OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said on Thursday he does not expect the United States to reject TransCanada Corp's proposed Keystone XL pipeline from the Alberta oil sands to Texas.
U.S. officials say they expect the government to make a final decision by the middle of the year. Green groups strongly oppose the pipeline, which they say will help boost global warming, and want President Barack Obama to block the project.
'I remain cautiously optimistic,' Oliver told reporters. Canada's Conservative government, which wants Washington to approve Keystone XL, also backs industry proposals for pipelines running from the oil sands to the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.
Asked about the effects of a U.S. veto, he replied: 'That rejection, which I do not anticipate, would give even more impetus for us to move west, to move east ... but we're not anticipating that result.'
Environmentalists oppose Keystone XL because production of oil sands crude is carbon intensive. U.S. labor leaders support the pipeline for the jobs it would generate.
The Canadian government rejects the idea that developing the oil sands would cause emissions of greenhouse gases to spike. Ministers say Canada is in some ways doing more than the United States to fight global warming.
(Reporting by Randall Palmer; Writing by David Ljunggren; Editing by Vicki Allen; and Peter Galloway)
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Canada doesn't expect U.S. will veto Keystone pipeline: minister
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said on Thursday he did not anticipate that the United States would reject TransCanada Corp's proposed Keystone XL pipeline from the Alberta oil sands to the Texas coast.
Green groups strongly oppose the pipeline, which they say will help boost global warming. U.S. officials say they expect a final decision by the middle of the year.
(Reporting by Randall Palmer; Writing by David Ljunggren; Editing by Vicki Allen)
Green groups strongly oppose the pipeline, which they say will help boost global warming. U.S. officials say they expect a final decision by the middle of the year.
(Reporting by Randall Palmer; Writing by David Ljunggren; Editing by Vicki Allen)
Weather Pristine for Private Rocket Launch to Space Station Friday
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The weather looks promising for the planned Friday launch of a privately built robotic space capsule to the International Space Station, NASA says.
The unmanned Dragon space capsule, built by the private spaceflight company SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., is slated to launch toward the space station Friday (March 1) at 10:10 a.m. EST. Weather forecasts predict a 90 percent chance of favorable conditions for launch - near-perfect conditions.
'The mission is the second of 12 SpaceX flights contracted by NASA to resupply the International Space Station,' NASA officials said in a mission update. 'It will mark the third trip by a Dragon capsule to the orbiting laboratory, following a demonstration flight in May 2012 and the first resupply mission in October 2012.'
SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to provide 12 unmanned cargo deliveries to the space station. Another company, Orbital Sciences Corp. based in Virginia, has a $1.9 billion contract for eight mission using its own Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft.
The Dragon spacecraft is expected to deliver 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms) worth of supplies to the six international crewmembers on board the station. The capsule is scheduled to return to Earth with 2,300 pounds (1,043 kg) of material from the space station when it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California on March 25.
SpaceX conducted a successful rocket engine test, known as a 'static test fire' on Monday (Feb. 25). The rocket's 9 Merlin engines were fired for a few seconds while the rocket was held down on the launch pad.
NASA is relying on SpaceX, Orbital Sciences and other private companies to develop new private spacecraft to supply the International Space Station with cargo and ultimately ferry American astronauts into and from low-Earth orbit.
With the retirement of the space shuttle fleet in 2011, NASA has been dependent on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft to fly astronauts to the space station, and use unmanned cargo ships built by Russia, Japan and Europe to deliver supplies to the orbiting laboratory.
The space agency is also developing a new rocket and spacecraft, the Orion space capsule and its Space Launch System mega-rocket, for future deep-space exploration missions to the moon, asteroids and Mars.
You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Miriam Kramer on Twitter @mirikramer. Follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
The unmanned Dragon space capsule, built by the private spaceflight company SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., is slated to launch toward the space station Friday (March 1) at 10:10 a.m. EST. Weather forecasts predict a 90 percent chance of favorable conditions for launch - near-perfect conditions.
'The mission is the second of 12 SpaceX flights contracted by NASA to resupply the International Space Station,' NASA officials said in a mission update. 'It will mark the third trip by a Dragon capsule to the orbiting laboratory, following a demonstration flight in May 2012 and the first resupply mission in October 2012.'
SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to provide 12 unmanned cargo deliveries to the space station. Another company, Orbital Sciences Corp. based in Virginia, has a $1.9 billion contract for eight mission using its own Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft.
The Dragon spacecraft is expected to deliver 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms) worth of supplies to the six international crewmembers on board the station. The capsule is scheduled to return to Earth with 2,300 pounds (1,043 kg) of material from the space station when it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California on March 25.
SpaceX conducted a successful rocket engine test, known as a 'static test fire' on Monday (Feb. 25). The rocket's 9 Merlin engines were fired for a few seconds while the rocket was held down on the launch pad.
NASA is relying on SpaceX, Orbital Sciences and other private companies to develop new private spacecraft to supply the International Space Station with cargo and ultimately ferry American astronauts into and from low-Earth orbit.
With the retirement of the space shuttle fleet in 2011, NASA has been dependent on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft to fly astronauts to the space station, and use unmanned cargo ships built by Russia, Japan and Europe to deliver supplies to the orbiting laboratory.
The space agency is also developing a new rocket and spacecraft, the Orion space capsule and its Space Launch System mega-rocket, for future deep-space exploration missions to the moon, asteroids and Mars.
You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Miriam Kramer on Twitter @mirikramer. Follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
- SpaceX Primes Dragon Capsule for Space Station Mission (Photos)
- Mars Rover Curiosity: Mars Science Lab Coverage
- SpaceX's Cargo Capsule Docks With International Space Station | Video
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Colo. kids stranded at school overnight by snow
DENVER (AP) - A snowstorm moving across the Midwest forced about 60 students to spend the night at their Colorado school when a state highway was closed due to dangerous conditions that left some drivers stranded in their cars, as winter weather continued to cause problems for a wide swath of the country.
Tens of thousands remained without power in Michigan, while adverse conditions continued to disrupt flights at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. In eastern Wisconsin, hundreds of vehicles were stranded or ended up in crashes as a winter storm made travel dangerous. And in Oklahoma, a train collided with a car stuck in the snow in Woodward, where at least 15 inches of snow fell.
According to the air traffic tracking website FlightAware.com, about 100 flights in and out of Chicago's airports have been canceled for Wednesday. Flights into O'Hare International Airport are being delayed an average of about an hour.
On the plains in the eastern half of Colorado, wind and snow created whiteout conditions Tuesday afternoon just as buses began taking students home from the Miami-Yoder school district school about 40 miles east of Colorado Springs. The buses turned back to the school and about 60 students, ranging from preschoolers to 12th graders, watched movies, played basketball, ate concession-stand pizza and talked to their parents before bedtime.
The older kids slept on wrestling and gym mats covered with coats, while the younger ones curled up on preschool napping mats, Principal Sharon Webb said.
The school is a large version of a one-room schoolhouse. The students all know each other, and many are related, which Webb said gave it the feel of a sleepover. She said parents were understanding.
'When you live out here in this wide-open country, you know they're where it's the safest,' she said of the school.
Daylight showed how powerful the wind had been. Outside, there were drifts up to 4 feet high, but the grass was still visible on the football field.
The blowing snow also closed a 150-mile stretch of Interstate 70 from just outside Denver to the Kansas line, along with other smaller highways in eastern Colorado, including the one leading to the school. Deputies in surrounding El Paso County responded to about 40 calls for help from stranded drivers or reports of vehicles off the road that might still have people inside. No injuries were reported.
In Wisconsin, more than 340 were stranded vehicles and crashes in Milwaukee, Kenosha, Ozaukee and Washington counties after heavy snowfall that started Tuesday and continued into Wednesday, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The storm dumped 14 inches in Sheboygan County, where sheriff's Lt. Mark Rupnik said they've had at least 100 calls for stranded vehicles, vehicles in ditches or accidents. He said the main highways were drivable as of Wednesday afternoon but expected the secondary roads to be a problem for the next day.
Several area school districts canceled classes Wednesday, and there were power outages in the Milwaukee area.
In Muskegon, Mich., 9 inches of snow were reported as of Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service said. Four to 7 inches fell in Washtenaw County, including Ann Arbor. Six inches fell in parts of Lenawee County.
Authorities said weather might be a factor in crashes that killed motorists in Sanilac and Monroe counties.
Elsewhere, authorities said no one was injured after a train collided with a car that was stuck in snow on railroad tracks in Woodward, Okla.
The car's driver tried to drive over the train tracks Wednesday morning but became trapped on the snow-covered road, Oklahoma City television station KWTV reported.
Authorities say the driver was able to exit the car safely but couldn't push the vehicle from the tracks before the train smashed into it. The car was totaled in the collision.
Tens of thousands remained without power in Michigan, while adverse conditions continued to disrupt flights at Chicago's O'Hare Airport. In eastern Wisconsin, hundreds of vehicles were stranded or ended up in crashes as a winter storm made travel dangerous. And in Oklahoma, a train collided with a car stuck in the snow in Woodward, where at least 15 inches of snow fell.
According to the air traffic tracking website FlightAware.com, about 100 flights in and out of Chicago's airports have been canceled for Wednesday. Flights into O'Hare International Airport are being delayed an average of about an hour.
On the plains in the eastern half of Colorado, wind and snow created whiteout conditions Tuesday afternoon just as buses began taking students home from the Miami-Yoder school district school about 40 miles east of Colorado Springs. The buses turned back to the school and about 60 students, ranging from preschoolers to 12th graders, watched movies, played basketball, ate concession-stand pizza and talked to their parents before bedtime.
The older kids slept on wrestling and gym mats covered with coats, while the younger ones curled up on preschool napping mats, Principal Sharon Webb said.
The school is a large version of a one-room schoolhouse. The students all know each other, and many are related, which Webb said gave it the feel of a sleepover. She said parents were understanding.
'When you live out here in this wide-open country, you know they're where it's the safest,' she said of the school.
Daylight showed how powerful the wind had been. Outside, there were drifts up to 4 feet high, but the grass was still visible on the football field.
The blowing snow also closed a 150-mile stretch of Interstate 70 from just outside Denver to the Kansas line, along with other smaller highways in eastern Colorado, including the one leading to the school. Deputies in surrounding El Paso County responded to about 40 calls for help from stranded drivers or reports of vehicles off the road that might still have people inside. No injuries were reported.
In Wisconsin, more than 340 were stranded vehicles and crashes in Milwaukee, Kenosha, Ozaukee and Washington counties after heavy snowfall that started Tuesday and continued into Wednesday, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The storm dumped 14 inches in Sheboygan County, where sheriff's Lt. Mark Rupnik said they've had at least 100 calls for stranded vehicles, vehicles in ditches or accidents. He said the main highways were drivable as of Wednesday afternoon but expected the secondary roads to be a problem for the next day.
Several area school districts canceled classes Wednesday, and there were power outages in the Milwaukee area.
In Muskegon, Mich., 9 inches of snow were reported as of Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service said. Four to 7 inches fell in Washtenaw County, including Ann Arbor. Six inches fell in parts of Lenawee County.
Authorities said weather might be a factor in crashes that killed motorists in Sanilac and Monroe counties.
Elsewhere, authorities said no one was injured after a train collided with a car that was stuck in snow on railroad tracks in Woodward, Okla.
The car's driver tried to drive over the train tracks Wednesday morning but became trapped on the snow-covered road, Oklahoma City television station KWTV reported.
Authorities say the driver was able to exit the car safely but couldn't push the vehicle from the tracks before the train smashed into it. The car was totaled in the collision.
Blizzard eases U.S. Plains drought but crops need more moisture
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A blizzard this week in the drought-stricken U.S. Plains will moisten soil for major crops, but the snow storm made it difficult to feed cattle and reach some cow herds, an agricultural meteorologist said on Wednesday.
Andy Karst of World Weather Inc said the blast of winter weather dropped a foot of snow in many areas with up to 19 inches in the Texas Panhandle on Monday.
'It will benefit most areas but parts of western Kansas and eastern Colorado missed out on the storm, so it remains too dry there,' Karst said. 'There was probably a lot of stress to livestock.'
In more good news for farmers, agricultural meteorologists predict light rain in some areas later this week and a larger storm in early March. They say significant winter rainfall and snow have so far eliminated the drought, the worst in 50 years in the United States, in an area roughly from Illinois eastward.
A combination of rain and snow early this week left roughly 6 inches to 18 inches of snow in a widespread area of the western and southern Midwest corn and soybean belt and most of the hard red winter wheat region in the Plains.
The snowstorm contains about 0.50 inch to 1.50 inches of water that will be added to dry soils in the region, helping the U.S. winter wheat crop when it begins its growth spurt this spring.
But more moisture will be needed in April and May to nurse the crop to maturity and to aid the soon-to-be-seeded corn and soybean crops, meteorologists and crop experts have said.
Commodity Weather Group meteorologist Joel Widenor said very light showers would move into the Northern Plains and dry areas of the western Midwest next week and a larger storm was expected in the first or second weeks of March.
Widenor said it will cover the far southeastern Plains, Delta, southern and eastern Midwest but the recently wet areas of the U.S. Southeast should remain drier.
He said the March storm also would bring a chance for more rainfall to the central and southeastern U.S. Plains but the 'forecast has slipped drier than yesterday.'
The weekly Drought Monitor report issued February 21 by a group of state and federal climatologists showed 18.66 percent of the contiguous United States was suffering from extreme drought, up from 17.71 percent a week earlier. The percentage in exceptional drought, the worst category, rose to 6.66 percent from 6.61 percent the previous week.
Kansas wheat farmers welcomed the winter snowstorm, but the drought stress on the winter wheat crop from seeding time last fall until now probably has harmed some of it beyond repair, experts have said.
Don Keeney, meteorologist for MDA Earthsat Weather, said that as of early February, roughly 4 inches to 6 inches of rain were needed in Kansas, the top producer of hard red winter wheat, to bring the state out of drought status.
Up to 8 inches were needed in a pocket of severe dryness in northeastern Kansas, a big corn- and grain sorghum-growing area. Similar amounts were needed in Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa and Missouri and northern Illinois and Indiana.
