Environment news

• 'Killed this here critter': outrage after US rancher shoots rare wolverine

  13-05-2016 22:20
  
  A North Dakota rancher shot and killed the first wolverine documented in the state for more than 150 years, allegedly saying it was a threat to his cowsA North Dakota rancher fatally shot the first wolverine documented in the state in more than 150 years, outraging wildlife advocates across the US who said the killing was cruel and unnecessary.The rancher, who allegedly posted photos of the dead wolverine on Facebook, with the caption “killed this here critter out tormenting the cows&rdquo
  
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• Canada's Trudeau tours Alberta oil town ravaged by wildfire

  13-05-2016 21:20
  By Ernest Scheyder BONNYVILLE, Alberta (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, getting a first-hand look at the damage from a devastating wildfire, praised firefighters on Friday for defending the energy hub of Fort McMurray. The inferno, which closed the extensive oil sands operations near the town, is the first natural disaster to confront Trudeau, whose Liberals took power in November. Trudeau toured the town in a military helicopter and saw a patchwork of devastated neighbourhood
  
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• Three men face charges for killing tiny, endangered fish in drunken rampage

  13-05-2016 21:19
  
  Devils Hole pupfish, of which there are fewer than 115 in existence, found dead after men were seen entering fenced-off area of national parkThree men have been arrested over a drunken rampage that resulted in the death of a member of one of the rarest fish species in the world.The three suspects have been charged by police after allegedly breaking into a fenced-off protected area of Death Valley National Park in Nevada on 30 April. The men stomped around in the water of Devils Hole, strewing vo
  
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• Blast hits Chevron oil facility in Nigeria's Delta - security source

  13-05-2016 21:19
  By Tife Owolabi YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - An explosion rocked a Chevron oil pipeline in Nigeria's restive Delta region on Friday, a security source said, the second blast at a facility of the U.S. oil major within a week, feeding concern over a revived militant campaign in the area. The swamps of the southern Delta have been hit by a series of militant attacks on pipelines and other oil and gas facilities that have reduced Nigeria's output by 300,000 barrels a day and closed a major export po
  
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• Russia's state-owned nuclear group keen to break into UK market

  13-05-2016 20:31
  
  Rosatom understood to be hoping to revive plans to build reactors in Britain if EDF proposals for Hinkley Point C failA Russian nuclear group is hoping that the potential meltdown of French plans to build new European pressurised reactors (EPR) at Hinkley Point could offer an opportunity to break into the British nuclear market.Deeper concerns about the future of the Somerset scheme were raised by the French energy minister, Ségolène Royal, who warned of the “colossal”
  
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• Norway helicopter crash investigation focuses on rotor blade mounting

  13-05-2016 19:58
  An investigation into the cause of a fatal North Sea helicopter crash is focusing on the parts of the aircraft that connected the rotor blades to the main body of the helicopter, investigators said on Friday. An Airbus H225 Super Puma helicopter ferrying passengers from a Norwegian oil platform operated by Statoil crashed on April 29, killing all 13 people on board. Since then the helicopter model, a workhorse of the oil industry, has been grounded for commercial flights in Norway and Britain.
  
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• Oil slips as dollar strengthens; traders eye Nigerian outages

  13-05-2016 19:55
  By Devika Krishna Kumar NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices slipped on Friday, ending a three-day rally as a strong dollar weighed and investors cashed in on recent gains, but losses were cushioned by outages in Nigeria that have slashed output to the lowest in over two decades. The dollar hit a more than two-week high against a basket of currencies, weighing on greenback-denominated commodities such as oil futures and making fuel imports more expensive for countries using other currencies, potentia
  
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• The Con-Venience: the art shop stocked with decades-old litter

  13-05-2016 19:35
  
  In the Forest of Dean, a corner store stocked with old trash is in fact an installation helping to raise awareness of our throwaway lifestyles The Con-Venience corner shop in Colford in the Forest of Dean looks a lot like a standard corner shop. Look closer, though, and you’ll see it is stocked with decades-old litter found in the forest – sandwich boxes, beer cans, drinks bottles, jars of old sweets – scrubbed clean and neatly stacked on shelves. Wander through the forest and
  
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• 'We have to fight this': North Yorkshire village opposes fracking plans

  13-05-2016 19:11
  
  Campaigners in Kirby Misperton say there could be a domino effect if council approves application next weekAs you enter the village of Kirby Misperton, in North Yorkshire, the first thing you notice are the many signs dotted around asking visitors to respect the tranquility of the countryside.
  There are the “No HGV” and “No dogs” signs near the village hall, a hand-painted “No bikes” reminder nailed to a post at the start of a public footpath, and a “No
  
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• edie Live 2016: Last chance to register before the show doors open!

  13-05-2016 18:58
  
  Thousands of energy managers, sustainability professionals and resource efficiency experts are set to descend upon the NEC Birmingham on Tuesday (17 May) for the first day of the edie Live 2016 exhibition.
  
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• Exclusive - Iraq oil projects face delays as companies resist spending cuts

  13-05-2016 18:47
  By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - International oil firms have warned Iraq that projects to increase its crude output will be delayed if the government insists on drastic spending cuts this year, a senior Iraqi oil official said on Friday. Oil companies helping Iraq develop its massive oil fields effectively perform a role similar to oil service firms in that they have to clear spending with the government each year. The arrangement worked smoothly when oil prices were above $100 (70 pounds)
  
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• In or out – what’s the best for British bats? | Letters from Chris Packham and Tim Farron

  13-05-2016 18:41
  
  We have written to the Britain Stronger in Europe and Vote Leave campaigns to ask how a leave or remain vote will affect the UK’s treasured natural environment and its remarkable and already threatened species (Could Brexit be the best thing for Europe’s wildlife?, theguardian.com, 9 May). The decision on whether to stay in the EU or to leave will have many far-reaching and long-term effects. While several of the areas where this effect will be felt have been debated in some depth, s
  
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• 'Avengers' threaten new insurgency in Nigeria's oil-producing Delta

  13-05-2016 17:29
  By Tife Owolabi and Ulf Laessing YENAGOA/ABUJA, Nigeria (Reuters) - They call themselves the Niger Delta Avengers. Little is known about the new radical group that has claimed a series of pipeline bombings in Nigeria's oil-producing region this year and evaded gunboats and soldiers trawling swamps and villages. President Muhammadu Buhari has said he will crush the militants, but a wide-scale conflict could stretch security forces already battling a northern rebellion by hardline Sunni Muslim gro
  
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• Polluted cities, Alberta wildfires and organic food – green news roundup

  13-05-2016 16:50
  
  The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox Continue reading...
  
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• UK energy from coal hits zero for first time in over 100 years

  13-05-2016 16:27
  
  Coal-generation hit historic low several times last week in what experts say are the only occasions since the first coal-fired generator opened in London in 1882The amount of electricity generated from coal in the UK has fallen to zero several times in the past week, grid data shows.In what green energy supporters have described as a “historic turning point” for the UK’s power system, coal-fired electricity first fell to zero late on Monday night and for the early hours of Tues
  
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• Life in San Joaquin valley, the place with the worst air pollution in America

  13-05-2016 15:55
  
  The air quality in this sun-baked California area known as ‘America’s salad bowl’ has been identified as the worst in the US. Residents are concerned, but low wages mean long hours out in the thick of itJose Velasquez, weary from picking cherries, was heading home on a battered bike this week with signs of a tough day etched across his face: dust, sunburn and little red marks all over.And now a reporter is telling the 35-year-old that the World Health Organisation had just iden
  
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• Life in California's San Joaquin valley: a potent mix of pollution and poverty

