Environment: February 2016

Monday, February 29, 2016

El Nino has eased to moderate levels: Australia weather bureau

SYDNEY (Reuters) - An ongoing El Nino weather pattern is now at moderate levels, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said on Tuesday, as associated climate indicators have eased.

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For Ethiopia's famine survivors, new drought stirs hunger and fear

ESTAYISH, Ethiopia (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - When drought and pests decimated their farm in Ethiopia's northern Amhara region, 10-year-old Eseye Tiruneh and her family boarded a bus, fleeing the starvation all around them.

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Factbox: Which mega-cities offer best protection from climate change?

TORONTO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The world's wealthy cities received a large part of the $323 billion governments spent on measures to adapt to climate change last year, but vulnerable cities in the developing world are falling behind, said a study published on Monday.

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Trudeau, Canadian provinces set for tough climate change talks

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faces a challenging day of climate change talks on Thursday with leaders of the country's 10 provinces, one of whom opposes a key part of Ottawa's plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

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California does not get expected February rain but hope springs eternal for March

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Californians who hoped that El Nino-driven storms would unleash a heavy dousing to the drought-parched state in February instead saw less rain than normal for the month, but forecasters said March could still deliver.

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EPA requests information from Mercedes-Benz over emission levels

FRANKFURT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Monday it had not opened an official investigation into Daimler's luxury car brand Mercedes-Benz but had only requested information to explain emissions levels in some of its cars.

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EU not seen increasing emissions targets despite Paris deal - draft

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU regulators will say this week the European Union does not need a more ambitious greenhouse gas target until the next decade, a text seen by Reuters shows, even though the Paris climate deal stipulates goals should be reviewed in 2018.

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World Bank to hold $20 million carbon credit auction

LONDON (Reuters) - The World Bank will hold a $20 million auction for carbon credits from projects designed to cut methane emissions, offering up to 10 times the current market value, the bank said on Monday.

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Australia sees agriculture output boost as El Nino fades

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's agriculture production is set to rebound as the strongest El Nino in nearly 20 years that wilted crops and triggered bush fires subsides, the country's chief commodity forecaster said on Tuesday.

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India slaps levy on new car sales in fight against pollution and congestion

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India introduced an additional 'green' tax on car sales on Monday, aimed at helping fight high levels of air pollution and congestion but hitting car makers that fear this could stall a fragile recovery in the market for their products.

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Singapore feeds first solar power into retail grid to reduce emissions

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore on Monday announced it had begun to feed solar power into its retail electric grid for the first time, as it seeks to reduce emissions and prepares to fully liberalize its electricity market.

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Lions seen roaming Kenyan capital for second time this month

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Two lions were spotted close to a highway in the Kenyan capital on Monday, the second time this month that lions have strayed from a wildlife sanctuary Nairobi's outskirts and entered the city of some 3 million people.

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Malawi to import 50,000 tonnes of maize after drought worsens

LILONGWE (Reuters) - Malawi will import 50,000 tonnes of the staple maize from Tanzania to avert hunger after a drought that affected 2.8 million people in the southern African nation, state officials said on Monday.

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Former Tepco execs indicted over Fukushima nuclear disaster

TOKYO (Reuters) - Three former Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) executives were indicted on Monday for failing to take safety measures to prevent the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi plant in 2011, a Tokyo District Court official said.

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Australia donates $7 million to aid cyclone-hit Fiji

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia said on Monday it would donate A$10 million ($7.1 million) to fund relief efforts in Fiji, where more than 60,000 people are sheltering in evacuation centers more than a week after the Pacific island nation was hit by its worst cyclone.

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Sunday, February 28, 2016

As sea levels rise, economic damage piles up even faster: study

OSLO (Reuters) - As sea levels rise, threatening cities from New York to Shanghai, the economic damage will increase even faster, scientists said on Monday.

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Global group to assess human impact on nature over three years

OSLO (Reuters) - A global scientific group on Sunday launched a three-year assessment of mankind's impact on nature to help protect plants and animals from threats ranging from pollution to climate change.

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France prepared to extend life of nuclear reactors: energy minister

PARIS (Reuters) - The French government is willing to support a 10-year extension to the life of the country's nuclear reactors, operated by utility EDF, Energy Minister Segolene Royal told France 3 television on Sunday.

