Energy companies should provide better data on fracking water use, and investors should push for quantifiable water targets, according to a sustainable investing advocacy group.
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Shale gas
South America Nearly 400 millimeters (16 inches) of rain pummeled Argentina’s Buenos Aires province, causing widespread floods, power outages and 31 deaths as of Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. The extreme weather has prompted calls for investment in public water infrastructure projects. Tensions are rising in the Brazilian Amazon between government forces and the Munduruku [...]
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Though groundwater gets most of the attention, rivers are also affected by the rush of shale gas development across the United States, according to a new study that claims both wastewater and well development degrade water quality, but in different ways.
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None of the 16 firms awarded exploration rights for Chinese shale-gas reserves has ever drilled a gas well before. That lack of experience, Reuters reported, could be another setback in China’s plans to tap its shale-gas reserves, the largest in the world. Read Circle of Blue’s coverage of the barriers to China’s shale-gas development potential [...]
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Americas Water levels on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron have reached their lowest point since record keeping began in 1918, surpassing the previous record low set in 1964, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. While warm, dry weather has drawn lake levels down, dredging of the St. Clair River has also contributed to a long-term decline [...]
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Choke Point: China is an on-the-ground report that displays in text, photographs, and interactive graphics the powerful evidence of a potentially ruinous confrontation between growth, water, and energy that is already visible across China; a confrontation that is virtually certain to grow more dire over the next decade.
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President Obama Wins Re-election The U.S. energy industry is expecting stricter regulations during President Obama’s second term, with tighter rules for water management, emissions and drilling on federal land, Reuters reported. Nonetheless, the President is also expected to support the development of natural gas, and will likely give eventual approval for the Keystone XL oil [...]
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Three years into its agency-wide water efficiency and conservation program, the Interior Department has given itself a gold star and a pat on the back in an assessment report released last week. Ordered by Congress and shaped by Secretary Ken Salazar, the WaterSMART program is on track to meet its top goal of conserving 730,000 [...]
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The primary role of the Army Corps of Engineers, a key agency in the nation’s water management system, is shifting from the construction of new works to the repair and maintenance of existing ones, yet it does not have the funding to ensure its dams, levees, and river channels function properly, according to a report [...]
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The possible sale of Australia’s Cubbie Station to Chinese investors has sparked concerns about water buyback targets for the Murray-Darling River Basin, according to The Australian. Cubbie station, the country’s largest cotton producer, has water entitlements of about 140 billion liters (36.9 billion gallons) per year. Food Prices and Security Three United Nations food agencies [...]
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Hurricane Isaac Hurricane Isaac, which hit land Tuesday evening near New Orleans, has brought barge traffic on the Mississippi River to a crawl, Bloomberg News reported. The backup is expected to further slow exports of grain from the United States. For almost 24 hours on Tuesday, strong winds and storm surge from the hurricane reversed [...]
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Polluted drinking water may have sickened more than 1,000 people in an Egyptian town, though official government estimates say only 56 people were affected, the Egypt Independent reported. The incident sparked protests. The United Nations Green Climate Fund Board will meet August 23 for the first time to lay the groundwork for how the $US [...]
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Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania governments struggle with climate change, budgets, and changing markets.
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Floods Almost two weeks after the devastating floods in southern Russia that claimed the lives of 171 people, three Russian officials have been detained on charges of negligence in their official duties, according to The New York Times. Beijing officials are also facing criticism from citizens and the media over their handling of the heavy [...]
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Low water levels in the Mississippi River have prompted salt water to move up the river from the Gulf of Mexico, Associated Press reported. The Army Corps of Engineers says that salt water is not yet a threat to water supplies in the New Orleans area. Indianapolis and some of its suburbs have seen about [...]
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San Francisco is considering an ordinance that would require owners of new and renovated buildings with water fountains to install special bottle-filling taps, according to Associated Press. The measure is part of the city’s efforts to increase the water supply in cities and rural areas across the country, Bloomberg reported, citing government officials. Heavy rains [...]
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Australian state and federal water ministers have agreed for new modeling to be done on returning more environmental flows to the ailing Murray-Darling river system, ABC Radio Australia reported. As Circle of Blue has reported previously, the process to adopt new water use regulations for the basin has pitted states against states and environmentalists against [...]
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What does Chicago have to do with the growing algae blooms in the Gulf of Mexico? Nutrient pollution from the Windy City and from agriculture in Illinois, Indiana and Iowa is pushing the Mississippi River to the brink of ecological disaster, according to The Economist. A key California Senate panel has supported legislation that would [...]
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The Peruvian government’s attempts to tighten the screws on illegal gold mining, and reduce its environmental and health impacts are causing a backlash in many local communities, Nature reported. Meanwhile, scientists monitoring mining’s impacts are on the front lines of a battle between miners, environmental campaigners and the authorities. Are world leaders settling for too [...]
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