Author: Sarah.chappel

Greenwire: Though the Cape Wind offshore wind farm secured approval yesterday from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, residents of Cape Cod do not expect a conclusion anytime soon to a battle that has already dragged on for nearly a decade.

“I don’t think it’s over yet,” said Rob MacNamee, 42, an attorney from Barnstable, Mass. “It’s been going on for how long? All the stickers for and against have washed off the cars, and the signs have blown down.”

The 130 wind turbines would be visible from much of the region, but residents do not expect to see the 440-foot structures to be built anytime soon. Several groups have threatened lawsuits to block the project.

Critics of the project say the turbines would change the character of Nantucket Sound, ruining scenic views and obstructing the routes currently taken by boats. Backers say the project would make Massachusetts a leader in renewable energy and provide enough energy to meet most of Cape Cod’s electricity needs.

Steven Spagnohe, a 46-year-old musician from Hyannis, Mass., described opponents of the project as “old money,” saying they “don’t want to lose tradition.” Ian Parent, the owner of a cafe in Hyannis, said he supports renewable energy but does not think Nantucket Sound is the right place for the technology.

“I’m 100 percent for alternative energy, but just not in Nantucket Sound,” Parent said. “There’s no guarantee that the electricity will be cheaper. And once you put those windmills out there, you can never take them away” (Katie Zezima, New York Times, April 29). – GN

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ClimateWire: A planned high-speed commuter rail service connecting New Haven and Hartford, Conn., and Springfield, Mass., could become one of the nation’s first completed rail projects, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Monday as he encouraged officials in Connecticut and Massachusetts to work together and with the federal government to move the project along.

“All of us have the same goal, the same desire, and that is to have high-speed, real high-speed rail service in the corridor, in the heart of New England,” said Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell (R). “If we can meet a timetable and be aggressive as we have planned, then I think we will be the first in the nation to accomplish that.”

Connecticut, which is submitting studies to federal officials for funding, anticipates that the train will be operating by 2014 or 2016. The federal government has already given $40 million to the state, which is being used to build a second set of tracks in certain areas. Connecticut transportation commissioner Joseph Marie said the state will apply for a second, more substantial round of funding. The state must also match 20 percent of the federal funding.

There once was Amtrak service that covered the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield network, but it ended 40 years ago. Efforts to revive the rail line have been hindered because of stretches with just a single track. The next step to the project, according to planners, would be linking western Massachusetts to Boston with its own high-speed rail. The Connecticut project could also be extended past Springfield.

The service would help the thousands of commuters between Massachusetts and Connecticut or those who drive to New Haven to catch trains to New York or Washington (Susan Haigh, AP/Boston Globe, April 27). – JP

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ClimateWire: A ban on fishing in the marine reserve at Glover’s Reef in Belize has made it a prime spot for wildlife to flourish and for researchers to see the natural workings of the reef ecosystem. But even more, it offers a test case for the prospects of similar “no take” reserves around the world.

The 17,500-acre area with no fishing is just 20 percent of the 87,000-acre marine protected area in Glover’s Reef, an atoll about 28 miles off the Belize coast. In the rest of the region, some restricted fishing is allowed. Partly because of that, scientists say Glover’s Reef is one of the healthiest of its kind, with plentiful fish populations.

For example, shark populations remained steady at the reef while they dropped around the rest of the world, according to an annual shark study in the Caribbean. A study of live coral published in February’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that marine protected areas help coral populations, although it can take decades for the results to be known. The no-take approach builds up fish stocks, which then repopulate nearby fisheries, and helps revive the entire region.

Still, officials say it can be difficult to enforce the fishing restrictions. And the region has been heavily polluted and cover coral is low. A recent analysis found that 63 percent of Belize’s reefs are threatened by human activity (Erik Olsen, New York Times, April 26). – JP

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ClimateWire: Australian and Japanese scientists have discovered a deep-sea current described in a new study as key to the workings of global climate, functioning as a “conveyor belt” for cold water from Antarctica.

The study, published in Sunday’s issue of Nature Geoscience, found that the current carries water north to the Kerguelen Plateau of the southern Indian Ocean, at which point it dissipates. Scientists want to know whether ocean circulation patterns would remain fairly constant on a warming planet or whether they would be sensitive to change — potentially mitigating or compounding climate change.

