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China rainstorms affect millions

  A rescuer works at the site of landslide in Dakuo Village of Zhijin County in the city of Bijie, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, July 17, 2014. Six people died and another two were injured in the rain-triggered landslide here, local authorities said on Friday. Rainstorms have lashed Guizhou this week, triggering landslides and floods in many parts of the province. (Xinhua) GUIYANG/CHONGQING, July 18 (Xinhua) — Millions of people have been affected as days of heavy rain in southwest and central China have caused floods and landslides while also halting train services. The downpours have killed 10 people and left 10 missing as of Friday in southwest China’s Guizhou Province, Guizhou’s provincial department of civil affairs told Xinhua. In the latest case, six people were killed and two injured in a rain-triggered landslide in Guizhou, local authorities said on Friday. The landslide happened at around 4 a.m. on […]

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China at work on climate protection plans

A climate protection plan from Beijing should be finalized by early next year, a director at the National Development and Reform Commission said from Berlin. China is the world leader in emissions. Beijing says it’s readjusted its economic structure in a way that promotes green energy and a low-carbon economy in an effort to combat climate change. Zie Zhenhua, vice chairman of the NDRC, says the government is working on reports outlining the trajectory of a low-carbon economy. "We have been developing our climate protection plan for beyond 2020 for a year now," he said Tuesday. "We expect it to be finalized by the first quarter of 2015." China and the United States signed memorandums of understanding last week that envision a wide range of climate initiatives, though differences remain between both sides in terms of the climate responsibilities of developed and developing countries. In June, […]

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Ireland welcomes Robinson as U.N. climate czar

The Irish government welcomed the decision from the United Nations to appoint its former president, , as the special envoy for climate change. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki -moon appointed Robinson to serve as special envoy for climate change to mobilize political will ahead of the next international climate summit in September. Robinson became the first female president of Ireland in 1990 and then acted as the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002. She’s currently a member of The Elders, a peace advocacy group formed in part by Nelson Mandela . Joan Burton, deputy prime minister of Ireland, said Robinson will inject a much needed sense of urgency into the climate debate. "It is a sign of the esteem in which former President Robinson is held that she has been asked to undertake this very difficult but crucial task, and a sign of her longstanding commitment […]

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Cameron thanked for sacking environment secretary

British Prime Minister was right to bring a new face to the government’s environmental body, British Friends of the Earth said Tuesday. Cameron’s administration reshuffled several key ministerial positions Tuesday. The prime minister sacked Owen Paterson as secretary of state for the environment, food and rural affairs. Paterson was criticized for his controversial stance on climate issues. "David Cameron is right to give Owen Paterson the boot — he’s the worst Environment Secretary the U.K. has had for decades," Friends of the Earth Executive Director Andy Atkins said in a statement . Friends of the Earth said Paterson had "willfully ignored" evidence of climate change. Paterson was replaced by Liz Truss. "We hope she will mark a clean break with Owen Paterson by listening to science and striving for evidence-based decision making," Atkins said. William Hague ‘s decision to stand down as foreign minister was among […]

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RRC: Energy Companies Reducing Water Use, Leading Conservation Efforts

Amid continued drought-like conditions across much of Texas, the state’s oil and gas industry is turning out to be an unlikely leader in the area of water conservation, wrote Christi Craddick, a commissioner at the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC), in a June 26 article. The praise comes just over a year after a study by California-based CERES indicating that nearly 47 percent of wells were in water basins that were under stress from droughts. The fact that the oil and gas industry is helping to solve the water crisis might at first seem counter-intuitive, given the industry’s reliance of water for hydraulic fracturing in shale formations in a number of states across the country. However, those within the industry realize there is much to be gained from using as little water as possible in fracking operations. The amount of water used in oil and gas and mining operations […]

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U.S., China review joint climate commitments

The United States and China must work together to combat climate change, but the fight is a global one, U.S. Secretary of State said Wednesday. Kerry met in Beijing with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang to discuss bilateral issues ranging from security to energy. On climate issues , Kerry said that, as the top emitters of greenhouse gas emissions, joint work on climate issues was imperative. "But I have to emphasize [that] nothing that the United States does alone, nothing that Europe does alone, nothing that any country does alone will be able to do the job." he said . With his "all-of-the-above" energy policy, Kerry said President Barack Obama is committed to ensuring fuel efficiency improves and power plants are cleaner. Wang, for his part, said Beijing has readjusted its economic structure in a way that promotes green energy and a low-carbon economy in an […]

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China, US differ on global plan to cut emissions

BEIJING (AP) — China and the United States took small steps toward their shared goal of fighting climate change on Wednesday, but the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 carbon emitters remain significantly apart over a wider global plan to cut emissions. China’s chief climate official Xie Zhenhua said China should not be subject to the same rules for greenhouse gas emissions as the United States and other rich countries, signaling that Beijing will oppose any attempt to impose them at next year’s world climate conference. "We are in different development stages, we have different historical responsibilities and we have different capacities," Xie told reporters. The U.S. special envoy Todd Stern said Washington favors every country deciding what it is capable of doing, instead of being categorized either as a developed country or a developing country in deciding how much a country should contribute to reduce climate change. Asked […]

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Record low waters in Nevada’s Lake Mead

It’s at levels unseen since the Hoover Dam was completed and the reservoir on the Colorado River was filled in the 1930s Drought in the southwestern U.S. will deplete the vast Lake Mead this week to levels not seen since Hoover Dam was completed and the reservoir on the Colorado River was filled in the 1930s, federal water managers said Tuesday. The projected lake level of about 1,080 feet above sea level will be below the level of about 1,082 feet recorded in November 2010 and the 1,083-foot mark measured in April 1956 during another sustained drought. But U.S. Bureau of Reclamation regional chief Terry Fulp said water obligations will be met at least through next year without a key shortage declaration. The result will be full deliveries to cities, states, farms and Indian tribes in an area that’s home to some 40 million people and the cities of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Record low waters in Nevada's Lake Mead

It’s at levels unseen since the Hoover Dam was completed and the reservoir on the Colorado River was filled in the 1930s Drought in the southwestern U.S. will deplete the vast Lake Mead this week to levels not seen since Hoover Dam was completed and the reservoir on the Colorado River was filled in the 1930s, federal water managers said Tuesday. The projected lake level of about 1,080 feet above sea level will be below the level of about 1,082 feet recorded in November 2010 and the 1,083-foot mark measured in April 1956 during another sustained drought. But U.S. Bureau of Reclamation regional chief Terry Fulp said water obligations will be met at least through next year without a key shortage declaration. The result will be full deliveries to cities, states, farms and Indian tribes in an area that’s home to some 40 million people and the cities of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Blueprints for Taming the Climate Crisis

Here’s what your future will look like if we are to have a shot at preventing devastating climate change. Within about 15 years every new car sold in the United States will be electric. In fact, by midcentury more than half of the American economy will run on electricity. Up to 60 percent of power might come from nuclear sources. And coal’s footprint will shrink drastically, perhaps even disappear from the power supply. This course, created by a team of energy experts, was unveiled on Tuesday in a report for the United Nations that explores the technological paths available for the world’s 15 main economies to both maintain reasonable rates of growth and cut their carbon emissions enough by 2050 to prevent climatic havoc. It offers a sobering conclusion. We might be able to pull it off. But it will take an overhaul of the way we […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple