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US RIO+2.0 Conference at Stanford

Fri, 2012-02-03 08:59 — mdmcdonald

If you have an interest in joining the US RIO+2.0 conference on sustainability remotely, go to:

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Video - BP Oil Commercials Cover Up Environmental Distress

Tue, 2012-01-31 22:52 — Kathy Gilbeaux

clickorlando.com - CBS Newspath - January 31, 2012

Scientists say dolphins dying at alarming rate

53,000 barrels of oil each day. Nearly 5 million barrels in all.  That's how much oil poured into the Gulf of Mexico because of the BP oil disaster.

It's easily the worst marine oil spill in history and 10 times that of the Exxon Valdez disaster.

But BP's most recent television commercials seem to indicate all is well with the Gulf of Mexico.

Scientists say it is not, because dolphins are dying at an alarming rate.

(VIEW THE VIDEO AND READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Resilience Alliance

Sat, 2012-01-28 13:29 — mdmcdonald

There are many definitions of resilience from simple deterministic views of resilience anchored in Newtonian mechanics to far more dynamic views of resilience from a systems perspective, including insights from quantum mechanics and the sciences of complexity.  One baseline perspective of resilience sees it in terms of the viability of socio-ecological systems as the foundation for sustainability.  For those that are ready to look beyond resilience as the ability to return to the "normal state" before a disaster, take a look at:

http://www.resalliance.org/

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Mesh Cities

Sat, 2012-01-28 12:54 — mdmcdonald

 

What does it take to become a smart city?  Why are mesh cities important to sustainability?

 

For more information:

<http://www.meshcities.com/>

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EPA - Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program Data for Calendar Year 2010

Thu, 2012-01-12 18:59 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Albert Gomez

                                                                    

On January 11, 2012, EPA released greenhouse gas (GHG) data reported from large facilities and suppliers across the U.S. economy for the year 2010.

The 2010 GHG data includes public information from facilities in 9 industry groups, including 29 source categories, which directly emit large quantities of GHGs, as well as suppliers of certain fossil fuels and industrial gases.

This information can be used to help businesses track emissions and identify cost– and fuel–saving efficiencies, identify industry leaders, inform policy at the state and local levels, and provide important information to the finance and investment communities.

More information:

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Ohio Quake Linked to Wastewater Well

Tue, 2012-01-03 21:35 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Dan Vergano, USA Today - January 3, 2012

      

This photo made Jan. 2, 2012 shows the site of a brine injection well owned by Northstar Disposal Services LLC in Youngstown, Ohio. The company has halted operations at the well, which disposes of brine used in gas and oil drilling, after a series of small earthquakes in the Youngstown area. Photo: Dan Pompili, Warren Tribune-Chronicle / AP

Ohio earthquakes tied to a deep wastewater disposal well are raising safety questions, amid a nationwide natural gas drilling boom.

On New Year's Eve, a magnitude-4.0 quake outside Youngstown, Ohio, shook the ground as far north as Toronto. Earthquake experts tied the event, the latest and largest in a series stretching back to March, to a 1.7-mile-deep wastewater disposal well, prompting state officials to shut it down.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Add Quakes to Rumblings Over Gas Rush

Tue, 2011-12-13 09:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Henry Fountain - The New York Times - December 12, 2011

       

Stephen Thornton for The New York Times

UNLOADING Workers disposing of hydraulic fracturing waste near Guy, Ark.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Until this year, this Rust Belt city and surrounding Mahoning County had been about as dead, seismically, as a place can be, without even a hint of an earthquake since Scots-Irish settlers arrived in the 18th century.

But on March 17, two minor quakes briefly shook the city. And in the following eight months there have been seven more — like the first two, too weak to cause damage or even be felt by many people, but strong enough to rattle some nerves.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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EPA Says Fracking May Be Polluting Groundwater

Fri, 2011-12-09 00:37 — Kathy Gilbeaux

(AP)

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday for the first time that fracking — a controversial method of improving the productivity of oil and gas wells — may be to blame for causing groundwater pollution.

The draft finding could have significant implications while states try to determine how to regulate the process. Environmentalists characterized the report as a significant development though it met immediate criticism from the oil and gas industry and a U.S. senator.

The practice is called hydraulic fracturing and involves pumping pressurized water, sand and chemicals underground to open fissures and improve the flow of oil or gas to the surface.

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Rare 'Survivor' Dolphin Gives Hope for Finding Cause of Deaths Since BP Spill

Sun, 2011-11-27 22:53 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Kaija Wilkinson - gulflive.com - November 27, 2011

Institute Director Moby Solangi watches a sickly dolphin make circles in its pool at the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011. (The Mississippi Press/Kaija Wilkinson)

GULFPORT, Mississippi -- A sickly, stranded dolphin that was found in Alabama and transported to Gulfport to convalesce and be studied could provide clues to a spike in dolphin deaths that has occurred over the past year.

The 2-year-old male is the first to be found alive since the BP oil spill last spring, according to Moby Solangi, director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, where the dolphin is being held.

The spike coincided with the spill, but to date no definitive link has been made between the spill and the deaths, which in south Mississippi and Alabama are three to four times what they are in a normal year.

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History Is Made in Australia

Sat, 2011-11-12 16:04 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Al Gore - huffingtonpost.com - November 8, 2011

      

Former Vice President Al Gore in his home office in Nashville, TN. (Time magazine)

This is a historic moment. Australia's Parliament has put the nation's first carbon price into law. With this vote, the world has turned a pivotal corner in the collective effort to solve the climate crisis. This success is the result of the tireless work of an unprecedented coalition that came together to support the legislation, the leadership of Prime Minister Gillard, and the courage of legislators to take a vote that helps to safeguard the future of all Australians.

I have spent enough time in Australia to know that their spirit of independence as a people cannot be underestimated. As the world's leading coal exporter, there's no doubt that opposition to this legislation was fierce. But through determination and commitment, the voice of the people of Australia has rung out loud and clear.

Today, we celebrate. Tomorrow, we do everything we can to ensure that this legislation is successful.

Cross-posted from Al's Journal.

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