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In long run, Grand Canyon’s watershed must be saved from uranium mining contamination

the task of elected officials is not to just manage our county’s and city’s assets, but to thoroughly understand the complexities of our evolving human development. This involves managing our environmental resources to the best long-range benefit, and not for short-sighted, misperceived monetary gain.

Consequences outweigh benefits  Kingman Daily Miner, Jack Ehrhardt,  14 Oct 11 Over the past months, stories have reported on how our local elected officials support the lifting of the moratorium on uranium mining in the Northern Arizona area, on the other side of the Grand Canyon. This area that is a watershed to the Grand Canyon is a sensitive area of environmental protection for its capacity to bring vast amounts of water to the storage downstream in Lake Mead and provide clean water to communities in the west.  Continue reading →

October 16, 2011 Posted by | Uranium, USA, water | Leave a comment

16% rise in renewable energy investment in third quarter

Clean-Energy Investment Rises Annual 16% in Quarter, BNEF Says, Bloombeerg, By Marc Roca – Oct 13, 2011  New investment in clean energy rose 16 percent in the third quarter to $45.4 billion, aided by a surge in wind and solar plant financing as low equipment costs drive installations, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said.Asset financing of utility-scale renewable-energy projects jumped to a record $41.8 billion in the quarter, the London- based research company said today in a statement….. Continue reading →

October 16, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Solar feed in tariffs working for Germany, Japan, China

Feed in Tariffs: Investing in a Renewable Energy Future, Policy Shop, 16 Oct 11     Mijin Cha Clean energy skeptics have seized on the failure of Solyndra to argue that scaling up renewable sources is a pipe dream.

They should visit Germany.

In the first quarter of 2011, Germany’s renewable energy output accounted for 19.2 percent of its total electricity consumption. Germany installed more solar PV in 2010 than the whole rest of the world and is well on its way to meeting the target of 35 percent of its electricity coming from renewables by 2020. And, in 2010, almost 370,000 people were employed in the renewable energy sector.

So how does Germany gets lots of clean energy and green jobs?

The key to this success is an incentive called a feed-in-tariff. Continue reading →

October 16, 2011 Posted by | Germany, renewable | Leave a comment

Pakistan pushes for nuclear disarmament

Pakistan calls for talks on nuclear disarmament, Business Recorder, OCTOBER 15, 2011 Pakistan has urged “some major powers” to commence negotiations on the larger issue of nuclear disarmament instead of pushing for a treaty to ban production of fissile material used as fuel for atomic weapons, saying the treaty was a limited non-proliferation goal.

Speaking in the General Assembly’s main committee, Raza Bashir Tarar, the deputy permanent representative of Pakistan, said besides nuclear disarmament, his country was ready to start talks on two other outstanding agenda items negative security assurances for non-nuclear-weapon-states and preventing an arms race in outer space in the Conference on Disarmament, the Geneva-based UN negotiating body.

“After all, the Conference on Disarmament (CD) is not there to only negotiate an FMCT (Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty),” he said in the course of a thematic debate on nuclear weapons. Over the past couple of years, Pakistan has been blocking the launching of negotiations on the proposed treaty at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on the ground that it is prejudicial to its national security interests……  http://www.brecorder.com/general-news/single/599/172/1242266/

October 16, 2011 Posted by | Pakistan, weapons and war | Leave a comment

At last, efforts to rebury the poisonous monster of uranium, in Navajo land

Cleanup takes on uranium monster in Monument Valley, By Judy Fahys, The Salt Lake Tribune,  Oct 16, 2011  Monument Valley • An old story tells how the first Navajos made a choice that shaped their destiny.

They embraced yellow corn pollen over yellow uranium. And they concluded unearthing the radioactive rock would unleash evil from the underworld.

But in the rush to fuel atomic weapons and nuclear reactors, Navajo lands yielded tons of the yellow rock, and the heavy machinery that dug it up left behind a hazardous legacy.

Here, below the Skyline Mine, about a mile from the famous Goulding’s Trading Post, the Navajos’ worst fears about uranium came true. Tumors and cancer and a host of other maladies plagued families living on the valley floor in Skyline’s shadow. So did a nagging fear.

In some people’s minds, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleanup this summer signaled the federal government has at long last started owning up to its obligations to the Navajos. Next week dump trucks and dozers will be done stuffing the evil back into the redrock.

And the unseen demons will be vanquished from the mythic landscape……

The $7.5 million Skyline cleanup is part of EPA’s effort to address uranium problems all over the reservation. About $22 million is slated for addressing water contamination. A total of $60 million is planned for five years to identify and deal with contaminated homes and mine sites.