  13-05-2016 15:55
  
  The air quality in this sun-baked area known as ‘America’s salad bowl’ has been identified as the worst in the US. Residents are concerned, but low wages mean long hours out in the thick of itJose Velasquez, weary from picking cherries, was heading home on a battered bike this week with signs of a tough day etched across his face: dust, sunburn and little red marks all over.And now a reporter is telling the 35-year-old that the World Health Organization had just identified this
  
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• OPEC signals greater oil glut in 2016 as its output surges

  13-05-2016 15:39
  By Alex Lawler LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC said the global oil market is oversupplied and signalled the glut may increase this year, as surging output from its members makes up for losses from other countries whose production has been hit by a price fall. Supply from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is climbing after sanctions on Iran were lifted and an initiative with Russia and other non-members to tackle a supply glut by freezing output failed last month. OPEC pumped 3
  
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• Dung beetles navigate with 'sky snapshot'

  13-05-2016 14:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Dung beetles record a mental image of the positions of celestial bodies and use the snapshot to navigate, say researchers.
  
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• Environment Agency urges businesses to "seek opportunities" from climate change

  13-05-2016 13:46
  
  A third of the climate risks identified by UK businesses are being managed within low-cost "business-as-usual" budgets, according to a new report from the Environment Agency which has addressed how businesses view the risks and opportunities presented by climate change and severe weather.
  
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• German transport regulators summon Fiat, Opel for meeting next week

  13-05-2016 13:33
  BERLIN (Reuters) - German regulators investigating carmakers for emissions have summoned representatives of Italian company Fiat for a meeting next week, Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt told reporters on Friday. Regulators with the KBA Federal Motor Transport Authority have also summoned Opel to the meeting, he said. Fiat declined to comment. (Reporting by Joseph Nasr in Berlin and Agnieszka Flak in Milan; Editing by Michelle Martin)
  
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• UK firm ships 'last' sat-nav payload

  13-05-2016 13:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  UK satellite manufacturer SSTL reaches a key milestone in its work on Galileo, shipping its 22nd navigation payload for Europe's version of GPS.
  
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• Sadiq Khan to more than double size of London's clean air zone

  13-05-2016 13:20
  
  New mayor of London calls air pollution ‘our biggest environmental challenge’ and plans to bring the increased ultra low emission zone into force earlyThe new mayor of London Sadiq Khan has made his first major policy announcement, unveiling plans to substantially increase the size of London’s clean air charging zone to tackle the capital’s illegal air pollution levels.The Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) - which could also now come into force earlier than planned - will r
  
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• Microsoft and Facebook unite to accelerate clean energy revolution

  13-05-2016 13:10
  
  Tech giants Microsoft and Facebook have pledged to develop 60GW of renewable energy by 2025, along with companies including Unilever, Kellogg's and IKEA as part of the newly launched Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA).
  
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• China nuclear company will not build Hinkley alone if EDF drops out

  13-05-2016 12:43
  
  CGN, which is helping French energy company with Hinkley Point C scheme, denies it will build reactors independentlyThe Chinese company helping EDF with plans to build new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset has flatly dismissed the idea it would go it alone if the largely state-owned French company dropped out.“As a partner to EDF supporting the Hinkley Point project, CGN [China General Nuclear Power Corporation] has no independent plans to build reactors at Hinkley Point C,&rdq
  
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• Microsoft and Facebook unite to deliver clean energy revolution

  13-05-2016 12:39
  
  Tech giants Microsoft and Facebook have pledged to develop 60GW of renewable energy by 2025, along with companies including Unilever, Kellogg's and IKEA as part of the newly launched Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA).
  
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• Civil disobedience is the only way left to fight climate change | Kara Moses

  13-05-2016 11:50
  
  Across the world, thousands of protesters are taking on the planet’s biggest fossil fuel companies. We should support them – and if we can, we should join themRight now, thousands of people are taking direct action as part of a global wave of protests against the biggest fossil fuel infrastructure projects across the world. We kicked off earlier this month by shutting down the UK’s largest opencast coal mine in south Wales.Last Sunday, around 1,000 people closed the world&rsquo
  
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• Eyewitness: The big bluebell watch

  13-05-2016 11:46
  
  Photographs from the Eyewitness series Continue reading...
  
