"The Obama administration is working to forge a sweeping international climate change agreement to compel nations to cut their planet-warming fossil fuel emissions, but without ratification from Congress."
The wolf known as OR7 prompted some reflective writing -- and a flood of reader response -- in the Pacific states. The coverage reminds us that there is room for the personal and evocative as well as the objective and informative in environmental journalism. And it restored Sacramento Bee writer Matt Weiser's faith in the newspaper.
"PITT MEADOWS, British Columbia – On an early spring morning the Pitt River flows so calmly that the peaks of the Coast Range seem to pause to admire themselves in its glassy waters. A motorboat lifts a wake, and the docks of the marina moan. Still tucked in for the winter, the pleasure boats stir then rock themselves back to sleep."
"A Van Buren Township hazardous-waste landfill operator, slated to receive up to 36 tons of low-level radioactive waste from a Pennsylvania fracking company, announced Monday that it will suspend receipt of such materials from all oil and gas operations pending a review by the state."
"Of all the global warming gasses, methane is one of the very worst. Pound for pound, the Environmental Protection Agency says its effect on global warming is 20 times greater than that of carbon dioxide. And though its lifetime in the atmosphere is substantially shorter than carbon dioxide, it’s “more efficient at trapping radiation.”
"Environmentalists and a South Florida community want to limit aerial spraying for mosquitoes — saying it's ineffective and harmful to wildlife. Two butterfly species were added to the endangered list."
"An MIT climate change study released Sunday indicates the cost of slashing coal-fired carbon emissions would be offset by reduced spending on public health. The EPA-funded study examined climate change policies similar to those proposed by the Obama administration in June."
"FARGO, N.D. — The furious pace of energy exploration in North Dakota is creating a crisis for farmers whose grain shipments have been held up by a vast new movement of oil by rail, leading to millions of dollars in agricultural losses and slower production for breakfast cereal giants like General Mills."
"The 6.1-magnitude earthquake that shook Napa Valley early Sunday morning could total more than $1 billion in losses. As many as 100 homes were left in unlivable condition, and it’s likely most residents will be paying out-of-pocket for repairs."
"A federal nuclear inspector urged U.S. regulators to shut down a California nuclear power plant until tests showed its reactors could withstand shocks from nearby earthquake faults, according to the Associated Press and an environmental group."