“We didn’t know if it was a significant part of the circulation or not, and this shows clearly that it is,” said co-author Steve Rintoul, an oceanographer at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). “The deep current along the Kerguelen Plateau is part of a global system of ocean currents called the overturning circulation, which determines how much heat and carbon the ocean can soak up.”

Ocean currents affecting global climate have been known to change over time. Researchers hope to understand what causes changes in currents such as the Gulf Stream, which carries warm water to the North Atlantic and makes parts of northern Europe warmer than they would otherwise be (David Fogarty, Reuters, April 26). – GN

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Greenwire: Chinese automaker BYD is hoping to start selling its all-electric minivan in America this year as the first Chinese-made car on the U.S. market. The five-seat e6 would reach the West Coast later this year.

Chinese automakers are working on a series of green vehicles, powered by everything from batteries to small wind turbines. At the Beijing auto show this week, Chinese firms are working hard to show they will not lag behind Western rivals in gas-free cars. The government introduced a series of tax breaks and subsidies in March to promote Chinese technology, but automakers are still waiting on details on how it would affect them.

If the e6 hits the market, BYD would be in the same league as General Motors Co., which is releasing the Chevrolet Volt, and Tesla Motors Inc., with its Roadster. Other Chinese producers have tried to export their cars, but none has met American emission standards, and analysts say the cars simply aren’t good enough to compete. The electric car would clear those standards easily.

Among the other firms hoping to capture the green market was Dongfeng, which displayed its I-Car, an all-electric hatchback with glowing hubcaps and touch-pad buttons. Geely debuted six alternative energy vehicles to be released on the market next year (Chi-Chi Zhang, AP/Houston Chronicle, April 26). – JP

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Greenwire: U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar adopted a conciliatory tone yesterday in a meeting with Utahns, saying he is open to compromise and that he is a Colorado rancher who understands residents’ desires to balance resource protection with their economy and cultural heritage.

In a meeting with Republican Gov. Gary Herbert’s Balanced Resource Council at the state Capitol, Salazar said he is eager to hammer out compromises with the state on roads, national monuments, endangered species and other contentious issues.

“We can agree on so many issues,” Salazar said after the meeting, which brought about 120 people to the table.

The meeting, which is part of what Salazar has called a national listening tour to help advise President Obama on citizens’ ideas for conservation plans, garnered praise from state officials, who applauded Salazar’s approach to the issues.

But one attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance said that Utah is far from progressive when it comes to wilderness designation and other land-use issues. Steve Bloch said his group plans to push for forceful action from Salazar even if it is in conflict with Utah.

Issues for Utah include a decades-old fight over county control of historical roads across federal lands, and a new state law that authorizes the use of eminent domain to take federal lands for access to state lands with coal and other development potential. Salazar said the law’s constitutionality will likely be resolved in court but that if the legislation was an effort to alert him to the need for greater communication about access, then the “message is received.”

In the meeting Salazar also reiterated a pledge to not attempt to designate new national monuments without participation from state and local officials, an issue of concern since a leaked memo surfaced in February that listed San Juan County’s Cedar Mesa and Emery County’s San Rafael Swell as potential monument sites (Brandon Loomis, Salt Lake Tribune, April 26). – DFM

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Greenwire: Extensive tests have revealed that water in parts of California’s high Sierra were contaminated and making people sick, but no water was worse than that on U.S. Forest Service land. Bacterial contamination was so high that algae was sprouting in the water and hikers were getting hit with Giardia, E. coli and other diseases.

Robert Derlet spent 10 years studying the water and is now calling on the Forest Service to do something about its quality. He and University of California, Davis, Tahoe Research Center director Charles Goldman say cattle should be moved to lower elevations. The livestock waste accounted for much of the contamination. Their results have been published in various periodicals, including Wilderness & Environmental Medicine.

“This proves cattle are contaminating the water,” said John Buckley, executive director of the Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center. “I guarantee you many people don’t realize that snowmelt water, that looks so pure, has fecal coliform and E. coli in it.”

Derlet and Goldman say the land where cattle currently grazes should be made into a protected national park. Both Yosemite and Sequoia national parks were created partly because of damage from grazing sheep, which stirred up dust and made similar damage to water quality.

In Derlet’s studies, he found that unvisited streams and lakes were almost always safe for drinking. Contamination from sunscreen, soap and human waste also contributed to the pollution, as did wild animals, horses and mules. But the contamination was always worst near horses and cattle.

But an official with the Forest Service said the livestock are not responsible because there is vegetation that filters fecal matter before it reaches the water (Tom Knudson, Sacramento Bee, April 25). – JP

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Greenwire: Solar energy plants being built in California have some residents concerned that they could encroach on massive American Indian carvings depicting the flute-playing god Kokopelli. Historian Alfredo Figueroa has been taking the lead in challenging businesses and the state to try to protect the carvings.

At issue are three plants being installed around Blythe, Calif. A joint project from Solar Millennium AG and Chevron Energy Solutions would be the largest, placing mirrors on 7,030 acres of public land. Figueroa believes the installation might happen on the carvings of Kokopelli or Cicimitl, an Aztec spirit.

The companies say the claims are “completely false.” Rachel McMahon, director of governmental affairs for Solar Millennium said, “The image is adjacent to our transmission line, but they don’t interfere with each other.”

The Bureau of Land Management is evaluating the carvings and working with the California Native American Heritage Commission to determine if the geoglyphs have a sacred value, which could help get them more protection. The projects have also been hit with complaints about damage to the desert habitat or aesthetic problems.

The massive carvings, discovered by a pilot in 1931, are best seen from the air. The carvings near the Colorado River are thought to be 3,000 to 4,000 years old, while ones deeper in the desert could be as many as 12,000 years old.

Figueroa, who is part Yaqui, Pima and Chemehuevi, says the region around the carvings is Aztlan, the supposed mythical birthplace of the Aztecs. He has led spiritual dances to protect the site and vows to continue the fight against the solar projects however he can.

“Maybe they have good intentions in pursuing clean energy, but they will erase our history,” said Netze Cauhtemoc, one of the dancers. “It would be like throwing up a shopping mall in the middle of Jerusalem” (David Kelly, Los Angeles Times, April 24). – JP

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Greenwire: Officials acknowledge it could be months before they can stop the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from a rig that sank last week near Louisiana. Crews worked yesterday to shore up the leak that is estimated at 42,000 gallons of oil a day.

Response crews are setting up containment booms around coastal areas. They are working on three strategies: one that could stop the leak in two days, one that would take months and a third that would simply capture the oil and push it to the surface. The 600-square-mile sheen of oil and water will remain at least 30 miles from shore for at least the next three days, but Gulf Coast states have been warned to be on alert.

The leak is coming from a riser on the rig that exploded and sank last week, leaving 11 crew members missing and presumed dead. Workers are using remote-controlled vehicles to try to activate the rig’s blowout preventer, which can seal the well within 24 to 36 hours. But officials from BP, which leased the rig, said that operation was “highly complex” and might not be successful.

A second effort would involve drilling relief wells nearby, which could take two to three months. Those wells would push mud and concrete into the cavity of oil and gas punctured by accident. Officials are also planning to place a dome directly over the leak to catch the oil and send it to the surface if the blowout preventer fails. The dome strategy has never been used in water this deep.

Crews had to stop working for most of the weekend because of rough seas, but by yesterday afternoon, planes were dropping dispersant to break down the oil. Last night, 15 boats were skimming the oil off the ocean surface (Robertson/Kaufman, New York Times, April 25). – JP

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Greenwire: Malia Obama frequently asks her father, President Obama, what he is doing to save tigers and other endangered animals, first lady Michelle Obama told school children visiting the White House yesterday.

The youths, whose parents work in the executive office and were visiting the White House for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, asked the first lady about the family’s environmental interests. Michelle Obama responded that the family talks about tigers at least once a week because of Malia’s interest.

“He tells her he’s working on it and there are a lot of people who are thinking about it,” she said. “But I think, the Obama household, we’re trying to save the tigers.”

The children got to see a different animal during their visit: first dog Bo Obama (Natasha T. Metzler, AP/Yahoo News, April 22). – AC

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Greenwire: Despite many of its 25 species being endangered, the whisker-snouted sturgeon is flourishing in upper Wisconsin thanks to strict protection laws. The state has cracked down on spearing and poaching while boosting restocking efforts. The well-guarded spring spawning, a popular tourist attraction, has also helped boost the population.

