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Mon, 2011-05-23 09:49 — mdmcdonald
Environment

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Google Invests in Hog-Waste Energy; Diaper Recycling Plant Opens

Sat, 2012-03-17 21:41 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Albert Gomez

environmentalleader.com - September 12, 2011

Google has invested in a pilot project by Duke University and Duke Energy that converts waste from a pig farm into usable energy. The system, on a hog finishing facility 25 miles west of Winston-Salem, N.C., converts hog waste into electricity and creates carbon-offset credits. . . .

In other “dirty” business news, Canadian company Knowaste has announced it will be building the U.K.’s first diaper-recycling facility as part of a £25 million ($40 million) investment in the country, the Press Association reports.

The plant, which will also recycle feminine hygiene and adult incontinence products, will be in West Bromwich in the West Midlands and is the first of five facilities planned for the UK, the PA says. Knowaste said it will sterilize and separate the materials, recovering plastic and fiber that can be used for roof tiles and other construction products.

http://www.environmentalleader.com/2011/09/12/google-invests-in-hog-waste-energy-diaper-recycling-plant-opens/

Dwindling Resources Trigger Global Land Rush

Thu, 2012-03-15 22:57 — Kathy Gilbeaux

       

Caudalosa workers clean up mining tailings in Peru's Opamayo River. - Credit:Milagros Salazar/IPS

by Stephen Leahy - ipsnews.net

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Mar 1, 2012 (IPS) - A global scramble for land and mineral resources fuelled by billions of investment dollars is threatening the last remaining wilderness and critical ecosystems, destroying communities and contaminating huge volumes of fresh water, warned environmental groups in London Wednesday.

No national park, delicate ecosystem or community is off limits in the voracious hunt for valuable metals, minerals and fossil fuels, said the Gaia Foundation’s report, "Opening Pandora's Box". The intensity of the hunt and exploitation is building to a fever pitch despite the fact the Earth is already overheated and humanity is using more than can be sustained, the 56-page report warns.

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2010 Russian Heat Wave Caused by Both Manmade, Natural Causes

Thu, 2012-02-23 17:13 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Homeland Security News Wire - February 23, 2012

The heat wave that struck western Russia in summer 2010 killed 55,000 people and caused $15 billion in damage; a new study concludes that soaring temperatures were within the natural range for a Russian summer, but that due to human-induced climate change, the chance of such an extreme heat wave has tripled over the past several decades

The heat wave that struck western Russia in summer 2010, killing 55,000 people, broke July temperatures records and caused $15 billion in damage. Searching for a culprit for the soaring temperatures, research teams have identified either natural or manmade causes. A new study concludes, however, that the devastating heat wave had both. Soaring temperatures were within the natural range for a Russian summer, the researchers found, but due to human-induced climate change, the chance of such an extreme heat wave has tripled over the past several decades.

Stranded Dolphins in Cape Cod Baffle Scientists

Sat, 2012-02-04 23:25 — Kathy Gilbeaux

'It's day after day after day' ... two stranded common dolphins being rescued at Herring River in Wellfleet, Cape Cod. Photograph: Julia Cumes/AP

The worst spate of dolphin strandings in a decade will be brought to the attention of Congress

by Suzanne Goldenberg - The Guardian - February 3, 2012

Scientists in Cape Cod are trying to determine what is causing dolphins to swim dangerously close to shore, with more than 100 becoming stranded in the last three weeks.

Members of Congress are due to be briefed on Friday about the strandings, the worst such event in more than a decade. Volunteers are maintaining coastal vigils and trying to get the animals back to sea.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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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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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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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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