of greenhouse gases, like coal-fired power plants, under the Clean Air Act. Starting in July 2011, new sources of at least 100,000 tons of greenhouse gases a year and any existing plants that increase emissions by 75,000 tons will have to seek permits, the agency said. In the first two years, the E.P.A. expects the rule to affect about 15,550 sources, including coal-fired plants, ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Gulf Spill Could Be Much Worse Than Believed
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126809525&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: The amount of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico may be at least 10 times the size of official estimates, according to an exclusive analysis conducted for NPR. At NPR's request, experts examined video that BP released Wednesday. Their findings suggest the BP spill is already far larger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez accident in Alaska, which spilled at least 250,000 barrels of oil. BP has said repeatedly that there is no reliable way to measure the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico ...
Sat, 15 May 10
West Coast senators move to bar new Pacific drilling
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/biz/7004396.html
Houston Chronicle: Senators from California, Oregon and Washington united Thursday behind a plan to ban new offshore drilling along the Pacific Coast in response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Their push, which joins a similar House effort with the backing of 20 Democrats, could gain traction in Congress as public outrage grows about the April 20 explosion on an offshore drilling rig near Louisiana that left 11 workers dead and unleashed an oil spill that threatens the Gulf Coast. The Pacific ...
Sat, 15 May 10
BP boss admits could lose job over oil spill disaster
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100514/wl_uk_afp/usblastoilenergypollutionbritaincompanyexecutivebp
Agence France-Presse: BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward admitted that his job could be under threat because of the huge Gulf of Mexico oil spill, according to an interview with The Times newspaper published on Friday. "I think I will be judged by the response," he told the daily London newspaper in an interview conducted at the energy group's US headquarters in Houston, Texas. "I don't feel my job is on the line but of course that might change," he added. Hayward, 52, also revealed that he had ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Miss., La. govs contrast in responses to oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100514/ap_on_re_us/us_oil_spill_governors
Associated Press: The ambitious Republican governors of Mississippi and Louisiana are a study in contrasts as an oil spill threatens coastal economies still reeling from Hurricane Katrina. Mississippi's Haley Barbour, a well-connected former Washington lobbyist, has calmly said the oil slick looming offshore is just a sheen in most places and there's no reason for people to panic. Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, meanwhile, has questioned oil giant BP PLC's response capability and the federal ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Obama eyes 'next steps' in oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100514/ts_afp/usblastoilenergypollution
Agence France-Presse: US President Barack Obama lashed oil companies Friday for trying to divert blame for the Gulf of Mexico slick and vowed to sever the "cozy" ties between the industry and government regulators. As experts said the amount of oil flowing into the sea from the crippled Deepwater Horizon rig was likely much higher than estimated, Obama vowed he would not rest until the leak was contained and capped. Visibly angered by the gravity of the disaster and the failure to contain the spill ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Garnaut Says Australia Prefers 'Ignorance' on China and Climate
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-14/garnaut-says-australia-prefers-ignorance-on-china-and-climate.html
Bloomberg: Australian "polity' prefers the "comfort of ignorance' on China taking a lead role on battling climate change, according to the government's global warming adviser Ross Garnaut. Garnaut, whose recommendations formed the government's shelved plan to battle climate change, said China is exercising leadership on the issue. His comments follow a Prime Minister Kevin Rudd speech on April 23 urging China to take a greater "leadership role' as its economic power grows. "Calling for ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Bill Gates' cloud-whitening trials 'a dangerous experiment'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/14/bill-gates-cloud-whitening-dangerous
Ecologist: Campaigners have criticised plans for a sea trial of cloud-whitening technology, funded by Microsoft founder Bill Gates. A US-based research body, Silver Lining, which has received $300,000 from Mr Gates, is developing machines to convert seawater into microscopic particles to be sprayed into clouds. Scientists believe this will increase the whiteness, or albedo, of clouds and increase their ability to reflect more sunlight back into space, reducing global warming. The ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Swiss retreat helps Transocean save millions
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100514/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_oil_spill_transocean_switzerland
Associated Press: In the foothills of the Swiss Alps four new steel-gray towers rise from what used to be a grassy field. One of them is home to Transocean Ltd., the world's biggest offshore drilling contractor and owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, leading to one of the worst oil spills in history. Low taxes prompted the decision two years ago to move to landlocked Switzerland: The company paid 16 percent tax on its $4.4 billion global operating income last year. ...
Sat, 15 May 10
UN science chief defends work, welcomes review
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100514/ap_on_sc/climate
Associated Press: A dozen eminent scientists began reviewing the work of the Nobel-winning U.N. science body on climate change Friday, determined to eliminate errors that have bolstered skeptics who claim global warming is a hoax. After undergoing withering attacks for sloppy work, the chairman of the U.N. panel, Rajendra Pachauri, defended the thousands of scientists who have contributed to the seminal reports issued every five or six years since 1990, but told the review committee he will welcome ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Wind power growth in China's deserts ignored financial risks
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/14/wind-power-china-desert
Guardian: The Chinese county of Guazhou, in north-western China, is famous for its honey melons. But it also produces wind. It blows in from the east through the high, narrow valley formed by the Qilian and Beishan mountains, on the southern edge of the Gansu Corridor. When the wind reaches Yumen, a city east of Guazhou, it has an average speed of 7.9 metres per second and energy-density of 506 watts per cubic metre at a height of 70 metres. By the time it gets to the "world's wind warehouse" ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Climate change link to lizard extinction
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10113949.stm
BBC: Climate change could wipe out 20% of the world's lizard species by 2080, according to a global-scale study. An international team of scientists also found that rising temperatures had aready driven 12% of Mexico's lizard populations to extinction. Based on this discovery, the team was able to make global predictions using an "extinction model". They conclude, in an article in Science journal, that "lizards have already crossed a threshold for ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Testing London's cycle superhighways
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2010/may/14/ride-london-cycle-superhighways
Guardian: The word "superhighway" combines two terms a London cyclist will rarely use about a route. It is an ambitious name for what, at this stage, seems to merely entail a liberal use of blue paint. If the idea of road is to encourage more people to cycle, then one of its key features should be to make people feel safer. However, as a relatively inexperienced cyclist, I tend to avoid busy roads. But as I tried an early section of the route this afternoon in Tooting, south London, I was ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Global clean tech investment soars 32 per cent during 2009
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2263032/global-clean-tech-investment
Business Green: Global investment in clean technology grew 32 per cent to $381bn last year despite the economic turmoil that dominated 2009, according to a major new report that analysed M&A and financing deals across the clean tech sector. The study from analyst firm GlobalData concluded that investment growth was primarily driven by new climate and energy legislation from governments worldwide, as well as the Chinese government's high profile push to establish the country as a low carbon ...
Sat, 15 May 10
BP chief executive Tony Hayward in his own words
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/14/tony-hayward-bp
Guardian: You'd think that someone whose job is on the line might choose his language more carefully. Tony Hayward, the beleaguered chief executive of oil giant BP, has claimed the company's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is "relatively tiny" compared with the "very big ocean". However, earlier this week he sounded less sanguine when he admitted that the leak is being fought on three fronts: beneath the surface, on the surface and on the shore. At the "subsea" level, he said, this was ...
Sat, 15 May 10
UN Climate Panel Review Begins After Skeptics Flag Mistakes
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-14/un-climate-panel-review-begins-after-skeptics-flag-mistakes.html
Bloomberg: A team of economists and scientists began a review of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change after the Nobel-prize winning body was criticized for errors on melting Himalayan glaciers and flooding. Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the IPCC, which oversees climate science for the UN, told the 12 reviewers that his panel had made errors and that he would do his best to implement their recommendations. He was speaking at the opening session in Amsterdam of the probe ...
Sat, 15 May 10
North Should Pay South Reparations for Climate Change
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51433
Inter Press Service: The North should pay reparations to the South for the effects of climate change. This is the position of Professor Patrick Bond arguing the case for ecological compensation that he believes the North owes to the South for causing climate change. He told IPS that, "once a climate obligation debt is established, it's a simple question of how the funds should be delivered". Bond is director of the University of Kwazulu Natal's Centre for Civic Society (CCS) in Durban, South ...
Sat, 15 May 10
Climate bill mixed for forest carbon offsets
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1999
Carbon Positive: For the forestry and forest carbon project industries, the US Kerry-Lieberman climate bill's offset provisions hold mixed news. Good news for domestic US forestry and landowners set to benefit from the generous limits to offsets use in the cap and trade scheme. Not so good news for forest carbon project developers eyeing the potential market for international offset credits generated from reducing deforestation in developing countries. While the chances of the Kerry-Lieberman bill, ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Climate change to kill off a fifth of world's lizards: study
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100513/sc_afp/usclimatewarminglizards
Agence France-Presse: Global warming could kill off as many as a fifth of the world's lizards by 2080, with potentially devastating consequences for ecosystems around the world, a study released Thursday said. Researchers who conducted a major survey of lizard populations worldwide said in a study published in the May 14th issue of Science that lizards appear to be especially sensitive to the effects of climate change and are dying off at an alarming rate. The loss of the lizard populations could ...
Fri, 14 May 10
IPCC 'errors' review set to begin
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10112136.stm
BBC: A review into the workings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) starts here on Friday. The review was demanded by governments and commissioned by the UN, following allegations that the IPCC made a series of errors in its major 2007 report. The body admits one error, concerning the melting date of Himalayan glaciers, but robustly rebuts the wider charge. The review panel was set up by the InterAcademy Council which comprises bodies such as the UK's ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Study: Global Warming Is Driving Lizards to Extinction
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100513/hl_time/08599198911500
Times Magazine: Species can respond to global warming in two ways: adapt and survive, or die. Biologists foresee climate change driving many species to extinction over the next century, especially those that are unable to adjust rapidly enough. Plants and animals evolved to survive in specific ecological niches, and while some may adapt to new environments - and many have already - for many others, it will take time. But the changes driven by human-generated greenhouse gases may be coming on too ...
Fri, 14 May 10
U.S. response to spill frustrates environmentalists
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64C53S20100513?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The U.S. government response to the BP oil spill has frustrated environmental groups and Gulf Coast conservationists, who say they're getting scant information about the disaster's potential ecological effects. "There's a lot of concern now about the marine impact and we're not getting a truly transparent response from NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)," Aaron Viles of the Gulf Restoration Network said on Thursday. Viles acknowledged that this kind of ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Top US lawmaker: Climate bill possible this year
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100513/pl_afp/usclimatepoliticspelosi
Agence France-Presse: The US Congress could pass a sweeping bill to fight global warming in 2010 despite a challenging election-year climate for the legislation, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. Asked whether Democratic representatives, many facing the fight for their political lives in the November ballot, would be willing to vote on a measure that critics have branded a covert tax increase, Pelosi replied: "Yes." "They've already gone down that path," she noted, referring to ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Canadian legislators grill BP over Arctic drilling
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100513/wl_canada_nm/canada_us_bp_canada_arctic
Reuters: Exasperated Canadian legislators grilled the head of BP Plc Canadian unit on Thursday, concerned about the risks of the company's plans to drill in Arctic waters after the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill. But Anne Drinkwater, president of BP Canada, offered few answers at a hearing at Parliament's Standing Committee on Natural Resources on the safety of drilling in the Far North. Drinkwater, who has also run BP operations in Indonesia, Angola and Norway, declined to ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Climate change may kill 20% of lizards by 2080
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/2010-05-14-lizards14_ST_N.htm
USA Today: TODAY Hundreds of species of lizards in nearly all parts of the world are at risk of extinction due to climate change, says a new study out today in the journal Science. In fact, due to rising global temperatures from carbon dioxide emissions, about 1,000 (20%) of the world's 5,000 lizard species could be extinct by the year 2080, the study says. "This rivals some of the greatest extinctions of any organisms in the geologic record," says study lead author Barry Sinervo, a ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Lost lizards validate grim extinction predictions
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18899-lost-lizards-validate-grim-extinction-predictions.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=climate-change
New Scientist: Predictions that climate change alone could lead to the extinction of more than one-fifth of plant and animal species before the end of the century have often come under fire, and not just from climate-change deniers. Some biologists are sceptical because the predictions are largely based on theoretical models. Now, the most detailed study yet of one group of species "" lizards "" suggests extinction levels could indeed be as bad as predicted. Crucially, the new forecast is based on ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Gulf Oil Leaks Could Gush for Years
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/100513-science-environment-gulf-oil-spill-cap-leak/
National Geographic: If efforts fail to cap the leaking Deepwater Horizon wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico (map), oil could gush for years--poisoning coastal habitats for decades, experts say. Last week the joint federal-industry task force charged with managing the spill tried unsuccessfully to lower a 93-ton containment dome (pictures) over one of three ruptures in the rig's downed pipe. Crystals of methane hydrates in the freezing depths clogged an opening on the box, preventing it from funneling ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Lizards face extinction from global warming - study
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100513/sc_nm/us_climate_lizards
Reuters: Lizards are in danger of dying out on a large scale as rising global temperatures force them to spend more time staying cool in the shade and less time tending to basic needs like eating and mating. Scientists warn in a research paper published on Thursday that if the planet continues to heat up at current rates, 20 percent of all lizard species could go extinct by 2080. "The numbers are actually pretty scary," said lead researcher Barry Sinervo from the University of ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Uncertainty over Spanish economy hits renewables' ambitions to float
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/may/13/renewables-float-spain-economic-uncertainty
Guardian: Renewable power companies have been forced to abandon attempts to raise money on the London and Madrid stock markets amid fallout from the European debt crisis and concerns about future public spending levels. Among the victims are Engyco, led by the former United Utilities boss John Roberts. The company told The Guardian today that it was unable to proceed with a £1bn initial public offering in the City. "The situation is that it [the IPO] is on hold but the company is ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Senate energy bill is at the mercy of political climate change
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2010/0513/Senate-energy-bill-is-at-the-mercy-of-political-climate-change
Christian Science Monitor: A climate-change bill with the best chance of passing Congress was unveiled Wednesday – all 987 pages of it. Despite being riddled with troublesome compromises, the proposed America Power Act is as close to providing certainty about America's energy future as is politically possible these days. Introduced by Sens. John Kerry (D) and Joe Lieberman (I), the bill sets long-range targets for the United States to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions, timetables for industry to ...
Fri, 14 May 10
World's Lizards Under Threat from Climate Change
http://www.livescience.com/animals/lizard-diversity-climate-change-100513.html
LiveScience: Lizards may like to laze around in the sun, but a hotter planet is bad news for these reptiles, a new study suggests. A major survey of lizard populations worldwide has found an alarming pattern of population extinctions attributable to rising temperatures. If current extinction trends continue, 20 percent of all lizard species could go extinct by 2080, the new study found. The current and projected losses are directly attributed to climate warming since 1975, according to the ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Glenn Beck holds up Maurice Strong as evidence of 'global government' conspiracy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/13/glenn-beck-fox-news
Guardian: Lock up your children: the bogey man cometh. We know this because Fox News rabble-rouser Glenn Beck has kindly forewarned us. Yesterday, he informed his devoted followers that they should be on the look out for the approaching tentacles of a "global government". The contention of many ideologically fuelled climate sceptics, such as Beck, is that global warming is being used by malevolent, socialist forces lurking in the shadows to usher in a "new world order". The commies have invented this ...
Fri, 14 May 10
UK nuclear power back on table as Lib Dems relent
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64B3E220100513?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Britain's new coalition government -- at odds over nuclear power -- has agreed to let new plant plans go to a parliamentary vote, paving the way for approval, although the appointment of an anti-nuclear energy minister could create future obstacles. Anti-nuclear Liberal Democrats, a minority in the coalition government with the Conservatives, will speak out against nuclear power but has agreed to abstain from voting on national planning statements (NPS) on new plants. This ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Revealed: the gush that rewrote climate change laws
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/revealed-the-gush-that-rewrote-climate-change-laws-20100513-v1ug.html
Sydney Morning Herald: The outcry over the continuing Gulf of Mexico oil spill has forced the last-minute tweaking of provisions in a US Senate bill tackling climate change. The legislation, which embraces Barack Obama's blueprint for expanding offshore oil exploration opportunities as a counter to a big shift towards renewable energy sources, would allow states to block drilling within 100 kilometres of their coastline. They could also veto drilling in neighbouring states if they could demonstrate ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Transocean Seeks To Limit Liability For Oil Rig Blast
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126798122&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: The company that owns the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig said Thursday that it planned to petition a federal court in Houston to cap its overall liability from the incident at less than $27 million. A spokesman for the Swiss company said the company will cite an 1851 law that says the owner of a sunken vessel is liable only for its value after the accident. Transocean has been named in more than 100 class-action, personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits, but a liability limit would ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Senators unveil US climate bill to business applause
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262991/senators-unveil-climate-bill
Business Green: The long-awaited US climate bill was formally unveiled yesterday, firing the starting pistol on the race to pass comprehensive legislation ahead of this November's mid term elections. The bill was launched by Democrat Senator John Kerry and Independent Senator Joe Lieberman, alongside a host of high profile business leaders from carbon intensive industries who have pledged to support the controversial legislation. The bill's anticipated Republican co-sponsor, Lindsey Graham, ...
Fri, 14 May 10
United Kingdom: Liberal Democrats abandon manifesto pledge to oppose new nuclear power stations
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/13/liberal-democrats-nuclear-power-stations
Guardian: The Liberal Democrats have thrown overboard one of their most distinctive election pledges and will not stand in the way of a new generation of nuclear power stations, the new energy minister, Chris Huhne, made clear today. The Lib Dem MP, who had previously described atomic power as a "failed technology", said the new coalition government with the Conservatives believed a new construction programme could go ahead as long as it was done without financial support from the ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Transocean petitions to limit liability in Gulf oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100513/ts_alt_afp/usblastoilenergypollutioncompanytransoceancourt
Agence France-Presse: Transocean, which owns the BP-leased offshore rig gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, filed a petition in a US court Thursday to limit its liability in the spill to 27 million dollars. While British energy giant BP is responsible for the cost of the cleanup, BP executives told a congressional hearing Tuesday that Transocean was responsible for the failure of a key giant valve system. Transocean chief executive Steven Newman passed the buck back, saying: "All offshore oil and ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Offshore Natural Gas Platform Sinks Off Venezuela
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126800847&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Ninety-five workers were rescued after an offshore natural gas platform sank off Venezuela on Thursday, government officials said. All of the workers on the Aban Pearl platform off eastern Sucre state were safely evacuated, and the sinking poses no threat to the environment, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told state television. The navy rescued the workers using a frigate and boats after the gas platform disappeared into the Caribbean Sea at 2:20 a.m., Ramirez ...
Fri, 14 May 10
EPA moves to regulate smokestack greenhouse gases
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/13/AR2010051302834.html?wprss=rss_nation
Washington Post: The Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday it is finalizing a rule aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions from the largest emitters in the United States, a proposal that would soften the regulation's impact on small businesses but is sure to face a court challenge. The decision is significant because it shows the Obama administration's determination to move ahead with regulating carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act even as the prospects of enacting climate legislation ...
Fri, 14 May 10
EPA issues rules on big carbon polluters
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64C41R20100513?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The Obama Administration finalized rules on Thursday to cut greenhouse gas emissions from big factories and power plants starting next year aimed at giving momentum to the troubled climate bill. Starting next year, the Environmental Protection Agency rules would require large power plants, factories and oil refineries that add capacity or do plant work to get permits proving they are using the latest green technology to cut emissions. The rule sets emitters up to face a host of future ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Climate change devastating lizards worldwide: 20 percent estimated to face extinction
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0513-hance_lizard_climate.html
Mongabay: Lizards have evolved a variety of methods to escape predators: some will drop their tail if caught, many have coloring and patterning that blends in with their environment, a few have the ability to change their colors as their background changes, while a lot of them depend on bursts of speed to skitter away, but how does a lizard escape climate change? According to a new study in Science they don't. The study finds that lizards are suffering local extinctions worldwide due ...
Fri, 14 May 10
United Kingdom: BP boss Tony Hayward admits job is on the line over Deepwater oil spill
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/may/13/bp-boss-admits-mistakes-gulf-oil-spill
Guardian: Tony Hayward, the under-fire chief executive of BP, has admitted for the first time that his job is on the line because of the Gulf of Mexico disaster. In an interview with the Guardian at BP's crisis centre in Houston, Hayward also insisted that the leaked oil and the estimated 400,000 gallons of dispersant which BP has pumped into the sea to try to disperse the slick were relatively "tiny" amounts. "The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil and ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Major US fishery takes a beating after oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100513/ts_alt_afp/usblastoilenergypollutionlouisianafishingdaybrook
Agence France-Presse: One of the biggest victims of the huge oil spill slamming Louisiana's economy is the region's largest fishery, which has seen its catch drop 50 percent at a critical time in the season. Three weeks into the six-month fishing season, the Gulf of Mexico oil slick has made a "just dreadful" impact on the industry, said Daybrook Fisheries president Gregory Holt. He described his business as the region's "economic generator" as far as fisheries are concerned. "My heart goes out to ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Developing low carbon economies promised $4.25bn boost
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262986/developing-low-carbon-ecomomies
Business Green: Low carbon projects in emerging markets were given a huge boost this week after the world's largest public environmental fund pledged that it would invest a record $4.25bn (£2.86bn) over the next four years. The commitments by 30 donor countries to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) during a session in Paris yesterday marks a 52 per cent increase in new resources for the facility, to help developing countries tackle climate change. GEF Chief Executive Monique Barbut said the ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Harper rejects UN chief's plea to make climate change G20 agenda's top priority
http://www.canadaeast.com/news/article/1049507
Canadian Press: Canada brushed aside a direct public demand Wednesday by the visiting United Nations chief and reiterated that it will not make climate change a priority agenda item when it hosts the G20 summit next month. Prime Minister Stephen Harper stuck to his G20 plan to keep the summit's focus squarely on the global economic recovery after he met UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his Parliament Hill office. Ban said he wanted climate change front and centre on the agenda when Canada ...
Fri, 14 May 10
United States: National Life moves to reduce carbon footprint:
http://www.timesargus.com/article/20100513/BUSINESS/5130315/1006/BUSINESS
Times Argus: National Life Group announced on Wednesday that its biomass energy project will meet 90 percent of the heating needs of its Montpelier campus while reducing the company's annual carbon footprint by 45 percent. The $2 million project, scheduled to be completed in late summer, is expected to cut National Life's annual usage of heating oil from 210,000 gallons to about 30,000 gallons. The company's $500,000 annual heating bill will be cut roughly in half. National Life's ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Poll: Spill not Obama's Katrina, drilling still OK
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100513/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_poll
Associated Press: The Gulf of Mexico oil spill hasn't stained President Barack Obama nor dimmed the public's desire for offshore energy drilling, according to a new Associated Press-GfK Poll. While some conservative pundits, such as Rush Limbaugh, have called this "Obama's Katrina," that's not how the public feels, the poll found. BP PLC, which owned the well that has gushed more than 4 million gallons since an Apr. 20 oil rig explosion, is getting more of the public's ire. More people surveyed ...
