"In Price of Farmland, Echoes of Another Boom"
"As prices for agricultural land surge across America’s grain belt, regulators are warning that a new real estate bubble may be forming."
Source: NY Times, 03/04/2011
Energy & Fuel
"Corn-Based Ethanol Producers Are Cranking Up as Oil Prices Soar"
"Corn-based ethanol is the renewable fuel environmentalists love to hate. But as turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa has sent oil prices soaring, U.S.-made ethanol is making a comeback."
Source: LA Times, 03/03/2011
Oil Fracking Poses Similar Concerns As Gas Fracking
EPA is conducting a study of fracking, no matter where it is used (e.g., gas shale, oil shale, coalbed methane, tight sands). Public comment is being allowed as the agency's Science Advisory Board meets March 7-8, 2011, to review the draft study plan. Initial study and research results are possible by the end of 2012, and a report may be published some time in 2014.
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"Alberta’s Oil Sands: Hard Evidence, Missing Data, New Promises"
A new report from the Royal Society of Canada provides a mixed verdict on the environmental impacts of oil sands extraction in Alberta.
Source: EHP, 03/02/2011
"PG&E Rejected Warning on Shut-Off Valves"
"The California utility whose gas pipeline exploded last fall had rejected federal recommendations to install more automatic shut-off valves to help reduce the risks from a rupture and fire, an investigative panel was told Tuesday."
Source: USA TODAY, 03/02/2011
Proposed Rule for Power Plant Toxics Due March 16
The consent decree that established the March 16 release date also mandates that a final rule be published by Nov. 16, 2011 (nine years later than the deadline dictated by the Clean Air Act). Here are several tools you can use to get a handle on the power plants and their emissions in your audience area prior to release of the rule.
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"Iowa Lawmakers, Lobbyists Debate Ban on BPA Plastics"
Some Iowa lawmakers are pushing a bill they say would protect children by removing from the market many plastic products containing BPA, which some scientists think harms health. Lobbyists for the chemical industry say that's premature.
Source: Des Moines Register, 03/01/2011
"Trial Begins for Man Who Thwarted Oil-Gas Auction"
"Hundreds of activists marched to the federal courthouse Monday to support a man who became an environmental folk hero by faking the purchase of $1.7 million of federal oil-and-gas drilling leases in an act of civil disobedience."
Source: CNBC, 03/01/2011
Australia Spends Billions on Incentives for Fossil Fuels
"[Australian] taxpayers spend about 11 times more encouraging the use of fossil fuels than on climate change programs - and the sum is growing."
Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 03/01/2011
"First Deep-Water Drilling Permit Issued for Gulf Since BP Oil Spill"
"The new well will track one plugged after a moratorium. Obama administration officials say pressure from courts and Congress did not affect the decision, but that the firm met new safety rules."
Source: LA Times, 03/01/2011
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