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Spain's ACS wins $414 million sanitation project in California

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish construction group ACS has won a 379 million euro ($414 million) contract to build a waste-water treatment and recycling center in the United States, the company said on Sunday.

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Exclusive: Democratic Party slams GOP candidates on climate change

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Democratic Party released a video on Sunday slamming Republican presidential hopefuls for their opposition to action on climate change, suggesting the views clash with the reality of rising sea levels and shifting weather patterns.

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Saturday, February 27, 2016

Australia sends relief ship to Fiji in wake of Cyclone Winston

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia is sending a relief ship to Fiji to assist in the recovery effort after Cyclone Winston, the worst ever recorded in the southern hemisphere, tore through the island nation last Saturday, as the sheer scale of the disaster becomes clearer.

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Friday, February 26, 2016

El Nino's end offers ray of hope for the distillate market: Kemp

LONDON (Reuters) - (John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)

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Monarch butterflies rebounding but population still well off highs

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - North America's monarch butterflies are on a rebound and the number of the plucky orange and black creatures, which gather in Mexico before flying north to Canada, could soon stand at around 150 million, a new survey showed on Friday.

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Michigan governor's aides urged switch away from Flint River

DETROIT (Reuters) - Quality problems prompted two of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's top lawyers to urge that Flint be moved back to the Detroit water system just months after a decision to draw water supply from the Flint River, according to emails released on Friday.

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Car executives meet in Geneva under cloud of diesel smoke

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Auto executives are gathering in Geneva next week with a sense of foreboding in the aftermath of Volkswagen's diesel emissions test cheating scandal. European demand and industry profits are up, but so too is regulatory pressure to cut pollution.

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Poor rains, El Nino leave 28 million in southern Africa vulnerable: SADC

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The Southern African Development Community (SADC) said on Friday 28 million people in the region were rendered vulnerable and in urgent need of "food and non-food" relief after last year's poor rains were followed by an El Nino-triggered drought.

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A subway tunnel under Singapore's rainforest? No way, say activists

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A plan to build a subway tunnel under Singapore's largest patch of primary rainforest has drawn sharp protests from environmental groups and activists who say it could irreversibly damage the habitats of hundreds of plant and animal species.

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Indian government report backs hybrid seeds in boost for GM food

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India should look to introduce high-yielding hybrid seeds to lift its lagging farm productivity, a finance ministry report urged on Friday, in what is being seen as government support for cultivation of genetically modified food crops now banned.

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Thailand's infamous tiger temple fights to keep big cats

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's controversial Tiger Temple, dogged for years by talk that it supplies the black market and mistreats its animals, is fighting to keep the big cats after wildlife authorities rejected a bid to extend a zoo license that expired in 2013.

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Vital to food output, bees and other pollinators at risk

OSLO (Reuters) - Bees and other pollinators face increasing risks to their survival, threatening foods such as apples, blueberries and coffee worth hundreds of billions of dollars a year, the first global assessment of pollinators showed on Friday.

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Eritrea looks to build mining sector to kick-start economy

ASMARA (Reuters) - Eritrea expects to have four mines in operation by 2018 producing gold, copper, zinc and potash as one of Africa's poorest nations looks to build an industry that can kick-start its economy, a top mining official told Reuters.

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Oil industry sees Paris climate deal as chance to innovate

HOUSTON (Reuters) - If a crisis is a terrible thing to waste, the oil industry sees the Paris climate accord not as a death knell, but an opportunity to innovate and even grow.

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Thailand plans steps worth $285 million to help drought-hit rice farmers

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's government on Friday announced measures worth around $285 million to help desperate rice farmers grappling with drought and low prices for their crop.

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Thursday, February 25, 2016

Former BP rig supervisor found not guilty in oil spill case

(Reuters) - A former BP Plc supervisor was found not guilty by a New Orleans jury on Thursday of a single pollution charge stemming from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling disaster that killed 11 people.

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Gas from thawing permafrost could add further to global warming, study says

NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Arctic permafrost that is thawing due to global warming is releasing greenhouse gases, further compounding the problem of climate change, according to a study released on Thursday.