Fri, 14 May 10
States Wary Of New Climate Change Bill - NPR
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126789527
National Public Radio: Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman have introduced a new energy and climate change bill that they hope will finally break a logjam that has prevented such legislation from passing for many years. But some of the states that pioneered climate change programs are unhappy about the bill's fine print. Pete Grannis, commissioner of New York's Department of Environmental Conservation, says that for years, the federal government sat on the sidelines and refused to enact serious policies to ...
Fri, 14 May 10
BP tries new fix to cap oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100513/ts_alt_afp/usblastoilenergypollution
Agence France-Presse: Three weeks into the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, BP engineers on Thursday worked on a new 'top hat' containment dome to put over the ruptured well that has spewed a sea of crude toward the US coast. Oil companies faced growing congressional criticism over safety flaws on the Deepwater Horizon rig which exploded on April 20 killing 11 workers and unleashing the environmental disaster. Frustrated by the failed efforts to stop the massive slick, President Barack Obama sent top ...
Fri, 14 May 10
New Zealand steps up efforts to tap geothermal potential
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262962/zealand-taps-geothermal
Business Green: New Zealand today moved a step closer to exploiting the huge untapped potential of its geothermal resources when energy firm Mighty River announced it has been given the go-ahead to construct a NZ$400m (£194m) geothermal power station near Taupo in the centre of the North Island of the country. Groundwork on the project -- a joint venture with the Tauhara North No.2 Trust -- is expected to start before the end of the year, with the 110MW power station scheduled to become operational ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Kerry unveils climate bill
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64A6BY20100513?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Senator John Kerry ratcheted up the fight to pass legislation to combat global warming on Wednesday, unveiling a bill as the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster complicates the measure's already difficult prospects this year. Kerry, a Democrat, and Senator Joseph Lieberman, an independent, took the wraps off their bill as two important deadlines loom. Congressional elections are less than six months away and with Democrats facing losses, June or July could be the last chance for them ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Climate change creating boom of allergy-causing plants
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/may/13/attack-allergies/
Las Vegas Sun: Itchy eyes and swollen sinuses -- these are the signs of spring in Las Vegas. And parts of summer. Oh, and a bit of fall, too. It wasn't always like this. There was a time when people suffering from respiratory illnesses flocked to the Mojave Desert to escape allergens. But then their neighbors planted olive and mulberry trees, and what was once a haven became hell for a growing number of residents. If climatologists and botanists are right, it wasn't all the ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Soaring solar sales struggle to lift sluggish share prices
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262963/soaring-solar-sales-fail-lift
Business Green: Revenues across the solar industry have skyrocketed in the past quarter, according to financial results released this week by several bellwether manufacturers. However, the strong performance has failed to translate into share price gains as analysts remain wary about the prospects for the sector following confirmation Germany is to cut solar incentives. The imminent cut in Germany's solar feed-in tariff is widely thought to have driven increased demand in one of the world's largest ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Obama to force BP to pay more cleanup costs for Deepwater disaster
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/13/us-to-force-bp-to-pay-more-cleanup-costs
Guardian: Barack Obama has set out new measures to force BP to pay more of the costs of the cleanup operation for the Deepwater oil rig disaster. BP, which has released the first underwater footage of the spill, told the City this morning that the cost of dealing with it had now hit $450m. The company's eventual bill looks set to rise steeply after the White House proposed scrapping a cap on its liability for the spill. Boosted by a poll that showed the public did not regard this as ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Small Islands Sit Tight and Vow to Fight Climate Change
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51406
Inter Press Service: If nothing is done to slow the pace of climate change, many small island developing states (SIDS) will be at risk of being wiped out, both economically and literally. This was the warning held out before the Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD), which is holding a two-week session at the United Nations this week. "Political will and national action plans are needed, more than money," Amjad Abdullah, director-general of the Ministry of Housing, Transport and Environment ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Oil Rig Evidence Points To Lack Of Regulation
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126794082&ft=1&f=1025
Associated Press: The first firm evidence of what likely caused the disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil blowout -- a devastating sequence of equipment failures -- drives home a central unsettling point about America's oil industry: key safety features at tens of thousands of U.S. offshore rigs are barely regulated. Wednesday's hearings by congressional and administration panels in Washington and in Louisiana laid out a checklist of unseen breakdowns on largely unregulated aspects of well safety that appear ...
Fri, 14 May 10
Arctic explorers take first-ever water samples at north pole
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/13/catlin-arctic-survey-north-pole-water
Guardian: Link to this video Arctic explorers have taken the first-ever samples of ocean water at the north pole after a gruelling two-and–a-half month expedition across the polar ice. Headed by former bank manager Ann Daniels, the Catlin Arctic survey team achieved what last year's expedition - led by polar explorer Pen Hadow - failed to do: reach the north pole and take water samples to measure the impact of a changing climate. Pen Hadow, the survey's director and last year's ...
Fri, 14 May 10
United Kingdom: Boris Johnson announces cycling 'superhighways'
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/boris-johnson-announces-cycling-superhighways-1972503.html
Press Association: The first two cycling "superhighways" were announced today by London Mayor Boris Johnson as part of the capital's year of cycling programme. To be launched on July 19, the superhighway routes will run from Barking in east London to Tower Gateway and from Merton in south London to the City. They will be first of 12 routes which will make it easier and safer for people to commute by bike from outer to inner London on direct and continuous cycle routes. Launching a summer ...
Fri, 14 May 10
US climate bill emerges for uphill battle
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1998
Carbon Positive: A proposed US Senate compromise bill on climate and energy, months in the drafting, has finally been revealed in Washington, but its chances of passing this year are narrow. Democrat Senator John Kerry unveiled the American Power Act (APA) along with co-sponsor and independent Senator Joe Lieberman in Washington on Wednesday. The Kerry-Lieberman bill's main thrust on reducing greenhouse emissions is much as had been expected - an emissions cap and trade scheme imposed on electricity ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Climate Bill, In Shifting Political Winds, Would Further Restrict Offshore Drilling
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ibd/20100512/bs_ibd_ibd/533892
Investor's Business Daily: Top senators backed away from offshore drilling in a major new energy bill unveiled Wednesday, revealing the dramatic shift in drilling politics since the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico began last month. The bill, authored by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., would let a state ban drilling within 75 miles of its coastline vs. 3 miles currently. A state also would be able to veto neighbors' drilling projects if a mandatory study indicated that an accident ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Congress quizzes oil executives
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100513/ts_nm/us_oil_rig_leak
Reuters: Lawmakers on Wednesday pressed oil executives about flaws in an important safety device on a blown-out Gulf of Mexico well as BP pushed another effort to control a huge oil spill that threatens an environmental disaster. BP Plc, operator of the oil well off Louisiana's coast, said it hoped to have a small containment dome in place by late Thursday, its latest attempt to staunch the roughly 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons/795,000 liters) of crude gushing from the well per ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Japan's Sojitz to enter US Solar Power business: report
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100513/ts_alt_afp/japancompanyinvestenvironmentus
Agence France-Presse: Japanese trading house Sojitz Corp. is planning to enter the solar power generation business through a 100 million dollar investment in a US firm, it was reported Thursday. Sojitz will take a minority stake in California-based Solar Power Partners Inc. The third-largest US solar power developer plans to build up to 10 solar farms by 2015, the business daily Nikkei reported. The move comes as the US solar power generation market is expected to grow by 40 percent under President ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Federal laws point to criminal charges in the Gulf oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100513/sc_mcclatchy/3503293
McClatchy Newspapers: Federal investigators are likely to file criminal charges against at least one of the companies involved in the Gulf of Mexico spill, raising the prospects of significantly higher penalties than a current $75 million cap on civil liability, legal experts say. The inquiry by the Homeland Security and Interior Departments into how the spill occurred is still in its early stages and authorities have not confirmed whether a criminal investigation has been launched. But ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Bill allows oil sector six-year hiatus from environmental rules
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/bill-allows-oil-sector-six-year-hiatus-from-environmental-rules/article1566929/?cmpid=rss1&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheGlobeAndMail-Front+%28The+Globe+and+Mail+-+Latest+Ne
Globe and Mail: The North American oil industry would receive a six-year reprieve from regulations forcing it to slash greenhouse gas emissions under a long-awaited climate bill tabled in the U.S. Senate Wednesday -- an approach that Ottawa has vowed to match if it is passed into law. Under the legislation tabled by Democratic Senator John Kerry and Independent Joe Lieberman, the electric power industry and the gasoline and diesel wholesalers would face a cap on emissions starting in 2013. Power ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Climate-energy bill debuts in Senate, but prospects are dim
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100512/ts_csm/301051
Christian Science Monitor: Nearly a year after the House of Representatives approved a comprehensive climate-energy bill, two US senators on Wednesday unveiled their own plan for weaning America off fossil fuel and slashing carbon emissions tied to global warming. After intense behind-closed-doors discussions with fellow senators since last fall, Sens. John Kerry (D) of Massachusetts and Joe Lieberman (I) of Connecticut released details of the bill to mixed reviews. Its sole Republican co-author, Sen. Lindsey ...
Thu, 13 May 10
The Kerry-Lieberman Climate and Energy Bill: Is it a 'disaster' or a 'jumpstart'?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ygreen/20100512/sc_ygreen/thekerryliebermanclimateandenergybillisitadisasterorajumpstart
Y! Green: Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) will unveil their bipartisan climate and energy bill, the American Power Act, today without the support of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who helped craft the bill but dropped his support earlier this month, at least for now. The bill would set the first nationwide limits on carbon pollution emitted from power plants and factories, through a cap-and-trade system that has worked to control other pollutants, like gases that ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Germany: Berlin Rallies for a Tricky Oil Alternative
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/100512-energy-berlin-fuel-cell-rally/
National Geographic: The motley collection of buses, limos, and cars that rolled out of Berlin this morning under a gray sky all had one thing in common: Nothing but steam coming out of their tailpipes. From a BMW luxury sedan to Toyota sport utility vehicles, the cars that pulled out of a fueling station in downtown Berlin were all powered from the fuel found in the brand-new pumps alongside the diesel and gasoline. The vehicles were tanked up on hydrogen, a zero-emissions fuel source that's struggling ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Gulf oil spill: first underwater video footage of leak
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/may/13/video-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill
Guardian: BP's video footage of Gulf oil spill from Deepwater Horizon drilling rig After considerable pressure form the media and government agencies, BP tonight finally released a brief video showing for the first time the gushing stream of oil and gas leaking from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig into the Gulf of Mexico. The video released by BP shows oil spewing from a broken pipe 5,000 feet (1,500m) below the surface. The stream of crude oil is interspersed with lighter-coloured natural ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Seafloor Fish Nearly Wiped Out off U.K
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/100511-science-environment-overfishing-trawlers/
National Geographic: Over the last century or so, trawlers have gotten more powerful engines, fish-detecting radar, lighter nets, and vast onboard freezers. What the fleets might really need, though, is a time machine. After all, bottom-fishing fleets in United Kingdom waters today have to work 17 times harder to catch the same amount of fish as their sail-powered Victorian counterparts did, according to a new study. To address innovations have made fishing more efficient over the years, the ...
Thu, 13 May 10
As Oil Continues To Gush, Despair Grows In Gulf
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126782911&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Off the coast of Louisiana, the oil leak is still not under control. Oil continues to flow into the Gulf at a rate of 200,000 gallons each day. And at the mouth of the Mississippi River, globs of oil are now washing ashore.
Thu, 13 May 10
The Difficulties Of Measuring The Oil Spill
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126782907&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Oil companies fighting the blowout off Louisiana say they have no idea how much oil is flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. But marine scientists say there are well-established methods for measuring the flow from a situation like this, either using commercially available instruments or by analyzing videos of the source. The U.S. Coast Guard has video of the gusher, but they have not been made public. The Coast Guard admits its figure of 5,000 barrels a day is just a rough estimate.
Thu, 13 May 10
Gulf oil spill: firms ignored warning signs before blast, inquiry hears
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/12/deepwater-gulf-oil-spill-hearing
Guardian: Oil executives ignored warning signs in the hours before the disastrous Deepwater rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico last month, a congressional hearing heard today. In a second day of hearings, the House of Representatives' energy and commerce committee said documents and briefings suggested that BP, which owned the well; Transocean, which owned the rig; and Halliburton, which made the cement casing for the well, ignored tests in the hours before the 20 April explosion that ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Video shows oil flowing like steam from a geyser
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100512/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_images
Associated Press: Video released by BP shows oil spewing from a yellowish, broken pipe 5,000 feet below the surface. The oil looks like steam rushing from a geyser. The video released Wednesday gives a not-yet-seen glimpse of the leaking well a mile underwater. The stream occasionally can be seen becoming lighter as natural gas mixes into the gusher. Natural gas has been flowing from the well since the beginning. BP's Doug Suttles says the rate natural gas has been flowing out hasn't changed in ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Lawmakers Cite Failure of Safety Measure in Gulf Spill
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/us/13spill.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: As crude oil gushes into the Gulf of Mexico for the fourth week, a Congressional investigation said that a safety mechanism that was supposed to seal an undersea well in the event of a sudden pressure release might have failed on April 20 because of a hydraulic leak. Lawmakers disclosed the findings at a hearing before a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday, as the White House proposed a package of legislative changes meant to help people affected by ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Senate Gets Climate and Energy Bill, Modified by the Gulf Spill
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/science/earth/13climate.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: The long delayed and much amended Senate plan to deal with global warming and energy was unveiled on Wednesday to considerable fanfare but highly uncertain prospects. After nearly eight months of negotiations with lawmakers and interest groups, Senators John F. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, produced a 987-page bill that attempts to limit climate-altering emissions, reduce oil imports and create millions of new energy-related ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Companies get SBA loans after oil spill, storms
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100512/ap_on_bi_ge/us_small_talk
Associated Press: Thousands of small business owners across the South are turning to the federal government for financial help following the oil spill in the Gulf and last month's devastating tornadoes and floods. The Small Business Administration's disaster loans are aimed at helping companies recover from uninsured losses suffered during natural or man-made disasters. They also help companies cover their expenses when disaster prevents them from operating. Companies of any size can get ...
Thu, 13 May 10
US senators launch long-awaited climate push
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100512/pl_afp/usclimateenergypolitics
Agence France-Presse: Senators vowed Wednesday to revamp US energy priorities as they laid out a long-awaited plan to fight climate change, but they faced a tough battle ahead to sell a delicate compromise. The legislation comes in the shadow of a giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which led the senators to offer greater ecological protections for offshore drilling -- one of the most controversial parts of the package. Senator John Kerry, the main force behind the effort, said the bill would put ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Obama brain trust battles oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100512/ts_alt_afp/usblastoilenergypollutionscientists
Agence France-Presse: A brain trust of scientists has been assembled by President Barack Obama's administration to help BP cap the well that has been gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico for nearly three weeks. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, a Nobel prize-winning physicist, told reporters Wednesday that the "intellectual horsepower of the country is engaged in solving this problem." Chu said he had called upon the "very best" physicists, engineers, materials scientists and geologists from the ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Democratic Senators to Introduce Climate Change-Energy Bill, but Outlook Uncertain
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sc-dc-climate-change11-20100511,0,6510949.story
LA Times: After months of negotiations and weeks of delay, Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Ct.) will finally unveil their plan to limit greenhouse gas emissions and spur clean energy growth on Wednesday -- and the biggest challenge will be selling the notion that the bill has any chance of passage. Kerry and Lieberman's efforts took a major hit when their Republican co-architect, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, walked away from the bill shortly before its scheduled ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Canada: Opposition seizes UN chief's plea to Harper on climate change
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/opposition-seizes-on-un-chiefs-plea-to-harper-on-climate-change/article1566732/
Globe and Mail: Had Ban Ki-moon arrived in the House of Commons sooner on Wednesday he would have realized he was the star of Question Period. The UN Secretary-General slipped into the daily parliamentary slugfest shortly after the first round because he was meeting with Canadian officials, including Michael Ignatieff. The Liberal Leader also showed up a little late as a result -- and immediately launched into questions stemming from his discussion with Mr. Ban. "He said clearly and openly ...
Thu, 13 May 10
United Kingdom: Coalition sets out plans on runways and nuclear
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10112386.stm
BBC: Britain's new coalition government has cancelled controversial plans to build a third runway at London Heathrow airport. It will also refuse extra runways at London's other two main airports, Gatwick and Stansted. The leaders of the new government pledged that they would work together to build a new low-carbon economy. And they have agreed a deal to allow a new generation of nuclear power stations to be built. But this will be subject to certain conditions being ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Green policies of new Government
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7716721/Green-policies-of-new-Government.html
Telegraph: Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat MP, will head up the department for Energy and Climate Change. He will drive forward a number of policies in the first Queen's Speech to make the UK's out-dated building stock more energy efficient and boost renewable energy. Already environmentalists are celebrating a vow to scrap the third runway at Heathrow, although plans for nuclear power stations remain on course. Caroline Spelman, the Tory MP, is the new Environment Secretary. The former ...
Thu, 13 May 10
UN chief critical of Canadian climate change policy
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/chief+critical+Canadian+climate+change+policy/3017234/story.html
Canwest News Service: The United Nations chief chided the Canadian government for its climate change policy Wednesday, urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to contribute new funds to help developing countries improve their environments. Ban Ki-Moon said he was pressing Harper on the matter during a speech warning that leaders of the G8 and G20 countries should not use global economic and financial difficulties as "an excuse" to neglect previous pledges of billions of ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Global cap and trade decades off, US unveils plan
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE64B2D2.htm
Reuters: A grand vision of a global carbon market to limit greenhouse gas emissions may be decades off as U.S. senators unveiled a climate bill on Wednesday, facing tough Republican opposition. But far from being dead, national and regional cap and trade schemes are emerging as a possible patchwork successor to the international Kyoto Protocol on global warming, whose present round ends in 2012, in the absence of workable alternatives. Some policymakers outside Europe have downgraded ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Too much coal in this coalition
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2010/may/12/coalition-environment-policies
Guardian: Perhaps it's just as well that the environment was shoved to the bottom of the coalition agreement: by the time they got there, it seems, the Neanderthal wing of the Conservative party was too exhausted to oppose it. It's sketchy and covers only some of the issues the new government will have to deal with, but it could have been a lot worse. Possibly the most important measure it contains is the commitment to create "a floor price for carbon, as well as efforts to persuade the EU to ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Majority backs oil drilling despite spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100512/us_nm/us_oil_rig_poll
Reuters: Despite the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, 57 percent of likely American voters agree that offshore drilling "is still a safe, reliable and cost-efficient method of producing oil," a Zogby Interactive poll showed. However, 53 percent of respondents also said expansion of offshore drilling would lead to increased environmental problems, according to poll results released late on Tuesday. "These results show again our addiction to oil," pollster John Zogby ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Senators unveil plan to cut US emissions
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100512/pl_afp/usclimateenergypoliticsbill
Agence France-Presse: US senators on Wednesday unveiled a long-awaited plan on climate change, proposing to cut emissions 17 percent by 2020 off 2005 levels through regulation of power, industry and transportation. "We can finally tell the world that America is ready to take back our role as the world's clean energy leader," said Senator John Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts and close ally of President Barack Obama. After months of fine-tuning, Kerry and independent Senator Joe Lieberman ...
Thu, 13 May 10
'Climate dice' now dangerously loaded: leading scientist
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hmrerG0KF1eQQQ07Fy36ztDMA1cg
Agence France-Presse: Evidence for global warming has mounted but public awareness of the threat has shrunk, due to a cold northern winter and finger-pointing at the UN's climate experts, a top scientist warned Wednesday. James Hansen, a leading NASA scientist whose testimony to the US Congress in 1988 was a landmark in the history of climate change, said he was worried by "the large gap" in knowledge between specialists and the public, including politicians. "That gap has increased substantially in ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Interior Secretary: Oil Spill A Call To Move On Climate Change
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201005121348dowjonesdjonline000610&title=interior-secretaryoil-spill-a-call-to-move-on-climate-change
Dow Jones: U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday that a massive, unprecedented oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a "clarion call" to move forward with the Obama administration's ambitious energy and climate change policy goals--but that the immediate goal is to control the leak and make offshore oil and gas production safer. The spill "is a problem that defies what had been the national policy of the United States: the development of oil, energy and natural gas resources in the ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Johnson Controls working to stir up demand for lithium-ion batteries as it readies Holland plant
http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2010/05/johnson_controls_working_to_st.html
Grand Rapids Press: As construction on the new Johnson Controls-Saft lithium-ion battery plant gains momentum, company officials are focusing on building demand for the batteries that power electric and hybrid vehicles. "We don't sell batteries unless cars and trucks (that use them) are being sold," said Mark Wagner, vice president of government relations for Johnson Controls, whose company is building a $300 million plant in Holland for lithium-ion battery production. It is working with the French ...
Thu, 13 May 10
The start-up pains of a smarter electricity grid
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=start-up-pains-of-smart-grid
Scientific American: Only one thing is worse than the lights not coming on when the switch is flicked--and that's the lights going out right afterward. The fact that the problem is most often a burned-out lightbulb is testimony to the reliability of what's sometimes called the world's largest machine--the U.S. transmission and distribution grid for electricity. But that reliability is tenuous at best and perhaps temporary: the machine needs an update to meet increasing demands for more electricity and to ...
Thu, 13 May 10
India's greenhouse gas emissions rise by 58%
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/12/india-greenhouse-gas-emissions-rise
SciDev.net: India's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions rose by 58 per cent between 1994 and 2007 with the energy sector contributing over half of the emissions, a new government report said. But India's emissions per unit national wealth (or gross domestic product), a measure of GHG intensity, declined by 30 per cent during this period, the report showed. India released its last emissions estimate in 1994. Minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh, who released the new report ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Turkey, Russia sign agreement on oil pipeline
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100512/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_turkey_russia_pipeline
Associated Press: Turkey and Russia signed agreements on Wednesday for the construction of Turkey's first nuclear power plant and the development of a pipeline project to carry Russian oil from the Black Sea, through Turkey to the Mediterranean. Turkey, a U.S. ally, served as NATO's foremost base during the Cold War, but its relations with Moscow have rapidly developed since the fall of the Soviet Union. Both countries have vowed to triple their bilateral trade volume to around $100 billion in the next ...
Thu, 13 May 10
U.S. spill response sees $118 million spending, oil tax
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64B3OX20100512?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Legislation proposed by the Obama administration to respond to the massive Gulf oil spill foresees $118 million in one-time discretionary spending, the bulk of which is expected to be covered by well owner BP, senior administration officials said on Wednesday. White House officials who briefed reporters on the legislation in a conference call from Washington said it would enable the federal government to speed assistance to those affected if the spreading spill worsens, which seems ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Australia: I still want climate action: Rudd
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/i-still-want-climate-action-kevin-rudd/story-e6frgczf-1225865756135
Australian: Email Share Add to Digg Add to del.icio.us Add to Facebook Add to Kwoff Add to Myspace Add to Newsvine What are these? A DECIDEDLY cranky Kevin Rudd has launched an impassioned defence of his handling of climate change policy. Pressed by ABC 7.30 Report host Kerry O'Brien last night on why he had abandoned his climate change campaign, the Prime Minister said the Liberal Party had backflipped and voted down his emissions trading scheme legislation: "That is the reality we had to ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Germans plan to make 'synthetic natural' gas from CO 2
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/06/german_synthetic_natural_gas/
Register: Remorseless German and Austrian boffins have a cunning new plan which could be good news for cutting down on fossil fuel use: they can make "synthetic natural gas" using electric power, water and carbon dioxide. "Our demonstration system in Stuttgart splits water using electrolysis. The result is hydrogen and oxygen," explains Dr Michael Specht of the Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung (Solar energy and Waterstuff [Hydrogen] Research centre - ZSW). "A chemical ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Ireland: Electricity firms may take legal action to block tax
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2010/0507/1224269865629.html
Irish Times: GOVERNMENT PLANS to tax windfall profits earned by power companies from free carbon credits could be open to a legal challenge. Earlier this week, Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan said the Government intended to tax windfalls earned by electricity companies on carbon emission charges that were being passed on to their customers. The measure is expected to raise EUR75 million in a year, and the State intends channelling the money back to large companies and industries, which use ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Canada: Summer drought possible for parts of B.C., environment minister warns
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=a2b06c5f-b792-433e-8fd1-fd98146d2960&k=76297
Vancouver Sun: Environment Minister Barry Penner warned Friday of possible drought for parts of British Columbia this summer. Penner said below average snowpacks across the province could mean streams will be running much lower than normal by the summer months. "With the exception of high-elevation areas on Vancouver Island and the South Coast, snowpacks across B.C. are all below normal," said a statement released by the government Friday. "The low snowpack and smaller-than-normal ...
Thu, 13 May 10
United Kingdom: Drought threat to potato crop
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8669472.stm
BBC: A drought is threatening to significantly cut this year's Jersey Royal potato crop, growers have warned. The first yield could be cut by 50% following the worst drought on the Channel island in 34 years, the Jersey Royal Company told The Grocer magazine. Jersey has not had significant rainfall since 3 April and forecasters are not predicting rain for another two weeks. Mike Renourd, of the Jersey Royal Company, said major supermarkets were assessing the impact on ...
Thu, 13 May 10
WH wants increased industry liability in oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100512/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_liability
Associated Press: The White House asked Congress Wednesday to raise limits on BP's liability for the Gulf oil spill, approve new spending on everything from food stamps to seafood inspections and increase taxes on oil companies for an emergency cleanup fund. Administration officials said they couldn't forecast total costs from the cleanup of the massive spill and a multitude of economic damages to the Gulf region, but the changes they're seeking in the legislative package unveiled Wednesday suggest a ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Rep. Waxman: Oil well's blowout preventer had leak
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100512/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_washington
Associated Press: Rep. Henry Waxman says that his committee's investigation into the Gulf oil spill reveals that a key safety device, the blowout preventer, had a leak in a crucial hydraulic system. The California Democrat said in a hearing Wednesday that the investigation also discovered that the well had failed a negative pressure test just hours before the April 20 explosion. He cited BP documents received by the Energy and Commerce Committee that showed there was a breach in the well ...
Thu, 13 May 10
A Fuel-Saving Car Engine in the Blink of an IRIS
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/100512-energy-iris-fuel-saving-engine/
National Geographic: In the past year, the U.S. auto industry has reeled under market pressure, faced bankruptcy, accepted billions of dollars in government bailout money, and agreed to mandates for cleaner and more efficient vehicles. But for two brothers from Colorado with an automotive start-up company, things couldn't be better. Levi Tillemann-Dick, 28, and his brother Corban, 24, are carrying on a dream they hatched with their late father, Denver inventor and businessman Timber Dick, to bring to ...
Thu, 13 May 10
White House says will work to pass climate bill
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64B3WU20100512?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The White House on Wednesday praised U.S. Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman for a climate change and energy bill they are introducing in the Senate and promised to work to pass it into law. Carol Browner, President Barack Obama's top adviser on energy and climate change issues, told reporters in a conference call that administration officials would review the details of the bill in the coming days. She declined to comment on specific aspects of the proposed legislation.
Thu, 13 May 10
Rep. Waxman: conflicting accounts from BP on test
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100512/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_failed_tests
Associated Press: Rep. Henry Waxman says BP officials provided conflicting accounts of what happened after an oil well didn't pass a negative pressure test hours before its rig exploded. Waxman, D-Calif., said at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday that a BP senior executive told the committee that the well didn't pass the test around 5 p.m. on the day of the explosion. Waxman said results of a second test were unsatisfactory. He said that the executive told congressional ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Scientists stunned as grey whale sighted off Israel
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/scientists-stunned-as-grey-whale-sighted-off-israel-1971890.html
Agence France-Presse: The appearance of a grey whale off the coast of Israel has stunned scientists, in what was thought to be the first time the giant mammal has been seen outside the Pacific in several hundred years. The whale, which was first sighted off Herzliya in central Israel on Saturday, is believed to have travelled thousands of miles from the north Pacific after losing its way in search of food. "It's an unbelievable event which has been described as one of the most important whale ...
Thu, 13 May 10
Use traditional methods to fight global warming: UN group
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100512/sc_afp/untraditionclimatewarmingitaly
Agence France-Presse: Centuries-old techniques to prevent desertification, energy wastage and other problems should be enlisted in the fight against global warming, a new UN-backed group said Wednesday. Traditional water management methods from the Sahara and Ethiopia and Iraq's Babylon area could be used alongside newer technologies such as solar power, the group said at its launch in Florence, central Italy. "Traditional knowledge and its innovative use is the basis for sustainable technology, and ...
Thu, 13 May 10
United Kingdom: Coalition: Could blue plus yellow equal green?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2010/may/12/coalition-government-green-policies
Guardian: As the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats inched towards a coalition government over the past few days, much was made of the issues they differ on. But one of the key things they agree about is the urgent need to develop a low-carbon economy and reap the huge economic benefits this will bring the UK. With a coalition representing more than half of those who voted and 362 of 650 parliamentary seats, there is a clear mandate and opportunity to deliver a greener, safer ...
Wed, 12 May 10
Australia launches A$652m renewable fund
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262820/australia-launches-652m
Business Green: The Australian government today attempted to win back the support of green businesses and environmental groups disaffected by the recent decision to ditch its proposed climate bill, announcing plans for a A$652m ($588m) renewable energy fund. Speaking in his budget address, Treasurer Wayne Swan said that the government would "roll out the most substantial renewable energy plan this country has seen " and in a clear dig at the avowed climate sceptics in the opposition ranks added that ...
Wed, 12 May 10
United States: Biomass as power source is generating opposition
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/sciencemedicine/story/2D894009440712C18625772000151EF3?OpenDocument
Saint Louis Today: When Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition C in 2008, they made a commitment to support renewable energy, including biomass. And energy producers responded, vowing to build several power plants that promise to turn timber, wood chips and even corn cobs into electricity to power thousands of Missouri homes. But as those plans now go before state regulators, some environmentalists, property owners and timber industry officials are beginning to balk. They worry some ...
Wed, 12 May 10
United Kingdom: Green families' heating subsidy means big bills for all
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/industrials/article7121281.ece
Times (UK): A proposed subsidy for green central heating will lead to a sharp rise in energy bills, threaten the manufacturing recovery and drive companies abroad, consumer watchdogs and business groups say. The renewable heat incentive, due to be introduced next April, will benefit anyone who installs renewable heating devices such as biomass boilers, solar-thermal water heaters or ground-source heat pumps. But such equipment is expensive and suitable only for owner-occupiers. However, ...
Wed, 12 May 10
'Invest in research in agriculture to tackle food insecurity'
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/agriculture/Invest-in-research-in-agriculture-to-tackle-food-insecurity/articleshow/5914459.cms
Economic Times: Warning that the impending process of climate change could lead to food insecurity in less developed and vulnerable countries, an official of the UN food and agriculture wing today asked countries to invest well in research to stave off a possible disaster. Alexander Sarris, Director, Trade and Markets Division of the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) said "uncertainty" among sceptics about the magnitude and timing of the phenomenon of climate change should not become an excuse ...
Wed, 12 May 10
Australia: Shelved ETS funds clean energy programs
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/11/2896602.htm?section=justin
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The Government remains committed to its controversial emissions trading scheme "over the medium term", but in the meantime it will be concentrating on providing more support for Australia's renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors. Money saved by the shelving of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) will be redirected into a $652 million new Renewable Energy Future Fund over the next four years. Forming part of the $5.1 billion Clean Energy Initiative, the fund ...
Wed, 12 May 10
Industry, transport drive leap in India CO2 emissions
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=industry-transport-drive
Reuters: India's greenhouse gas emissions grew 58 percent between 1994 and 2007, official figures released on Tuesday showed, underlining the country's growing importance in the fight against climate change. Emissions rose to 1.9 billion metric tons in 2007 versus 1.2 billion in 1994, with the industrial and transport sectors upping their share in Asia's third largest economy and confirming India's ranking among the world's top five carbon polluters. By way of comparison, between 1994 ...
Wed, 12 May 10
French wind sector welcomes changes to green law
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6492RJ20100510
Reuters: The French wind power sector welcomed a series of amendments to a French green law which they said could have, in its original version, hurt the industry if left unchanged. The amendments drew mixed political reactions, with the green and socialist parties still opposing the measures. Some amendments remained negative for the sector, but the worse had been avoided, an industry body said. A key amendment on forcing the sector to create wind farms with a minimum production ...
Wed, 12 May 10
India's emissions swelling
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/05/11/india-greenhouse-gas-climate-change.html
Associated Press: India is the world's fifth-biggest polluter, a new study says, with its greenhouse gas emissions growing by more than three per cent annually between 1994 and 2007. The Asian giant also is suffering from the effects of global warming such as higher temperatures and rising sea levels along its coasts. The study released Tuesday is the first update to an assessment of India's air emissions done 16 years ago. More than 80 scientists from 17 institutions across India were involved ...
Wed, 12 May 10
India greenhouse gas emissions jump
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100511/wl_sthasia_afp/indiaenvironmentclimatewarming
Agence France-Presse: India's annual greenhouse gas emissions increased by 58 percent from 1994-2007, driven by higher industrial activity, energy production and transport, government figures showed Tuesday. "Between 1994 and 2007, some of the sectors indicate significant growth in greenhouse gas emissions, such as cement production, electricity generation and transport," said a report released by Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh. Total annual greenhouse gas emissions grew from 1.25 billion tonnes ...
Wed, 12 May 10
Canada's tar sands: a dangerous solution to offshore oil
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/11/alberta-california-tar-sands-oil
Guardian: As the clean-up of the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues, the US may finally begin to rethink its position on off-shoring drilling. As usual, change is frustratingly slow, and almost imperceptible: environmental groups like the Centre for Biological Diversity have criticised the Mineral Management Service, the US agency that oversees oil extraction, for its "business as usual" approach during the disaster, and expressed concerns that the Obama administration has waived ...
Wed, 12 May 10
IEA: Solar power to generate quarter of global electricity by 2050
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262817/iea-solar-power-generate
Business Green: The International Energy Agency (IEA) has given one of the clearest signals to date that it expects renewable to dominate the global energy complex over the coming decades, with the release of new figures that predict solar energy could account for between 20 and 25 per cent of electricity production worldwide by 2050. The agency today released two new roadmaps for the Solar Photovoltaic (PV) and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) sectors at the Mediterranean Solar Plan Conference in ...
Wed, 12 May 10
White House aims to use Deepwater disaster to win votes on US climate bill
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/11/us-climate-bill-deepwater-disaster
Guardian: Senators are set to take a last run at producing a climate and energy law tomorrow, betting on the spectre of environmental disaster raised by the BP oil spill to build support for a comprehensive overhaul of America's energy strategy. But despite a strong push from the Obama administration, there are concerns the debate about the energy future could be lost in the wrangling about offshore oil drilling permits. The official roll-out by Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman caps ...
Wed, 12 May 10
Marine biologist: Oil has reached Louisiana coast
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2010/may/11/oil-washes-ashore-louisiana-coast
Guardian: X
Wed, 12 May 10
Low-carbon developments play key role as US carbon emissions plummet
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262789/carbon-emissions-plummet
Business Green: Carbon emissions in the US dropped by seven per cent in 2009, representing the biggest fall since records began in 1949. The data, released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), indicates that the fall in emissions was due to more than just the financial crisis, which began in earnest in September 2008. "Even with the reduction in economic growth since 2000, emissions would nonetheless have grown by 0.6 to 0.7 per cent annually, had the proportional relationship ...
Wed, 12 May 10
Norway should limit Arctic soot to slow warming
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64A1WM20100511?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Norway should limit soot from emerging Arctic industries such as oil or shipping that risk accelerating a thaw of ice around the North Pole caused by global warming, a report said on Tuesday. The study also said climate change, likely to be felt strongly in the Arctic, would shift Norway's fish stocks, forests and reindeer pastures northwards and even bring a need to re-design hydropower dams to cope with more rain. "The Norwegian Arctic is becoming warmer and wetter, with big ...
Wed, 12 May 10
Australia: Govt shifts focus to renewable energy
http://www.skynews.com.au/eco/article.aspx?id=460956
Sky News: The ETS may have been shelved but the federal government is trying a new tack on climate change - spending money on renewable energy and energy efficiency. The federal government has backflipped on its election promise to tackle global warming by starting emissions trading this year. That decision has saved the budget $652 million and the money has been recycled into a new green fund. The Renewable Energy Future Fund will provide cash for projects like wind farms, solar ...
Wed, 12 May 10
Election 2010: Green party downplays talk of 'rainbow coalition'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/11/green-party-downplay-rainbow-coalition
Guardian: The Green party's single MP will not enter into a formal Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition and would treat any Commons vote on a case-by-case basis, BusinessGreen.com has learnt. The newly elected MP for Brighton Pavilion, Caroline Lucas, was yesterday thrown into the political mix surrounding the competing Labour and Conservative talks to form a coalition government with the Lib Dems, when Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Labour would enter formal negotiations with the Lib ...
Wed, 12 May 10
Earth may be too hot for humans by 2300: study
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/earth-may-be-too-hot-for-humans-by-2300-study-1970969.html
Agence France-Presse: Climate change could make much of the world too hot for human habitation within just three centuries, research released Tuesday showed. Scientists from Australia's University of New South Wales and Purdue University in the United States found that rising temperatures in some places could mean humans would be unable to adapt or survive. "It would begin to occur with global-mean warming of about seven degrees Celsius (13 Fahrenheit), calling the habitability of some regions into ...
Wed, 12 May 10
Scientists Worry Over Effects of Climate Change On Lagos
http://allafrica.com/stories/201005110386.html
Vanguard: SCIENTISTS have warned that the global climate change will have a strong impact on Nigeria particularly in the areas of agriculture, land use, energy, biodiversity, health amongst others. This was revealed during the 2nd Lagos State summit on climate change with the theme "Trans-Boundary Effect of Climate Change: Sharing Best Practices in Mitigation and Adaptation Measures." Giving an overview, Prof. Felix Dayo a scientist and speaker at the Summit said inundation and warmer ...
Wed, 12 May 10
We Can Live Without Oil, But Not Without Flora and Fauna
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51371
Inter Press Service: The policies and deals that contributed to the massive oil spill under way in the Gulf of Mexico are also jeopardising the Earth's vital biological infrastructure, according to the Global Biodiversity Outlook 3, published Monday. The British Petroleum oil spill of 5,000 barrels a day in the Gulf of Mexico, which began Apr. 20 when an explosion caused a rupture at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, will have devastating consequences for marine life and coastal ecosystems for decades, ...
Wed, 12 May 10
United Kingdom: Greens downplay talk of "rainbow coalition"
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262796/greens-downplay-talk-rainbow
Business Green: The Green Party's single MP will not enter into a formal Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition and would treat any Commons vote on a case-by-case basis, BusinessGreen.com has learned. Caroline Lucas, the newly elected MP for Brighton Pavilion, was yesterday thrown into the political mix surrounding the competing Labour and Conservative talks to form a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats, when Gordon Brown said Labour would enter formal negotiations with the Lib ...
Wed, 12 May 10
Agency Overseeing Oil Drilling May Be Split Apart
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126721481&ft=1&f=1025
Associated Press: The Obama administration is proposing to split up an Interior Department agency that oversees offshore drilling, as part of its response to the Gulf Coast oil spill, The Associated Press has learned. An administration official who asked not to be identified because the plan is not yet public said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will urge that Congress approve splitting the Minerals Management Service in two. One agency would be charged with inspecting oil rigs, investigating oil ...
Wed, 12 May 10
British taxpayer could subsidise destruction of rainforests
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7122706.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=3392178
Times (UK): British taxpayers could subsidise the destruction of rainforests under a loophole in an international aid scheme which is supposed to protect ancient trees. Indonesia is seeking to redefine its palm plantations as forests in order to qualify for forest protection payments from Britain and other countries. The UN-backed scheme, known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), is intended to reward countries which protect their rainforests. An area of ...
Wed, 12 May 10
Expanded offshore wind farms to power 1.4m extra homes
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262799/expanded-offshore-wind-farms
Business Green: The agency that controls the UK sea bed, the Crown Estate, today announced that it has agreed to extend the first and second wave of offshore wind farms to provide over 2GW of additional capacity, enough to power 1.4m extra homes. The organisation said it has authorised the extension of five existing offshore wind farms that combined could provide an additional 1.7GW of capacity, and had also approved the expansion of two other planned projects in order to provide an extra 340MW of ...
Wed, 12 May 10
Canada moves tough climate bill closer to law
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262802/canada-moves-tough-climate-bill
Business Green: Canada's House of Commons passed a bill last week that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020. The Climate Change Accountability Act, or Bill C-311, would be Canada's sole climate change legislation, mandating the government to set regulations to meet the stringent targets. The bill, introduced for a second time by the New Democratic Party of Canada, would also punish polluters who break the rules, publicise five-year target plans, and ...
Wed, 12 May 10
Australia to Establish A$652 Million Fund for Renewable Energy
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-11/australia-to-establish-a-652-million-fund-for-renewable-energy.html
Bloomberg: Australia will spend A$652 million ($588 million) on a fund to develop renewable energy after shelving its carbon-trading plan earlier this year. "We will roll out the most substantial renewable energy plan this country has seen," Treasurer Wayne Swan said in his budget speech today. "This government accepts the science of climate change and the need for combined global and domestic action." Swan said the so-called Renewable Energy Future Fund would be part of an expanded A$5.1 ...
Tue, 11 May 10
U.S. agency lets oil industry write offshore drilling rules
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100510/sc_mcclatchy/3500641
McClatchy Newspapers: The oil industry, not the federal agency that regulates it, plays a crucial role in writing the safety and environmental rules for offshore drilling, a role that critics say reflects cozy ties between an industry and its regulators that need to be snapped. Nearly 100 industry standards set by the American Petroleum Institute are included in the nation's offshore operating regulations. The API asserts that its standards are better for the industry's bottom line and make it easier to ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Oil spill swells to 4M gallons; fixes days off yet
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100511/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill
Associated Press: Black Hawk helicopters peppered Louisiana's barrier islands with 1-ton sacks of sand Monday to bolster the state's crucial wetlands against an epic oil spill, 4 million gallons and growing, in the Gulf of Mexico. At the site of the ruptured well a mile below the surface, a remote-controlled submarine shot chemicals into the maw of the massive undersea leak to dilute the flow, further evidence that BP expects the gusher to keep erupting into the Gulf for weeks or more. Crews ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Climate crash
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8673828.stm
BBC: Does the failure of December's UN climate conference mean the world needs a completely new approach to tackling climate change? It does, a group of academics is arguing this week - and one of them, Mike Hulme, explains why, and what it is that they are recommending. The gap between the pre-Copenhagen rhetoric of "what must be done to stop climate change" and the reality of the Copenhagen Accord outcome was spectacular. No agreement of much consequence was reached, and the very ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Weather notes from both poles
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ygreen/20100510/sc_ygreen/weathernotesfrombothpoles
Y! Green: Indicators continue to show disturbing trends and unexpected events, indicating that changes are taking place in the Earth's environment. The South Pole has had its warmest year ever (since record keeping began in the 1950s), and the North Pole experienced unexpected rain in late April. "My business is weird, wild and wacky weather, and this is up there among fish falling from the sky or Niagara Falls running dry," according to David Phillips, a senior climatologist with Environment ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Flood money: The water cycle
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/flood-money-the-water-cycle-1970460.html
Independent (UK): You've probably heard the dubious statistic that a glass of tap water in London has cycled through seven different people before ending up in your tumbler. But how much does water cycle naturally around the world? You might also remember those diagrams with lots of arrows in science lessons, showing water cycling between the seas, skies and rivers, but what is the relationship between the global water wheel and our environment? When it comes to the amount of water that trickles, drips ...
Tue, 11 May 10
BP tries new tactic to stop Deepwater Horizon oil spill
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article7122298.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=3392178
Times (UK): As the Deepwater Horizon oil spill continued to exact a terrible toll on oil-soaked birds and other wildlife, BP launched a new effort to limit the damage, writes Jacqui Goddard. Tony Hayward, its chief executive, said last night that the oil giant was engaged in the "largest, most comprehensive spill response mounted in the history of the oil and gas industry'. A 4ft tall steel box will be placed over the leak within days to try to capture the oil and siphon it a mile from the ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Climate change is the true crisis
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-oil-20100511,0,5993736.story
LA Times: To paraphrase Oscar Wilde: One deadly explosion while extracting fossil fuels may be regarded as a misfortune, but two within a month looks like carelessness. That's the problem lawmakers are wrestling with amid hearings and federal investigations of the Upper Big Branch mine blast in West Virginia and the BP oil rig collapse in the Gulf of Mexico. We're pleased to see that the reactive machinery is functioning, and confident that it will result in regulations to better protect miners and ...
