By John H. Cushman Jr.22 November 2013 (InsideClimate News) – The smoldering debate over whether coal has a future in a low-carbon world has flared up with new intensity in Warsaw, the site of this month’s annual United Nations negotiations toward a global climate treaty. With world coal use growing at a staggering pace, top […]
By James West19 November 2013 (Mother Jones) – When Japan dramatically slashed its plans last week for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, from 25 percent to just 3.8 percent compared to 2005 figures, the international reaction was swift and damning. Britain called it “deeply disappointing.” China’s climate negotiator, Su Wei, said, “I have no […]
By Ben Jervey21 November 2013 WARSAW, Poland (Grist) – For the first time ever, environmental groups have staged a mass walkout of a U.N. climate summit. Citing immense frustration with the lack of productive action in the COP19 climate talks, which have been dogged by a persistent rift between rich and poor countries on the […]
By Steven Mufson14 November 2013(Washington Post) – The Tennessee Valley Authority, one of the nation’s five biggest users of coal for electricity generation, said Thursday it would close down eight coal-fired power units with 3,300 megawatts of capacity. The decision was prompted by a combination of environmental requirements, the age of the plants, competition from […]
3 November 2013 (AAP) – The federal government has approved a massive coal mining project in central Queensland that will be the largest in the country. Environment Minister Greg Hunt approved the 37,380 hectare Kevin’s Corner project on Friday. The mine, to be operated by a joint India-Australia consortium, GVK-Hancock, is the first to be […]
By Jean Williams25 October 2013 (examiner.com) – Three major bushfires and more than 60 smaller ones have been burning across parts of Southern Australia for seven days without an end in sight, NBC News is reporting. In a risky move, the Blue Mountain region firefighters deliberately joined the State Mine fire with the Mount Victoria […]
Oct 22, 2013 (NOAA) – Heavy smog has shrouded much of eastern China, and air quality levels have been dropped to extremely dangerous levels. The heavy smog is caused by industrial pollution, coal and agricultural burning, and has been trapped by the mountains to the west and wind patterns. The thick haze of smog is […]
22 October 2013 (AP) – Visibility shrank to less than half a football field and small-particle pollution soared to a record 40 times higher than an international safety standard in one northern Chinese city as the region entered its high-smog season. The manager for US jazz singer Patti Austen, meanwhile, said the singer had cancelled […]
By Richard Wolf15 October 2013 WASHINGTON (USA TODAY) – Dealing a potential blow to the Obama administration and environmentalists, the Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to consider limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to regulate greenhouse gases. The court accepted six separate petitions that sought to roll back EPA’s clout over carbon dioxide emissions from power […]
By Darryl Fears13 October 2013 (Washington Post) – Under the watchful eyes of scientists, a little forage fish that lives off the southern coast of Maine developed a strangely large appetite. Killifish are not usually big eaters. But in warmer waters, at temperatures projected for the future by climate scientists, their metabolism — and their […]