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BHP Billiton says no settlement yet on Brazil dam disaster

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - BHP Billiton said on Friday that no agreement has been reached yet with Brazilian authorities to fund clean up and damages for a dam burst that killed at least 17 people in that country's worst environmental disaster.

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SeaWorld says will no longer use employees to infiltrate PETA

ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - SeaWorld, the U.S. theme park operator whose treatment of killer whales has sparked criticism, said on Thursday it would no longer send employees undercover to infiltrate the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

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Rescue crews, residents comb wreckage as U.S. storm system leaves eight dead

WAVERLY, Va. (Reuters) - Residents and rescue crews on Thursday combed through wreckage left by storms that lashed the eastern United States, killing at least eight people and injuring scores across a number of states, officials said.

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California methane leak was biggest ever in U.S., scientists say

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The months-long natural gas leak that forced thousands of Los Angeles residents from their homes ranks as the largest known accidental methane release in U.S. history, equal to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of nearly 600,000 cars, scientists reported on Thursday.

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Drought dries South Africa's dams, more than three years to recover: minister

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - The water level in South Africa's 180 dams have declined 16.1 percent since October 1 to 53.9 percent of capacity compared to 81.1 percent the same time last year, the water minister said on Thursday.

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Drought adds fuel to fire as Zambia loses battle to save forests

LIVINGSTONE, Zambia (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Bare-chested, Alan Siyampondo shovels soil onto a smoking kiln stuffed with burning teak wood to produce a batch of charcoal in the heart of Dambwa Forest Reserve outside Livingstone.

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German beer purity in question after environment group finds weed-killer traces

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German environmental group said on Thursday it has found traces of the widely used weed-killer ingredient glyphosate in Germany's 14 most popular beers, a potential blow to the country's reputation for "pure" brewing.

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Snake-hunting secretary bird has killer kick

Scientists in the UK have found that a bird of prey native to sub-Saharan Africa can deliver precise and powerful kicks with a force five times its own body weight; enough to kill venomous snakes in less than the blink of an eye.

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Arctic thaw opens shipping waterways, risks to environment

LONDON (Reuters) - The Arctic is thawing even faster than lawmakers can formulate new rules to prevent the environmental threat of heavy fuel oil pollution from ships plying an increasingly popular trade route.

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China asks for urban ban on high-sulphur diesel in clean fuel push

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has asked local governments in 11 provinces to ban in urban areas the selling of high-sulphur diesel that is used for industrial and farming purposes rather than in automobiles, Beijing said in a policy document released on Thursday.

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Australia's Port Melville challenged in court by environmental body

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's Port Melville on the Tiwi Islands, off the country's north coast, is facing a legal challenge in a federal court brought on by an environmental body concerned the project was approved by the government and built without proper assessment.

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Tens of thousands of Fijians homeless after cyclone: disaster agency

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Fijians remain homeless and living in evacuation shelters in the aftermath of a devastating cyclone at the weekend, officials said on Thursday, as aid began trickling in to the outer reaches of the South Pacific archipelago.

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Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Storm kills 4 in Virginia day after Gulf Coast tornadoes

RICHMOND, Va. (Reuters) - Violent thunderstorms and tornadoes lashed the U.S. Southeast and mid-Atlantic region on Wednesday, killing at least four people in Virginia a day after twisters claimed three lives along the Gulf Coast, authorities said.

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Australian icebreaker runs aground in Antarctica

(Reuters) - Australian icebreaker Aurora Australis has run aground in Antarctica while on a mission to resupply Mawson Station.

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Study says climate change pushes fish toward poles, threatening food source for poor

TORONTO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Climate change is pushing fish toward the planet's North and South poles, robbing traditionally poorer countries closer to the Equator of crucial natural resources, U.S. biologists said in a study published on Wednesday.

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Snowstorm in U.S. Midwest downs power lines, closes highways, grounds flights

(Reuters) - A major wind and snow storm downed power lines, closed highways and grounded hundreds of flights over a wide swath of the U.S. Midwest on Wednesday.

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Flint, amid water crisis, to be added to Consumer Price Index survey

DETROIT (Reuters) - Flint, the Michigan city known for the high lead levels in its drinking water, will also soon begin playing a regular role in how the federal government measures inflation.

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U.S. wins WTO dispute against India's solar rules

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States won a ruling against India at the World Trade Organization on Wednesday after challenging the rules on the origin of solar cells and solar modules used in India's national solar power program.

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Every year could bring a heat wave if climate change continues

BARCELONA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Without reductions in planet-warming emissions, blistering heat waves of the strength that now typically occur once every 20 years could happen annually on 60 percent of the Earth's land areas by 2075, scientists have warned.

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U.S. Southeast braces for tornadoes after three killed in Gulf Coast states

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Reuters) - A storm system packing damaging winds and possible tornadoes is expected to hit the Carolinas on Wednesday, a day after twisters killed at least three people and left a path of destruction in Gulf Coast states.

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Beetles attack Poland's ancient forest, leaving the humans divided

BIALOWIEZA, Poland (Reuters) - Bialowieza Forest sprawls across the border between Poland and Belarus, occupying almost 580 square miles of woodland and providing a home to bison, boars, beavers - and beetles. The beetles are a problem.

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China to boost government purchases of new energy vehicles

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will increase to more than half the ratio of purchases of new energy vehicles by some government departments, the State Council said on Wednesday, the latest move to boost green development in a country battling to rein in pollution.

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Phone app to forecast risk of crop failure in Brazil

SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS, Brazil (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Despite years of experience, Charlei Sousa finds himself struggling to grow maize. A lack of rain took half his last crop, and he says uneven rainfall has for years become a worsening problem in his fields in Montes Claros.

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Honda aims for green cars to make up two-thirds of line-up by 2030

TOKYO (Reuters) - Honda Motor Co Ltd on Wednesday said it aimed for new-energy vehicles to account for two-thirds of its line-up by 2030 from around 5 percent now, as increasingly stringent global emissions regulations prompt automakers to make greener cars.

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Philippines expects to finalize GMO rules in next few days, misses Weds target

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines expects to finalize a new set of rules on genetically modified organisms over the next few days, after a top court demanded an overhaul of previous regulations in the nation that has been seen as a trailblazer for GMO in Asia.

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Exclusive: New York asks SEC to force climate vote onto Exxon proxy

HOUSTON (Reuters) - New York state's comptroller and four other Exxon Mobil shareholders asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this week to force the oil producer to include a climate change resolution in its annual shareholder proxy, according to a filing seen by Reuters.

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Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Cyclone-hit remote Fiji islands begin to receive aid, death toll 42

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The Fijian government and international aid agencies began delivering much needed aid on Wednesday to the Pacific nation's remote islands and coastal villages devastated by a powerful cyclone that killed 42 people.

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Magnitude 4.9 quake hits near Bakersfield, California: USGS

(Reuters) - A magnitude 4.9 quake struck northwest of Bakersfield, California, on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

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Kicking up a stink: Malaysia durian farmers demand mining clampdown

KUANTAN, Malaysia (Reuters) - Malaysian farmers of the famously pungent durian fruit are calling for tighter regulations on mining they say is destroying arable land and tainting the water they need to churn out their yellow, spiky-shelled crop.

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Tornado damage reported in Louisiana as storm moves east

ATLANTA (Reuters) - A tornado and strong winds tore a roof off a health club and flipped a delivery truck in Louisiana on Tuesday, and more severe weather was expected as the storm system moved east, forecasters said.

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Gas industry slow to sign up for voluntary methane cuts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. natural gas industry group responsible for persuading companies to voluntarily report their methane emissions says he has not seen - and does not expect to see - a high number of companies participating in the program.

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Michigan Senate approves $30 million to help pay Flint water bills

(Reuters) - Residents of Flint, Michigan, one of the poorest cities in the United States, will get $30 million to help pay their water bills after a lead contamination crisis, under a bill unanimously approved by the Michigan Senate on Tuesday.

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Struggling coal companies must face their cleanup costs - U.S. official

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Struggling coal companies must face the costs of cleaning up their spent mines even as they get pushed toward bankruptcy, the U.S. Interior Secretary said on Tuesday.

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South Africa to ease some GM crop rules to avert food crisis

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa will relax some of its tough rules on genetically modified crops so it can ramp up maize imports from the United States and Mexico to avert a potential food crisis amid a severe drought, officials said.

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France, Italy yet to reply to EU with VW scandal info: source

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - All European Union nations except for France and Italy have replied to the European Commission's request for information from member states in connection with Volkswagen's emissions scandal, an EU source said on Tuesday.

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Monday, February 22, 2016

Peru pipeline leaks in Amazon; two rivers polluted, agency says

LIMA (Reuters) - Ruptures in Peru's main oil pipeline have spilled 3,000 barrels of crude in an Amazonian region, operator Petroperu said Monday, and the oil has polluted two rivers native villages rely on for water, according to government officials.

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Japan environment ministry's coal plant reversal casts doubt on CO2 pledge

TOKYO (Reuters) - A decision by Japan's environment ministry to abandon its opposition to building new coal-fired power stations casts doubt on the industry's ability to meet targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions, experts and environmental activists said.

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Could an African become the new U.N. climate chief?

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The next head of the U.N. process to tackle climate change should come from one of the world's poorest countries, which led an ambitious drive to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in the new Paris deal, a leading expert has proposed.

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Thirteen bald eagles found dead in Maryland

(Reuters) - Authorities are investigating the deaths of 13 bald eagles discovered on a Maryland farm in the state's largest die-off of the national bird in 30 years, officials said on Monday.

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Two Pennsylvania families who say fracking fouled water take case to trial

SCRANTON, Pa. (Reuters) - Jury selection began on Monday in a federal lawsuit in which two northeastern Pennsylvania families allege that Cabot Oil & Gas Corp contaminated their well water with methane when it began fracking for natural gas near their homes.

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Malaysian Borneo's air quality hits hazardous levels as forest fires rage

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Forest fires spread over 500 acres in the north of the Malaysian state of Sarawak in Borneo island have raised air pollution to hazardous levels on Monday in areas close to the inferno, government data showed.

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China's smoggy capital to double air monitoring stations

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's smoggy capital will almost double the number of air monitoring stations to give a better idea about the true state of the city's air quality, Xinhua state news agency said on Monday.

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Australia to start register of foreign ownership of water rights

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The Australian government said on Monday it plans to start a register of foreign ownership of water rights, redoubling its efforts to appease voters concerned about the amount of farming assets being sold offshore.

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Sunday, February 21, 2016

Fiji super cyclone kills 17 and raises fears of health crisis

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Fiji began a massive cleanup on Monday after one of the most powerful storms recorded in the southern hemisphere tore through the Pacific island nation, killing 17 people, flattening remote villages and cutting off communications.

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Beijing to raise threshold for issuing air pollution 'red alerts'

BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing is to raise the thresholds for issuing its highest air pollution warnings, the state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday, two months after acrid smog triggered the city's first ever "red alerts".

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EPA asks Volkswagen to make electric cars in U.S.: Welt am Sonntag

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have asked the German carmaker Volkswagen to produce electric vehicles in the United States as a way of making up for its rigging of emission tests, the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported.

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Saturday, February 20, 2016

Kansai Electric finds leaked radioactive water at nuclear plant

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's nuclear power-reliant utility Kansai Electric Power said on Saturday it had found a pool of contaminated water at a nuclear reactor slated to restart in late February after years of being shut down.

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Fiji cyclone leaves trail of destruction, five dead

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Fiji was assessing the damage on Sunday after one of the most powerful storms recorded in the southern hemisphere tore through the Pacific island nation, flattening remote villages and killing at least five people.

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[20160220] Existing point radio sources merged

Friday, February 19, 2016

Zimbabwe's main hydro power dam running out of water after drought

KARIBA, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's main hydro power dam could stop producing electricity in six months if water levels keep falling after the nation's worst drought in more than two decades, an official said on Friday.

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Chicago buffeted as strong winds prompt highrise evacuations

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Gusts of up to 70 mph (113 kph) in the Windy City on Friday caused the closure of the second-tallest U.S. building's observation deck, power outages, flight cancellations and highrise evacuations.

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Argentina declares flood emergency in six key farm provinces

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Six of Argentina's main farm provinces were declared flood emergency areas by the government on Friday, making special credit lines and tax breaks available to affected growers in the soy and corn exporting powerhouse.

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U.N.'s climate chief to quit, praises Paris agreement

PARIS (Reuters) - The U.N.'s climate chief said on Friday she will step down in July, at the end of a six-year term, and praised governments for reaching a 195-nation deal in Paris in December to shift the world economy from fossil fuels to cleaner energies.

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Lions wander into Kenyan capital

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan game wardens fanned out across a residential district in the capital on Friday to track down six lions that strayed out of Nairobi National Park, which lies on the outskirts of the city.

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U.S. population of endangered Mexican gray wolf declines

(Reuters) - The southwestern U.S. population of endangered Mexican gray wolves declined by 12 percent last year after five years of steady growth, leading wildlife advocates to suggest that illegal killings of the beleaguered predators may be to blame.

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Wind powers on greener future for climate-conscious Bhutan

THIMPHU (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - From wind power to biogas, bicycles and electric buses, Bhutan is exploring new ways to play its part in the global push to keep climate change in check.

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Thursday, February 18, 2016

Monarch butterfly numbers flutter up, but still off recent highs: study

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Favorable weather conditions at breeding grounds for monarch butterflies in Mexico are expected to help raise their numbers to possibly more than 100 million this year, about triple of a few years ago, a study released on Thursday said.

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Los Angeles-area methane leak declared permanently sealed

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An underground natural gas pipeline rupture that caused the largest-ever methane leak in California has been permanently capped, paving the way for thousands of displaced Los Angeles residents to return home, state regulators said on Thursday.

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Drought ends in Brazil's Sao Paulo but future still uncertain

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Water levels at the main reservoir in Brazil's largest city of Sao Paulo have more than doubled since the El Niño climate phenomenon ended a two-year drought, although industrialists and activists warn fresh shortages may be just a matter of time.

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China needs more power to crack down on polluters - minister

BEIJING (Reuters) - China needs more powers to crack down on polluting companies and local governments that protect them, the country's environment minister said on Thursday.

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South Africa's Zuma says 2.7 million households hit by drought

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South African President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday that 2.7 million households would be affected by a drought disaster which has hammered agricultural output, pushed up food prices and increased unemployment.

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Environmental groups spar over Pacific trade deal's shark protections

MONTEREY, Calif. (Reuters) - Two influential environmental organizations squared off on Wednesday over protection for sharks in a new Pacific trade pact after the top U.S. trade official touted the pact's environmental benefits.

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Aid agencies prepare for Zika spread in Tonga as tropical cyclone looms

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Aid workers in Tonga are making last-minute preparations for the second tropical cyclone that is scheduled to hit the island this week, with fears that it could spread the Zika virus that first appeared in the South Pacific nation this month.

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Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Wyoming says its coal mine cleanup policy is flawed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A program that has allowed U.S. coal companies to forego cleanup insurance on massive western mines is flawed and needs to be fixed, Wyoming officials have told federal regulators.

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Apple issues $1.5 billion in green bonds in first sale

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Apple has issued $1.5 billion in bonds dedicated to financing clean energy projects across its global business operations, the largest green bond to be issued by a U.S. corporation, the company's head of environmental policy said Wednesday.

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Magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes off Indonesia - USGS

LONDON (Reuters) - A 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia at 1726 GMT (1326 ET) on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

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Aston Martin to develop electric car with China's LeEco

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Aston Martin set up a venture with Chinese consumer electronics group LeEco to jointly develop the British luxury car brand's first electric vehicle, an example of the deepening ties between the technology and automotive industries.

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Brazil expects Samarco dam-disaster deal by Friday

BRASILIA (Reuters) - The Brazilian government expects to reach agreement by Friday with Samarco Mineração SA [SAMNE.UL] to settle a 20 billion-real ($4.9 billion) lawsuit for damages related to a deadly November dam disaster, a spokesman for Brazil's attorney general said on Wednesday.

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Small diesel cars seen vulnerable to post VW scandal reforms

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A tougher European testing regime following Volkswagen's emissions test cheating scandal could mean new small diesel car models are modified or withdrawn, the European auto lobby said on Wednesday.

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Exclusive: India halts potash imports as droughts hit crop plantings

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India has halted its potash imports for the year to end-March and delayed negotiations for next year's purchases until at least June, as droughts have dented demand in one of the world's biggest fertilizer consumers, government officials said.

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France's Royal to head U.N. climate talks after Fabius quits

PARIS (Reuters) - French Environment Minister Segolene Royal said on Wednesday she would take over the presidency of U.N. climate talks, seeking to implement a global deal reached last year to shift away from fossil fuels, after former foreign minister Laurent Fabius quit.

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Leak at Kuwaiti oil well site, no gas spill recorded: agency

DUBAI (Reuters) - Workers are fixing a leak at a site where an oil well is being dug in northern Kuwait, state news agency KUNA reported on Wednesday.

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South Africa drought pushes 50,000 into poverty: World Bank

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa's worst drought in over a century has pushed around 50,000 below the poverty line, the World Bank said on Wednesday.

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Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Contaminated Flint water among most expensive in the U.S.: report

(Reuters) - Residents of Flint, Michigan, one of the poorest cities in the United States, paid some of the nation's highest water bills even as the city failed to treat drinking water properly, leading to lead contamination, according to a report released on Tuesday.

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Oklahoma calls for more disposal wells to shut after quake

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Oklahoma's oil and gas regulator released a wide-ranging plan on Tuesday to scale back use of wastewater injection wells in western Oklahoma, just days after a 5.1 magnitude quake rocked the state.

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EU car industry seeks climate friendly driving, not more targets

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Better driving, improved roads and measures such as more rational loading of freight can lower the environmental impact of trucks, European industry leaders said on Tuesday, as they pushed back against EU regulation to curb emissions.

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U.S. will sign Paris Agreement and stick to it - Stern

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United States will sign the Paris Agreement on climate change this year regardless of the Supreme Court's decision to put a chunk of President Barack Obama's environmental action on hold, the U.S. climate envoy said on Tuesday.

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Europe launches satellite to help track global warming

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Europe launched a satellite on Tuesday that will help predict weather phenomena such as El Nino and track the progress of global warming as part of the multibillion-euro Copernicus Earth observation project.

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Asia watches as GMO legal challenge threatens Philippines food supply

MANILA (Reuters) - A legal challenge to the Philippines' rules on genetically modified organisms is threatening to spark a food crisis in the country and could cloud the outlook for GM technology around Asia.

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Scalia's death boosts legal chances for Obama's climate plan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A vote to block the Obama administration's ambitious climate regulation was one of Antonin Scalia's last acts as a Supreme Court justice. His sudden death may have opened a new path to the rule's survival.

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Monday, February 15, 2016

Dry Ivory Coast weather may cut mid-crop, farmers say

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Persistent hot and dry weather in most of Ivory Coast's main cocoa regions has damaged trees and could reduce the quality of beans and the size of the mid-crop, farmers said on Monday.

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Body Shop concocts new formula for making money while protecting the planet

BARCELONA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Beauty brand The Body Shop is turning 40 next month and has set an ambitious goal of being "the world's most ethical and truly sustainable global business".

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Drought may affect 49 million in southern Africa: WFP

HARARE (Reuters) - As many as 49 million people in southern Africa could be affected by a drought that has been worsened by the most severe and longest El Nino weather pattern in 35 years, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday.

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Sunday, February 14, 2016

Record-setting cold chills U.S. Northeast on Valentine's Day

BOSTON (Reuters) - Residents of much of the northeastern United States woke up on Sunday to bone-chilling cold conditions that shattered Valentine's Day records in Boston, Hartford and Providence.

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Oklahoma hit by its third-strongest earthquake ever: USGS

(Reuters) - Oklahoma was struck by a magnitude 5.1 earthquake on Saturday morning, the third-strongest quake ever recorded in the state, which has experienced a surge in seismic activity in recent years, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

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Saturday, February 13, 2016

Magnitude 5.1 and 3.9 earthquakes strike Oklahoma: USGS

(Reuters) - Two earthquakes, one with a magnitude 5.1 and the other of 3.9, struck northern Oklahoma on Saturday morning and were felt through much of the state but no damages were immediately reported, the U.S. Geological Survey and local media said.