The Skyline cleanup is the first of four that EPA has planned so far,…..  A few weeks ago, Tenley announced the next cleanup on the reservation: a $44 million project to address contamination at the largest uranium mine on the Navajo Reservation, Northeast Church Rock, New Mexico. And, unlike the Skyline cleanup that taxpayers paid for, this one will be on the tab of the company that mined it, a subsidiary of General Electric Co….http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home2/52705676-183/uranium-mesa-cleanup-skyline.html.csp

October 16, 2011 Posted by | indigenous issues, USA | Leave a comment

Widening problems in Japan’s nuclear radiation disaster

AUDIO Japanese govt afraid to tell the truth    http://enenews.com/professor-believe-going-nightmare-im-afraid-dealt-fatal-blow-japan-japan-lost-future-video

 

Mr. Hayashida, who discovered the high level at the baseball field, says that he is not waiting any longer for government assurances. He moved his family to Okayama, about 370 miles to the southwest.

“Perhaps we could have stayed in Tokyo with no problems,” he said. “But I choose a future with no radiation fears.”

Radioactive Hot Spots in Tokyo Point to Wider Problems   NYT, By HIROKO TABUCHI : October 14, 2011
TOKYO — Takeo Hayashida signed on with a citizens’ group to test for radiation near his son’s baseball field in Tokyo after government officials told him they had no plans to check for fallout from the devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Like Japan’s central government, local officials said there was nothing to fear in the capital, 160 miles from the disaster zone.

Then came the test result: the level of radioactive cesium in a patch of dirt just meters from where his 11-year-old son, Koshiro, played baseball was equal to those in some contaminated areas around Chernobyl.

The patch of ground was one of more than 20 spots in and around the nation’s capital that the citizen’s group, and the respected nuclear research center they worked with, found were contaminated with potentially harmful levels of radioactive cesium.

It has been clear since the early days of the nuclear accident, the world’s second worst after Chernobyl, that that the vagaries of wind and rain had scattered worrisome amounts of radioactive materials in unexpected patterns far outside the evacuation zone 12 miles around the stricken plant. But reports that substantial amounts of cesium had accumulated as far away as densely populated Tokyo have raised new concerns about how far the contamination had spread, possibly settling in areas where the government has not even considered looking. Continue reading →

October 15, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Movement against India’s nuclear power program goes national

The writ petition mentions, “How under the pressure of foreign countries and the multi-billion dollar nuclear industry, the government has been pushing forward an expensive, unviable and dangerous nuclear power programme without proper safety assessment and without a thorough comparative cost-benefit analysis vis-a-vis other sources of energy, especially renewable sources.”

Country-wide protests against nuclear plants have escalated following the Fukushima disaster in Japan.

Humongous nuclear costs at the expense of exchequer  

Activists nationwide unite to battle UPA’s nuclear dreams,  Rediff, October 14, 2011, Sheela Bhatt in New Delhi Activists, experts and scientists across the country have come together to challenge Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s dream project to double the nuclear energy-based power generation in the country,    A writ petition filed by eminent lawyer Prashant Bhushan under Article 32 seeks appropriate writ for declaring Nuclear Liability Act, 2010, unconstitutional and to call for safety re-assessment and cost-benefit analysis of all nuclear facilities in India. The petitioners want the overhaul of the ‘dysfunctional’ regulatory system.

The petitioners comprise of distinguished personalities or organisations who have first time come together to challenge one of the biggest policy decisions of the United Progressive Alliance government. Continue reading →

October 15, 2011 Posted by | India, opposition to nuclear, politics international | Leave a comment

Public interest litigation in India questions nuclear power program

Petition filed against nuclear liability Act, THE HINDU, J. VENKATESAN, 15 Oct 11,  Petitioners seek safety reassessment and cost-benefit analysis of all nuclear facilities  A public interest litigation petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, that indemnifies nuclear manufacturers/suppliers and caps the financial liability of operators. Continue reading →

October 15, 2011 Posted by | India, Legal | Leave a comment

Through Google Earth, researcher tracks India’s nuclear program

Researcher Uses Google Earth to Track India’s Nuclear Program, PC World, By John Ribeiro, IDG News    Oct 13, 2011  The Institute for Science and International Security in Washington has used imagery from Google Earth to arrive at the conclusion that India may be constructing a gas centrifuge plant for uranium enrichment for military purposes, reinforcing Indian fears that Google Earth can be misused to compromise national security. Continue reading →

October 15, 2011 Posted by | Reference, technology, Uranium, weapons and war | Leave a comment

UK Coroner to fully investigate radiation murder of Alexander Litvinenko

Marina Litvinenko, Mr. Litvinenko’s widow, said the inquiry would include “an investigation into the involvement of the Russian state in his murder, which is exactly what I want.”

Britain Agrees to New Inquiry Into Poisoning Death of a Former K.G.B. Officer NYT, By  October 14, 2011  LONDON — A coroner has agreed to open a full inquest into the radiation poisoning of the former K.G.B. officer Alexander V. Litvinenko, potentially bringing the case before a British legal forum for the first time, opening new seams of information about his death and possibly stirring new tensions with Moscow. Continue reading →

October 15, 2011 Posted by | Legal, politics international, UK | 1 Comment

China’s underground nuclear network

US worries over China’s underground nuclear network, Google News, AFP – 15 Oct 11,  WASHINGTON — A leading US lawmaker who fears budget cuts could delay modernizing the US nuclear arsenal voiced concern Friday about an extensive tunnel complex designed to house Chinese nuclear missiles. “This network of tunnels could be in excess of 5,000 kilometers (3,110 miles), and is used to transport nuclear weapons and forces,” said Michael Turner, who chairs a House Armed Services Committee panel focusing on strategic weapons and other security programs.