“If we can restore the sturgeon population in the Great Lakes and manage the current population effectively, then we know we are doing a pretty good job of managing other aspects of the aquatic community,” said state sturgeon expert Ron Bruch.

The spring spawning finished last week and visitors flocked to Lake Winnebago’s tributaries to see the fish struggle through shallow water to lay eggs. The event brings in $350,000 a year to nearby cities.

Lake Winnebago has about 40,000 sturgeons, close to where the population was in the 1800s. It had dipped to 10,000 in the 1950s, but conservation efforts brought the population back up. In the Great Lakes system, there are 156,750, less than 1 percent of the population from two centuries ago.

Still, Bruch is concerned that the sturgeon’s success could pose a risk. With other areas facing shortages, he thinks poaching incidents could rise, especially since lake sturgeon caviar is popular. Other states allow some sturgeon hunting and spearing, but the sale of domestic lake sturgeon meat and eggs is illegal in the United States (Carrie Antlfinger, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, April 23). – JP

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Greenwire: Federal inspectors at Massey Energy Co.’s Upper Big Branch coal mine concluded earlier this year that senior managers demonstrated “reckless disregard” for safety by ordering a foreman to ignore the mine’s citation for faulty ventilation practices, according to the handwritten notes by inspectors.

According to the January notes, a president and vice president of Massey Performance Coal subsidiary said “not to worry” about the ventilation problem, telling a mine employee that “it was fine.” The notes add to the paper trail of safety violations at the mine, the site of the April 5 blast that killed 29 workers in the deadliest U.S. mine accident in 40 years.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration inspector said “the operator has shown high negligence due to fact of management knowing where problem is,” noting that the ventilation problem in question could “result in fatal injuries.”

Though this particular citation was remedied by Massey, investigations into the cause of the accident are focusing on other ventilation problems that could have allowed explosive methane gas to accumulate.

“Massey’s Board of Directors has instructed counsel and mine experts to conduct a full evaluation of events, and it would be premature to comment on specific violations before they have had time to finish,” the company said in a statement. “It’s important to note, however, that all MSHA violations must be abated. Most citations are corrected the same day, often immediately. For those that require more time, a deadline is given by MSHA to correct the situation” (Steven Mufson, Washington Post, April 23). – GN

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ClimateWire: An actively erupting volcano in Iceland has the potential to lower the Earth’s temperatures, cause acid rain and damage the ozone layer. But the Eyjafjallajokull volcano isn’t at that stage, at least not yet.

The Iceland eruption launched a cloud with sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen fluoride 7 miles high. It has shut down air traffic across northern Europe and dropped ash on the surrounding area, prompting residents to wear dust masks when they go outside. Falling ash can also pollute local water, damage vegetation and kill livestock.

Sulfur emitted from volcanoes can react with the water in the air to form sulfuric acid droplets that reflect sunlight and block some of the rays. That can reduce temperatures for about a year until the droplets fall out of the sky. The 1991 explosion of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines cooled the planet by 0.9 degree Fahrenheit.

The intentional release of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere has been proposed as a possible geoengineering solution to curb global warming (MSNBC, April 15). – JP

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Greenwire: The Brazilian government has appealed a decision that stopped bidding on the construction contract for the Belo Monte hydroelectric facility, a project in the Amazon rain forest that has drawn fierce opposition from environmentalists.

Belo Monte, which would be the world’s third largest dam if built, is seen by the government as a key provider of renewable energy for decades to come. The $11 billion, 11,000-megawatt facility would provide 6 percent of Brazil’s electricity needs by 2014, strengthening the grid in a country that experienced a massive round of blackouts last summer.

“I am confident the environmental license will be granted to Belo Monte,” said Pedro Alberto Bignelli, director of licensing at Ibama, Brazil’s environmental protection agency. “The result of three years of work and analysis will be upheld when the government appeals.”

Environmentalists and indigenous Amazon residents contend the project will destroy wildlife habitats and cause massive flooding, taking away the livelihoods of thousands of residents. It has become a cause célèbre, prompting “Avatar” director James Cameron and actress Sigourney Weaver to protest the project in advance of the court decision Thursday in Brasilia.