(Reporting By Sam Nelson; Editing by Grant McCool)
Andy Karst of World Weather Inc said the blast of winter weather dropped a foot of snow in many areas with up to 19 inches in the Texas Panhandle on Monday.
'It will benefit most areas but parts of western Kansas and eastern Colorado missed out on the storm, so it remains too dry there,' Karst said. 'There was probably a lot of stress to livestock.'
In more good news for farmers, agricultural meteorologists predict light rain in some areas later this week and a larger storm in early March. They say significant winter rainfall and snow have so far eliminated the drought, the worst in 50 years in the United States, in an area roughly from Illinois eastward.
A combination of rain and snow early this week left roughly 6 inches to 18 inches of snow in a widespread area of the western and southern Midwest corn and soybean belt and most of the hard red winter wheat region in the Plains.
The snowstorm contains about 0.50 inch to 1.50 inches of water that will be added to dry soils in the region, helping the U.S. winter wheat crop when it begins its growth spurt this spring.
But more moisture will be needed in April and May to nurse the crop to maturity and to aid the soon-to-be-seeded corn and soybean crops, meteorologists and crop experts have said.
Commodity Weather Group meteorologist Joel Widenor said very light showers would move into the Northern Plains and dry areas of the western Midwest next week and a larger storm was expected in the first or second weeks of March.
Widenor said it will cover the far southeastern Plains, Delta, southern and eastern Midwest but the recently wet areas of the U.S. Southeast should remain drier.
He said the March storm also would bring a chance for more rainfall to the central and southeastern U.S. Plains but the 'forecast has slipped drier than yesterday.'
The weekly Drought Monitor report issued February 21 by a group of state and federal climatologists showed 18.66 percent of the contiguous United States was suffering from extreme drought, up from 17.71 percent a week earlier. The percentage in exceptional drought, the worst category, rose to 6.66 percent from 6.61 percent the previous week.
Kansas wheat farmers welcomed the winter snowstorm, but the drought stress on the winter wheat crop from seeding time last fall until now probably has harmed some of it beyond repair, experts have said.
Don Keeney, meteorologist for MDA Earthsat Weather, said that as of early February, roughly 4 inches to 6 inches of rain were needed in Kansas, the top producer of hard red winter wheat, to bring the state out of drought status.
Up to 8 inches were needed in a pocket of severe dryness in northeastern Kansas, a big corn- and grain sorghum-growing area. Similar amounts were needed in Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa and Missouri and northern Illinois and Indiana.
(Reporting By Sam Nelson; Editing by Grant McCool)
South Africa to tax carbon emissions from 2015
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa, the continent's top greenhouse gas producer, plans to tax carbon emissions from January 2015, but will introduce some exemptions to protect industry and jobs, South Africa's finance minister said on Wednesday.
The tax, set at 120 rand per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent, has been criticised by carbon-intensive companies such as petrochemicals giant Sasol and ArcelorMittal South Africa who argue the state's attempt to curb emissions blamed for global warming would hit profits.
The carbon tax drive occurs against a backdrop of rising electricity tariffs and sluggish economic growth. Growth is seen as averaging 3.3 percent over the next three years.
The Treasury proposed a 60 percent tax-free threshold until 2020 on annual emissions for all sectors, including electricity, petroleum, iron, steel and aluminium.
'To soften the impact, a tax-free exemption threshold of 60 percent will be set, with additional allowances for emissions intensive and trade-exposed industries,' Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan told parliament during his 2013 budget speech.
Companies will be able to claim additional relief of up to 10 percent by investing in external green projects to reduce their carbon tax liabilities.
South Africa wants to cut CO2 emissions by a third over the next decade but has little flexibility to make fast changes with major employers among the top polluters. Its cash-strapped power sector almost fully reliant on coal.
The carbon tax, to be phased in over time, is one of several green initiatives aimed at reducing the carbon footprint in the continent's largest economy, including a biofuels production incentive and higher vehicle emissions taxes.
Treasury will release an updated carbon tax policy paper for further public consultation at the end of March.
The tax, set at 120 rand per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent, has been criticised by carbon-intensive companies such as petrochemicals giant Sasol and ArcelorMittal South Africa who argue the state's attempt to curb emissions blamed for global warming would hit profits.
The carbon tax drive occurs against a backdrop of rising electricity tariffs and sluggish economic growth. Growth is seen as averaging 3.3 percent over the next three years.
The Treasury proposed a 60 percent tax-free threshold until 2020 on annual emissions for all sectors, including electricity, petroleum, iron, steel and aluminium.
'To soften the impact, a tax-free exemption threshold of 60 percent will be set, with additional allowances for emissions intensive and trade-exposed industries,' Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan told parliament during his 2013 budget speech.
Companies will be able to claim additional relief of up to 10 percent by investing in external green projects to reduce their carbon tax liabilities.
South Africa wants to cut CO2 emissions by a third over the next decade but has little flexibility to make fast changes with major employers among the top polluters. Its cash-strapped power sector almost fully reliant on coal.
The carbon tax, to be phased in over time, is one of several green initiatives aimed at reducing the carbon footprint in the continent's largest economy, including a biofuels production incentive and higher vehicle emissions taxes.
Treasury will release an updated carbon tax policy paper for further public consultation at the end of March.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Storm that buried Plains slams Great Lakes region
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A powerful winter storm that buried the U.S. Plains and left at least three people dead moved into the southern Great Lakes region on Tuesday, where it snarled the evening commute in Chicago and Milwaukee, created near-whiteout conditions in some areas and forced hundreds of flight cancellations.
Much of the region was under either a winter storm warning or a winter weather advisory, according to the National Weather Service, as the system's potent blend of wet snow, sleet and strong winds bore down on north central Illinois, southern Wisconsin and northern Indiana and Ohio.
The most intense snowfall and greatest accumulations were expected through Tuesday night, the NWS said. With winds gusting up to 35 mph, near-whiteout conditions were reported in some rural areas, the agency said.
More than 500 flights were canceled at Chicago's O'Hare International and Midway airports alone, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. Those flights that managed to take off or land faced delays of up to an hour.
The Illinois Tollway agency, which maintains nearly 300 miles of highway around Chicago, had its fleet of more than 180 snowplows working to keep the roads clear.
As the afternoon rush hour began in Chicago, blowing snow reduced visibility and created treacherous driving conditions, doubling average travel times in and out of the city on major expressways, according to Traffic.com.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation warned that much of Interstate 94 between the Illinois state line and Milwaukee was ice covered.
In Chicago, the city's public school system, the third-largest school district in the country, canceled all after-school sporting events, including six state regional basketball games.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service said the storm would continue to move eastward, dumping 3 to 5 inches of wet snow on Detroit overnight and into Wednesday morning.
In Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, where the storm hit earlier, residents were digging out.
Highways in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles and parts of Kansas remained closed because of heavy and drifting snow.
The storm contributed to at least three deaths, two in Kansas and one in Oklahoma.
A woman died and three passengers were injured Monday night on Interstate 70 when their pickup truck rolled off the icy roadway in Ellis County, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback said. Earlier Monday, a man was killed when his car veered off the interstate in Sherman County near the Colorado border, he said.
'We urge everyone to avoid travel and be extremely cautious if you must be on the roads,' said Ernest Garcia, superintendent of the Kansas Highway Patrol.
In northern Oklahoma, one person died when the roof of a home partially collapsed in the city of Woodward, said Matt Lehenbauer, the city's emergency management director.
'We have roofs collapsing all over town,' said Woodward Mayor Roscoe Hill Jr. 'We really have a mess on our hands.'
Kansas City was also hard hit by the storm, which left snowfalls of 7 to 13 inches in the metro region on Tuesday, said Chris Bowman, meteorologist for the National Weather Service. Another 1 to 3 inches is forecast for Tuesday evening and nearly two-thirds of the flights at Kansas City International Airport Tuesday afternoon were canceled.
In addition to the winter storm, National Weather Service forecasters on Tuesday issued tornado watches across central Florida and up the eastern coast to South Carolina.
(Reporting by Kevin Murphy in Missouri, David Bailey in Minneapolis and James B. Kelleher in Chicago; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Barbara Goldberg, Nick Zieminski, Dan Grebler and Phil Berlowitz)
Much of the region was under either a winter storm warning or a winter weather advisory, according to the National Weather Service, as the system's potent blend of wet snow, sleet and strong winds bore down on north central Illinois, southern Wisconsin and northern Indiana and Ohio.
The most intense snowfall and greatest accumulations were expected through Tuesday night, the NWS said. With winds gusting up to 35 mph, near-whiteout conditions were reported in some rural areas, the agency said.
More than 500 flights were canceled at Chicago's O'Hare International and Midway airports alone, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation. Those flights that managed to take off or land faced delays of up to an hour.
The Illinois Tollway agency, which maintains nearly 300 miles of highway around Chicago, had its fleet of more than 180 snowplows working to keep the roads clear.
As the afternoon rush hour began in Chicago, blowing snow reduced visibility and created treacherous driving conditions, doubling average travel times in and out of the city on major expressways, according to Traffic.com.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation warned that much of Interstate 94 between the Illinois state line and Milwaukee was ice covered.
In Chicago, the city's public school system, the third-largest school district in the country, canceled all after-school sporting events, including six state regional basketball games.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service said the storm would continue to move eastward, dumping 3 to 5 inches of wet snow on Detroit overnight and into Wednesday morning.
In Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas, where the storm hit earlier, residents were digging out.
Highways in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles and parts of Kansas remained closed because of heavy and drifting snow.
The storm contributed to at least three deaths, two in Kansas and one in Oklahoma.
A woman died and three passengers were injured Monday night on Interstate 70 when their pickup truck rolled off the icy roadway in Ellis County, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback said. Earlier Monday, a man was killed when his car veered off the interstate in Sherman County near the Colorado border, he said.
'We urge everyone to avoid travel and be extremely cautious if you must be on the roads,' said Ernest Garcia, superintendent of the Kansas Highway Patrol.
In northern Oklahoma, one person died when the roof of a home partially collapsed in the city of Woodward, said Matt Lehenbauer, the city's emergency management director.
'We have roofs collapsing all over town,' said Woodward Mayor Roscoe Hill Jr. 'We really have a mess on our hands.'
Kansas City was also hard hit by the storm, which left snowfalls of 7 to 13 inches in the metro region on Tuesday, said Chris Bowman, meteorologist for the National Weather Service. Another 1 to 3 inches is forecast for Tuesday evening and nearly two-thirds of the flights at Kansas City International Airport Tuesday afternoon were canceled.
In addition to the winter storm, National Weather Service forecasters on Tuesday issued tornado watches across central Florida and up the eastern coast to South Carolina.
(Reporting by Kevin Murphy in Missouri, David Bailey in Minneapolis and James B. Kelleher in Chicago; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Barbara Goldberg, Nick Zieminski, Dan Grebler and Phil Berlowitz)
Chicago braces for storm that buried Plains
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A potent winter storm that buried much of the U.S. Plains and left at least three people dead moved into Chicago on Tuesday, forcing hundreds of flight cancellations and raising the specter of a nightmarish evening commute.
The National Weather Service's Chicago office issued a winter weather advisory from noon through 9 p.m. Central time.
Forecasters predicted the storm, which packs a dangerous mix of wet snow, sleet, rain and high winds, would reach peak intensity around the evening rush hour, reducing visibility and creating treacherous driving conditions.
The Illinois Tollway agency, which maintains nearly 300 miles of highway around Chicago, said it was mobilizing its fleet of more than 180 snowplows in anticipation of the storm, which was expected to dump as much as 6 inches of wet snow north of the city.
At Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, sleet and low clouds on the front end of the storm were causing delays of nearly two-and-a-half hours, according to Flightaware.com, and nearly 300 arrivals and departures were canceled at O'Hare and Chicago's Midway Airport.
In Oklahoma, Texas and parts of Kansas, where some residents were still digging out from a winter storm last week, the storm dumped up to 17 inches of snow on Amarillo, Texas, and whipped Kansas City, Missouri, with winds of up to 30 miles per hour.
Highways in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles and parts of Kansas remained closed because of heavy and drifting snow.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service said the storm would dump 3 to 5 inches of wet snow on Detroit overnight and into Wednesday morning.
The storm has contributed to at least three deaths, two in Kansas and one in Oklahoma.
A woman died and three passengers were injured Monday night on Interstate 70 when their pickup truck rolled off the icy roadway in Ellis County, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback said. Earlier Monday, a man was killed when his car veered off the interstate in Sherman County near the Colorado border, he said.
'We urge everyone to avoid travel and be extremely cautious if you must be on the roads,' said Ernest Garcia, superintendent of the Kansas Highway Patrol.
In northern Oklahoma, one person died when the roof of a home partially collapsed in the city of Woodward, said Matt Lehenbauer, the city's emergency management director.
'We have roofs collapsing all over town,' said Woodward Mayor Roscoe Hill Jr. 'We really have a mess on our hands.'
Kansas City was also hard hit by the storm, which dumped as much as 13 inches of snow on some parts of the metro region on Tuesday, said Chris Bowman, meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
Bowman said another 1 to 3 inches could fall Tuesday evening and nearly two-thirds of the flights at Kansas City International Airport Tuesday afternoon were canceled.
The storm cut power to some 80,000 households in the Kansas City metropolitan area and to more than 12,000 rural customers, officials said. About half the Kansas City customers had power restored by noon Tuesday, said a spokeswoman for Kansas City Power & Light.
Heavy wet snow weighed down power lines and tree branches, making them vulnerable to collapse, especially with winds of 10 to 20 mph, said Sharon Watson, spokesperson for emergency management in Kansas.
Watson said this week's storm has in ways had a greater impact than last week's.
'It has covered far less of an area but it has been more deadly and there is the big concern about power outages,' Watson said.
Governors in Texas and Oklahoma had declared states of emergency in the areas struck by the snowstorm to speed assistance to those in need. Interstate and other highways were closed across the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles.
Areas around Amarillo and Lubbock received more than a foot of snow during the storm, which had cut visibility to near zero on some roads, Texas transportation officials said.