“As we strive to make our nuclear forces more transparent, China is building this underground tunnel system to make its nuclear forces even more opaque,” he added, citing an unclassified Department of Defense report. Experts also expressed their concern about the network, whose existence was revealed by official Chinese media in late 2009.

The tunnels would allow China to launch a nuclear counter-attack if it was hit by a nuclear strike. “It’s almost mind-boggling,” said Mark Schneider, senior analyst at the National Institute for Public Policy. “It has enormous implications in terms of their view toward nuclear warfare, survivability of their systems and their leadership in the event of war.

“It is virtually impossible to target anything like that, irrespective of how many nuclear weapons you have,” he added.Richard Fisher of the International Assessment and Strategy Center said the tunnel complex could allow the Chinese army to conceal its weapons. “Do we really know how many missiles the Chinese have today?” he asked…. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iHO_kCCLQm86s29jw45FIx6EkdLQ?docId=CNG.19cbae00c31007ab44469985e8a939e2.6a1

October 15, 2011 Posted by | China, Reference, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Australia joins international initiatives to address climate change

The passage of this initiative is still hugely important, if for no other reason than that it shows Big Coal can be rolled.  The coal industry is an even larger part of the Australian economy than it is of the American, and it has an enormous amount of political power.  And just like here in the U.S., there are plenty of shrill politicians in Oz who claim that any new tax will lead to economic ruin.  

Gillard told Members of Parliament that they would be judged on their vote by every Australian, “because the final test is not are you on the right side of the politics of the week, or the polls of the year.”

“The final test is this: are you on the right side of history?“
 Australian Carbon Tax Vote: A Very Big Deal,  ROLLING STONE, : OCTOBER 13,   By JEFF GOODELL    So maybe there is hope for us yet.   After what one Aussie columnist calls“the dirtiest and most dishonest campaign ever waged before the Australian public,” with millions of dollars spent on media ads and climate skeptics flown in from around the world, Australia’s House of Representatives voted yesterday, 74 to 72,to levy a tax on carbon pollution.  Continue reading →

October 15, 2011 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, climate change, politics | Leave a comment

USA should save money by cutting back on nuclear weapons programs

Ed Markey Leads Coalition to Cut Nuclear Weapons Budget, Joe Cirincione, HUFFINGTON POST, 15 Oct 11 As the congressional “supercommittee” moves toward recommendations to cut over $1 trillion from the government’s budgets, House members have squared off over whether some savings can come from the hundreds of billions of dollars planned for nuclear weapons over the next 10 years. Continue reading →

October 15, 2011 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) worried about Japan’s radioactive cleanup problems

the report noted that a lack of available disposal sites for radioactive waste will “unduly limit and hamper successful remediation activities, thus potentially jeopardizing public health and safety.”

Nuclear Agency Urges Japan to Fix Cleanup Plan, WSJ , 15 Oct 11, By MITSURU OBE,  TOKYO—The International Atomic Energy Agency, in a report released Friday, urged Japan to take a more focused and realistic approach to dealing with radioactive contamination in areas around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northeastern Japan, amid signs the Japanese government is becoming overwhelmed by public demands for decontamination. Continue reading →

October 15, 2011 Posted by | Japan, wastes | Leave a comment

Employment prospects bright in renewable energy and sustainability

Focus on Renewable Energy May Be One Bright Spot in Today’s Job Market  Market Watch, HOUSTON, Oct. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — The 2011 jobs market has certainly left much to be desired for many Americans. Rising jobless reports and a bleak economic forecast can make finding a career that feeds a person’s passion and their wallet seem beyond reach. However, for those committed to the environment, green living and sustainability, the outlook may be brighter than you might think, according to MXenergy, a Constellation company and leading energy provider.

“The focus on renewable and clean energy and sustainability has led to tremendous growth in these industries over the past several years,” says Marjorie Kass, MXenergy managing director of marketing. “All indications are that growth is expected to continue which will mean the need for trained, experienced personnel.”

According to the Rocky Mountain Institute, U.S. solar photovoltaic installation increased 64 percent between 2005 and 2010. The institute estimates that the U.S. already has more than 90,000 direct or indirect jobs in the manufacturing and installation of solar panels, with another 85,000 jobs in wind power.

Previously solar panel installation was too cost prohibitive for most homeowners. However many energy providers, including MXenergy’s parent company Constellation Energy, are now launching residential solar panel leasing programs making the transition to solar financially attainable to many homeowners for the first time.

“The increase in affordability and attainability through these programs is a benefit not only to homeowners but also to workers,” continues Kass. “As more people take advantage of solar leasing programs the need for licensed installers will increase as well.”…

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/focus-on-renewable-energy-may-be-one-bright-spot-in-todays-job-market-2011-10-14

October 15, 2011 Posted by | employment, renewable, USA | Leave a comment

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