Tag Archives: state
EPA: The nation’s rivers are in sad shape
Mother Nature Network: From the largest urban rivers to the tiniest undisturbed creeks, nearly 2,000 locations in rivers and streams across the country were sampled by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2008 and 2009. The findings, published in the National Rivers and Streams Assessment 2008–2009, paint a dismal picture of the state of the nation’s waterways. The study found that more than 55 percent of our rivers and streams are in poor condition, posing health risks to fish, other wildlife and humans Continue reading
California bills could delay fracking
San Francisco Chronicle: Fracking for oil and natural gas in California could slam to a halt, at least temporarily, under legislation circulating in Sacramento. One bill calls for a moratorium on the practice until the state conducts a sweeping study of fracking’s benefits and risks, including the potential for groundwater contamination Continue reading
Keystone Report Skirts Central Question Posed Under NEPA, Lawyers Say
InsideClimate: The surprising message of the State Department’s latest Keystone review—that the decision whether to approve the disputed pipeline won’t have much effect on the environment—can be traced to the way the agency framed the report. The study presents an analysis of how markets will adjust if the pipeline isn’t built. But lawyers and pipeline opponents say that approach allowed the State Department to dodge the central question that the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, presents about major… Continue reading
Proposed Dam Presents Twin Conundrums in Alaska
New York Times: At a time when large dams are being taken down, not put up, the state of Alaska is proposing to construct one of the tallest and most expensive hydroelectric dams ever built in North America. The Alaska Energy Authority is planning to build a 735-foot, $5.2 billion structure on the Susitna River in a largely empty south-central part of the state, which is watered by runoff from the arc of the Alaska Range Continue reading
After Keystone Review, Environmentalists Vow To Continue Fight
National Public Radio: If they can block the Keystone XL pipeline, they can keep Canada from developing more of its dirty tar sands oil. It takes a lot of energy to get it out of the ground and turn it into gasoline, so it has a bigger greenhouse gas footprint than conventional oil. Continue reading
Environmentalists diss State Dept.’s Keystone pipeline review
USA Today: The State Department riled environmentalists with a largely positive review Friday of a controversial Canada-to-U.S. pipeline, saying the project would not significantly alter the development of Canada’s tar sands Continue reading
Climate change putting stress on Kansas water resources
Lawrence Journal World: The current drought gripping all of Kansas and much of the western United States may seem severe now, but it is not abnormal for a region that has seen cyclical droughts for much of the last 1,000 years. What ought to concern Kansans more, a panel of experts said during a symposium Friday night at Kansas University, is the longer-term change in the region’s climate that will put greater demand on the state’s dwindling water resources Continue reading