In addition to the winter storm, National Weather Service forecasters on Tuesday issued tornado watches across central Florida and up the eastern coast to South Carolina.
(Reporting by Kevin Murphy in Missouri, David Bailey in Minneapolis and James B. Kelleher in Chicago; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Barbara Goldberg, Nick Zieminski and Dan Grebler)
The National Weather Service's Chicago office issued a winter weather advisory from noon through 9 p.m. Central time.
Forecasters predicted the storm, which packs a dangerous mix of wet snow, sleet, rain and high winds, would reach peak intensity around the evening rush hour, reducing visibility and creating treacherous driving conditions.
The Illinois Tollway agency, which maintains nearly 300 miles of highway around Chicago, said it was mobilizing its fleet of more than 180 snowplows in anticipation of the storm, which was expected to dump as much as 6 inches of wet snow north of the city.
At Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, sleet and low clouds on the front end of the storm were causing delays of nearly two-and-a-half hours, according to Flightaware.com, and nearly 300 arrivals and departures were canceled at O'Hare and Chicago's Midway Airport.
In Oklahoma, Texas and parts of Kansas, where some residents were still digging out from a winter storm last week, the storm dumped up to 17 inches of snow on Amarillo, Texas, and whipped Kansas City, Missouri, with winds of up to 30 miles per hour.
Highways in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles and parts of Kansas remained closed because of heavy and drifting snow.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service said the storm would dump 3 to 5 inches of wet snow on Detroit overnight and into Wednesday morning.
The storm has contributed to at least three deaths, two in Kansas and one in Oklahoma.
A woman died and three passengers were injured Monday night on Interstate 70 when their pickup truck rolled off the icy roadway in Ellis County, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback said. Earlier Monday, a man was killed when his car veered off the interstate in Sherman County near the Colorado border, he said.
'We urge everyone to avoid travel and be extremely cautious if you must be on the roads,' said Ernest Garcia, superintendent of the Kansas Highway Patrol.
In northern Oklahoma, one person died when the roof of a home partially collapsed in the city of Woodward, said Matt Lehenbauer, the city's emergency management director.
'We have roofs collapsing all over town,' said Woodward Mayor Roscoe Hill Jr. 'We really have a mess on our hands.'
Kansas City was also hard hit by the storm, which dumped as much as 13 inches of snow on some parts of the metro region on Tuesday, said Chris Bowman, meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
Bowman said another 1 to 3 inches could fall Tuesday evening and nearly two-thirds of the flights at Kansas City International Airport Tuesday afternoon were canceled.
The storm cut power to some 80,000 households in the Kansas City metropolitan area and to more than 12,000 rural customers, officials said. About half the Kansas City customers had power restored by noon Tuesday, said a spokeswoman for Kansas City Power & Light.
Heavy wet snow weighed down power lines and tree branches, making them vulnerable to collapse, especially with winds of 10 to 20 mph, said Sharon Watson, spokesperson for emergency management in Kansas.
Watson said this week's storm has in ways had a greater impact than last week's.
'It has covered far less of an area but it has been more deadly and there is the big concern about power outages,' Watson said.
Governors in Texas and Oklahoma had declared states of emergency in the areas struck by the snowstorm to speed assistance to those in need. Interstate and other highways were closed across the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles.
Areas around Amarillo and Lubbock received more than a foot of snow during the storm, which had cut visibility to near zero on some roads, Texas transportation officials said.
In addition to the winter storm, National Weather Service forecasters on Tuesday issued tornado watches across central Florida and up the eastern coast to South Carolina.
(Reporting by Kevin Murphy in Missouri, David Bailey in Minneapolis and James B. Kelleher in Chicago; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Barbara Goldberg, Nick Zieminski and Dan Grebler)
Oxfam criticizes AB Foods on development impact, praises Nestle
ZURICH (Reuters) - Associated British Foods scored lowest among 10 of the top food and beverage companies assessed for their social and environmental impact on poor countries, development group Oxfam said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Nestle and Unilever ranked highest for their policies on seven areas assessed by Oxfam as critical to sustainable agriculture: women, small-scale farmers, farm workers, water, land, climate change and transparency.
Oxfam said in the report that Nestle and Unilever had done more to tackle social and environmental risks within their supply chains than companies it ranked less favorably including AB Foods and Kellogg Co.
Big food and beverage companies have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years over their sourcing of raw materials, courting criticism on issues ranging from child labor on cocoa farms to the impact of palm oil plantations on rain forests.
Oxfam said it had launched the 'Behind the Brands' campaign to try to assess 'ubiquitous' declarations of sustainability made by food and beverage companies as well as a proliferation of corporate social responsibility programs.
'There are enormous gaps in terms of basic transparency which makes it very difficult to hold these companies to account,' Raymond Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America, told a phone conference for journalists.
'The goal is not to criticize these companies for poor performance but encourage a 'race to the top'.'
Oxfam ranked Nestle first, Unilever second, Coca-Cola third, PepsiCo fourth, Mars fifth, Danone and Mondelez International joint sixth, Kellogg Co and General Mills join eighth, and AB Foods in 10th place. (www.oxfam.org/behindthebrands)
AB Foods, whose brands include Twinings tea, Ryvita crackers and Ovaltine cocoa drink, rejected its ranking.
'We treat local producers, communities and the environment with the utmost respect,' an AB Foods spokesman said.
'The company has worked hard for many years, over a wide geography, at all levels of the supply chain to ensure its suppliers meet the highest ethical standards.'
Jane Nelson, director of the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School, said the 10 companies Oxfam had studied had already made major progress in improving their impact on poor farmers.
'These 10 are among the most respected and best managed companies in the world,' she told the Oxfam call. 'They are well ahead of other companies in the agricultural system.'
Among positive developments, Oxfam highlighted the fact that all of the companies, bar Coca-Cola, have signed up to more sustainable policies on palm oil. It also praised Unilever's target to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
(Editing by David Cowell)
Meanwhile, Nestle and Unilever ranked highest for their policies on seven areas assessed by Oxfam as critical to sustainable agriculture: women, small-scale farmers, farm workers, water, land, climate change and transparency.
Oxfam said in the report that Nestle and Unilever had done more to tackle social and environmental risks within their supply chains than companies it ranked less favorably including AB Foods and Kellogg Co.
Big food and beverage companies have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years over their sourcing of raw materials, courting criticism on issues ranging from child labor on cocoa farms to the impact of palm oil plantations on rain forests.
Oxfam said it had launched the 'Behind the Brands' campaign to try to assess 'ubiquitous' declarations of sustainability made by food and beverage companies as well as a proliferation of corporate social responsibility programs.
'There are enormous gaps in terms of basic transparency which makes it very difficult to hold these companies to account,' Raymond Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America, told a phone conference for journalists.
'The goal is not to criticize these companies for poor performance but encourage a 'race to the top'.'
Oxfam ranked Nestle first, Unilever second, Coca-Cola third, PepsiCo fourth, Mars fifth, Danone and Mondelez International joint sixth, Kellogg Co and General Mills join eighth, and AB Foods in 10th place. (www.oxfam.org/behindthebrands)
AB Foods, whose brands include Twinings tea, Ryvita crackers and Ovaltine cocoa drink, rejected its ranking.
'We treat local producers, communities and the environment with the utmost respect,' an AB Foods spokesman said.
'The company has worked hard for many years, over a wide geography, at all levels of the supply chain to ensure its suppliers meet the highest ethical standards.'
Jane Nelson, director of the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School, said the 10 companies Oxfam had studied had already made major progress in improving their impact on poor farmers.
'These 10 are among the most respected and best managed companies in the world,' she told the Oxfam call. 'They are well ahead of other companies in the agricultural system.'
Among positive developments, Oxfam highlighted the fact that all of the companies, bar Coca-Cola, have signed up to more sustainable policies on palm oil. It also praised Unilever's target to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
(Editing by David Cowell)
Gorgeous weather brings blooming beauties
HTML 1.0 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd'>Gorgeous weather brings blooming beauties | www.ktvu.com
Monday, February 25, 2013
Extreme Weather Linked to Giant Waves in Atmosphere
Extreme weather events have been on the rise in the last few decades, and man-made climate change may be causing them by interfering with global air-flow patterns, according to new research.
The Northern Hemisphere has taken a beating from extreme weather in recent years - the 2003 European heat wave, the 2010 Pakistan flood and the 2011 heat wave in the United States, for example. These events, in a general sense, are the result of the global movement of air.
Giant waves of air in the atmosphere normally even out the climate, by bringing warm air north from the tropics and cold air south from the Arctic. But a new study suggests these colossal waves have gotten stuck in place during extreme weather events.
'What we found is that during several recent extreme weather events these planetary waves almost freeze in their tracks for weeks,' lead author Vladimir Petoukhov, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany, said in a statement. 'So instead of bringing in cool air after having brought warm air in before, the heat just stays.'
How long these weather extremes last is critical, the researchers say. While two or three days of 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) pose little threat, 20 days or more can lead to extreme heat stress, which can trigger deaths, forest fires and lost harvests. [The World's 10 Weirdest Weather Events]
Monster Waves
The researchers created equations to model the motion of the massive air waves, determining what it takes to make the waves plough to a stop and build up. The team then used these models to crunch daily weather data from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction.
During extreme weather events, the waves were indeed trapped and amplified, the scientists found. They also saw a significant increase in the occurrence of these trapped waves.
Here's how the waves may be getting trapped: The burning of fossil fuels causes more warming in the Arctic than in other latitudes, because the loss of snow and ice means heat gets absorbed by the darker ground, not reflected (as it would by the white snow). This warming lessens the temperature difference between the Arctic and northern latitudes like Europe. Since these differences drive air flow, a smaller difference means less air movement. Also, land areas warm and cool more easily than oceans. The result is an unnatural pattern of air flow that prevents the air waves from circulating over land.
The study's results help explain the spike in summer weather extremes. Previous research had shown a link between climate change and extreme weather, but did not identify the mechanism.
'This is quite a breakthrough, even though things are not at all simple - the suggested physical process increases the probability of weather extremes, but additional factors certainly play a role as well, including natural variability,' study co-author Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, also of PIK, said in a statement.
The 32-year period studied provides a good explanation of past extreme weather events, the researchers say, but is too short to make predictions about how often such events may occur in the future.
The findings were reported online today (Feb. 25) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
The Northern Hemisphere has taken a beating from extreme weather in recent years - the 2003 European heat wave, the 2010 Pakistan flood and the 2011 heat wave in the United States, for example. These events, in a general sense, are the result of the global movement of air.
Giant waves of air in the atmosphere normally even out the climate, by bringing warm air north from the tropics and cold air south from the Arctic. But a new study suggests these colossal waves have gotten stuck in place during extreme weather events.
'What we found is that during several recent extreme weather events these planetary waves almost freeze in their tracks for weeks,' lead author Vladimir Petoukhov, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany, said in a statement. 'So instead of bringing in cool air after having brought warm air in before, the heat just stays.'
How long these weather extremes last is critical, the researchers say. While two or three days of 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) pose little threat, 20 days or more can lead to extreme heat stress, which can trigger deaths, forest fires and lost harvests. [The World's 10 Weirdest Weather Events]
Monster Waves
The researchers created equations to model the motion of the massive air waves, determining what it takes to make the waves plough to a stop and build up. The team then used these models to crunch daily weather data from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction.
During extreme weather events, the waves were indeed trapped and amplified, the scientists found. They also saw a significant increase in the occurrence of these trapped waves.
Here's how the waves may be getting trapped: The burning of fossil fuels causes more warming in the Arctic than in other latitudes, because the loss of snow and ice means heat gets absorbed by the darker ground, not reflected (as it would by the white snow). This warming lessens the temperature difference between the Arctic and northern latitudes like Europe. Since these differences drive air flow, a smaller difference means less air movement. Also, land areas warm and cool more easily than oceans. The result is an unnatural pattern of air flow that prevents the air waves from circulating over land.
The study's results help explain the spike in summer weather extremes. Previous research had shown a link between climate change and extreme weather, but did not identify the mechanism.
'This is quite a breakthrough, even though things are not at all simple - the suggested physical process increases the probability of weather extremes, but additional factors certainly play a role as well, including natural variability,' study co-author Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, also of PIK, said in a statement.
The 32-year period studied provides a good explanation of past extreme weather events, the researchers say, but is too short to make predictions about how often such events may occur in the future.
The findings were reported online today (Feb. 25) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Follow LiveScience on Twitter @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
- 10 Weird Ways Weather Changed History
- Infographic: Earth's Atmosphere Top to Bottom
- The Reality of Climate Change: 10 Myths Busted
Obama Administration Reaches Out to Local Governments to Spread Its Climate Message
President Obama used his Inaugural Address and State of the Union speech to issue the boldest, clearest call to action on climate change ever voiced by a sitting U.S. president-but don't expect him to barnstorm across the country with that message.
While the president will headline a road show of events to sell his crowd-friendly message on restoring the middle class and boosting U.S. manufacturing, climate change won't get a starring role. It remains a politically inflammatory subject, and the White House communications team isn't exactly eager to remind Americans how Obama plans to tackle the problem. The president has called on Congress to pass a climate-change bill, but it's almost certain that any such legislation will expire in the gridlock of Capitol Hill. Instead, the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to issue tough regulations on coal-fired power plants, the nation's biggest source of global-warming pollution. That's hardly the stuff of soaring rhetoric-and it's sure to reignite Republicans' 2012 campaign attacks that the president is abusing government authority and waging a war on coal.
But even though climate change won't get top billing in Obama's speeches, the White House is far from ignoring the issue; it's just doing a different kind of outreach to build the case for its coming climate-change actions.
Inside Washington, in a warren of back rooms at EPA, dozens of environmental officials are working to craft landmark climate-change regulations that they hope will curb industrial pollution-and withstand a tsunami of legal and political attacks. To help them do it, they're inviting in heads of the industries and businesses that will soon be forced to implement the rules. Business leaders, although they're not happy about the coming regulations, are jumping on the opportunity to communicate their concerns and perhaps help shape the rules they'll have to live by. And the Obama administration hopes that the dialogue will help defuse some of the opposition to come.
Outside Washington, the administration is building support a different way. The Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Agriculture departments are ramping up their outreach to state and local governments to help them prepare for the impacts of climate change, including increased flooding and more extreme storms and droughts. The local work by federal agencies doesn't draw the headlines like a presidential speech. But it does further a grassroots communications strategy-by getting the conversation about preparing for climate change into town councils and city planning boards, where there's less partisan fighting and more focus on practical challenges such as creating new flood zones and building storm-resistant infrastructure.
"This seems to me [to be] the beginning of a big-tent, grassroots climate strategy, which no administration has attempted in the U.S. before," said Paul Bledsoe, an environmental-policy consultant who was a senior climate-change and communications adviser to the Clinton White House. "Climate strategies in the past have been declared from on high. That hasn't been terrifically effective in mobilizing political support. But involving people in their communities, with state and local officials, who are concerned about impacts in terms of infrastructure and emergency services, could be more effective."
EPA is preparing to issue a regulation to cut carbon pollution from future power plants later this spring-a rule that will effectively freeze construction of coal plants. After that, although it's not clear when, the agency is expected to issue even more-aggressive regulations requiring existing coal plants to reduce their pollution. Gina McCarthy, EPA's top clean-air and climate-change official, whom Obama is expected to nominate to head the environmental agency as soon as this week, has been working closely with coal and electric-utility officials to craft the regulations. The administration doesn't expect the industry to welcome the rules-but it hopes the outreach will create some goodwill and at least lessen some of the inevitable push-back.
"Conversations have started," said Chuck Barlow, vice president of environmental strategy for Entergy, an electric utility with power plants in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. "There have been small groups from industry who've gone in and had discussions with [McCarthy]. We're talking about, if EPA does this, what will it look like? How flexible is it? Does EPA do most of the work, or the states? There will be much more to come."
"We're seeing more and more interest and activity from the federal agencies," said Brian Holland, director of climate programs for ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA, an organization that works with municipal governments. "It started before superstorm Sandy and has really intensified since that disaster. We see a clear indication that climate-change resilience is at the top of the president's agenda and that federal agencies are becoming more active in that area."
Even the State Department has reached out. Two days after Secretary of State John Kerry was confirmed in his post, his undersecretary, Robert Hormats, phoned Holland's group to ask how the foreign-policy department could help local governments in the U.S. prepare for climate change-a sign of Kerry's particular passion on the issue.
Among the climate-planning tools the federal government is offering to share is a digital "sea-level rise" planner created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Officials in coastal cities can plug their coordinates into the mapping software to determine how rising sea levels could harm their region. They can then use that mapping data to site future roads and structures away from harm.
"It changes the debate from whether climate change is happening to how we can best protect ourselves by creating more resilient communities," Holland said.
Mayor Frank Cownie of Des Moines, Iowa, agrees. In 2010, his city was hit with three devastating floods as heavy downpours caused the Des Moines River to overrun its banks. Last summer, record drought destroyed the region's corn crop. The weather keeps getting worse, climate science shows it's going to keep happening, and Cownie says his city officials want to plan for it-with the welcome help of Washington.
"Ten years ago, eight years ago, six years ago, people were a little slow to talk about this, but now we're saying, 'Yeah, there's a problem,' " he said.
"We have to figure out, how do we protect against extreme events in terms of flooding, and how do we capture water to use when there's another drought? There's been an upswing of outreach by the federal government on resiliency, and we're having the conversation at the city, state, county, and suburb level to figure out what we're going to do."
Meanwhile, as climate-policy conversations are taking place in EPA's offices and Iowa's town halls, advocates in Congress are also keeping up the drumbeat. In the Senate, Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Bernie Saunders, I-Vt., have introduced, with much fanfare, a sweeping climate-change bill. And Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., has joined forces with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to create a bicameral Safe Climate Caucus that will keep the issue alive with a stream of hearings and floor speeches in both chambers. But it's almost certain that Boxer's bill-which she has said she hopes to bring to the floor by this summer-will die in the Senate and be dead on arrival in the Republican House.
But that rejection could actually help the White House. In his State of the Union, Obama declared that if Congress won't act on climate change, he will. The failure of a high-profile bill would create the opportunity for the administration to roll out its new regulations.
While the president will headline a road show of events to sell his crowd-friendly message on restoring the middle class and boosting U.S. manufacturing, climate change won't get a starring role. It remains a politically inflammatory subject, and the White House communications team isn't exactly eager to remind Americans how Obama plans to tackle the problem. The president has called on Congress to pass a climate-change bill, but it's almost certain that any such legislation will expire in the gridlock of Capitol Hill. Instead, the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to issue tough regulations on coal-fired power plants, the nation's biggest source of global-warming pollution. That's hardly the stuff of soaring rhetoric-and it's sure to reignite Republicans' 2012 campaign attacks that the president is abusing government authority and waging a war on coal.
But even though climate change won't get top billing in Obama's speeches, the White House is far from ignoring the issue; it's just doing a different kind of outreach to build the case for its coming climate-change actions.
Inside Washington, in a warren of back rooms at EPA, dozens of environmental officials are working to craft landmark climate-change regulations that they hope will curb industrial pollution-and withstand a tsunami of legal and political attacks. To help them do it, they're inviting in heads of the industries and businesses that will soon be forced to implement the rules. Business leaders, although they're not happy about the coming regulations, are jumping on the opportunity to communicate their concerns and perhaps help shape the rules they'll have to live by. And the Obama administration hopes that the dialogue will help defuse some of the opposition to come.
Outside Washington, the administration is building support a different way. The Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, and Agriculture departments are ramping up their outreach to state and local governments to help them prepare for the impacts of climate change, including increased flooding and more extreme storms and droughts. The local work by federal agencies doesn't draw the headlines like a presidential speech. But it does further a grassroots communications strategy-by getting the conversation about preparing for climate change into town councils and city planning boards, where there's less partisan fighting and more focus on practical challenges such as creating new flood zones and building storm-resistant infrastructure.
"This seems to me [to be] the beginning of a big-tent, grassroots climate strategy, which no administration has attempted in the U.S. before," said Paul Bledsoe, an environmental-policy consultant who was a senior climate-change and communications adviser to the Clinton White House. "Climate strategies in the past have been declared from on high. That hasn't been terrifically effective in mobilizing political support. But involving people in their communities, with state and local officials, who are concerned about impacts in terms of infrastructure and emergency services, could be more effective."
EPA is preparing to issue a regulation to cut carbon pollution from future power plants later this spring-a rule that will effectively freeze construction of coal plants. After that, although it's not clear when, the agency is expected to issue even more-aggressive regulations requiring existing coal plants to reduce their pollution. Gina McCarthy, EPA's top clean-air and climate-change official, whom Obama is expected to nominate to head the environmental agency as soon as this week, has been working closely with coal and electric-utility officials to craft the regulations. The administration doesn't expect the industry to welcome the rules-but it hopes the outreach will create some goodwill and at least lessen some of the inevitable push-back.
"Conversations have started," said Chuck Barlow, vice president of environmental strategy for Entergy, an electric utility with power plants in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. "There have been small groups from industry who've gone in and had discussions with [McCarthy]. We're talking about, if EPA does this, what will it look like? How flexible is it? Does EPA do most of the work, or the states? There will be much more to come."
