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Al Jazeera English – Business – BP hit with record safety fine
“British Petroleum, one of the world’s largest energy companies, has been hit with a record fine of $87m for safety violations at a Texas refinery.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) handed down the fine on Friday, saying the company had failed to correct safety shortfalls at its Texas City refinery after a blast there in 2005 killed 15 workers and injured 170 others.”
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India swamped by 420,000 tonnes of e-waste: lobby group
“India faces a mounting challenge to dispose of an estimated 420,000 tonnes of electronic waste a year that it generates domestically and imports from abroad, a green lobby group said Tuesday. “
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Google, IBM and Microsoft with their heads in the clouds | Greenpeace International
“People could some day recall that it was the Information Technology (IT) industry’s advocacy for strong action which tipped the balance at the Copenhagen climate summit. But that’s not going to happen unless all of us press them to become climate champions. As our updated Cool IT Challenge leaderboard reveals, IT heavyweights such as Google, Microsoft and IBM are still hesitating to speak up on the urgent need for emissions reductions. “
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Hen harrier ‘near extinction in England’ – Times Online
“The hen harrier, one of the country’s rarest birds of prey, could be in danger of disappearing from England, a study has found.
Only six pairs bred successfully this year, a figure described as “critically low”. This has made the hawks especially vulnerable to hunters and natural events.”
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Hundreds evacuated as floods hit Scotland and Wales | UK news | guardian.co.uk
“Hundreds of people were rescued from homes and vehicles after heavy rain and strong winds brought severe flooding to parts Scotland and Wales yesterday.
Around 100 people, many of them elderly, were rescued from flooded properties in Huntley, Aberdeenshire.
The Grampian fire and rescue service was continuing to search homes in the town today in an attempt to ensure nobody remained trapped.”
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Spanish winemaker Torres warms to environmentalism | Business | guardian.co.uk
“Southern Britain may not be the only place in the world where risk-loving vintners can take a chance on global warming. Climate change is already changing habits at vineyards in southern Europe, forcing some producers, such as Spain’s Torres, to buy land in the Pyrenees – “just in case”, says the company’s chairman, Miguel Torres.”
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India: Europe can do better – COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009
“The Times of India reports unnamed Indian climate negotiators to be little impressed by the outcome of last week’s EU summit in Brussels. The summit gave a figure of 100 billion euros as the overall need for international climate funding by 2020, but failed to state how much of this will be provided by the EU.”
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Britons least concerned about climate change – Telegraph
“The annual Climate Confidence Monitor found the number of people worrying about global warming worldwide has fallen by eight per cent to just over a third in the last year as the economic downturn kicked in.
Just fifteen per cent of people in Britain worry about climate change and how the world responds to the problem, the lowest figure for any of the 12 countries surveyed. The figure is down from 26 per cent last year.”
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A greener Hula Hoop? | Life and style | guardian.co.uk
“United Biscuits, has joined the list of big food corporations that, after years of fruitless lobbying by green groups, is beginning to take notice of the palm oil problem.”
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Greenpeace en la Sagrada Familia, Barcelona « El Blog de Greenpeace
GreenPeace agitating for climate change action on the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona as leaders meet in Barcelona to discuss climate change.
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Leaking oil rig catches fire off Australia’s coast – World environment- msnbc.com
“A massive fire erupted on an oil rig that has been leaking into the Timor Sea and Australia’s government on Monday promised an investigation, the latest drama in a 10-week saga to plug the hole.
Rig operator PTTEP Australasia said no one was injured and nonessential workers were evacuated after the fire broke out on the West Atlas rig and Montara wellhead platform on Sunday.
The blaze started when workers began pumping heavy mud into a leaking well casing. An estimated 400 barrels of oil a day have escaped from the hole since Aug. 21.”
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European satellite launched to explore climate change – Telegraph
“The European Space Agency (ESA) said the £282m device was put into space in the early hours of Monday morning to gauge the impact of climate change on the movement of water across land, air and sea.
It was lifted into space on a Russian Rockot launcher from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia.
As the first space-based measure of the water in Earth’s soil and the saltiness of its oceans, scientists hope SMOS will be able to fill important gaps in our knowledge about the planet’s vital water cycle. “
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World leaders accused of myopia over climate change deal | Environment | The Guardian
“The head of the international group leading the fight against climate change has accused countries of pushing science aside in favour of self-serving “political myopia” ahead of the vital Copenhagen summit.”
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65% of global population demand governments commit to global deal
“Nearly two thirds (65 per cent) of people across the globe believe a new international deal to cut emissions is ‘very important’, according to the 2009 annual Climate Confidence Monitor research released today. “
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An open letter to Steve Levitt
An open letter to Steve Levitt re the book Super Freakonomics – this is the best debunking of SuperFreakonomics yet.
Done with logic, a little maths and humour/humility.
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“News last week of the first major influx of Chinese capital and wind turbine manufacturing expertise into the renewable energy market in the United States — a 600-megawatt wind farm planned for the plains of west Texas — had many readers of the Green Inc. blog in a state of agitation.”
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Environmental Protection Agency Ireland
IBM and the Irish EPA have put together a site to show the water quality of lakes and beaches in Ireland
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Centrica invests £725m in windfarm – Low Carbon Economy
“Centrica is to invest up to £725 million into developing an offshore windfarm with 270MW of capacity.
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Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.