Tue, 11 May 10
BP, other companies point fingers in oil rig blast
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100510/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_washington
Associated Press: Early finger-pointing erupted Monday among companies involved in the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico and unstopped leak of millions of gallons of oil, on the eve of the first congressional hearings into the accident. A top American executive for BP, Lamar McKay, said a critical safety device known as a blowout-preventer failed catastrophically. Separately, the owner of the rig off Louisiana's coast said BP managed it and was responsible for all work conducted at the site. A ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Japan suggests a 'Biodiversity Decade'
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0510-hance_biodiversity_decade.html
Mongabay: Japan, the host nation for the Nagoya Biodiversity Summit in October, has suggested adding a few more years to the UN's awareness-raising efforts on the biodiversity crisis. Instead of having the International Year of Biodiversity conclude after this December, Japan says it will propose making 2010-2019 the International Decade of Biodiversity. The announcement comes after a new UN report shows that biodiversity continues to decline worldwide threatening to 'tip' entire ecosystems ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Air Pollution Raises Risk of Heart Disease, Death
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20100510/hl_hsn/airpollutionraisesriskofheartdiseasedeath
HealthDay: There's growing proof that air pollution is associated with heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death, says an updated American Heart Association (AHA) scientific statement released Monday. Of the different types of air pollution, the evidence is strongest for fine particulate matter (called PM2.5 by scientists because the particles have a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less). Its tiny size makes it more likely to infiltrate even the smallest airways, and according to the experts ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Weather conditions challenge oil leak spraying
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100510/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_weather
Associated Press: The weather conditions are becoming an obstacle as BP sprays chemicals underwater on the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The air quality changes based on the amount and concentration of the oil in the water around the vessels. Workers on the vessels are having to contend with the sea and prevailing wind conditions. At times, the fumes have become so intense it has caused a burning sensation in the nostrils and nausea. Workers have been wearing respirators while on ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Gulf spill will change deep water operations across oil industry, says BP
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/may/10/gulf-spill-change-industry
Guardian: The oil industry will have to overhaul how it operates in deep water as a result of the Gulf of Mexico disaster, BP's chief executive, Tony Hayward, said last night, as the company disclosed that the cost of the spill had now reached $350m (£236m). He said there would be "significant implications" in terms of new regulations and safety, while companies drilling offshore may be required in future to have spill-response equipment on standby. The blowout preventer, which failed to ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Report: Climate change could render much of world uninhabitable
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2010/05/report-climate-change-could-render-much-of-world-uninhabitable/1
USA Today: A worst-case scenario of global warming, in which temperatures would soar some 21 degrees, is that much of the world may simply become too hot for humans to live in, according to new research published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "We found that ... a 21-degree warming would put half of the world's population in an uninhabitable environment,"says study co-author Matthew Huber of Purdue University. While the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ...
Tue, 11 May 10
BP says it is investigating oil rig explosion
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100510/ap_on_go_ot/us_gulf_oil_spill_washington
Associated Press: BP says it has begun its own investigation into the Gulf Coast oil spill, with more than 40 people looking into the cause of the April 20 explosion that killed 11 people and spilled millions of gallons of oil. In testimony prepared for a congressional hearing Tuesday, BP says it is looking into what caused the explosion and fire, and why the so-called blowout preventer failed. Lamar McKay, chairman and president of BP America, says the company has reached no conclusions about ...
Tue, 11 May 10
BP: Federal cap on oil spill damages not an issue
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100510/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_bp_liabilty
Associated Press: BP's top lobbyist says the company does not view a $75 million federal cap on economic damages for oil spills as a limit to its obligations to people along the Gulf Coast. David Nagel, head of the company's Washington office, said BP has so far paid $3.5 million in damage claims beyond cleanup costs. He said the company has received 4,700 claims so far and paid on 295 of them. A federal law caps liability to $75 million for economic damages beyond direct cleanup costs. Nagel, ...
Tue, 11 May 10
BP wants oil spill lawsuits centralized in Houston
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100510/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_lawsuits
Associated Press: BP wants more than 70 lawsuits over the Gulf oil spill consolidated before a federal judge in Houston. The oil giant is asking the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to have U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes to hear pretrial matters for all the cases. Potential class-action lawsuits have been filed in every Gulf Coast state. Plaintiffs include commercial fishermen, business interests, property owners and others. BP and other companies operated the Deepwater ...
Tue, 11 May 10
BP in fresh bid to stem oil leak
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8673815.stm
BBC: BP officials desperate to stem a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will try to place a smaller dome over the blown-out well, it is reported. The so-called top hat dome could be in place within 72 hours, chief executive Tony Hayward said. The latest bid to plug the gushing well comes after previous attempts to stem the flow failed. A growing slick from the BP-leased rig is threatening an environmental disaster along US coasts. 'Unprecedented ...
Tue, 11 May 10
BP continues hunt to stop Gulf of Mexico oil spill
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/10/deepwater-horizon-oil-junk-shot
Guardian: Nearly three weeks after an oil rig explosion turned the Gulf of Mexico into an environmental disaster zone, BP today still casting about for a clear plan to shut off the gusher of crude that has cost the company $350m (£235m). BP crews were simultaneously exploring a number of different approaches to plugging the leak, known in industry slang as top hat, top kill, and junk shot. "We are pursuing multiple options in parallel and we are learning all the time," BP's CEO, Tony ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Indian Minister Asks For Lowered Hopes On Copenhagen Talks
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7018650565
All Headline News: India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has asked the country to keep its expectations under check as far as the fight against climate change is concerned. Ramesh, who was in Beijing on Sunday to attend talks on climate change, remarked that the climate change talks between countries had reached a virtual dead-end. Refusing to see any silver lining in the clouds shrouding a global agreement on climate change, Ramesh said that the upcoming talks, to be held in Mexico later this ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Halliburton: work on oil rig finished before blast
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100510/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_halliburton
Associated Press: Oil services contractor Halliburton Inc. says it safely finished a cementing operation 20 hours before a Gulf of Mexico rig went up in flames. In testimony prepared for a congressional hearing Tuesday, Halliburton says it completed work on the well according to accepted industry practice and federal regulators. Halliburton executive Tim Probert says a pressure test was conducted after the work was finished, and the well owner decided to continue. A copy of the testimony was obtained ...
Tue, 11 May 10
U.S. says no deepwater rigs shut after inspections
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6494E520100510?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: U.S. government inspectors have completed checking out some 30 deepwater drilling rigs searching for oil in the Gulf of Mexico and found no safety problems that would require any rigs to temporarily cease operations, a government spokesman told Reuters on Monday. President Barack Obama ordered the inspections after a rig leased by BP exploded last month, killing 11 workers and causing a growing oil spill that threatens businesses and beaches along the Gulf Coast. "Throughout ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Loss of wildlife threatens food supplies - UN
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7705980/Loss-of-wildlife-threatens-food-supplies-UN.html
Telegraph: The latest report on global biodiversity gives a more bleak picture than ever before of the state of the natural environment. In the last 35 years there has been a 30 per cent decline in the number of mammals, birds and other vertebrates on the planet, while the human population has doubled. It is impossible to count the loss of plants and insects because there are so many, but scientists fear millions of species could have been lost before they are even discovered. Already major ...
Tue, 11 May 10
BP Considers Options As Oil Keeps Pouring Into Gulf
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126670221&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: BP was looking for new ways Monday to stop an oil leak that is gushing an estimated 210,000 gallons of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico, after a containment structure placed over the leak clogged during the weekend. Next, the company is considering using a smaller containment box, called a "top hat," or injecting shredded rubber and other debris to stop the well, a procedure known as a "junk shot." On NBC's Today show, BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said none of the ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Helicopters to drop sandbags for oil protection
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100510/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_sandbags
Associated Press: A sandbag airlift is under way in Louisiana. Blackhawk helicopters are picking up sandbags to fly them to be dropped on five points east of Port Fourchon. The project is aimed at protecting Lafourche Parish marshes from the massive oil slick. The spill began creeping farther west of the Mississippi River last week. Workers in a waterfront yard on Sunday packed sand into bags. About a dozen Louisiana National Guard soldiers put straps on one-ton sandbags to ready ...
Tue, 11 May 10
United Kingdom: Brown announces formal talks on "progressive" coalition
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262765/brown-raises-prospect
Business Green: Gordon Brown has this afternoon announced that the Labour Party will enter into formal talks with the Lib Dems and that he will step down as Labour leader before the Party's annual conference in September. In a bold move that raises the prospect of a "rainbow coalition" government, including Labour and the Lib Dems, as well as other "progressive" parties such as the SNP, Plaid Cymru, the SDLP, the Alliance and the single Green MP Caroline Lucas, Brown said he would "facilitate" formal ...
Tue, 11 May 10
BP says oil spill costs $350 million so far, shares hit
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100510/bs_nm/us_oil_rig_bp
Reuters: Oil major BP Plc said the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico had cost it $350 million so far, suggesting the final bill could be much higher than many analysts predicted and sending its shares to a six-month low. BP said on Monday the sum referred to the cost of spill response, containment efforts, relief well drilling, payments to the Gulf Coast States to speed up their response plans, some compensation claims and federal costs. The London-based group -- which until the leak was ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Study paves way for new biofuels models, technologies
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100510105132.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: Biofuels hold promise as environmentally friendly sources of renewable energy, but which ones should industry and policy leaders focus their efforts on developing? A new study involving researchers from North Carolina State University offers detailed insights into how biofuel chemicals react when burned. Their data and new computer models pave the way for development of new biofuels and technologies to maximize energy efficiency while minimizing environmental and human health ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Cancer report energizes activists, not policy
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64827I20100510?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A cancer report that concludes Americans are under constant assault from carcinogenic agents has heartened activists, who hope that finally government and policymakers will pay attention to their concerns. Cancer experts say for the most part that we already know what causes most cases of cancer and it's not pollution or chemicals lurking in our water bottles. It's tobacco use and other unhealthy behaviors, says Dr. Graham Colditz of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Changing technologies to keep up with climate change
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/2cb08dbd461f1e21432d48a0d9bad685.htm
Reuters: Technological innovation is key to helping African farmers cope with the increasing challenges posed by climate change, say specialists. "Temperatures have increased and the danger is that agriculture is the backbone of [Africa's] economies," Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, chief executive officer of the South-African based Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) [http://www.fanrpan.org/], told IRIN. "The increase in temperatures means we have less water in ...
Tue, 11 May 10
United Kingdom: Sainsbury's milks success of eco-packaging
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262757/sainsbury-milk-pouches-saves
Business Green: Supermarket giant Sainsbury's is milking the runaway success of the eco friendly pouches that have replaced traditional plastic milk cartons, confirming today that it is moving forward with plans to roll out pouches across other product ranges. The company also revealed it will support the new packaging by hosting a one-day give-away of jugs to customers. Five hundred of Sainsbury's stores across the UK will provide free JUGIT containers to hold milk pouches this Saturday, as part of ...
Tue, 11 May 10
BP hopes 'top hat' will succeed where dome failed
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100510/ts_alt_afp/usblastoilenergypollution
Agence France-Presse: Days after failing to contain the Gulf of Mexico oil spill with a giant dome, BP said Monday it will make a second attempt this week using a smaller version dubbed the "top hat." A four-story, 100-ton box was lowered Friday to the seabed to try to capture most of the oil and allow it to be funneled up to a ship on the surface, but it was rendered useless on Sunday when ice crystals formed in its domed roof. BP experts believe the smaller "top hat" containment box would not ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Australia Backflips on Climate Action
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51366
Inter Press Service: Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's Labor Party has made much of its plans to tackle climate change even before it came to power with victory in the country's 2007 election. Little wonder, then, that the government has faced heavy criticism following its decision to delay the introduction of its centrepiece emissions trading scheme (ETS) until at least 2013, a move which goes against the international trend for climate change policies. "What absolute political cowardice. What ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Rich nations could pledge $5B for forest protection this month
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2010/stories/05/06/rich-nations-could-pledge-5b-for-forest-protection-this-month/
Stabroek News: Norway's environment minister, Erik Solheim said the money, due to be outlined at ministerial talks in Oslo on May 27, would add about $1.5 billion to the $3.5 billion outlined for 2010-12 by major donors at a United Nations climate summit at Copen-hagen in December. Protect-ing forests from the Amazon to the Congo is part of a shift in emphasis in 2010 towards practical actions to combat global warming after the Copenhagen summit failed to reach an over-arching new climate ...
Tue, 11 May 10
How Long Should BP Remain in Charge?
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/10/how-long-should-bp-remain-in-charge/?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: So far the oil and gas gushing from the well drilled nearly four miles into the seabed for BP has confounded all efforts by the company to put the genie back in its bottle. The list of options is expanding to "top hats" and "junk shots," according to the Associated Press. When does the time come for the Obama administration to exert more control over next steps? One week ago, I was getting worried that the company might be too focused on conventional means to stanch the flow. Since ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Nature loss 'to damage economies'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10103179.stm
BBC: The Earth's ongoing nature losses may soon begin to hit national economies, a major UN report has warned. The third Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3) says that some ecosystems may soon reach "tipping points" where they rapidly become less useful to humanity. Such tipping points could include rapid dieback of forest, algal takeover of watercourses and mass coral reef death. Last month, scientists confirmed that governments would not meet their target of curbing ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Will BP's Washington connections help it now?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100510/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_bp_s_influence
Associated Press: With millions of dollars invested in campaign donations and an all-star lobbying team, BP executives could give an advanced class in how to build influence in Washington. But with millions of gallons of leaking oil bearing down on Gulf Coast beaches and bayous, they could also teach how to lose it. Even pro-oil Republicans -- whose 2008 vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, made "Drill, Baby Drill!" a party rallying cry -- are demanding answers. At least for the moment, it appears ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Abruptly unemployed fishermen struggling to get by
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100510/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_getting_by
Associated Press: Manuel Meyer was forbidden from dropping his crab traps in the Gulf, and he couldn't just sit at home. He made his way to Breton Sound Marina, hoping to load up on orange plastic boom and somehow help corral the massive oil spill that could doom his livelihood. He hadn't been called to work that day, but he figured he'd come anyway and try to make some money. After five fruitless hours watching other commercial fishermen load up and ship out, he had no choice but to leave. "I ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Chinese energy giant talks up $13bn wind farm plans
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262722/chinese-energy-giant-talks-75bn
Business Green: Longyuan Power Group, already China's biggest wind power producer, is reportedly planning to invest around 92 billion yuan (£8.9bn) on developing clean energy over the next five years. Speaking in an interview with news agency Bloomberg yesterday, company president Xie Changjun said the Hong Kong-listed company aims to install at least 16GW of wind turbines in China and overseas by 2015. "China so far has used only about one per cent of its total estimated wind power resources ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Greece halts EU carbon rally
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1990
Carbon Positive: Carbon traders will be watching closely this week to see how much of its April gains the EU carbon market can hang onto after the resurgence of the past month was halted last week by global financial market nervousness. EUA prices fell sharply on Friday as the sovereign debt crisis in Southern Europe intensified. But prices remain close to the top of the benchmark range over the past year. The Dec 10 EUA contract closed at EUR15.54 on Friday on the European Climate Exchange, down more ...
Tue, 11 May 10
BP says oil spill cost $350 million so far
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100510/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_britain_bp_gulf_oil_spill
Associated Press: BP PLC said Monday that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has cost the company $350 million so far as it outlined renewed efforts to contain the leak. BP said the tally included the cost of the immediate response, containment, relief well drilling, commitments to the Gulf Coast states, and settlements and federal costs. The company did not speculate on the final bill, which most analysts expect to run into tens of billions of dollars. BP shares slipped 0.5 percent to 551.4 ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Nigeria: Different Strokes of Climate Change Conundrum
http://allafrica.com/stories/201005100727.html
This Day: The world is currently under the threat of climate change. Experts contend that the various manifestations of climate change occur in many ways than one. These include average global temperatures have increased by 0.8 C since 1990, the last decade was the warmest in recorded history and 2009 was the warmest year on record in the Southern Hemisphere. The result of all these is that apart from dangerous changes in weather patterns, flooding has become unprecedented in history, ...
Tue, 11 May 10
BP, US govt search for new fix to oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100510/sc_afp/usblastoilenergypollution
Agence France-Presse: In a sign Monday of growing desperation, BP contemplated plugging a gushing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico with golf balls, tires and debris in a high-risk maneuver called a "junk shot." The British energy giant said its clean-up costs had reached 350 million dollars since the Deepwater Horizon rig sank 50 miles (80 kilometers) off the Louisiana coast on April 22 following an explosion that killed 11 workers. The pressure on BP to plug the leak from a fractured pipe on the ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Africa must move climate change higher on priority list
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/health/Africa+must+move+climate+change+higher+priority+list/3008034/story.html
Edmonton Journal: The power outage that swept across north-central U.S. and southeastern Canada in 2003 left businesses incapacitated, many closing their doors to wait out the blackout. About 55 million people were affected. Hospitals were forced to rely on backup generators. In stark contrast, the Tanzanian government has been trying to reassure its citizens via local news media that electricity will improve "soon" -- a promise that remains to be filled, despite mention of improvements in newspapers ...
Tue, 11 May 10
China: EPA, Shanghai launch real-time air quality monitor
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100510/ap_on_sc/as_china_shanghai_air_pollution
Associated Press: The United States' Environmental Protection Agency has teamed up with a Chinese environmental bureau to provide real-time air quality monitoring from the site of the World Expo in Shanghai. EPA officials said Monday the move will help the city as it works with other areas in the region to clear its often thick blanket of smog. The online system, dubbed AIRNow International, links technology developed by the EPA with the existing air quality monitoring network in Shanghai, a ...
Tue, 11 May 10
White House says it is "time to act" on climate bill
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262729/white-house-act-climate-bill
Business Green: The White House waded into the debate surrounding how the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will affect the chances of passing US climate change legislation this year, arguing that the environmental crisis highlighted the need for a rapid shift towards low carbon forms of energy. The intervention came as Democrat Senator John Kerry and independent Senator Joe Lieberman confirmed that they would formally unveil a draft version of the climate bill on Wednesday, despite the fact that their ...
Tue, 11 May 10
Oil spill solutions uncertain, slick spreads west
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100510/bs_nm/us_oil_rig_leak
Reuters: The huge slick from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill threatened Louisiana shores west of the Mississippi Delta on Monday as BP Plc said it was trying multiple options to control the leak, without being sure that they would work. Fears mounted of a prolonged and growing environmental and economic disaster for the U.S. Gulf Coast after a weekend setback in an initial undersea move by the oil giant to contain the spill, which could become the worst in U.S. history. BP Chief Operating ...
Tue, 11 May 10
BP shareholder sues executives over Gulf oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100510/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_shareholder_suit
Associated Press: A BP shareholder has filed suit against the corporation's top executives because of the offshore rig disaster that has led to the growing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Filed in federal court in New Orleans on Friday, the lawsuit by Pennsylvania resident Katherine Firpo accuses Anthony B. Hayward, the chief executive officer of BP PLC, and other executives of the London-based corporation, of ignoring safety issues on rigs such as the Deepwater Horizon, which exploded on April ...
Tue, 11 May 10
United States: National Grid sets sail with Cape Wind deal
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262734/national-grid-sets-sail-cape
Business Green: Just days after finally securing planning permission for the first offshore wind farm in the US, developer Cape Wind revealed that it has pulled in its first customer in the form of grid operator National Grid. In what has been described as a "landmark move", National Grid and Cape Wind will today file a contract with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities that will see the UK-based grid operator buy half the wind farm's output for 20.7 cents per kilowatt hour, including ...
Mon, 10 May 10
Topography makes wind power nearly absent in Conn
http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2010/05/09/wind_power_nearly_absent_in_conn/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news
Associated Press: In the drive for renewable energy, Connecticut is giving up on large-scale wind power, surrendering to poor topography and the limited reach of a shoreline that stops short of the Atlantic Ocean. Connecticut set goals 10 years ago to increase renewable energy in its portfolio of power sources. An annual plan recently submitted to state regulators seeks significant increases in megawatts generated by landfill gas, hydro power, biomass, fuel cells and solar energy by 2030. Wind ...
Mon, 10 May 10
Lieberman Predicts Support for Climate Bill
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/09/lieberman-predicts-support-climate-despite-losing-key-gop-backer/
FOXNews: Sen. Joe Lieberman said Sunday that he and Sen. John Kerry are pressing forward with climate change legislation despite losing the support of a key senator, telling "Fox News Sunday" the bill has a "real shot" at passing. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who had been negotiating with Lieberman, I-Conn., and Kerry, D-Mass., for months on the package, backed away Friday citing complaints about lawmakers' attempts to tackle immigration reform at the same time. The BP oil spill spreading in ...
Mon, 10 May 10
China: Power points to boost green buses and cars
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-05/08/content_9825269.htm
China Daily: Charging stations for electric vehicles are to be placed throughout this East China metropolis to make it easier to run more green buses on its streets. The city will have 400 more roadside charging points and seven to 10 large stations by the end of this year, said Zhou Minhao, deputy director of its economics and information committee, on Friday. The stations will be essential to meet the needs of the "dozens" of electric buses that will be running on a daily basis, he ...
Mon, 10 May 10
Australia: Abbott evokes Jesus to teach pupils all about 'natural' climate change
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/abbott-evokes-jesus-to-teach-pupils-all-about-natural-climate-change/story-e6frgczf-1225863817949
Australian: TONY Abbott has urged primary school students to be sceptical about man-made climate change, saying it was warmer during the time of Julius Caesar and Jesus than it is now. The Opposition Leader, wrapping up a two-day visit to South Australia yesterday, told Year 5 and 6 students that climate change had always happened and, historically, humans had not been responsible. Climate Change Minister Penny Wong said it was "irresponsible and disappointing" for the Liberal leader to ...
Mon, 10 May 10
United States: Utility agrees to buy power from Cape Wind
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/08/AR2010050800089.html
Washington Post: BOSTON -- The nation's inaugural offshore wind farm, planned for waters off Cape Cod, has reached its first deal with a utility to purchase its power. Under the agreement announced by both companies Friday, National Grid would pay 20.7 cents per kilowatt hour starting in 2013 for half the power produced by the 130-turbine Cape Wind project planned for Nantucket Sound. The price would go up by 3.5 percent annually to keep pace with inflation. The deal is considered ...
Mon, 10 May 10
Nigeria's islands lost to Atlantic ocean
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/sunday_magazine/article05/090510?pdate=090510&ptitle=Nigeria%27s%20Islands%20Lost%20To%20Atlantic%20Ocean
NGR Guardian: There are strong indications that Nigeria has lost some of its Islands to the problem of erosion from the Atlantic ocean. Experts two Fridays ago, linked the loss to global warming and climate change-related problems. The lost Islands are in the Delta region, where Nigeria earns about 90 per cent of her foreign exchange revenue. The revelation about the vanished Islands emerged at the workshop on Coastal States in Nigeria and the problem of climate change put up by the Federal ...
