EurekAlert: “Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, recently published a study of recycled wastewater that did not focus on its safety-which has long been established-but rather its taste. After years of drought, the notion of drinking recycled wastewater has gained momentum in California. Thoughts turned to all the water being discarded–to supplementing “conventional” groundwater… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Energy
CRS – Is the Grid More Secure? Not Yet!
NERC Standards for Bulk Power Physical Security: Is the Grid More Secure? Paul W. Parfomak, Specialist in Energy and Infrastructure Policy. March 19, 2018. “Although the electric power sector seems to be moving in the overall direction of greater physical security for critical assets, many measures have yet to be implemented and the process of… Continue Reading
Cyberattacks Put Russian Fingers on the Switch at Power Plant
“New computer screenshots released by the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday made clear that Russian state hackers had the foothold they would have needed to manipulate or shut down power plants.” Nicole Perlroth and David Sanger in the NYT: Cyberattacks Put Russian Fingers on the Switch at Power Plants. “The Trump administration accused Russia… Continue Reading
Urban Heat: Can White Roofs Help Cool World’s Warming Cities?
Yale Environment 360: “Summers in the city can be extremely hot — several degrees hotter than in the surrounding countryside. But recent research indicates that it may not have to be that way. The systematic replacement of dark surfaces with white could lower heat wave maximum temperatures by 2 degrees Celsius or more. And with… Continue Reading
Manhattan Tree Map: A Data Through Design exhibit
Data Driven Journalism: “On January 9th of 2017, the official Twitter account of MillionTreesNYC (@MillionTreesNYC) announced that they had reached the initiative’s ambitious goal to plant and care for one million new trees across the City’s five boroughs. Starting in April of 2007 as a joint venture between the city’s Parks Department, private organizations, residents,… Continue Reading
Emails – Oil Was Central in Decision to Shrink Bears Ears Monument
The New York Times: “Even before President Trump officially opened his high-profile review last spring of federal lands protected as national monuments, the Department of Interior was focused on the potential for oil and gas exploration at a protected Utah site, internal agency documents show. The debate started as early as March 2017, when an… Continue Reading
Economist – The known unknowns of plastic pollution
The Economist “…of the 6.3bn tonnes of plastic waste produced since the 1950s only 9% has been recycled and another 12% incinerated. The rest has been dumped in landfills or the natural environment. Often, as with disposable coffee cups, drinks bottles, sweet wrappers and other packets that account for much of the plastic produced in… Continue Reading
America’s Most Toxic Town Is Not Where You Think
A small city in remote Alaska is working to reduce contamination from the nearby Red Dog Mine: “…The village has long had issues with the mine. Ore from Red Dog is transported by eighty-ton haul trucks along a 50-mile road that links the mine to a port on the Chukchi Sea south of Kivalina. There… Continue Reading
The World’s Renewable Energy Cities
“Of the 570 plus global cities reporting to CDP, over 100 now get at least 70% of their electricity from renewable sources such as hydro, geothermal, solar and wind. We expect to see even more cities targeting a clean energy future. Cities not only want to transition to renewable energy but, most importantly – as… Continue Reading
U.S. Taxpayers May Foot the Bill for Billions in Oil and Gas Well Clean-up Costs
Center for Western Priorities: “U.S. taxpayers could be on the hook for billions of dollars in oil and gas well cleanup costs Federal oil and gas bonding levels have not changed since the 1950s and 60s, despite deeper wells and rising reclamation costs. A new report from the Center for Western Priorities estimates the costs… Continue Reading
Hundreds of U.S. Mayors Collectively Oppose Trump Reversal of Clean Power Plan
Yale Environment 360 – “Mayors from 233 U.S. cities, representing more than 51 million Americans in 46 states and territories, have released a joint letter voicing their opposition of the Trump administration’s efforts to repeal the Clean Power Plan, arguing that the reversal would “put our citizens at risk and harm our efforts to address… Continue Reading
Jump in Federal Civil Environmental Litigation
“The latest available data from the federal courts show that during January 2018 the government reported 172 new environmental civil lawsuits filed. This is the third month in a row in which an unusually large number of new environmental matters were filed, bringing the latest quarter to a total of 745 new cases. According to… Continue Reading
