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State Department Says Keystone Pipeline Will Create Just 50 Jobs

Big news this afternoon: The U.S. State Department released its long-awaited “Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement” on the Keystone XL pipeline. The findings could determine whether or not the pipeline proceeds. The State Department concluded that the project would create 42,100 temporary jobs during the two-year construction period. But the report says once the pipeline enters service, it will support only 50 U.S. jobs—35 permanent employees and 15 temporary contractors. Here’s the relevant passage:   State Department Facebook’s Next Decade

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Amid drought, California agency won't allot water

Amid an epic drought, California officials announced Friday they won’t send any water from the state’s vast reservoir system to local agencies beginning this spring, an unprecedented move that worsens a precarious situation for 25 million people and 1 million acres of farmland. The announcement marks the first time in the 54-year history of the State Water Project that such an action has been taken, but it does not mean that every farm field will turn to dust and every city tap will run dry. The 29 agencies that draw from the state’s water-delivery system have other sources, although those also have been hard-hit by the drought. Many farmers in California’s Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural regions in the country, also draw water from a separate system of federally run reservoirs and canals, but that system also will deliver just […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Amid drought, California agency won’t allot water

Amid an epic drought, California officials announced Friday they won’t send any water from the state’s vast reservoir system to local agencies beginning this spring, an unprecedented move that worsens a precarious situation for 25 million people and 1 million acres of farmland. The announcement marks the first time in the 54-year history of the State Water Project that such an action has been taken, but it does not mean that every farm field will turn to dust and every city tap will run dry. The 29 agencies that draw from the state’s water-delivery system have other sources, although those also have been hard-hit by the drought. Many farmers in California’s Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural regions in the country, also draw water from a separate system of federally run reservoirs and canals, but that system also will deliver just […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Its Great Lake Shriveled, Iran Confronts Crisis of Water Supply

Iran — After driving for 15 minutes over the bottom of what was once Iran’s largest lake, a local environmental official stepped out of his truck, pushed his hands deep into his pockets and silently wandered into the great dry plain, as if searching for water he knew he would never find. Just an hour earlier, on a cold winter day here in western Iran, the official, Hamid Ranaghadr, had recalled how as recently as a decade ago, cruise ships filled with tourists plied the lake’s waters in search of flocks of migrating flamingos. Now, the ships are rusting in the mud and the flamingos fly over the remains of the lake on their […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Brown tells Californians to conserve amid drought

Gov. Jerry Brown provided some very practical guidance for Californians amid a deepening drought: Take shorter showers, turn off the water while brushing teeth, and "don’t flush more than you have to." "Make no mistake, this drought is a big wakeup call," Brown said Thursday in downtown Los Angeles before meeting with local water district officials. "Hopefully it’s going to rain. If it doesn’t, we’re going to have to act in a very strenuous way in every part of the state to get through." The governor’s pragmatic plea came as wet weather finally moved through northern portions of the state, which has been in an extraordinary dry period during what is normally the time for rain and snow. But the stingy storm system was squeezing out only dribs and drabs of moisture in most areas. The National Weather Service office in San Francisco […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Obama's Hopelessly Wrong on the Environment — Here's the Reality of What We Face

Are there any self-respecting environmental organizations out there that are still behind President Obama? After his State of the Union on Tuesday it’s hard to imagine there could be. In his address, Obama proudly declared, "The ‘all the above’ energy strategy I announced a few years ago is working, and today America is closer to energy independence than we have been in decades." Based what we know from the most recent climate science, Obama’s "all-of-the-above" energy policy is actually suicidal. To say that we’re approaching a dangerous precipice would be too optimistic or simply unrealistic. For a decade we were peering over the edge, but now we’re falling—how long and how hard depends on what we do this year and in the next few years. The biggest reason for our desperate situation is our failure to address climate change. Obama acknowledges that the problem is real, but his approach […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Obama’s Hopelessly Wrong on the Environment — Here’s the Reality of What We Face

Are there any self-respecting environmental organizations out there that are still behind President Obama? After his State of the Union on Tuesday it’s hard to imagine there could be. In his address, Obama proudly declared, "The ‘all the above’ energy strategy I announced a few years ago is working, and today America is closer to energy independence than we have been in decades." Based what we know from the most recent climate science, Obama’s "all-of-the-above" energy policy is actually suicidal. To say that we’re approaching a dangerous precipice would be too optimistic or simply unrealistic. For a decade we were peering over the edge, but now we’re falling—how long and how hard depends on what we do this year and in the next few years. The biggest reason for our desperate situation is our failure to address climate change. Obama acknowledges that the problem is real, but his approach […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Deep South Set for Rare Winter Storm Amid U.S. Frigid Front

A rare winter storm is forecast to bring heavy snow and icing to parts of the Deep South today as temperatures continue to drop across the U.S. behind an Arctic front sweeping the country. The storm will extend from the central Gulf Coast to the southern Mid-Atlantic coast today, the National Weather Service said in a bulletin at 3:16 a.m. New York time. A wintry mix is possible as far as southern Los Angeles. “Significant icing appears quite probable across portions of southern Georgia into coastal South Carolina and southeastern North Carolina ,” the weather service said. “A swath of light to moderate snows is likely further to the north and west, with heavy snows possible across northeastern North Carolina into the Hampton Roads region of Virginia.” Precipitation is expected to “slide off” of the coast tomorrow, while the Florida peninsula will see “some lingering showers,” according to the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. Set for More Arctic Cold as Natural Gas Prices Surge

The U.S. will get another blast of freezing Arctic air this week, bringing snow and sleet as far south as Texas and helping push natural gas to a four-year high. “A very strong cold front will be bringing frigid conditions back to the central and eastern U.S.,” the Weather Service said in a bulletin on its website today at 3:01 a.m. eastern time. Subfreezing highs are expected “well into the Deep South,” with snow, sleet, and freezing rain expected by tomorrow near the Central Gulf Coast and becoming heavier over the Carolinas. “This rare winter storm will make many people who love snow very happy,” according to the report. January is on track to be the coldest month of the century in the lower 48 states, according to Commodity Weather Group LLC, after waves of freezing air swept across the country. Natural gas rose for a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Keystone XL backers hail government's warning on oil-by-rail

A government warning about the dangers of increased use of trains to transport crude oil is giving a boost to supporters of the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline. U.S. and Canadian accident investigators urged their governments Thursday to impose new safety rules on so-called oil trains, warning that a "major loss of life" could result from an accident involving the increasing use of trains to transport large amounts of crude oil. The announcement came in the wake of a string of high-profile accidents. In July last year, a crude oil train crash in Quebec caused an explosion and fire that killed 47 people . Another train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in North Dakota last month . No one was killed, but the incident prompted evacuation orders for residents of a nearby town. Pipeline supporters said the stern joint warning by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the Transportation […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple