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White House Suggests Keystone XL Not a Climate Change Issue
(Time)
Barack Obama has seen protesters from his motorcade for years: McCain and Romney campaign supporters, health care reform opponents and all manner of Tea Party acolytes. But when he left Argonne National Laboratory in a cold rain outside Chicago on Friday, there was another breed altogether: environmentalists bearing bright hand-painted signs with messages like, "No XL Pipeline."
In a matter of months, the Obama Administration will have to decide whether to permit the Keystone XL pipeline, a 2,000 mile conduit for Canadian oil seeking ports on the Gulf of Mexico. Environmentalists have made stopping the pipeline their number one priority, saying it will encourage the development of a particularly dirty type of oil at a time when America should be leading the world in reducing greenhouse gases.
White House aides are clearly uncomfortable with the current campaign from their left, a fact that quickly became clear on the flight to Chicago. "Thousands of miles of pipeline have been built since President Obama took office, and that hasn't had a measurable impact on climate change," said Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest, on board Air Force One. "The truth is what we need to do is take an all of the above approach."
Recent Storms Highlight Flaws In Top U.S. Weather Model
(Climate Central)
The U.S., which pioneered the groundbreaking science of weather forecasting using mathematical simulations of the atmosphere, has fallen behind other nations when it comes to the accuracy of its global forecasting model. The consequences could be dire for people in harm's way if the U.S. is less prepared for extreme weather and climate events.
As Sandy was spinning its way northward from the Caribbean Sea, it was the model run by the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) that sounded the earliest alarm. The European Center’s model projected about a week in advance that the storm would make an unprecedented and devastating left hook into the Mid-Atlantic coastline, wreaking havoc the likes of which parts of the East Coast had not seen in modern times.
The top-of-the-line U.S. weather forecasting model, known as the Global Forecasting System (GFS) didn’t catch on to that worst-case scenario until the storm was closer to making landfall in the U.S. That delay contributed to a large degree of uncertainty in the forecasts until just three to four days before the storm hit.
Fast-forward four months to the Feb. 7 blizzard that paralyzed the Northeast by dumping up to 40 inches of snow. Again, it was the European Center’s model that proved to be the most accurate, giving local officials throughout southern New England ample time to prepare, while the U.S. model vacillated between varying projections of the storm’s path, strength, and snowfall amounts.
NOAA has struggled to stem the financial bleeding from long-delayed and mismanaged weather and climate satellite programs. The end result is that NOAA’s operational weather capabilities are not keeping pace with those of other countries
Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism Recognizes InsideClimate News for The Dilbit Disaster
(InsideClimate News)
The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism announced today that InsideClimate News reporters Elizabeth McGowan, Lisa Song and David Hasemyer were awarded an honorable mention for “The Dilbit Disaster: Inside the Biggest Oil Spill You've Never Heard Of” in the 2012 John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism.
Chicago Tribune reporters Patricia Callahan, Michael Hawthorne and Sam Roe won the top award for their year-long investigative series “Playing with Fire.”
The Scripps Howard Awards for the best journalism of 2012 today also recognized The Dilbit Disaster as a finalist in the environmental reporting category.
Another Oakes honorable mention went to the Environmental Health News reporting team for their multi-part series "Pollution, Poverty, People of Color." USA Today got the other honorable mention for "Ghost Factories," an multi-media investigative series on lead contamination in soil across the country.
InsideClimate's The Dilbit Disaster explores the million gallons of oil spilled into the Kalamazoo River in July 2010, which triggered the most expensive cleanup in U.S. history— more than $800 million. Almost three years later, the cleanup still isn’t finished.
Why not? Because the underground pipeline that ruptured was carrying diluted bitumen, or dilbit, the dirtiest, stickiest oil used today. It’s the same kind of oil that the controversial Keystone XL pipeline could someday carry across the nation’s largest drinking water aquifer.
Written as a narrative, this page-turner takes an inside look at what happened to two families, a community, unprepared agencies and an inept company during an environmental disaster involving a new kind of oil few people know much about.
The Dilbit Disaster is available as ebook, readable on any device, desktop, laptop or in a browser, for only 99 cents.
The John B. Oakes Award honors the career of the late John B. Oakes, a pioneer of environmental journalism, who worked for The New York Times as a columnist, editorial writer, editor of the editorial page, and creator of the op-ed page. It was created in 1994 at the Natural Resources Defense Council, a leading environment and conservation advocacy organization, of which John Oakes was a founding trustee. The prize moved to Columbia in 2005. The Oakes judges represent a cross section of distinguished journalists and environmental specialists.
Scripps Howard Awards Recognizes InsideClimate News for Environmental Reporting
(InsideClimate News)
The Scripps Howard Awards today announced the winners for the best journalism of 2012, and Elizabeth McGowan, Lisa Song and David Hasemyer of InsideClimate News were recognized as finalists for "The Dilbit Disaster: Inside the Biggest Oil Spill You've Never Heard Of" in the Environmental Reporting category.
The other finalist is ProPublica, which was recognized for Abrahm Lustgarten's "Injection Wells: The Hidden Risks of Pumping Waste Underground."
The Los Angeles Times was winner of the Edward J. Meeman Award and the top prize of $10,000 for "Beyond 7 Billion," a five-part series by Kenneth R. Weiss and Rick Loomis that tackles the question "Can we live sustainably on this planet, and for how long?"
The Dilbit Disaster explores the million gallons of oil spilled into the Kalamazoo River in July 2010, which triggered the most expensive cleanup in U.S. historymore than $800 million. Almost three years later, the cleanup still isn't finished.
Why not? Because the underground pipeline that ruptured was carrying diluted bitumen, or dilbit, the dirtiest, stickiest oil used today. It's the same kind of oil that the controversial Keystone XL pipeline could someday carry across the nation's largest drinking water aquifer.
Written as a narrative, this page-turner takes an inside look at what happened to two families, a community, unprepared agencies and an inept company during an environmental disaster involving a new kind of oil few people know much about.
The Dilbit Disaster is available as ebook, readable on any device, desktop, laptop or in a browser, for only 99 cents.
Plans to Export Keystone Oil Complicate Pipeline Debate
(Wall Street Journal)
Much of the crude oil flowing down the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would likely end up being exported as refined products by U.S. companies, a prospect that is further stirring debate over whether the project serves the national interest.
Backers of the pipeline, which would carry heavy crude from Alberta, Canada, through the U.S. to Gulf Coast refineries, say the exports are good for the U.S. economy, creating refinery jobs and helping to reduce the trade deficit.
Opponents say exports undercut an argument often used to justify the pipeline: that the Canadian oil would boost energy security in the U.S. by replacing fuel supplies from unstable regions.
Obama: Keystone XL Pipeline Not Major Jobs Creator
(AP)
President Barack Obama has told House Republicans he's still weighing a decision on the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas. At a closed-door gathering with the Republicans on Wednesday, Obama said jobs numbers and other benefits touted by supporters are probably exaggerated, but he did not rule out a decision to approve the pipeline, according to participants.
Nebraska Republican Rep. Lee Terry said Obama appeared "conflicted" on the pipeline, saying many of the promised jobs would be temporary, and that much of the oil would likely be exported. But Terry said Obama also indicated that dire environmental consequences predicted by pipeline opponents were exaggerated.
Ryan Budget Would OK Keystone, Open More Land for Drilling
(The Hill)
The House GOP budget plan that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will unveil Tuesday requires federal approval of the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, underscoring how the project has become a top policy and messaging priority for Republicans.
Ryan, the Budget Committee chairman, offered a preview of the budget plan in a Wall Street Journal column Monday evening that notes it would mandate approval of Keystone.
The budget plan would also make more federal lands available for oil-and-gas development, which is consistent with Ryan’s earlier proposals and many other GOP bills.
Oil Sands Firms Cutting Costs and Saying No to Growth
(The Globe and Mail)
One of the largest companies in the oil sands is settling in for years of weeding out costs, as the low price of heavy Canadian crude forces a raft of changes on an industry seeking to remain competitive as a destination for global spending.
At Royal Dutch Shell PLC, that means chasing seemingly minor details, such as switching out drivers at break times more rapidly amid an all-out push to keep its house-sized oil sands trucks in motion. It’s an effort whose expected duration shows how seriously the oil patch is treating the financial corner it is now in.
25 Keystone XL Protesters Arrested at TransCanada Office
(MetroWest Daily News)
The protests at a TransCanada office in Westborough, Mass. continued today and more than 25 protesters have been arrested, the Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline group said this morning.
More than 100 students and community members marched into the corporation's office and held a "Funeral for Our Future.''
Those who refused to leave were arrested.
TransCanada Corp. plans to build a pipeline to carry petroleum products from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf of Mexico.
Opponents fear the pipe could rupture and cause catastrophic spills, harm wildlife and generate more greenhouse gases than clean energy sources.
In January, eight students glued themselves together in a protest at the local TransCanada office.
The eight current and recent Boston-area college students who were arrested on charges of trespassing and disorderly conduct during the Jan. 7 protest include Dorian Williams, 20, of 5301 South University Ave., Chicago, Ill.; Shea M. Riester, 22, of 48 Brooksdale Road, Brighton, Devyn Weis Powell, 20, of 1260 Hideaway Lane, Lake Oswego, Ore.; Benjamin L. Thompson, 22, of 20 Watson Road, Durham, N.H.; Benjamin J. Trolio, 22, of 35 Fruitwood Drive, Burnt Hills, N.Y.; Lisa Rose Purdy, 20, of 26 Fisk St., Waltham; Allison J. Welton, 20, of 648 Highway 7, Tonasket, Wash.; and Emily Edgerly, 20, of 6 Douglas Road, Lexington.
They were in court earlier this month for a pretrial hearing.
Nationally, the pipeline has drawn protests outside the White House, blockades of construction, and a climate change rally.
From March 16-24, protestors from across the country will target the offices of TransCanada and its investors, organizers say.
NY Stock Exchange Prepares Climate Disaster Backup Plan
(Reuters/Wall Street Journal)
The New York Stock Exchange is readying plans to be able to operate without human traders in case another disaster, such as Superstorm Sandy, forces the shutdown of its historic trading floor in downtown Manhattan, The Wall Street Journal reported.
NYSE Euronext (NYX.N) is preparing to submit details of the plan to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the report, which cited people involved in the preparations. If activated, the plan would represent the first time the 221-year-old exchange would rely entirely on computer systems, without the oversight of floor-based traders, the paper said.
A NYSE spokesman declined to comment on the report.
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