Enviros seek to help defend Forest Service planning rule from industry challenge
(September 12)
E&E Daily News via Redlodge Clearinghouse
Environmental groups want to help the Forest Service defend itself against a federal lawsuit filed last month by a coalition of logging, ranching and off-highway vehicle (OHV) groups challenging the agency’s new planning rule for the nation’s 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands.
How Oregon’s prized pinot noir grapes will take the heat of climate change
(September 11)
NPR
Some grapes like it hot. But for growers of Pinot Noir, mild summers tempered by chilly nights and fresh ocean air make for award-winning, fortune-finding wines. Such a climate has turned Oregon into a producer of some of the world’s most highly regarded Pinot Noir… But as global warming nudges average temperatures upward across the planet and causes tumultuous, grape-damaging weather changes, winemakers in Oregon are wondering just how their superstar grape will fare — if at all.
Is fracking good for the environment?
(September 7)
Mother Jones
Is increased production of natural gas from shale deposits good for the environment? At first glance, yes…
Oregon power project needs the motion of the ocean
(September 7)
NPR
A generator that makes electricity from wave power is being prepared for installation some two and a half miles off the Oregon coast. Jason Busch, executive director of the Oregon Wave Energy Trust, discusses the project and why some Oregon residents are looking to the sea as a source of renewable energy.
EPA agrees to set particulate limit by mid-December
(September 5)
E&E Daily News via Redlodge Clearinghouse
U.S. EPA has agreed to finalize new limits on particle air pollution that comes from power plants, boilers and car tailpipes by the end of the year. The agency formally signed a legal agreement Friday to finish the new particulate matter, or PM, limits by Dec. 14.
Idyllic Oregon thrust into energy export debate
(September 15)
Reuters
When federal officials arrived in this scenic but economically struggling port a few weeks ago for hearings on a proposed liquefied natural gas plant, some residents had a sense of déjà vu: it was only six years earlier, in the same auditorium, that they had already discussed the pros and cons of an LNG plant. But there was one big difference this time around: the 2006 plan was designed to bring gas in, while the current project calls for shipping gas out.
When heat kills: global warming as a public health threat
(September 10)
NPR
The current poster child for global warming is a polar bear, sitting on a melting iceberg. Some health officials argue the symbol should, instead, be a child. That’s because emerging science shows that people respond more favorably to warnings about climate change when it’s portrayed as a health issue rather than as an environmental problem.