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State officials blocked Flint Legionnaires' probe: CNN

(Reuters) - Michigan authorities blocked county health officials from investigating an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that may have been linked to the water crisis in the impoverished city of Flint, a county health supervisor told CNN on Saturday.

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Northeast U.S. in deep freeze, could break Valentine's Day records

BOSTON, Mass (Reuters) - A dangerous cold snap gripped the northeastern United States on Saturday, with temperatures in some areas set to fall below zero and Boston facing its coldest Valentine's Day in almost four decades.

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Friday, February 12, 2016

Nevada will move all solar customers to new rates

(Reuters) - Nevada's utility regulator voted unanimously on Friday to require households with solar panels to move to a new, less generous rate structure, angering supporters who said existing solar owners should be able to preserve their previous rates.

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U.S. northeast prepares for most severe cold snap of year

BOSTON (Reuters) - The northeastern United States on Friday faced a cold snap so severe that even world-class ski jumpers preparing for a night-time competition at Boston's Fenway Park worried about the frigid weather.

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California desert to be protected as national monument

(Reuters) - Some 1.8 million acres of scenic California desert were designated national monuments by U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday, roughly doubling the amount of public land set aside for protection during his presidency.

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Valero Energy sues EPA over biofuels plan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Valero Energy Corp filed lawsuits against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday to push the regulator to alter a U.S. policy designed to boost use of renewables in transportation fuels.

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Legionnaires' outbreak near Flint discussed ahead of public notice: report

DETROIT (Reuters) - At least six Environmental Protection Agency officials discussed late last March the Legionnaires' disease outbreak in Genesee County and a suspected link to Flint, Michigan's change in drinking water sources and were told the state would alert the public, the Detroit News reported on Friday.

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Canada government may fund clean-up of spent oil wells: minister

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Ottawa may help pay for the clean-up of spent oil wells, Canadian Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr said on Friday.

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Thursday, February 11, 2016

Century-old trees on Ohio historical site felled by thieves

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Ten hundred-year-old black walnut trees at a historical site in Barberton, Ohio, were cut down this week by would-be thieves apparently hoping to cash in on high prices for the precious lumber.

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Obama says confident in legal footing after Supreme Court climate decision

ATHERTON, Calif. (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday called the Supreme Court's decision to delay implementation of his administration's Clean Power Plan "unusual" and expressed confidence that the White House would prevail.

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Oil group API challenges U.S. EPA's plan on biofuels

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The American Petroleum Institute (API) has filed a challenge to the U.S. environmental regulator's plan for biofuels use, the group said on Thursday, on the heels of a lawsuit from another oil association.

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Obama carbon plan will survive court ruling: EPA

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan will survive despite the Supreme Court's decision this week to stay a rule on cutting carbon emissions from electricity generators, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday.

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La Nina expected in next months for the first time since 2012

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Even as the El Nino weather phenomenon continues to impact global temperatures and crops, its counterpart La Nina is increasingly expected to emerge in the coming months for the first time in four years.

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Obama climate plan's broad scope to face skeptical Supreme Court

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court's unexpected move to block President Barack Obama's policy to cut pollution from coal plants highlights what both sides in the legal fight agree is a key weakness in the rules -- a provision that expands the scope of regulation far beyond curbing emissions from individual smoke stacks.

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[ATP:20160211] News

Indian soldier found alive after six days buried under avalanche dies

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An Indian soldier who survived being trapped under 25 feet (8 meters) of snow for six days after being caught in an avalanche died in hospital on Thursday.Hanumanthappa Koppad and nine colleagues were buried alive after a mass of snow collapsed on their post on the Siachen Glacier, which India and Pakistan have fought over intermittently for three decades.Although presumed dead, Hanumanthappa, was found with a pulse by rescue workers using shovels and chainsaws to cut throu

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World's most polluted city, Delhi, plans new limits on car use

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Delhi government plans another round of tough measures to restrict the use of private cars and clean up toxic air in the Indian metropolis, the world's most polluted city.From April 15, for two weeks, cars will only be allowed on the road on alternate days, going by whether their number plates are odd or even, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday."We are seriously considering if we can do this for 15 days every month," Kejriwal said. "We can't do this on a pe

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