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• Oil falls as dollar strengthens but traders eye Nigerian outages

  13-05-2016 11:27
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices ended a three-day bull run on Friday, falling as a strong dollar made it more expensive to hold oil positions though losses were cushioned by Nigerian outages that have slashed output to the lowest in 22 years. The dollar hit a two-week high against a basket of currencies on Friday, lifted by expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise rates again before any other major central bank. The strong U.S. currency weighed on greenback-denominated co
  
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• MPs vote against 'emergency' use of banned bee-harming pesticides

  13-05-2016 11:14
  
  National Farming Union’s application for banned pesticide use on oil seed rape crops is rejected as government rules against neonicotinoids for the first timeMinisters have rejected an “emergency” application from the National Farmers Union (NFU) to use banned pesticides on a third of all oilseed rape crops.Neonicotinoid pesticides have been shown to be harmful to bees and were banned from use on flowering crops by the EU in 2013, a move opposed by the UK government. But minist
  
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• Ministers reject plan for 'emergency' use of banned bee-harming pesticides

  13-05-2016 11:14
  
  National Farming Union’s application for banned pesticide use on oil seed rape crops is rejected as government rules against neonicotinoids for the first timeMinisters have rejected an “emergency” application from the National Farmers Union (NFU) to use banned pesticides on a third of all oilseed rape crops.Neonicotinoid pesticides have been shown to be harmful to bees and were banned from use on flowering crops by the EU in 2013, a move opposed by the UK government. But minist
  
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• The Climate Group launches EP100 to boost global energy productivity

  13-05-2016 10:33
  
  Influential NGO the Climate Group has launched a new global energy productivity scheme to support businesses vowing to double in-house energy productivity and maximise economic output from each unit of energy used.
  
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• VIDEO: Explosive volcano captured on camera

  13-05-2016 09:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Dramatic video of Costa Rica's Turrialba Volcano erupting has been captured with an infrared camera.
  
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• National project to harness microbes for health, environment

  13-05-2016 09:37
  WASHINGTON (AP) — We share our bodies and our surroundings with teeming communities of microbes that are crucial to the health of people and the planet, and now the Obama administration is beginning a major project to better understand those invisible ecosystems — even control them.
  
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• Third Energy fracking plan in UK recommended for approval

  13-05-2016 09:36
  Oil and gas producer Third Energy's application to carry out hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, at a shale gas site in North Yorkshire in England should be approved next week, a senior planning officer has recommended to authorities. The report by the head of planning at North Yorkshire County Council was prepared ahead of a meeting of councillors due to be held on May 20 to decide on the application. Third Energy applied for the fracking license at its Kirby Misperton well in north Yorkshire in
  
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• Coca-Cola Enterprises closes in on 2020 footprint reduction targets

  13-05-2016 09:31
  
  Soft-drinks bottlers Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) is celebrating its 10-year sustainability journey by revealing wholesale reductions in carbon emissions, packaging use and water consumption, as the company strides towards its 2020 targets.
  
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• Solar Impulse plane reaches Oklahoma

  13-05-2016 09:11 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Solar Impulse has landed in Tulsa, Oklahoma, ending stage 11 in its round-the-world journey.
  
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• Oil prices fall on stronger dollar; Russia warns of longer glut

  13-05-2016 09:03
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices fell by around one percent on Friday as a stronger dollar weighed and Russia warned that a global crude supply overhang could last into next year. International Brent crude futures were trading at $47.66 per barrel at 0650 GMT, down 42 cents or 0.9 percent from their last settlement. U.S. crude oil production has fallen 4.7 percent from 2016 peaks in January to 8.8 million barrels per day (bpd), according to U.S. Energy Information data, and
  
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• Fracking tests in North Yorkshire move step closer in face of protests

  13-05-2016 08:38
  
  Council report recommends granting permission to explore for shale gas under government’s fast-track scheme
  Fracking tests on fields near the North York Moors national park have moved a step closer despite fierce opposition. A UK firm has applied for permission under the government’s new fast-tracking scheme to explore for shale gas around the village of Kirby Misperton, provoking angry protests from environmental campaigners and local residents.Continue reading...
  