“No one is naive,” said Atossa Soltani, executive director of advocacy group Amazon Watch. “Everyone recognizes that in Brazil a decision like this could be overturned quickly, and that we haven’t won the battle yet” (Alan Clendenning, Associated Press, April 16). – GN

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Greenwire: Texas officials are urging lawmakers to crack down on oil field practices that have left some Exxon Mobil Corp. fields with leaking pipelines, wells and storage tanks. The country’s biggest oil producer has left a stretch of Texas unkempt, leaving residents in danger of explosions and gas fires. Exxon has tried to keep the chemical leaks buried in court while it embarks on a new phase of exploration nearby.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress is considering stricter drilling regulations, which many say are needed to ensure that companies are not constantly cleaning up old messes. U.S. EPA says it currently has no authority to force companies to clean up their active fields and instead defers to state regulators, who often let oil companies decide if cleanup is necessary.

Elizabeth and Stephen Burns, who own a ranch near some of Exxon’s old fields, are filing suit against Exxon and Chevron Corp., which owns a smaller section. The suit alleges the companies did not keep their equipment away from vegetation, damaging thousands of acres of land. If found guilty, the two companies would be on the hook for cleanup costs, which could run in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Exxon said it has already spent $1.6 million at the ranch and is conducting soil and water tests to head off environmental threats.

But there are more than 100,000 wells in Texas alone that have not been capped, as well as thousands of abandoned processing plants and compressor stations. That is largely a result of lax environmental restrictions in the 1950s and ’60s when oil companies were entering the state.

California, the third-largest oil producing state, has recently stepped up efforts to force oil companies to clean up their fields, and Pennsylvania has set up restrictions on new oil projects and has stepped up enforcement (Joe Carroll, Bloomberg, April 16). – JP

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ClimateWire: General Electric Co. has announced plans for an offshore wind turbine manufacturing plant in Britain, filling that country’s perceived need for a presence in the wind turbine industry.

The company will invest about $1.5 million in the plant, which will be built in a location to be determined later. It is part of a larger competition to develop port facilities for offshore wind.

Britain’s high sea winds make it an ideal place for wind energy, but the country’s last significant turbine manufacturing plant, operated by Vestas, closed. The government is hoping that the GE plant will help meet its commitments to cut greenhouse gases, as well as enhance the clean energy industry.

GE said the project will be part of a $454 million investment into Europe’s wind energy industry over the next decade. It also plans to build at sites in Norway, Sweden and Germany.

“We believe offshore wind has a bright future,” said GE’s U.K. managing director, Magued Eldaief. “These investments will position us to help develop Europe’s vast, untapped offshore wind resources” (Damian Carrington, London Guardian, March 25). – JP

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Greenwire: Wisconsin lawmakers unveiled a new draft of a bill to control carbon emissions that would ramp up renewable energy and allow the possibility of nuclear reactors in the state.

The new bill is a scaled-back version of one discussed late last year that was criticized for being too broad and costly. Gov. Jim Doyle (D) called the revised bill “a good compromise that will bring down consumer costs.”

The new version requires that 10 percent of the state’s power come from in-state renewable sources by 2025 and relaxes a moratorium on building nuclear reactors in the state. It also creates an incentive program for consumers to use renewable energy products. Among the changes are the removal of a low-carbon fuel standard and greenhouse gas tailpipe emission standard.

Critics say the bill is still too expensive thanks to mandated use of wind, solar and hydro power. Republicans charged that compliance costs with the new regulations would exceed $15 billion for investor-owned utilities.

Some lawmakers are concerned there will not be sufficient time to review and debate the legislation before the end of the legislative session on April 22 (Content/Bergquist, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, April 13). – JP

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Greenwire: A strong earthquake that struck China’s western Qinghai province has left at least 400 people dead and injured 10,000, Chinese state media reported.

The quake occurred in a region that is rich in natural gas and has deposits of copper, tin and coal. The 7.1 magnitude earthquake damaged 90 percent of the homes in the county seat, Jeigu, to collapse, seismologist Gu Guohua said. Many of the houses were made of wood, mud and brick.

Twenty schoolchildren are still missing, buried in the wreckage of a primary school, and as many as 50 people are trapped beneath a collapsed office building that included offices for the Departments of Commerce and Industry.

Workers today scrambled to release water from a reservoir after the quake caused cracks in a dam, according to the China Earthquake Administration.

As the day went on, 18 aftershocks measuring more than 6.0 pummeled the region, Xinhua reported (Andrew Jacobs, New York Times, April 14). – DFM

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