Mon, 10 May 10
Japan: Offshore wind farms planned
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100509a5.html
Kyodo News: A senior government panel has drafted a plan calling for the establishment by 2020 of massive offshore wind farms capable of producing at least 1,000 megawatts of power, equivalent to the output of roughly 10 nuclear power plants, a source said Saturday. The panel on comprehensive ocean policy, headed by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, is planning to work out in about one year financing and other specifics of the plan that it hopes will reduce greenhouse gases and reinvigorate the ...
Mon, 10 May 10
Australia: Industry wants funds to prepare for ETS
http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/industry-wants-funds-to-prepare-for-ets-20100509-uljf.html
AAP: Labor's emissions trading scheme may have been shelved but a leading business group says industry still needs money to prepare for the day it's back on the table. Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) chief executive Heather Ridout wants extra cash put into the Rudd government's two-billion-dollar climate change action fund as part of Tuesday's budget. The fund was established to help businesses and others enjoy a "smooth transition to a low-pollution economy". Prime ...
Mon, 10 May 10
BP seeks solution after U.S. oil spill setback
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100509/us_nm/us_oil_rig_leak
Reuters: BP Plc engineers searched on Sunday for ways to control gushing oil from a ruptured Gulf of Mexico well after a setback with a huge metal containment dome dashed hopes for a quick, temporary solution to a growing environmental disaster. BP was pondering its next move after a buildup of crystallized gas in the dome forced engineers to suspend efforts to place the four-story chamber over the rupture, the company's best short-term solution to containing the spill. The mammoth dome ...
Mon, 10 May 10
Australia: Climate scientists cross with Abbott for taking Christ's name in vain
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-scientists-cross-with-abbott-for-taking-christs-name-in-vain-20100509-ulqt.html
Sydney Morning Herald: TONY ABBOTT is under pressure to justify telling students it was considerably warmer when Jesus was alive after leading scientists said his claim was wrong. He urged year 5 and 6 pupils at an Adelaide school to be sceptical about the human contribution to climate change, saying it was an open question. In a question-and-answer session on Friday, the Opposition Leader said it was warmer "at the time of Julius Caesar and Jesus of Nazareth" than now. Leading scientists said ...
Mon, 10 May 10
Canada: British consumers unwitting users of fuel from tar sands, study says
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/may/09/greenpeace-oil-gas-companies-environment
Guardian: British motorists are unwitting users of diesel and petrol derived from the Canadian tar sands whose carbon-heavy production methods make it particularly damaging to the environment, Greenpeace claims. The green group is calling for urgent action by the European Commission to strengthen Fuel Quality Directive regulations to restrict the import of petroleum products which are made in a carbon-intensive way. The move comes as the tar sands producers appear to be trying to use the ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Deep-sea ice crystals stymie Gulf oil leak fix
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100509/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill
Associated Press: A novel but risky attempt to use a 100-ton steel-and-concrete box to cover a deepwater oil well gushing toxic crude into the Gulf of Mexico was aborted Saturday after ice crystals encased it, an ominous development as thick blobs of tar began washing up on Alabama's white sand beaches. The setback left the mission to cap the ruptured well in doubt. It had taken about two weeks to build the box and three days to cart it 50 miles out then slowly lower it to the well a mile below the ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Is the US ready for a 24-hour coastal oil spill response corps?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100508/ts_csm/300058
Christian Science Monitor: With the Deepwater Horizon oil spill there's new interest in a national coastal rescue corps to augment the kind of industry and US Coast Guard safeguards that haven't adequately protected sensitive shorelines and economies. "What you need are local watchdogs to monitor oil exploration and transportation," says Steven Picou, a sociologist at the University of South Alabama who studied the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez disaster. "The tragedy is that such programs usually come about only after ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Flights to offshore wildlife refuge in La. halted
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100509/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_refuge
Associated Press: Federal officials have halted flights to the Breton National Wildlife Refuge off the Louisiana coast, saying aircraft hired by news organizations threaten the birds nesting in the barrier islands. A statement Saturday from the Coast Guard and other officials overseeing the oil spill cleanup said the flights and landings threaten the very birds that the media are covering. All access to the refuge has been closed as cleanup crews assess the damage from oil leaking from a well in ...
Sun, 9 May 10
BP suffers snag in Gulf oil containment effort
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6430AR20100509?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: BP Plc suffered a setback on Saturday in an attempt to contain oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico with a huge metal dome when crystallized gas filled the structure, a blow to hopes of a quick, temporary solution to a growing environmental disaster. Word of the snag came as balls of tar appeared in waters off a popular Alabama island beach in what may be the first evidence of spilled oil washing into a populated area. BP engineers have moved the four-story containment dome -- ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Gulf oil spill setback: Dome didn't work as planned
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100508/sc_mcclatchy/3499342
McClatchy Newspapers: Efforts to cap a leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico suffered a major setback Saturday, after ice-like crystals clogged the inside of a massive dome meant to contain an 18-day-long spill. The crystals forced officials to move the steel-and-concrete dome, which is still on the sea bed, some 650 feet away from the well -- and to scramble to find ways to stop the water-and-gas crystals from forming. "I wouldn't say it failed yet," said Doug Suttles , chief operating officer of ...
Sun, 9 May 10
China says new global climate deal still far away
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6471A920100508?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: China's top climate negotiator said on Saturday although progress had been made in negotiations for a new accord to combat global warming, there was still some distance to go before a binding deal could be secured. At a conference of ministers and environmental organizations in Beijing, Xie Zhenhua, also vice-chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission, said all sides needed to "strengthen trust" and "deepen cooperation" in order to achieve positive results at the ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Cause Of Rig's Blast: Methane Bubble
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126629347&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Crews in the Gulf of Mexico are reevaluating plans to use a 100-ton steel-and-concrete dome to contain oil gushing from a blown-out well on the seafloor after gas hydrates -- a slushy mix of water crystals and gas -- plugged a hole in the top of the experimental device. The buildup made the white dome too buoyant and clogged it up, BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said. Workers who had carefully lowered the massive box over the leak nearly a mile below the surface had to lift ...
Sun, 9 May 10
U-Va. urged to fight subpoena of climate scientist's documents
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/08/AR2010050802020.html
Washington Post: Academics from across the country are rallying against a subpoena issued by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II seeking documents related to the work of a former University of Virginia climate scientist, even as the university says it is preparing to comply with Cuccinelli's request. Cuccinelli (R) issued the civil investigative demand to the university last month for all documents related to five grant applications made by Michael Mann, a climate-change expert who joined Penn ...
Sun, 9 May 10
United States: Denver's water chief praised as 'great mind'
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iJD75Yd-axyqoXTeOeIgDU5tmZ2gD9FIOL9G0
Associated Press: Denver's vast and powerful water empire, once seen as a Western bully bent on expansion at any cost, was reeling from defeats and beset by rivals when Hamlet "Chips" Barry took over as manager in 1991. Barry, who died May 2 just four weeks away from retiring, guided the city-chartered utility known as Denver Water through a radical transformation. These days, it's viewed more as a collaborator with other districts and environmentalists, an advocate for conservation and a pioneer in ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Cuba: Fidel Castro: Oil spill shows corporate domination
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100508/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_gulf_oil_spill_cuba
Associated Press: Fidel Castro says the spreading oil slick fouling the Gulf of Mexico is proof that the world's most powerful governments cannot control large corporations that now dictate the public's destiny. Officials are rushing to seal an underwater oil gusher triggered after a deep-water rig operated by BP PLC exploded and sank on April 20, killing 11 people. It still is unclear whether some of the 3 million gallons of spilled crude could eventually reach Cuba's shores -- though government ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Oil catcher dome hits snag near leak site: BP exec
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6471YL20100508?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: London-based BP Plc's plan to lower a giant containment dome to trap oil from a blown-out Gulf of Mexico oil well on the sea floor hit a technical obstacle on Saturday in the form of methane hydrates, or flammable ice, a BP executive said on Saturday. BP officials are scrambling for a solution after methane hydrates stopped up the 98-ton containment dome as they were maneuvering it into place, Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, told reporters at a briefing in ...
Sun, 9 May 10
BP removes containment dome from oil leak site
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100508/ts_alt_afp/usblastoilenergypollutiondome
Agence France-Presse: BP was dealt a setback Saturday to capping a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico after a containment dome encountered flammable hydrate formations as it was lowered onto the leak site. The gas hydrates, similar to ice crystals, formed on the inside of the 100-ton (90-tonne) chamber as it neared the seabed nearly a mile (1,500 meters below the surface, making it too buoyant and clogging it up, BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles told reporters. Workers have moved the ...
Sun, 9 May 10
At UN, Bolivia's Morales Hits Obama "Blackmail" and Lack of Change, "Sign Kyoto"
http://www.innercitypress.com/evo1obama050810.html
Inner City Press: "Maybe the color of the skin of the U.S. President has changed," Bolivian President Evo Morales told the Press on Friday, "but nothing else has changed." Video here, from Minute 47:45. Inner City Press asked Morales about reports in the Latin American press that the U.S. had "blackmailed" Bolivia and Ecuador by cutting off aid for not signing the Copenhagen Accord on climate change. Video here, from Minute 26:24. Morales confirmed that "Ecuador lost $2 million, and Bolivia lost ...
Sun, 9 May 10
US oil spill no Chernobyl, but still toxic: biologist
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100508/sc_afp/usblastoilenergypollutionhealth
Agence France-Presse: The huge oil spill inching closer to shore in the Gulf of Mexico is no Chernobyl disaster but will have a huge impact on the key fishing industry, a marine biologist said here. A ruptured well from the sunken Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling platform has spewed out more than three million barrels of crude so far, encroaching on prized southern US coast wetlands and wildlife preserves, as well as billion-dollar fishing and tourism destinations. "There will be no Chernobyl in ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Spill impact 'significant... regardless:' top EPA official
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100508/sc_afp/usblastoilenergypollutionenvironment
Agence France-Presse: Even if BP manages to quickly cap oil gushing at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, the environmental impact from the massive slick will still be "significant," a senior EPA official said Friday. "There already is going to be a significant environmental impact here, even if it stops leaking now," Environmental Protection Agency Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe told AFP. "Everything we are doing is to try to continue to minimize the amount of environmental damages. But ...
Sun, 9 May 10
BP has a long record of legal, ethical violations
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100508/sc_mcclatchy/3499283
McClatchy Newspapers: The causes of the disastrous blowout and gas explosion on BP's leased Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico are a long way from being determined. Yet already BP's actions are facing unprecedented scrutiny, thanks to a years-long history of legal and ethical violations that critics, judges and members of Congress say shows that the London -based company has a penchant for putting profits ahead of just about everything else. Over the past two decades, BP ...
Sun, 9 May 10
In icy depths, clinging crystals halt oil capture
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100508/ap_on_sc/us_gulf_oil_spill_hydrates
Associated Press: A petroleum chemist and geologist says the icy hydrates that have halted an effort to slow the Gulf oil spill can float like ice cubes and can form less than a quarter-mile from the surface. Authorities said Saturday those hydrates clogged the giant box that crews were trying to put over the leaking well nearly 5,000 feet deep. Art Johnson, chief of exploration for Hydrate Energy International, said hydrates form when gases such as methane mix with water under high pressure and ...
Sun, 9 May 10
United States: Protesters rally against drilling after oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100508/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_protest
Associated Press: About 200 people protested the dangers of offshore drilling at a rally in New Orleans. Protesters signed a large banner Saturday that said "This Is Your Crude Awakening," in reference to the April 20 oil rig explosion that killed 11 people and so far has spilled at least three million of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Some protesters held signs with slogans such as "Clean, Baby, Clean" and "Save Our Wetlands Now." Sierra Club President Allison Chin says America ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Third of all plants and animals face extinction
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7120676.ece
Times (UK): ANIMAL and plant species are being killed off faster than ever before as human populations surge and people consume more, a United Nations report is expected to say this week. It will warn that the expansion of countries such as China, India and Brazil is adding hugely to the environmental threats already generated by developed western nations, and that a third of species could face extinction this century. The report is one of the starkest issued by the UN and the decision to ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Canada: Climate change a game changer for Epcor
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Climate%20change%20game%20changer%20Epcor/3002818/story.html
Edmonton Journal: Where others see drought, Epcor president and CEO Don Lowry senses opportunity. "As time marches on, the scarcity of water will increasingly become an issue, and the requirement to manage it wisely," Lowry said Friday. Speaking to reporters at Epcor's annual meeting in Edmonton, Lowry said water's true value as a precious commodity will become more apparent in coming years and the city-owned company is poised to take advantage at home and abroad. "I look around the rest ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Bill Gates pays for 'artificial' clouds to beat greenhouse gases
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article7120011.ece
Times (UK): The first trials of controversial sunshielding technology are being planned after the United Nations failed to secure agreement on cutting greenhouse gases. Bill Gates, the Microsoft billionaire, is funding research into machines to suck up ten tonnes of seawater every second and spray it upwards. This would seed vast banks of white clouds to reflect the Sun's rays away from Earth. The British and American scientists involved do not intend to wait for international rules on ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Greenland oil rush looms
http://www.thespec.com/News/article/763648
Bloomberg: Cairn Energy is betting $400 million this year on striking oil off Greenland, a campaign that will be closely watched by producers such as Exxon Mobil and Chevron that hold rights off the island. The potential rewards may justify the cost of Arctic drilling: Greenland's waters could hold 50 billion barrels of crude and gas, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates, enough to meet Europe's energy demand for almost two years. More companies are on the way. Royal Dutch Shell and Statoil were ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Save the trees save the world
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Save%20trees%20save%20world/3001903/story.html
Ottawa Citizen: Diana Beresford-Kroeger lets out a laugh as she talks about her grand-uncle Lord Beresford and how his wild spree became part of the English language. Henry de la Poer Beresford, the Marquis of Waterford, was celebrating a successful fox-hunt with some friends one day in 1837. The roisterers got hold of some paint, according to legend, and began daubing it on buildings in the town of Melton Mobray in England. "He was drunk, and he painted the town red. That's where the ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Sino-indo climate talks changing political phase
http://www.zeenews.com/news625198.html
Press Trust of India: Sino-India cooperation on climate change was helping in changing the political climate between the two countries, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has said as he underlined the need for New Delhi to "learn" from China's forest management. Ramesh, who arrived here yesterday to take part in an international environment conference, said China was doing very well in combating climate change and becoming a leader in the green technology. India and China had an MOU on partnership ...
Sun, 9 May 10
New Castle officials pledge to cut their engines
http://www.postindependent.com/article/20100508/VALLEYNEWS/100509905/1083&ParentProfile=1074
Post Independent: Leaders in New Castle have signed a pledge to do their part to affect climate change by example, rather than local regulation. While some municipalities have adopted their own ordinances against idling vehicles, the New Castle Climate Action Advisory Commission has convinced the town's elected trustees and mayor to sign a pledge to reduce excessive idling of their own vehicles in town and throughout the county. In March, the climate commission volunteers invited town council ...
Sun, 9 May 10
China reiterates climate change principle of "common but differentiated responsibility"
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-05/08/c_13283068.htm
Xinhua: To achieve equitable development globally, China adheres to a principle of "common but differentiated responsibility" on climate change, a senior official said at a conference here Saturday. Xie Zhenhua, vice minister of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), made the remarks at the International Cooperative Conference on Green Economy and Climate Change. "Developed countries discharged a great amount of greenhouse gases during their industrialization in the ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Deepwater Horizon blast triggered by methane bubble, report shows
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/08/deepwater-horizon-blast-methane-bubble
Guardian: The deadly blast on board the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico was triggered by a bubble of methane gas, an investigation by BP has revealed. A report into last month's blast said the gas escaped from the oil well and shot up the drill column, expanding quickly as it burst through several seals and barriers before exploding. The sequence of events, described in the interviews with rig workers, provides the most detailed account of the blast that killed 11 workers ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Jordan River could die by 2011
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/jordan-river-could-die-by-2011-1968847.html
Agence France-Presse: The once mighty Jordan River, where Christians believe Jesus was baptised, is now little more than a polluted stream that could die next year unless the decay is halted, environmentalists said on Monday. The famed river "has been reduced to a trickle south of the Sea of Galilee, devastated by overexploitation, pollution and lack of regional management," Friends of the Earth, Middle East (FoEME) said in a report. More than 98 percent of the river's flow has been diverted by ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Climate scientists decry 'political assaults'
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/07/BAGH1DB8OC.DTL
San Francisco Chronicle: In an unusually strong attack on politically powerful deniers of global warming, 255 members of the National Academy of Sciences, including 32 from Northern California, have charged that opponents are using "McCarthy-like tactics" against legitimate climate scientists. The letter condemning "political assaults" on climate researchers was published Friday in the journal Science, and was sent earlier to the White House Office of Science and Technology, where John Holdren, its director, ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Spill could devastate U.S. Gulf Coast oyster reefs
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6470GI20100508?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The lowly oyster, a tasty delicacy to seafood lovers but a curiosity to more squeamish diners, is also the backbone of marine life along the U.S. Gulf Coast and among the most vulnerable creatures now threatened by a giant oil spill. The region's oyster beds are the vital foundation of a commercial and recreational fishing industry -- including shrimp, crabs and other shellfish -- that generates $6.5 billion in annual revenues, according to one recent estimate. The networks of ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Climate change bill to roll out next week
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/6995831.html
Houston Chronicle: Even without their top Republican partner -- and with an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico darkening prospects for success -- the chief architects of a climate change and energy bill plan to unveil their measure on Wednesday. The bill, by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions nationwide 20 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050, while spurring nuclear power and investing in so-called "clean coal" technology ...
Sun, 9 May 10
'We must work on climate change'
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-05/08/content_9824721.htm
China Daily: Premier Wen Jiabao has urged the leadership of all countries to deepen their political will in tackling climate change woes as uncertainties mount in the months before the United Nation's conference in Cancun, Mexico, at the end of this year. Wen made the remarks on Friday when he met with nearly 20 politicians, climate change and environmental ministers worldwide, who are in Beijing this weekend to attend an international forum on green economy and climate change. "At present, ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Mexico: Oil Spill Fuels Debate on Environmental Safety
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51361
Inter Press Service: The spreading oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has highlighted the urgent need for stricter environmental rules and standards for deep sea oil rigs. A moratorium on drilling for oil along the maritime frontier between Mexico and the United States in the Gulf of Mexico expires in January 2011. Mexico is planning to speed up exploration on its side of the frontier -- something the U.S. has been doing since 1996. "The accident has fuelled the debate on regulations for deep ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Mali: Farmers Restore Forests
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51356
Inter Press Service: Villagers in the interior delta of the Niger River, already experiencing the harsh impacts of climate change, have a good understanding of the need to restore forests decimated by drought. Where forest cover has been rehabilitated, it is already reshaping the surrounding environment - and economy. "It is important to set regulations to protect the restored forests against fresh destruction by drought," Yaya Bocoum, an elder from the Malian village of Youwarou, told IPS. "I can ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Bangladesh to use CFL bulbs to save electricity
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6470WM20100508?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Bangladesh will distribute compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs among consumers next month in exchange for incandescent bulbs to save up to 400 megawatts of electricity a day, a power ministry official said on Saturday. "We have already received CFL bulbs from a Chinese supplier and will start to distribute those among the electricity consumers from June," Afrazur Rahman, the spokesman of the ministry of power, energy and mineral resources told Reuters. Each electricity client ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Dark tales emerge of oil cesspool
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/dark-tales-emerge-of-oil-cesspool-20100507-ujnn.html
Sydney Morning Herald: US government workers accepted gifts and gratuities at least 135 times from oil and gas corporations, writes Simon Mann. New Orleans is the big uneasy, waiting anxiously as the massive uncontrolled oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico creeps ever closer to shore and towards likely environmental and economic calamity. Amid the rallying this week of a community whose memory is seared by images of Hurricane Katrina, of death, despair and national neglect, uncertainty was the common ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Gulf wildlife 'dead zone' keeps growing
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37028908/
Discovery News: An over 7,000-square-mile wildlife "dead zone" located in the center of the Gulf of Mexico has grown from being a curiosity to a colossus over the past two decades, according to the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), and scientists are now concerned the recent oil spill and other emerging chemical threats could widen the zone even further. The NWF describes the dead zone as being "the largest on record in the hemisphere in coastal waters and one of the biggest in the ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Canada: Stelmach makes trip to U.S. to play up Alberta's oilsands
http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100507/edm_premier_100507/20100507/?hub=CalgaryHome
CTV: Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach says he hoped meeting with several U.S. senators in Washington has helped to explain the vital role Alberta's oilsands play in American energy security and job creation. "As the United States moves forward with climate change policies, it is imperative that U.S. lawmakers have a full and accurate understanding of oil sands development," said Stelmach. While in Washington, Stelmach had a chance to meet with senators from Michigan, South Carolina, ...
Sun, 9 May 10
Containment effort inches closer to oil target
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/08/us/08spill.html
New York Times: A giant steel container meant to capture oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico was lowered to within 200 feet of the seafloor on Friday afternoon, officials said. Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, with Rear Adm. Mary Landry of the Coast Guard. "We're committed to trying to make this work," Mr. Suttles said Friday of the containment effort. The container was positioned slightly to the side of where it needed to be placed to capture the gushing crude nearly a mile below ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Four energy technologies that could replace oil
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ygreen/20100507/sc_ygreen/fourenergytechnologiesthatcouldreplaceoil
Yahoo! Green: Every time there's an energy-related disaster, it boosts the prospects for clean alternatives. Last month's devastating explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine killed 29, and got people wondering if all that ancient coal shouldn't just be left in the ground. And the spreading oil slick from the Deep Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico led to a flurry of Congressional bills banning offshore drilling, and rising public sentiment for cleaner alternatives. The problem is that people's ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Gulf coast holds its breath as dome is lowered on well
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100507/sc_mcclatchy/3498925
McClatchy Newspapers: Underwater robots maneuvered a mammoth white containment dome over a leaking oil well 5,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico on Friday as environmentalists, fishermen and hoteliers waited to see if the unprecedented effort would contain this region's 17-day-long ecological disaster. Engineers hoped to thread a slot in the dome over the well's main leaking pipe, then let the dome sink into the mud, creating a water-tight seal. After that, engineers planned to hook a ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Massive dome lowered at site of huge U.S. oil spill
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6430AR20100508?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: BP Plc engineers using undersea robots maneuvered a massive metal chamber to fit over a gushing ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday in their best chance yet to contain a leak that threatens an environmental catastrophe on U.S. shores. The four-story structure, the best short-term hope of controlling the spewing crude, was lowered to the seabed almost one mile below the surface in an attempt to funnel the escaping oil to a surface tanker. BP, which faces major ...
Sat, 8 May 10
United States: Series of failures led to rig blast
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100508/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill
Associated Press: The deadly blowout of an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico was triggered by a bubble of methane gas that escaped from the well and shot up the drill column, expanding quickly as it burst through several seals and barriers before exploding, according to interviews with rig workers conducted during BP's internal investigation. While the cause of the explosion is still under investigation, the sequence of events described in the interviews provides the most detailed account of the April 20 ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Got pet hair to spare?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ygreen/20100507/sc_ygreen/gotpethairtospare
Y! Green: If you`ve been keeping tabs on the catastrophic (an adjective I feel like I`ve been having to use far too often lately) Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, you`ve probably been wondering how exactly you can help. Well, for those of you with furry, four-legged flatmates, it can be as easy as sweeping the floors and collecting all that errant fur and hair. So how exactly can hoarding pet fur help with cleaning up one of the worst environmental disasters in recent memory? Enter ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Tennessee Covered In River-Mud Glaze
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126615097&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Floodwaters from the Cumberland River have left a skim of brown over much of downtown Nashville and at least a billion-dollar cleanup. Nearly a week after more than a foot of rain fell in Tennessee, concern is growing over the environmental impact of sewage and oil in the water. Some more remote areas are finding out they will be without tap water for months.
Sat, 8 May 10
La. wildlife refuge closed as oil advances
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100507/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_refuge_closed
Associated Press: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has closed a sensitive barrier islands habitat for nesting birds and other animals as oil advances from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The federal agency said Friday that the Breton National Wildlife Refuge was closed to the public to allow cleanup and wildlife recovery missions to take place. The wildlife service says they had to close the area to limit the disturbance to nesting sea birds. Oil reached the refuge on Wednesday. The ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Feds check 30 oil rigs, say no "cause for concern"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100507/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_inspections
Associated Press: U.S. Minerals Management Service inspectors say there's "no urgent cause for concern" regarding 30 deep water drilling rigs they've finished inspecting in the Gulf of Mexico. Spokesman Lars Herbst said Friday that the inspectors' findings will be available soon in a report. His inspectors now will examine all deep water production facilities in the Gulf. The inspection of the drilling rigs began after an oil rig operated by BP PLC exploded and sunk on April 20 in the Gulf, ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Climate Bill To Proceed Despite Loss Of Key Backer
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126618834&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Two supporters of a climate change and energy bill in the U.S. Senate said Friday they will release details of the measure next Wednesday despite losing the support of a key Republican lawmaker. Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said they would go ahead with plans to unveil the legislation despite the loss of support of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). The three lawmakers had been negotiating for months over details of the legislation, but Graham said he doubts the ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Dome BP hopes will cap oil leak in Gulf of Mexico reaches sea bed
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/7694309/Dome-BP-hopes-will-cap-oil-leak-in-Gulf-of-Mexico-reaches-sea-bed.html
Telegraph: Submersible robots working nearly a mile under water suspended the 40ft high dome over the leak, which is spewing out 200,000 gallons of crude a day. Undersea cameras attached to the robots were being used to make sure the dome was properly aligned before it is dropped all the way to the bottom. Once the device is in place the robots will secure it over the leak, a process that will take hours. BP spokesman Bill Salvin said: "We are essentially taking a four-story ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Another hurdle cleared for Cape Wind
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ygreen/20100507/sc_ygreen/anotherhurdleclearedforcapewind
Yahoo Green: Last week, the Cape Wind offshore wind farm was approved by the federal government, but there were still some unknowns left to deal with, a major one being who would buy the power the wind farm generated. Today, that part has at least partially been decided, with Massachusetts utility National Grid agreeing to purchase half of the power starting in 2013. Under the contract, National Grid will buy the electricity at 20.7 cents per kWh, which will lead to an increase of only about $1.59 ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Ala. researchers find oil chunks approaching coast
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100507/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_oil_chunks
Associated Press: Dauphin Island Sea Lab researchers say they believe parts of the oil slick are closer to the northern Gulf coast than previously thought. Scientist Monty Graham said Friday they found honeycombed chunks of what appear to be crude oil and tar floating in the water about 35 miles south of Dauphin Island, Ala. Officials from the U.S. Coast Guard and BP PLC say they are investigating the odd discovery. The company and federal agency have said the oil chunks are tar balls, which ...
Sat, 8 May 10
The Plundered Planet: How to Reconcile Prosperity with Nature by Paul Collier | Book review
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/may/08/plundered-planet-paul-collier-review
Guardian: The Plundered Planet: How to Reconcile Prosperity with Nature by Paul Collier 288pp, Allen Lane, £20 Buy The Plundered Planet: How to Reconcile Prosperity with Nature at the Guardian bookshop Paul Collier CBE is a heavyweight economist, in the same league as Joseph Stiglitz and Jeffrey Sachs. He's an Oxford professor and a former head of research at the World Bank, as well as being a UN and British government adviser. He is an authority on war and democracy, he has addressed the UN ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Oil addiction hard to kick
http://www.contracostatimes.com/business/ci_15040375?source=rss
Contra Costa Times: America is seeing the usually hidden costs of fossil fuels -- an oil spill's potential for huge environmental and economic damage, and deaths in coal and oil industry accidents. But don't expect much to change. America and the world crave more oil and coal, no matter the all-too-risky ways needed to extract those fuels. "We are absolutely addicted and we have no methadone. All we have is the hard stuff," said Larry McKinney, director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Kerry and Lieberman to Unveil Climate Bill Next Week
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20100507/pl_cq_politics/politics3658566
CQPolitics: Sens. John Kerry and Joseph I. Lieberman will unveil a long-awaited climate change bill on May 12, without the participation of their former partner, Sen. Lindsey Graham, who had been the measure's only Republican supporter. Graham bolted from the climate talks two days before the originally scheduled April 26 bill rollout over anger at reports that Majority Leader Harry Reid planned to bring immigration legislation to the Senate floor ahead of the climate bill. Graham, who ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Special report: Will the cleanup make the BP oil spill worse?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100507/us_nm/us_oil_rig_leak_valdez
Reuters: More than half an inch of oil covered the sea when Dennis Kelso's boat, piled with a few newly dead birds, nudged up against the side of the Exxon Valdez on Friday, March 24, 1989. A rope ladder hung down the side of one of the biggest vessels on earth, which had run aground near midnight on a reef in pristine Prince William Sound, a haven for birds, whales and otters, brimming with fish that supplied a multimillion dollar industry. It is also next to the end of the ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Bolivian movement pushes for role in climate talks
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100507/ap_on_re_us/un_un_climate_change
Associated Press: Bolivia's president and indigenous, social and environmental leaders are pressing for new rights for the planet, a greater role in global climate talks and deep cuts in rich nations' greenhouse gases. President Evo Morales said Friday that rich nations use more than their share of the atmosphere by emitting too much carbon pollution that leads to global warming. He and several activists said the voluntary cuts in the U.S.-brokered Copenhagen Accord last December doom the planet ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Oil spill could reach US port for foreign oil
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100507/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_offshore_oil_port
Associated Press: Oil gushing from a blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico could force closure of the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port next week, authorities said Friday. The port, known as LOOP, is a platform off the Louisiana coast about 80 miles southwest of New Orleans. It is one of the leading facilities for imported oil, handling up to 1.2 million barrels a day and feeding half the nation's refinery capacity. Tankers that are too large to enter the Mississippi River pull up to the ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Social Media Used to Update Public About Oil Spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100507/sc_livescience/socialmediausedtoupdatepublicaboutoilspill
LiveScience: As oil continues to leak into the Gulf of Mexico from the recent Deepwater Horizon disaster, a number of government agencies have banded together and utilized the power and scope of social media to disseminate accurate, up-to-date information to the general public. On April 20, an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon, an oil-drilling rig approximately 52 miles off the coast of Venice, La., took the lives of 11 of its 126 crew members. The rig sank two days later, and ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Boundaries of fishing ban expand in Gulf of Mexico
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6465Q020100507?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: The boundaries of a no-fishing zone in the Gulf of Mexico have been extended due to the massive oil spill off the Louisiana coast, authorities said on Friday. An advisory on the web site of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the closed area now represents nearly 4.5 percent of Gulf of Mexico federal waters. The original closure, in effect since Sunday, covered less than 3 percent of the same zone.
Sat, 8 May 10
Secret Copenhagen recording reveals resistance from China and India
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/07/secret-copenhagen-talks-climate-recording
Guardian: A leaked recording of behind-the-scenes negotiations between world leaders at the Copenhagen climate summit in December has revealed bad-tempered exchanges and clear frustrations from Europeans at what they saw as intransigence by the Chinese. The recording – published on the website of German magazine Der Spiegel – offers an extraordinary glimpse of the battle taking place between leaders including Barack Obama, Gordon Brown, Angela Merkel and Nikolas Sarkozy, and Chinese and Indian ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Will the Oil Spill Derail Climate Change Bill in Congress?
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20004425-503544.html
CBS News: In one of the most direct connections the Obama administration has made between the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and energy and climate change legislation, White House adviser Carol Browner said the accident gives the legislation a better than 50 percent chance of passing this year. "This accident, this tragedy, is actually heightening people's interest in energy in this country and in wanting a different energy plan," Browner, assistant to the president on energy and ...
Sat, 8 May 10
U-Va. should fight Cuccinelli's faulty investigation of Michael Mann
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/06/AR2010050605936.html
Washington Post: WE KNEW Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) had declared war on reality. Now he has declared war on the freedom of academic inquiry as well. We hope that Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) and the University of Virginia have the spine to repudiate Mr. Cuccinelli's abuse of the legal code. If they do not, the quality of Virginia's universities will suffer for years to come. In his ongoing campaign to wish away human-induced climate change, Mr. Cuccinelli has targeted Michael ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Key US senator: climate bill progress impossible
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100507/pl_afp/usclimatepolitics
Agence France-Presse: A key US senator said Friday that action on legislation to fight climate change was "impossible" for now because of fierce new opposition to offshore drilling after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. "I believe it would be wise to pause the process and reassess where we stand," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said, pouring cold water on predictions that he would eventually support the bill. Graham withdrew two weeks ago from discussions with Democratic Senator John Kerry and ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Senator Graham calls for pause in climate bill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100507/ts_nm/us_climate_usa_congress
Reuters: Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who had been collaborating on a compromise climate change and energy bill, on Friday called for putting the legislation on hold following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The legislation Graham had been writing with Democratic Senator John Kerry and independent Senator Joseph Lieberman contained incentives for expanding offshore oil drilling. But opposition to such oil production has been stiffening in Congress following the massive oil spill ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Rare 114-year record, kept by generations, logs changing climate
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100507101912.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: day since Jan. 1, 1896, an observer has hiked to a spot at The Mohonk Preserve, a resort and nature area some 90 miles north of New York City, to record daily temperature and other conditions there. It is the rarest of the rare: a weather station that has never missed a day of temperature recording; never been moved; never seen its surroundings change; and never been tended by anyone but a short, continuous line of family and friends, using the same methods, for 114 years. On top of ...
Sat, 8 May 10
United Kingdom: BP investors must urge transparency
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/07/bp-investors-must-urge-transparency
Guardian: We are going to the ends of the earth to find the next barrel of oil – but at what price? The as yet unstoppable oil spill gushing from a deepwater rig drilling for BP in the Gulf of Mexico looks set to have dire environmental and social consequences – for fragile ecosystems and wildlife, and for local residents and businesses. And let us not forget the 11 people who lost their lives in the explosion. But, as City investors who have watched $30bn (£20bn) get wiped off BP's ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Climate Change: 255 scientists urge people to take constructive action
http://news.oneindia.in/2010/05/07/climatechange-255-scientists-urge-people-to-takeconstruc.html
Asian News International: Following the recent spate of attacks on the authenticity of the dangers of climate-change, a collective of 255 scientists, members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, including 11 Nobel Prize laureates, have defended the objectivity behind the issue. The statement signed by the 255 distinguished scientists says that the scientific research process confirms the conclusions about climate change. It specifically reaffirms the "compelling, comprehensive, and consistent ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Duke CEO questioned on climate lobbying
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/05/07/1420688/duke-ceo-questioned-on-climate.html
Charlotte Observer: At their annual meeting Thursday, Duke Energy shareholders questioned CEO Jim Rogers about the company's lobbying for climate-change legislation. Shareholders voted down a proposal calling for a report on Duke's climate-related lobbying, with 76 percent of proxy votes opposed. But the questions marked a reversal of the company's annual meetings, which in recent years have seen activists urging Duke to invest more heavily in green energy such as solar and wind ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Australia: Chinese lash PM on emissions inaction
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/chinese-lash-pm-on-emissions-inaction-20100506-ugxa.html
Age: A leading Chinese government adviser has criticised the gap between Kevin Rudd's action and rhetoric on climate change, saying he has reduced the chance that the world can curb global warming before it is too late. Pan Jiahua, who addressed the Politburo on climate change policy in February, said the Prime Minister's decision to postpone the emissions trading scheme gave rich countries an excuse to do less and discouraged developing countries from doing anything. ''If he gives ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Still Under Attack, Climate Scientists Fight Back
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1987697,00.html
Time Magazine: Has any field suffered a faster drop in public confidence than climate science? Two and a half years ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was finishing up its widely acclaimed fourth assessment on global warming, which made an unequivocal case for the threat of man-made climate change. For its work, the IPCC was rewarded with the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize -- shared with Al Gore for his green advocacy -- and polls showed strong concern over global warming, even in the U.S. ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Ship logs help scientists trace oceans' warming
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126476624
National Public Radio: Sydney Levitus works in an ordinary government office building in the ordinary town of Silver Spring, Md. But his work frequently transports him -- at least figuratively -- back to the helms of ships that plied the seas many decades ago. He's looking at temperature readings from the ship's logbooks. "The data are priceless because you can't go back in time, obviously," Levitus says. And scientists would dearly like to know how the temperature of the seas has changed since ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Oil extending west around Mississippi Delta
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100507/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_westerly_spread
Associated Press: Recent satellite images show oil from the spill in the Gulf of Mexico is extending west around the Mississippi Delta. Shots taken by a Canadian satellite Wednesday night reveal the extension looks like a finger reaching out from the main patch. The oil is in streaks ranging from a few feet wide to much larger swaths. University of Miami imaging expert Hans Graber said Friday the main oil slick has been shifting to the northwest, encroaching on Chandeleur Sound, which lies ...
Sat, 8 May 10
German parliament slashes solar subsidies
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262661/shares-tumble-germany-slashes
Business Green: The German parliament yesterday approved long-expected cuts to solar energy incentives prompting US shares in solar companies to tumble amid fears that demand from one of the world's largest markets for soalr panels will now fall. The Bundestag voted in favour of a 16 per cent cut to feed-in tariff incentives for solar rooftop installations, as well as an 11 per cent reduction in incentives for solar installations on conversion sites and the scrapping of support for solar ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Deepwater team attempts to put 'cofferdam' over blown-out oil well
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/07/deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-box
Associated Press: A mission to the sea floor to try to avert a wider environmental disaster following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill made progress today as crews said a 100-tonne concrete-and-steel box was close to being placed over a blown-out well on the Gulf floor in an unprecedented attempt to contain the gushing oil. Douglas Peake, the first mate of the supply boat that brought the box to the site, confirmed that a radio transmission from the nearby vessel lowering the device said it would soon ...
Sat, 8 May 10
Window closing for US climate bill
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1989
Carbon Positive: The chief Senate proponents of the troubled US climate and energy bill say it is still alive and almost ready for release. But the realities of a mid-term election year and the Louisiana oil spill have observers saying it will be a hard task from here to get legislation up in 2010. The on again, off again bill may be revealed to the US Senate in the coming week, its remaining sponsors say. Democrat Senator John Kerry and independent Senator Joseph Lieberman have both indicated they'll ...
Sat, 8 May 10
United Kingdom: Cameron makes "open and comprehensive offer" to Lib Dems
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262667/cameron-makes-open
Business Green: Conservative leader David Cameron has made a transparent attempt to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats that could see the two parties work together to accelerate the development of Britain's low-carbon economy. Delivering a press conference this afternoon, following confirmation that the Conservatives have not won enough seats to secure a majority government, he said he was willing to make a "big, open and comprehensive offer" to the Lib Dems to form a coalition that could ...
Sat, 8 May 10
United Kingdom: Talking tyres promise to help motorists turn fuel efficiency corner
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262615/talking-tyres-turn-corner-fuel
Business Green: Cars could soon feature "talking tyres" that let motorists know when they are in need of attention, leading to reduced fuel consumption and extended tyre life, according to engineering firm Schrader Electronics. The Northern Ireland-based company has developed a new sensor that constantly monitors road conditions and the state of the tyre, and then communicates with the driver through the vehicle's electronic system. The sensor will be installed on a new tyre dubbed the "Cyber ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Anatomy of an Oil Disaster: Heckuva Job, Kenny!
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0505-oil_kozloff.html
Mongabay: Who is responsible for the great environmental disaster arising from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? As the country reels from the sheer magnitude of the accident, the media has rightly pointed the finger at BP. Yet, not nearly enough attention has been paid to the role of Ken Salazar and his derelict Department of Interior, a government entity which, in theory, regulates offshore oil drilling. With a budget of almost $16 billion, Interior is a hugely important department ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Deep beneath the Gulf, oil may be wreaking havoc
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100506/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill
Associated Press: The oil you can't see could be as bad as the oil you can. While people anxiously wait for the slick in the Gulf of Mexico to wash up along the coast, globules of oil are already falling to the bottom of the sea, where they threaten virtually every link in the ocean food chain, from plankton to fish that are on dinner tables everywhere. "The threat to the deep-sea habitat is already a done deal -- it is happening now," said Paul Montagna, a marine scientist at the Harte Research ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Giant dome, fires aimed at huge oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100506/ts_nm/us_oil_rig_leak
Reuters: Workers toiled above and below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday in attempts to plug a gushing oil leak and protect the U.S. coast in one of the biggest spill containment efforts ever mounted. Work was in high gear as politicians kept pressure on energy giant BP to limit the ecological and economic damage from its ruptured well, and as driller Transocean Ltd said the U.S. Justice Department asked it to preserve records related to the drilling of the well and the deadly ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Spain: Solar energy "Club Med" touts technological advances
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262547/solar-energy-club-med-heats
Business Green: Solar energy boom centred on the mediterranean reached another milestone this week as Spanish renewable energy company Renovalia Energy unveiled what it claims is the world's first "second-generation" thermal solar plant. The company flicked the switch on its pioneering 1MW solar-thermal plant in Casas de los Pinos, Spain, earlier this week touting a series of improvements that promise to reduce the environmental impact of lareg scale solar farms. The plant uses external ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Lawmakers don't want new drilling off West Coast
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100505/ap_on_bi_ge/us_west_coast_oil_drilling
Associated Press: About 20 West Coast lawmakers are backing legislation that would permanently ban new offshore drilling in federal waters near California, Oregon and Washington. The lawmakers are citing the oil spill in the Gulf Coast as an example of why the legislation introduced Wednesday is necessary. President Barack Obama recently committed to maintaining a moratorium on offshore drilling and exploration along those states. He took that step even as he proposed expanding oil and gas ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Marine paradise in peril as BP oil disaster threatens to become worst ever
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7117464.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=3392178
Times (UK): Fish are leaping, a dolphin is cruising behind the boat and six brown pelicans have just flown overhead in a perfect V-formation like a display team. When Captain Sam Elliott cuts the engine, the only sound is the water lapping against the hull and the cry of gulls. On the outer reaches of Louisiana's marshlands, a 75-minute high-speed boat ride from the last inhabited community, it appears that the only powers at work are the forces of Nature. Yet just a few miles away, the forces of ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Biologists fear that spill could be a 'disaster ecologically'
http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100505/sc_mcclatchy/3496878
McClatchy Newspapers: Scientists and environmentalists worry that 3,500 miles of Gulf of Mexico coastline from Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula to Cape Sable in Florida's Everglades National Park , ringed with rich, diverse habitats where many imperiled birds and animals breed and feed, would be at risk if the oil spill reaches them. "It has the potential of being a disaster ecologically," said John Bente , the lead biologist for 13 coastal state parks in Florida . "It's just frightening." In his office ...
Thu, 6 May 10
The chance discovery that averted ecological disaster
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-chance-discovery-that-averted-ecological-disaster-1964500.html
Independent (UK): It was perceived as one of the greatest environmental threats of the late-20th century. Twenty-five years ago this month, a hole in the ozone layer was detected high in the atmosphere over the frozen wastes of Antarctica; scientists warned it might spread to other parts of the world, leading to dangerous increases in cancer-causing radiation from the Sun. The Earth's protective layer of ozone shields all life from the damaging effects of ultraviolet (UV) rays, and its gradual ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Palin rallies supporters of US drilling despite oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100505/ts_alt_afp/usblastoilenergypollutionpalin
Agence France-Presse: Right-wing darling Sarah Palin, who championed off-shore oil drilling in Alaska, bashed "foreign" companies Wednesday as the culprits behind the giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. "Gulf: learn from Alaska's lesson w/foreign oil co's: don't naively trust- VERIFY," the former Republican vice presidential pick told her 143,000 followers Wednesday on the micro-blogging site Twitter. The tweet appeared to be directed at British Petroleum, which leased the Deep Horizon oil ...
Thu, 6 May 10
India toughens stand in runup to Mexico
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/global-warming/India-toughens-stand-in-runup-to-Mexico/articleshow/5895196.cms
Times of India: India has made one of the strongest and most elaborate formal submissions in recent times for the climate change negotiations, hardening its stance ahead of a hectic six months of talks leading to the key meeting in Mexico in November. Taking a position strongly contrasting with that of the US, India has pointed out that the Copenhagen Accord is not to be treated as the basis of a negotiating text unless it is agreed and adopted by all the parties and that it should be used to ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Canada: Harper hears transatlantic calls for climate-change reforms
http://www.vancouversun.com/Harper+hears+transatlantic+calls+climate+change+reforms/2991091/story.html
Canwest News Service: The Harper government was urged to fight climate change on both sides of the Atlantic Wednesday through separate votes in both the Canadian and European parliaments. In the House of Commons, MPs adopted a new version of the climate change accountability legislation that had reached the Senate in 2008, but died on the order paper when Prime Minister Stephen Harper called an election in the fall of that year. The new version of the legislation, introduced by NDP MP Bruce Hyer, ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Whatever Happened to the Ozone Hole?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/100505-science-environment-ozone-hole-25-years/
National Geographic: What would the 1980s have been without big hair and ice-cold wine coolers? Luckily no one had to find out: Key substitutions in hairsprays and refrigerants allowed such products to exist without chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were found to be ripping a huge "hole" in Earth's protective ozone layer. Today the ozone hole, which was first spotted 25 years ago, appears headed for a happy ending, thanks to unprecedented international action. Could a similar effort rein in ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Countries Ranked on Environmental Impact
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1860878/countries_ranked_on_environmental_impact/index.html?source=r_science
redOrbit: A new study led by the University of Adelaide's Environment Institute in Australia has ranked most of the world's countries for their environmental impact. The research uses seven indicators of environmental degradation to form two rankings – a proportional environmental impact index, where impact is measured against total resource availability, and an absolute environmental impact index measuring total environmental degradation at a global scale. Led by the Environment ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Gulf rig owner sees financial hit, more lawsuits
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100505/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_transocean
Associated Press: The owner of the oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico said it will lose more than a half billion dollars in revenue, and its finances will be hampered by hefty fees from a growing pile of lawsuits. Transocean Ltd. also revealed Wednesday in a 73-page regulatory filing that the Justice Department has requested that it preserve information about the explosion that occurred April 20. A Justice Department spokesman couldn't be reached for comment. The world's largest ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Kerry pledges US climate bill with industry
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100505/pl_afp/usclimatepoliticsblastoil
Agence France-Presse: US Senator John Kerry pledged Wednesday to move soon on legislation to battle climate change and to bring aboard industry, despite criticism of oil companies after the Gulf of Mexico leak. "I believe that when we roll out a bill -- and we will roll it out very, very soon -- we are going to have a unique coalition," said Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts and close ally of President Barack Obama. Kerry has been working for months to build support for a first-ever nationwide US ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Canada: Alberta climate change fund paid $63M
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/technology/Alberta+climate+change+fund+paid/2990657/story.html
Edmonton Journal: Alberta's biggest greenhouse gas producers paid the provincial government about $63 million last year to cover failures to meet carbon reduction targets, officials reported Wednesday afternoon. Payments to the Climate Change and Emissions Management Fund were down in 2009 compared to 2008 ($82.3 million). About 100 companies -- like oilsands operators, coal-fired power generators, and other industrial producers -- are expected to pay into the fund if their carbon emissions are ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Lawmakers seek to get BP to pay more for cleanup
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6445SI20100505?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: U.S. lawmakers in the House of Representatives unveiled a bill on Wednesday similar to an effort in the Senate that would force BP Plc to pay hefty damages from the Gulf oil spill, as both the White House and Congressional leadship signaled support. The House bill, like legislation introduced by Democratic Senators earlier this week, would raise the maximum amount of money BP could be required to dole out for economic losses caused by the spill to $10 billion. With the Gulf oil ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Indonesia: Activists lock themselves in Cargill headquarters as new report alleges illegal deforestation
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0505-hance_cargill.html
Mongabay: Following a damning report from the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) alleging illegal clearing of rainforest in Indonesia by agriculture-giant Cargill, activists have infiltrated Cargill headquarters in Wayzata, Minnesota and refuse to come out until the CEO agrees to meet with them. According to local reports, five activists are locked inside a staircase, while others are protesting outside the building. Yesterday, RAN released an investigative report, Cargill's Problems with Palm ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Obama officials travel to survey Gulf oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100505/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_officials
Associated Press: High-ranking Obama administration officials are visiting the Gulf Coast to reassure the public that the government is doing all it can to prevent the massive oil spill from damaging the region's economy and wildlife. Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar planned Wednesday to tour the Delta National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana and the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama. He also will visit the oil spill command center in Robert, La. Homeland Security Secretary ...
Thu, 6 May 10
BP 'dome' carries hopes of averting oil catastrophe
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100505/ts_alt_afp/usblastoilenergypollution
Agence France-Presse: BP dispatched Wednesday a giant "dome" on a high-stakes mission to contain the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, knowing failure would leave crude spewing into the sea for months and magnify the risk of an environmental catastrophe. A crane lowered the 100-ton dome onto the "Joe Griffin" before the barge embarked on the 12-hour journey from Port Fourchon on the Louisiana coast to the epicenter of the disaster some 50 miles (80 kilometers) offshore. A white silo with a dome-shaped top ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Sopping Up An Oil Slick With Castaway Hair
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126536482&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Workers in the Gulf of Mexico are using oil containment booms to sop up oil and protect coastlines from the approaching slick. Commercial booms are usually made of plastic. But an alternative source for the booms is found on the floor of salons across the country. As it turns out, hair adheres to oil pretty efficiently, which is why your hair gets greasy. Now salons are donating their discarded locks to help with the Gulf Coast cleanup. A group in San Francisco has been ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Deepwater Horizon oil spill: Obama attempts to limit political fallout
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/05/deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-obama-political-fallout
Guardian: The Obama administration took defensive action today over early assurances that a sunken BP rig was not leaking crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, issuing a 6,000-word timeline of its actions to try to contain the disaster, and dispatching a phalanx of administration officials to the region. The move came on a day when BP registered its first success in plugging one of the leaks from a well that is spewing 5,000 gallons (23,000 litres) a day into the Gulf of Mexico. The action ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Climate change and mountain building led to mammal diversity patterns
http://www.physorg.com/news192294061.html
Physorg: Travel from the tropics to the poles, and you'll notice that the diversity of mammals declines with distance from the equator. Move from lowland to mountains, and you'll see diversity increase as the landscape becomes more varied. Ecologists have proposed various explanations for these well-known "biodiversity gradients," invoking ecological, evolutionary and historical processes. New findings by University of Michigan researchers John A. Finarelli and Catherine Badgley suggest that ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Officials downbeat at world climate conference in Germany
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/321947,officials-downbeat-at-world-climate-conference-in-germany.html
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: A summit this year on cutting greenhouse gas emissions will again fail to agree on a global warming treaty, but it might make some progress on the issues, officials predicted Tuesday on the last day of climate talks in Bonn, Germany. Some 40 nations attended the talks, hosted by Mexico and Germany in advance of the November summit at Cancun, the Mexican resort. Connie Hedegaard, the European Union (EU) commissioner covering climate issues, said she detected no change from the ...
Thu, 6 May 10
India: Heat wave claims crocodiles in Chhattisgarh zoo
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Heat-wave-claims-crocodiles-in-Chhattisgarh-zoo-/articleshow/5869139.cms
Times of India: A pair of crocodiles were victims of a heat wave at a zoo in Chhattisgarh where the maximum temperature has touched 45 degrees Celsius, officials said on Wednesday. A postmortem report Wednesday said that male and one female crocodile, both aged about six years who were found dead at Nandan Van zoo on the outskirts of capital Raipur Monday, had died of the searing heat. "The crocodiles failed to sustain a plus 45 degrees Celsius temperature. The female crocodile was pregnant ...
Thu, 6 May 10
New study sheds light on corals' susceptibility to temperature change
http://www.physorg.com/news192254745.html
Physorg: An international team of marine biologists has found that existing diversity in some coral populations may significantly influence their response to extreme temperature disturbances -- such as those predicted from climate warming. The team demonstrated that natural selection acting on the species of algae living within corals may determine which partnerships will survive when confronted with extreme temperatures changes. The results will be published online in the May 5 issue of the journal ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Germany: Storing green electricity as natural gas
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-05/f-sge050510.php
EurekAlert: Throughout the world, electricity generation is based more and more on wind and solar energy. So far, the missing link for integrating renewable energy into the electricity supply is a smart power storage concept. Because when the wind is blowing powerfully, wind turbines generate more electricity than the power grid can absorb. Now, German researchers have succeeded in storing renewable electricity as natural gas. They convert the electricity into synthetic natural gas with the aid of a new ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Chinas Coal Price Rises as Drought Cuts Stockpiles
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?sid=aXAFpa9HUR.0&pid=20601087
Bloomberg: Coal prices at Qinhuangdao, China's largest port for the fuel, gained the most in more than four months as demand increased amid a drought in the southwest. Prices for coal with an energy value of 5,500 kilocalories per kilogram rose 2.8 percent to between 720 yuan ($105) and 730 yuan a metric ton as of yesterday compared with a week earlier, according to data from the China Coal Transport and Distribution Association. That's the biggest increase since Dec. 28. China, the ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Hidden Costs of Oil Revealed; Will it Matter?
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/05/tech/main6462477.shtml
Associated Press: America is seeing the usually hidden costs of fossil fuels - an oil spill's potential for huge environmental and economic damage, and deaths in coal and oil industry accidents. But don't expect much to change. America and the world crave more oil and coal, no matter the all-too-risky ways needed to extract those fuels. "We are absolutely addicted and we have no methadone. All we have is the hard stuff," said Larry McKinney, director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Critics question need for Malaysia's nuclear power plan
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100505/sc_afp/malaysiaenergynuclearenvironment
Agence France-Presse: Malaysia's plan to build its first nuclear power plant ran into opposition Wednesday from politicians and environmentalists who queried how necessary and safe it would be. The government on Tuesday said the country's growing energy needs would be met by a nuclear power station that would be up and running in 2021. But Lim Guan Eng, secretary general of the opposition Democratic Action Party said Malaysia already had enough capacity. "Clearly Malaysia has more energy than ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Malaysia, Indonesia palm oil groups unite against critics
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100505/sc_afp/malaysiaindonesiacommoditiespalmoilenvironment
Agence France-Presse: Palm oil producers from Malaysia said Wednesday they had formed a coalition with their counterparts in Indonesia to counter intensified campaigns that blame the industry for rapid deforestation. The Indonesia-Malaysia Palm Oil Group brings together six organisations from the two countries, which account for 85 percent of global production. They said they had come together after being attacked by non-government organisations (NGOs) for causing deforestation and threatening the ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Coast Guard sending 80 vessels to attack oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100505/ap_on_re_us/us_oil_spill_boom
Associated Press: A U.S. Coast Guard spokesman at the command center in Mobile, Ala., says officials aren't taking a passive approach to the Gulf oil spill. Lionel Bryant said Wednesday the plan is to send out about 80 vessels to deploy more than 100,000 feet of boom in waters off Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. He says two Coast Guard cutters will conduct offshore skimming operations farther offshore. Bryant also says crews may try to do another controlled burn while continuing to use ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Fla. officials say tourists shouldn't cancel trips
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100505/ap_on_re_us/us_oil_spill_florida_rumors
Associated Press: Florida officials want to set the record straight: The beaches are still open for vacationers despite the Gulf's gushing oil spill. David Halstead, head of the Division of Emergency Management, says the spill is still a long way from the peninsula. Halstead says reports of tarballs washing ashore and beaches closing are evidence of the "horrible problem with rumor control." State meteorologist Amy Godsey said Wednesday the weather is favorable for the next three ...
Thu, 6 May 10
U.N. forecasts less than 1 bln Kyoto offsets by 2012
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64448H20100505?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A United Nations agency on Wednesday cut its forecast for pre-2012 Kyoto Protocol carbon offsets, estimating for the first time that less than 1 billion tonnes will come to market before the climate pact expires. "Due to the medium issuance in March (11.4 million) and in April (9.9 million), our projection for the amount of (Certified Emissions Reductions) to be available by the end of 2012 decreased a little from 1,035 million to 992 million," the UNEP Risoe Center said on its ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Reid says supports raising oil-spill liability cap
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64448420100505?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said on Wednesday that he supported a proposal to raise the liability cap on companies responsible for oil spills from $75 million to $10 billion. "I would support that," Reid said at a press conference when asked about the proposal by Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of Florida. However, Reid said he did not know when he would bring the proposal up for a vote. Reid's comments came as BP Plc and U.S. authorities struggle to contain a ...
Thu, 6 May 10
BP seals off first Gulf oil leak
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8662573.stm
BBC: BP has managed to seal the smallest of the three leaks spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the company says. Oil is still gushing into the sea at a rate of about 800,000 litres a day, but officials say working with only two leaks makes tackling the spill easier. Remote-controlled submarines are being used to guide a specially-constructed dome into place to try to stem the main leaks. Engineers plan to deploy the 100-tonne dome over the site on Thursday. BP has ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Small rise in BP shares after oil spill sell-off
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100505/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_britain_bp_shares
Associated Press: Shares in BP PLC rose slightly on Wednesday as analysts suggested the 20 billion pound ($30 billion) plummet in the company's value since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has been overdone. Analysts said its unlikely that BP will have to cut its dividend as a result of the accident and expect the London-based company's final clean up and damages bill to be lower than the recent loss of share value. Stockbroker Panmure Gordon switched its recommendation from sell to buy, ...
Thu, 6 May 10
BP stems one of three Deepwater Horizon oil leaks, US coastguard says
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/05/bp-stems-oil-leak-deepwater-horizon
Guardian: The US coastguard says BP has managed to cap one of three leaks from its stricken deepwater oil well, but the work is not expected to reduce the overall flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The work should reduce the number of leak points that need to be fixed on the ocean floor, making it easier to drop a containment dome to bottle up the disastrous oil spill threatening sealife and livelihoods along the Gulf Coast. Since an explosion on 20 April, 50 miles off the coast of ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Congressmen raised concerns about BP safety before Gulf oil spill
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/05/congressman-bp-safety-oil-spill
Guardian: In the months before BP's Deepwater Horizon rig sank in a ball of fire in the Gulf of Mexico, the company had four close calls on pipelines and facilities it operates in Alaska, according to a letter from two congressmen obtained by ProPublica. In that letter, dated Jan. 14, 2010, Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Bart Stupak, D-Mich., noted that the company's efforts to cut costs could imperil safety at BP facilities. Between September 2008 and November 2009, three BP gas and ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Credit agency downgrades BP amid oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100505/bs_afp/usblastoilenergypollutionbritainratingscompanybp
Agence France-Presse: Ratings agency Moody's lowered its outlook on BP's debt to "negative" from "stable" on Wednesday due to "considerable uncertainty" over the group's finances following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. "Moody's action reflects the considerable uncertainty associated with the financial liabilities and clean-up costs that BP may incur as a result of the oil spill," the agency said in a statement. "Moody's notes the comprehensive response effort put in place by BP with the support of ...
Thu, 6 May 10
BP Says One Oil Leak of Three Is Shut Off
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/us/06spill.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
New York Times: For the first time since an explosion on a drilling rig 15 days ago left an undersea well spewing crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, engineers succeeded in shutting off one of the three leaks from the damaged well late Tuesday night, a spokesman for BP said on Wednesday morning. Ray Slicker helped a friend pull blue crab traps from the water near Pointe a la Hache, La. A fishing ban is in effect in the area. Enlarge This Image <h6 class="credit">Alex Wong/Getty ...
Thu, 6 May 10
China issues strict rules to meet emissions targets
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100505/wl_asia_afp/chinaenvironmentpollution
Agence France Press: China said on Wednesday it would punish officials who failed to fulfil emissions reduction targets, warning the nation's current environmental situation was extremely serious. "The energy-saving, emissions reduction situation is very grim, particularly since the third quarter of 2009 when high energy, high emissions industries increased rapidly," China's State Council, or cabinet, said. "Energy needs have hugely increased, energy consumption has intensified, the speed of ...
Thu, 6 May 10
United Kingdom: Don't give away Green votes
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/05/caroline-lucas-green-votes
Guardian: Gordon Brown has been appealing to voters' "moral convictions" during his last-ditch tour of threatened Labour seats. Nick Clegg tried to reach out to Tory voters in an interview with the Financial Times. Meanwhile, in Tory-Labour marginals, Ed Balls and Peter Hain have asked Lib Dem supporters to "bite their lip'' and vote Labour. This is being sold to the electorate as "smart" voting, rather than by its real name of tactical voting. Tactical voting is against official Labour party ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Germany claims progress in half-way climate talks
http://www.ethiopianreview.com/news/96664
Deutsche Welle: The first international ministers conference on climate change since the failed UN summit at Copenhagen in 2009 wrapped up in Bonn, Germany, on Tuesday (04.05.2010). A focus group of some 40 countries was supposed to look for opportunities to take action in the absence of a global agreement. German Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen defended the meeting`s outcome, despite a lack of any discernable change in negotiating positions. Reporter: What good can this conference ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Kerry Says Compromise Climate Bill to Be Offered 'Very Soon'
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-05/kerry-says-compromise-climate-bill-to-be-offered-very-soon-.html
Business Week: Senator John Kerry, whose efforts to forge a compromise on climate-change and energy legislation stalled last month, said today a bill will be introduced "very, very soon.' The legislation will have support from "a unique coalition' of companies, Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, said today at a green-jobs conference in Washington. Kerry said oil companies have been acting in "good faith' in their discussions with him about the legislation, which would provide for expanded ...
Thu, 6 May 10
EU head urges Canada to act on climate change
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/05/05/harper-barroso-europe-climate-change-bank-tax.html
CBC: Canada shouldn't keep waiting for the rest of the world to act on climate change before making its own changes, the president of the European Union Commission said Wednesday as he prepared to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Brussels. "We should not lose momentum regarding climate change negotiations," José Manuel Barroso told Canadian reporters during an hour-long briefing. "With Canada, I'm not going to give lessons to one of our partners. What we want is for ...
Thu, 6 May 10
Battle of the carbon exchanges opens new front
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2262518/battle-carbon-exchanges-opens
Business Green: Just days after IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) announced it is to shell out £395m to acquire London-based Climate Exchange, arch rival CME Group stepped up its push into the European carbon market yesterday with the opening of a London office for its Green Exchange subsidiary. The company said it has secured a team of industry veterans to run the new office, appointing Les Male, former commercial director at Anglo-Dutch energy exchange APX-ENDEX, as head of London operations, while ...
Wed, 5 May 10
U.S. oil spill hurting energy moves in Congress
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100504/pl_nm/us_oil_rig_leak_congress_5
Reuters: The massive, uncontrolled oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is roiling President Barack Obama's carefully laid plans to open up America's coasts to drilling again, while rattling Congress to a point where the oil industry's exploratory plans could face a big shake-up. U.S. politicians are now in no mood to consider plans to open up new areas for drilling but if the crisis drags on, it could also affect exploration in existing production areas, such as the Gulf. BP Plc's ruptured ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Funnel plan to battle Gulf spill
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8659398.stm
BBC: It is being built at Golden Meadow, near Port Fourchon in southern Louisiana, by Wild Well Control, a company that specialises in controlling oil fires. A team of 25 people is working around the clock on the funnel, marine engineer Jason Holvey told the agency. In theory, the system should collect 85% of the oil rising from the sea floor. While the precise location of the leak is known, work will have to be carried out in the face of severe technical challenges, not ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Offshore Drilling Loses Support After Gulf Oil Spill
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126511355&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: Days into the oil spill, President Obama said he still supports offshore drilling so long as it's done responsibly and doesn't damage the environment. That view is becoming increasingly unpopular. For California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Gulf spill fails on both counts. Schwarzenegger recently announced that he's yanking approval of an offshore drilling project along his coastline because he no longer believes the assurances of the oil industry. "Despite those studies and ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Delicate work unfolds a mile beneath Gulf
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100504/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_fixes
Associated Press: It is a job that requires the expertise of a rocket scientist and the precision of a surgeon. Engineers are racing to stem the disastrous oil leak a mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico, relying on a series of highly technical -- and in some cases unprecedented -- maneuvers. They have deployed an armada of remote-controlled submarine robots that are essentially turning wrenches to try to repair malfunctioning equipment and cap the leak while spraying chemicals from a wand into the ...
Wed, 5 May 10
BP shares may have further to fall
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/may/04/bp-mexico-oil-spill-shares
Guardian: The value of BP has fallen by £20bn since the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico a fortnight ago, or by about twice as much as the current steepest estimate of the eventual clean-up bill. Has the market over-reacted? The bald financial facts suggest so. BP shares, at 558p, yield 6.5% and few analysts think the dividend could be cut as a result of the catastrophe. Even if the cost to BP were £10bn, all the cash would not depart at once; BP also has scope to borrow. And, with the price of oil at ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Deepwater Horizon oil spill sparks calls for $10bn levy on BP and drilling ban
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/04/deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-backlash-bp
Guardian: The catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico set off a political backlash against the oil industry today, with a demand for a ban on future offshore drilling. The rising anger at the long-term costs of the 200,000-gallon-a-day gusher of crude oil in the gulf also carried a financial sting. On Capitol Hill, senators, flanked by environmental organisations, rolled out a proposal that would put oil companies on the hook for up to $10bn (£6.5bn) for the cost of a spill. The cap ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Hurricane Season Could Halt Oil Spill Cleanup
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100504/sc_livescience/hurricaneseasoncouldhaltoilspillcleanup
LiveScience: Emergency rescue crews in the Gulf of Mexico are in a race against nature to complete oil spill cleanup operations before the start of hurricane season, which begins June 1. "This [oil leak] could go on for 60 to 90 days or more," said Doug Helton, coordinator of incident operations for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). "There's a lot of things that could go on in that time period that would greatly impact our model, like the fact that hurricane season is ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Indian scientist on IPCC review panel
http://beta.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/article421960.ece
Hindu: Indian scientist Goverdhan Mehta has been selected to be part of the 12-member committee to review the procedures of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The United Nations and the IPCC itself had asked for the review in March after the climate science panel came under a global barrage of criticism for errors in its last report, including a false claim that the Himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035. The InterAcademy Council, an umbrella body of major national science ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Gulf Coast Awaits Results Of Efforts to Break Up Slick
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126506624&ft=1&f=1025
National Public Radio: British oil giant BP continued to dump chemicals onto a massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday in an effort to break up the sheen and minimize damage to coastal communities. BP executive Doug Suttles said he's not certain whether the chemicals being poured directly on the oil are slowing the leak from a blown-out well a mile underwater. But he said that if the technique is working, the slick should appear smaller when the company does flyovers. An expected improvement in ...
Wed, 5 May 10
La. gov keeps up criticism of BP in Gulf oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100504/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_jindal
Associated Press: Gov. Bobby Jindal and other officials are keeping up their criticism of BP PLC and the Coast Guard, saying they never provided plans to protect the Louisiana coast from an oil spill. Jindal and Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana spoke Tuesday at Fort Pike, where efforts are under way to protect Lake Pontchartrain from the oil. Jindal says local leaders have stepped in to come up with their own solutions and officials are waiting for the Coast Guard to approve the plans and BP to fund ...
Wed, 5 May 10
New atlas underlines significant role of northern soils in climate change
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100504104520.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
ScienceDaily: Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn at the European Parliament has launched a soil atlas of the world's northernmost regions, where more than half the carbon present in Earth's soils is stored. She will simultaneously inaugurate an exhibition on the work of the Commission's Joint Research Centre, which produced the Atlas. It covers regions above the latitude of 50° N, which represent 16% of global land surface. Although there has been much focus on the melting of arctic ice as one of ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Gulf Oil Spill Could Reach East Coast Beaches
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/100504-science-environment-gulf-oil-spill-loop-current-florida/
National Geographic: As oil continues to surge into the Gulf of Mexico from the site of the Deepwater Horizon rig accident, experts warn that the Gulf's powerful Loop Current could whip millions of gallons of oil around Florida's peninsula and north to East Coast beaches. There's no predicting the exact movements of the oil spill--which is growing by at least 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons, or 794,937 liters) a day. But winds could push the slick south, where oil might get swept into the ...
Wed, 5 May 10
EPA proposes coal ash rule, sets time for comment
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100504/ap_on_re_us/us_epa_coal_ash
Associated Press: The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to regulate coal ash and its disposal, possibly as a hazardous waste. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said Tuesday that one option would regulate the ash under the hazardous waste section of the federal Resource Recovery and Conservation Act. The other is regulating it in the non-hazardous waste section of the law. She said EPA will seek public comment for 90 days before deciding on which method to use. The announcement ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Some 500 EU cities pledge to cut CO2 emissions
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6434U020100504?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Five hundred European Union cities pledged on Tuesday to exceed the EU's climate targets, signing up to do more to cut their emissions of climate warming gas. The EU plans to cut carbon dioxide emissions to one fifth below 1990 levels over the next decade, but the coalition of cities signed up to the Covenant of Mayors which aims to outperform that goal by sharing knowledge and low-carbon strategies. "Smart green buildings, smart transport and logistics and, in general, the ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Iceland's ash may keep choking Europe's air travel
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100504/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_iceland_volcano
Associated Press: Iceland's clouds of volcanic ash are menacing European air traffic again, but transport chiefs insisted Tuesday they are learning from last month's crisis and won't let the hard-to-measure emissions ground their continent again. Rising volcanic activity spurred aviation authorities in Ireland, northwest Scotland and the Faeroe Islands to shut down services Tuesday after a two-week hiatus. Their airports reopened several hours later, once the densest ash clouds had passed over their ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Perry: Don't speculate about oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100504/ap_on_re_us/us_gulf_oil_spill_texas_governor
Associated Press: Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Tuesday it's not wise to speculate about what caused an explosion and massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and he defended his use of the term "act of God" to describe the disaster. Perry said Tuesday the phrase -- which he used in a speech in Washington, D.C., on Monday when discussing the spill -- is a legal definition and that his point is "nobody knows what happened" at the oil rig off the Louisiana coast. The undersea well has been spewing 200,000 ...
Wed, 5 May 10
BP shareholders challenge company over environmental safety
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/04/bp-shareholders-challenge
Guardian: Activist shareholders and pension funds will grill BP this week over its safety record and US contractors as the financial fallout from the Gulf of Mexico disaster continues to spread. The coalition of investors, who have successfully forced companies such as Shell to be more transparent over the environmental impact of their controversial oil sands operations, is planning to launch a similar campaign against deepwater drilling, the Guardian has learned. Today BP's shares fell ...
Wed, 5 May 10
China and U.S. Try Cooperation on Climate, Energy Policy
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/energy/2010/05/04/china-and-us-try-cooperation-on-climate-energy-policy.html
U.S. News and World Report: When President Obama took office last year, two of his top priorities were stronger action to stem global warming and a more collaborative, cooperative approach to solving international problems. By making climate change a primary focus in America's relationship with China–the two countries are the world's top two polluters–the president sought to accomplish two goals in a single stroke. "The Obama administration is the first U.S. administration to make climate change a 'top three' issue ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Pelosi: Oil disaster adds urgency to energy bill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100504/ap_on_bi_ge/us_democrats_drilling
Associated Press: Congressional Democrats say that the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico adds urgency to the troubled energy reform bill working its way through the Senate. But concerns among other lawmakers leave the bill no clear path forward. West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a Democrat, said he will have a hard time ever voting for offshore drilling again. Republicans, meanwhile, say energy legislation should wait until the repercussions of the disaster are fully known. Senate and ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Who's to blame for the oil spill?
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0504-hance_oilspill.html
Mongabay: America, we deserve the oil spill now threatening the beautiful coast of Louisiana. This disaster is not natural, like the earthquake that devastated Haiti or tsunami that swept Southeast Asia in 2006; this disaster is man-made, American-made in fact, pure and simple. So, while in the upcoming weeks and months--if things go poorly--we may decry the oil-drenched wildlife, the economic loss for the region, the spoiled beeches, the wrecked ecosystems, the massive disaster that could take ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Gulf Coast bird colonies at risk from oil spill
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6435EZ20100504?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: For the birds that nest in the fragile marshes, swamps and barrier islands of the U.S. Gulf Coast, the timing of a massive oil slick threatening the shore could not be worse. On the Chandeleur Islands -- a chain of islands off the Louisiana coast where an oil spill from last month's offshore oil rig explosion could hit shore as early as Tuesday -- about 3,000 brown pelicans, Louisiana's state bird, are nesting and laying eggs. "They are right in the middle of having eggs ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Volcanic ash to close Scottish, N. Ireland airspace
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6435EQ20100504?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Airspace over Scotland and Northern Ireland will be closed from 0600 GMT on Wednesday because of ash blown from an active volcano in Iceland, Britain's Civil Aviation Authority said on Tuesday. Airports are also expected to be closed in the two regions. It warned the ash would move further south, potentially affecting airports in the northwest of England and north Wales on Wednesday. "The situation is very dynamic, so passengers expecting to travel from the impacted ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Obama: Gulf oil spill a 'significant challenge'
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100504/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama
Associated Press: President Barack Obama said Tuesday that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is a reminder that the economy, which is showing signs of recovery two years after the recession, can be walloped at any time by a sudden and costly crisis. Obama told a group of business leaders that dealing with the spill and its fallout will be a significant challenge, and pledged to continue exploring all options for replacing fisheries and tourism jobs now threatened by the growing oil slick. "We are ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Westpac targets NZ foresters in carbon trade
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6435I120100504?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: Australia's Westpac bank has begun buying carbon offsets from New Zealand forest owners with the aim of selling them to big polluting firms as part of the country's emissions trading scheme, the bank said on Tuesday. The bank has approached about 600 foresters to pool carbon offsets issued to them to sell in large lots to firms such as refiners and cement makers that will have to meet carbon costs under the scheme. New Zealand's emissions trading scheme (ETS), only the second ...
Wed, 5 May 10
'Ice broken' at climate meet, but progress glacial
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100504/sc_afp/climatewarmingtalksgermany
Agence France-Presse: The highest octane political gathering on climate since the Copenhagen summit collapsed into near failure has helped restore trust but delivered no big breakthroughs, environment ministers said Tuesday. "The ice is broken," Germany's Norbert Roettgen told journalists as the two-and-a-half day brainstorming session outside Bonn ended. "This meeting was a very important contribution to building trust and confidence." Side-stepping some of the major political land mines ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Seeing REDD over forest peoples
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8660845.stm
BBC: By the end of this year, governments may have finalised arrangements for preserving developing countries' forests under the UN climate convention. But, argues Arun Agrawal, forests used to belong to people - and people are being left out of the equation. A long time ago - before the Copenhagen summit, before words such as biodiversity or development were invented, before even colonialism - most of the world's forests belonged to people. People lived in them. People depended on ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Japan, India to discuss reactors
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201005020177.html
Asahi: Japan and India have taken a step toward cooperation on nuclear power generation by agreeing to form a working group, a move that may stir controversy due to India's possession of nuclear weapons. The agreement was reached here Friday between economy, trade and industry minister Masayuki Naoshima and Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the deputy chairman of India's Planning Commission. However, before Japan can export any nuclear technology, it must conclude a bilateral pact which obliges ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Ice cap on west Ugandan mountain range splits
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100504/ap_on_re_af/af_uganda_ice_cap
Associated Press: Ugandan wildlife authorities say the ice cap on the country's western Rwenzori mountain range has split after extensive melting caused by global warming. Nelson Guma says ice covering Mount Margherita, the second highest peak in Africa, has melted forming a large crevasse some 6 meters (nearly 20 feet) wide. Guma said Tuesday the split occurred on the climbing route to Mount Margherita and that tourists can no longer climb that peak, but authorities are working to create ...
Wed, 5 May 10
Opponents of California global warming law turn in signatures for November measure
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15010939
Mercury News: Setting up what is expected to be a multimillion-dollar political battle between oil companies and Silicon Valley tech leaders, opponents of California's landmark global warming law turned in about 800,000 signatures Monday for a November ballot measure to suspend the law. Opponents of the law, known as AB 32, say it will cost California jobs during a bad economy by increasing the price for fuels such as gasoline, and electricity bills. Supporters say the law -- the latest example of ...
Wed, 5 May 10
France ripe for forest carbon: Study
http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1983
Carbon Positive: A French research report may provide valuable insight into a future mature forest carbon market making its contribution to emissions reductions in developed countries. CDC Climat Research in Paris has published a detailed report identifying opportunities for a range of carbon forestry activities accessing the voluntary carbon market. While specific to France's land use patterns and climate, the report will have relevance beyond its borders for project developers and landholders in other ...
Tue, 4 May 10
United States: Climate law debate centers on economy
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/03/climate-law-debate-centers-on-economy/
Union-Tribune: When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed his administration's signature environmental law in 2006, he spoke of it as a jobs measure. "Unquestionably, it is good for businesses," he said then. "Not only large, well-established businesses, but small businesses that will harness their entrepreneurial spirit to help us achieve our climate goals." The measure, Assembly Bill 32, put California at the forefront in the effort to fight global warming, calling for the state to cut ...
Tue, 4 May 10
Fight over beetle-kill burns as bugs move to Front Range
http://www.boulderweekly.com/article-2414-what-now-debate-over-beetle-kill-pine-burns-as-bugs-move-to-front-range.html
Boulder Weekly: There is fresh debate about what to do with the millions of acres of pine trees in the West that have been destroyed by the mountain pine beetle. And it is a debate that is bleeding over into a battle about how to best protect Colorado's roadless areas. Aerial maps showing the mountain pine beetle epidemic since it started in 1996 reveal that it has spread like a cancer through the northern central mountains of Colorado. And officials say the beetles appear to be moving north and ...
Tue, 4 May 10
Meeting the nation's bioenergy goals
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126418407
National Public Radio: IRA FLATOW, host: This is SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR. I'm Ira Flatow. The first tendrils of the creeping oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico are lapping against the wetlands of the Mississippi Delta, threatening many types of birds that nest and breed there. It could imperil manatees, dolphins, shellfish, plankton. I could go on with all the - you all know the marine life that lives in the Gulf. And President Obama announced today to delay offshore drilling until some of the ...
Tue, 4 May 10
BP shares slip further after Justice Dept comment
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100503/bs_nm/us_bp_shares
Reuters: Oil giant BP Plc's (BP.L) shares in New York sank further in early Monday trade after news that the U.S. Department of Justice was taking part in the investigation of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP shares in New York fell 6.4 percent to $48.84, bringing their drop to more than 18 percent since the close of trade on April 23. London stock markets were closed on Monday for a holiday. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's comments that the Justice Department was ...
Tue, 4 May 10
Former Princeton head to review U.N. climate panel
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6422X620100503?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: A former president of Princeton University will lead a review of the U.N. panel of climate scientists after errors in a 2007 report used as a guide for fighting global warming, science academies said on Monday. Economist Harold Shapiro, 74, will chair the 12-member committee that is due to report by August 30 on the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. "We ...
Tue, 4 May 10
Australia: ALP on slide after dumping ETS
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/alp-on-slide-after-dumping-ets/story-e6frg6nf-1225861779867
Australian: THE Labor government has lost its position as the leader on climate change for the first time, following Kevin Rudd's decision to dump plans for an emissions trading scheme. Having always led the Coalition, at times by a margin of more than two to one on the question of which party would be best able to handle the issue of climate change, the Labor government is now equal to the Coalition opposition and, essentially, the Greens. The Prime Minister's sudden decision to push off ...
Tue, 4 May 10
Australia: Rudd, not Howard, fickle on climate change
http://www.smh.com.au/business/rudd-not-howard-fickle-on-climate-change-20100502-u1lw.html
Sydney Morning Herald: Just think: had John Howard won the last election we'd probably have an emissions trading scheme enacted by now. And it would be very similar to the one his Liberal successors defeated and Kevin Rudd has just run away from. It would be similar because Rudd's scheme was heavily modified to accommodate business interests (as Howard's would have been) and because both schemes would have been designed by the same bureaucrats who produced Howard's Shergold report on climate ...
Sun, 2 May 10
Gulf oil spill at Deepwater Horizon threatens $8bn clean-up and an ecological oil slick disaster for the US
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/02/bp-oil-spill-costs-impact
Guardian: Twelve months ago BP dismissed the possibility that a catastrophic accident could happen at its offshore rig Deepwater Horizon, it emerged yesterday. An exploration plan and environmental impact analysis for the well, produced by the company in 2009, concluded that it was virtually impossible for there to be a giant crude oil spill from it. Now City experts say that the accident could cost the company up to $8bn (£5.23bn) to clear up the slick. The US Coast Guard has estimated that 6m ...
Sun, 2 May 10
United States: 'In a terrible way this is a portent of things to come and a warning'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/02/deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-new-orleans
Guardian: When Hurricane Katrina wrecked the Louisiana coast, it wasn't the wind that created disaster in itself, but the floods which surged over the levees and washed across the wetlands in its wake. Now the region has been hit by a second disaster, an oil slick. A different kind of flood this time, a thick, black flood of crude oil that approaches the coastline, threatening the wildlife and the fragile ecosystem of the wetlands of Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta. For years I lived ...
Sun, 2 May 10
BP spends millions lobbying as it drills ever deeper and the environment pays
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/may/02/bp-deepwater-horizon-oil-spills
Guardian: While the explosion of BP/Transocean's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig was a horrific event, it was neither surprising nor unexpected. BP is one of the most powerful corporations operating in the United States. Its 2009 revenues of $327bn are enough to rank BP as the third-largest corporation in the country. It spends aggressively to influence US policy and regulatory oversight. In 2009, the company spent nearly $16m on lobbying the federal government, ranking it among the 20 ...
Sun, 2 May 10
Problems with big oil that won't go away
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/02/oil-spill-deepwater-horizon-lousiana
Observer: Washington, 5am, Tuesday: a tired Tony Hayward, chief executive of BP, was finally patched on to the conference call. At the other end, a dozen journalists sat around a boardroom table at its plush headquarters in St James's Square, London and leant in towards the squawkbox. BP had just announced a 135% increase in profits for the first quarter, but all that anyone wanted to discuss was the Deepwater Horizon disaster. A sombre Hayward, who had spent the weekend co-ordinating the ...
Sun, 2 May 10
Fears for crops as shock figures from America show scale of bee catastrophe
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/02/food-fear-mystery-beehives-collapse
Guardian: Disturbing evidence that honeybees are in terminal decline has emerged from the United States where, for the fourth year in a row, more than a third of colonies have failed to survive the winter. The decline of the country's estimated 2.4 million beehives began in 2006, when a phenomenon dubbed colony collapse disorder (CCD) led to the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of colonies. Since then more than three million colonies in the US and billions of honeybees worldwide have died ...
Sun, 2 May 10
Climate bill could be harmed by Gulf spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100502/ap_on_bi_ge/us_oil_spill_climate_bill
Associated Press: A historic environmental protection bill is in danger after a massive oil spill put a new focus on the perils of offshore drilling, a feature that was supposed to win wider support for the legislation. The bill, supported by President Barack Obama, calls for new offshore drilling -- a concession by environmentalists. But with the tragedy off the Gulf Coast growing daily, even conservationists who have waited a decade for the legislation are now saying it will fail if offshore drilling ...
Sun, 2 May 10
United States: Weather hampers oil spill efforts in Gulf of Mexico
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100502/ts_alt_afp/usblastoilenergypollution
Agence France-Presse: High winds and rough seas hampered efforts Saturday to prevent a giant oil slick from reaching US shores and wreaking enormous environmental and economic damage on the fragile Louisiana coast. President Barack Obama prepared for a Sunday morning visit to the stricken region in the Gulf of Mexico, a prime spawning ground for fish, shrimp and crabs, home to oyster beds and a major stop for migratory birds. The leading edge of the slick may just be sheen, but Louisiana governor ...
Sun, 2 May 10
Australia: Rudd reveals he's a phony on climate change
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/rudd-reveals-hes-a-phony-on-climate-change/story-e6frg6zo-1225860504756
Australian: Email Share Add to Digg Add to del.icio.us Add to Facebook Add to Kwoff Add to Myspace Add to Newsvine What are these? The Prime Minister is not going to risk a double dissolution on the great moral issue of our time KEVIN Rudd already had been exposed as a coward on climate change before he outed himself this week as a phony as well. The Grattan Institute, a Melbourne-based think tank, released a detailed analysis last week that found most of the $22 billion in ...
Sun, 2 May 10
Document: BP didn't plan for major oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100501/ap_on_bi_ge/us_louisiana_oil_rig_explosion
Associated Press: British Petroleum once downplayed the possibility of a catastrophic accident at an offshore rig that exploded, causing the worst U.S. oil spill in decades along the Gulf Coast and endangering shoreline habitat. In its 2009 exploration plan and environmental impact analysis for the well, BP suggested it was unlikely, or virtually impossible, for an accident to occur that would lead to a giant crude oil spill and serious damage to beaches, fish and mammals. At least 1.6 million ...
Sun, 2 May 10
Obama to visit scene of Gulf oil spill
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN298848720100501?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: President Barack Obama will visit the Gulf Coast this weekend to back efforts to avert a environmental disaster threatened by a huge, growing oil slick forecasters said was being driven ashore by winds. The visit, which White House officials said on Saturday would be within the next 48 hours, signaled Obama was anxious to be seen to be paying close attention to the cleanup and containment of one of the worst oil spills in U.S. history. Swelled by oil gushing unchecked from a ...
Sun, 2 May 10
Redeeming the Copenhagen climate fiasco in Cochabamba
http://www.straight.com/article-320671/vancouver/kimia-ghomeshi-redeeming-copenhagen-climate-fiasco-cochabamba
Straight.com: Last week, something historic happened in Bolivia, and I got to be a part of it. Remember the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen last December? Highly anticipated as the most important United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change summit in our lifetimes, Copenhagen was instead a treaty-less fiasco. It only intensified the mistrust between the world's biggest polluters in the global north and the rest of the world, which is being disproportionately affected by the climate ...
Sat, 1 May 10
Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: No End in Sight for Eco-Disaster
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100501/hl_time/08599198632300
Time Magazine: It may be time to stop referring to the Deepwater Horizon rig accident in the Gulf of Mexico as an oil spill. A spill sounds like something temporary, a glass of milk overturned, which empties and then can be cleaned up. But what is unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico, not far from the sensitive shorelines of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, isn't a spill. It's an unchecked gush of crude oil from beneath the bottom of the ocean into the water - and no one can say for sure when it ...
Sat, 1 May 10
Congressmen call hearing on Gulf oil spill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100430/ap_on_bi_ge/us_oil_spill_hearings
Associated Press: Two congressmen will hold hearings to investigate how well companies have responded to a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. U.S. Reps. Henry Waxman and Bart Stupak sent letters requesting the testimony of officials from BP America, Transocean and Halliburton. BP operates the rig, which is owned by Transocean. Halliburton worked on the rig not long before the explosion. The hearings also will look into how recovery efforts are going, and what the companies' safety measures ...
Sat, 1 May 10
Panel Debates Business Cost Of Calif. Global Warming Law
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/apr/30/panel-debates-business-cost-calif-global-warming-l/
KPBS: Panelists debated the economic merits of California's greenhouse gas emissions reduction law at a forum Friday in San Diego. California's Global Warming Solutions Act, or AB 32, is designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. The law mandates a variety of measures ranging from capping industrial pollution to requiring use of more renewable energy. But some groups question whether now is the time to roll out regulations that will increase ...
Sat, 1 May 10
United States: Oil spill approaches gulf coast, threatening economy and environment
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/apr/30/gulf-oil-spill-conservation
Guardian: When Tom Reddoch was growing up in southern Louisiana, on a pencil-thin strip of land flanked on one side by the Mississippi and on the other by a marshy inland waterway, he and his friends used to brag to each other that this was the greatest place on Earth. Children had different expectations back in the 1950s: what they meant was that they would never go hungry. "The one thing we could be certain of is that we would never starve down here. In those days, this was one great protein ...
Sat, 1 May 10
Second drilling rig overturns in Louisiana
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63T55Q20100430?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: An inland shallow-water drilling rig capsized near Morgan City, Louisiana, while being towed to a salvage yard, the Coast Guard said on Friday. There were no injuries, and navigation was not affected by the incident in the Charenton navigation channel south of U.S. 90 near Morgan City, Coast Guard spokesman Mike O'Berry said. "This is not a major waterway," he said. "Nobody was on board. It was being towed." The incident followed the April 20 explosion of the Transocean ...
Sat, 1 May 10
BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill likely to cost more than Exxon Valdez
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/apr/30/bp-cost-deepwater-horizon-spill
Guardian: 'This region needs the Mississippi': the US government declares the incident 'a spill of national significance' Link to this video Britain's biggest oil company was tonight facing an environmental disaster expected to cost more than the Exxon Valdez tanker spill as thousands of tonnes of floating oil began to reach the US Gulf coast. As several coastal states declared a state of emergency and dispatched clean-up crews, BP was desperately trying to stem not just the flow of ...
Sat, 1 May 10
Quick fix for BP's leaky oilwell is elusive: experts
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63T5PJ20100430?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fenvironment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Environment%29
Reuters: There is little hope that near-term efforts by London-based BP Plc to choke off a leaking underwater oil well will succeed, experts said on Friday, raising the prospect of an environmental disaster on the scale of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. BP, the majority owner of an undersea well leaking 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons or 955,000 liters) a day of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, is hoping two relatively quick fixes bear fruit before a pair of relief wells that could take up to ...
Sat, 1 May 10
Scenarios-Impact of oil spill on U.S. climate bill
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100430/twl-uk-usa-rig-leak-climate-bd5ae06.html
Reuters: A massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is unfolding just as the U.S. Senate was on the verge of considering climate change legislation that included an expansion of offshore oil drilling. The bill, which aims to reduce U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases linked to global warming, already faced many political difficulties in the Senate. Some senators hate the bill's plan to establish a new Wall Street trading system for pollution permits. Their opposition may ...
Sat, 1 May 10
CEOs: Gulf oil spill 'a real setback' for industry
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100430/ap_on_bi_ge/ok_energy_conference
Associated Press: The massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will significantly set back industry efforts to increase offshore drilling, the CEOs of two Oklahoma City-based independent energy companies said Friday. Devon Energy Corp. CEO Larry Nichols and Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon spoke during an annual Oklahoma State University energy conference, with OSU President Burns Hargis asking questions submitted by audience members. The first question was about the April 20 ...
Sat, 1 May 10
Miss. center preparing to handle oily mammals
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100430/ap_on_re_us/ap_us_oil_spill_wildlife_center
Associated Press: A marine wildlife re