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• Fracking tests in North York Moors move step closer in face of protests

  13-05-2016 08:38
  
  Council report recommends granting permission to explore for shale gas under government’s fast-track scheme
  Fracking tests on fields near the North York Moors national park have moved a step closer despite fierce opposition. A UK firm has applied for permission under the government’s new fast-tracking scheme to explore for shale gas around the village of Kirby Misperton, provoking angry protests from environmental campaigners and local residents.Continue reading...
  
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• The false widow spider and the woodlouse

  13-05-2016 06:30
  
  Havant, Hampshire As I watched, a woodlouse blundered into a translucent tripline and the web vibratedMy gardening gloves had lain abandoned in the shed for several months as the cold, wet spring had thwarted any plans to plant out early crops. When I went to put them on they pulled away from the rough-planked shed wall with a sound like ripping Velcro. As I peeled off a candyfloss puff of cobweb, a rotund spider the size of my fingernail scuttled across the back of my hand and dropped to the fl
  
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• Shrinking bird pays the bill for warming

  13-05-2016 03:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A migratory bird has shrunk in stature as temperatures warm in its Arctic breeding ground, according to research.
  
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• Oil prices fall on stronger dollar; Russia warns of longer crude glut

  13-05-2016 02:41
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices dipped in early trading on Friday as a stronger dollar weighed and Russia warned that a global crude supply overhang could last into next year. The dollar has recovered 2.46 percent in value from May lows against a basket of other leading currencies , reversing an almost 8-percent fall earlier in the year. A stronger dollar, in which oil is traded, makes fuel imports more expensive for countries using other currencies, potentially hitting dem
  
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• Canine clues to brain tumour discovered

  13-05-2016 02:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Brain tumours in dogs are similar to human ones and could give clues to how the disease develops, say scientists.
  
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• 'Tantalisingly close': is solar thermal energy ready to replace coal-fired power?

  13-05-2016 02:09
  
  Australian projects are viable already – now the industry needs investors willing to take a risk on large-scale renewable energy Companies working on large-scale solar thermal projects in Australia say they are tantalisingly close to achieving the dream of building plants big enough to replace coal-fired energy in Australia.Experts speaking at the Australian Solar Energy Exhibition and Conference in Melbourne last week said the technology had been proven in other countries, and projects in
  
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• Shell shuts wells to Brutus platform after spill off Louisiana

  13-05-2016 00:57
  A 2,100-barrel oil spill in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico forced Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday to shut in all wells that flow to its Brutus platform, federal regulators said. The U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said a 2 mile by 13 mile (about 3 km by 21 km) sheen was visible in the sea about 97 miles off the Louisiana coast. The sheen is near Shell's Glider Field, a group of four subsea wells whose production flows through a subsea manifold to the Brutus platform, which sits
  
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• China may take over Hinkley Point nuclear project, claims Lord Howell

  13-05-2016 00:50
  
  Suggestion comes as EDF faces more opposition from its own private shareholders to the Hinkley scheme at its annual general meeting in Paris Chinese companies are ready to step in and offer to build new reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset if French company EDF backs out of the government’s flagship energy project, it was claimed on Thursday night.
  EDF recently put back a final investment decision until September amid mounting problems – not least whether it has the financial muscle
  
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• The Great Green Wall of Africa

  13-05-2016 00:49 via feedproxy.google.com
  Though a border wall with Mexico is currently a matter of serious discussion in the United States, the aim of which is to prevent the physical movement of people (with few other apparent “benefits”), some walls can actually bring together and preserve communities, rather than divide them.In only five years, the UN says, around 60 million Africans may be displaced as their land ceases to be arable, a potential humanitarian disaster the scale of which would be unprecedented. This would
  
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