"We're seeing more and more interest and activity from the federal agencies," said Brian Holland, director of climate programs for ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA, an organization that works with municipal governments. "It started before superstorm Sandy and has really intensified since that disaster. We see a clear indication that climate-change resilience is at the top of the president's agenda and that federal agencies are becoming more active in that area."
Even the State Department has reached out. Two days after Secretary of State John Kerry was confirmed in his post, his undersecretary, Robert Hormats, phoned Holland's group to ask how the foreign-policy department could help local governments in the U.S. prepare for climate change-a sign of Kerry's particular passion on the issue.
Among the climate-planning tools the federal government is offering to share is a digital "sea-level rise" planner created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Officials in coastal cities can plug their coordinates into the mapping software to determine how rising sea levels could harm their region. They can then use that mapping data to site future roads and structures away from harm.
"It changes the debate from whether climate change is happening to how we can best protect ourselves by creating more resilient communities," Holland said.
Mayor Frank Cownie of Des Moines, Iowa, agrees. In 2010, his city was hit with three devastating floods as heavy downpours caused the Des Moines River to overrun its banks. Last summer, record drought destroyed the region's corn crop. The weather keeps getting worse, climate science shows it's going to keep happening, and Cownie says his city officials want to plan for it-with the welcome help of Washington.
"Ten years ago, eight years ago, six years ago, people were a little slow to talk about this, but now we're saying, 'Yeah, there's a problem,' " he said.
"We have to figure out, how do we protect against extreme events in terms of flooding, and how do we capture water to use when there's another drought? There's been an upswing of outreach by the federal government on resiliency, and we're having the conversation at the city, state, county, and suburb level to figure out what we're going to do."
Meanwhile, as climate-policy conversations are taking place in EPA's offices and Iowa's town halls, advocates in Congress are also keeping up the drumbeat. In the Senate, Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Bernie Saunders, I-Vt., have introduced, with much fanfare, a sweeping climate-change bill. And Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., has joined forces with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to create a bicameral Safe Climate Caucus that will keep the issue alive with a stream of hearings and floor speeches in both chambers. But it's almost certain that Boxer's bill-which she has said she hopes to bring to the floor by this summer-will die in the Senate and be dead on arrival in the Republican House.
But that rejection could actually help the White House. In his State of the Union, Obama declared that if Congress won't act on climate change, he will. The failure of a high-profile bill would create the opportunity for the administration to roll out its new regulations.
Plains states hit with second winter storm in a week
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - A powerful winter storm hit parts of the U.S. southern Plains on Monday, creating blizzard conditions in Oklahoma and Texas and warnings in Kansas and Missouri that caught the brunt of a winter storm last week.
Snow fell at the rate of up to 2 inches per hour in the Amarillo, Texas, area, and the National Weather Service warned against travel, saying 'most roads are impassable.'
Airports in Amarillo and 120 miles to the south in Lubbock, Texas, were closed while Interstate 27 between the cities was shut down because of the blowing snow, state officials said.
Amarillo and parts north of Amarillo in the panhandle reported a foot of snow or more on Monday morning.
Parts of northwestern Oklahoma could get 16 inches to 24 inches of snow, with high winds that could create drifts up to 6 feet high, according to the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said it closed all highways in the Oklahoma panhandle because of blizzard conditions. Interstate 40 in the Texas panhandle was also closed, according to National Weather Service in Amarillo.
In Oklahoma City, some afternoon flights from Will Rogers World Airport were canceled in anticipation of the storm.
Kansas, hit by a foot or more of snow in spots last week, braced for possible worsening conditions on Monday and Tuesday.
Southwestern Kansas was under a blizzard warning and most of the rest of the state was under a winter storm warning. Light snow and sleet that moved into Kansas after sunrise was developing into up to a foot or more of snow with high winds.
In southwestern Kansas, snow began falling overnight in Dodge City, whipped by winds of 30 miles per hour (48.3 kilometers per hour) to 40 mph, said Marc Russell, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
'We have blizzard conditions off and on,' Russell said. 'We had all that snow last week and the ditches are full, so snow will blow over the roads pretty quickly and make them impassible.'
Officials at Wichita, Kansas, Mid-Continent Airport canceled most arriving and departing flights Monday morning. Schools in Wichita and many other districts in central and western Kansas were closed following the blizzard forecast.
'This storm has the potential to be more dangerous than last week's storm,' Kansas Governor Sam Brownback told reporters in a Sunday night briefing. 'Driving will be very dangerous, with whiteout conditions.'
Last week, about 200 miles of Interstate 70 in Kansas were closed because of the massive winter storm that dumped well over a foot of snow in parts of the state. Winds are forecast in the 25 mph to 40 mph range.
Kansas activated an emergency operations center to assist stranded motorists.
From 6 inches to 10 inches of snow was expected in all but the northwestern region of Missouri through midday Tuesday, the weather service said. Kansas City was not expected to start receiving precipitation until midafternoon Monday.
The weather service expects heavy snowfall rates above 1 inch per hour in parts of Missouri, along with blowing and drifting.
The same storm blanketed eastern Colorado with snow on Sunday, prompting the cancellation of 200 flights in and out of Denver International Airport.
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper ordered all non-essential state personnel to report to work two hours later than scheduled on Monday to give Denver snow plow drivers more time to clear city streets.
(Reporting by Kevin Murphy; Additional reporting by Steve Olafson in Oklahoma City; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Greg McCune)
Snow fell at the rate of up to 2 inches per hour in the Amarillo, Texas, area, and the National Weather Service warned against travel, saying 'most roads are impassable.'
Airports in Amarillo and 120 miles to the south in Lubbock, Texas, were closed while Interstate 27 between the cities was shut down because of the blowing snow, state officials said.
Amarillo and parts north of Amarillo in the panhandle reported a foot of snow or more on Monday morning.
Parts of northwestern Oklahoma could get 16 inches to 24 inches of snow, with high winds that could create drifts up to 6 feet high, according to the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said it closed all highways in the Oklahoma panhandle because of blizzard conditions. Interstate 40 in the Texas panhandle was also closed, according to National Weather Service in Amarillo.
In Oklahoma City, some afternoon flights from Will Rogers World Airport were canceled in anticipation of the storm.
Kansas, hit by a foot or more of snow in spots last week, braced for possible worsening conditions on Monday and Tuesday.
Southwestern Kansas was under a blizzard warning and most of the rest of the state was under a winter storm warning. Light snow and sleet that moved into Kansas after sunrise was developing into up to a foot or more of snow with high winds.
In southwestern Kansas, snow began falling overnight in Dodge City, whipped by winds of 30 miles per hour (48.3 kilometers per hour) to 40 mph, said Marc Russell, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
'We have blizzard conditions off and on,' Russell said. 'We had all that snow last week and the ditches are full, so snow will blow over the roads pretty quickly and make them impassible.'
Officials at Wichita, Kansas, Mid-Continent Airport canceled most arriving and departing flights Monday morning. Schools in Wichita and many other districts in central and western Kansas were closed following the blizzard forecast.
'This storm has the potential to be more dangerous than last week's storm,' Kansas Governor Sam Brownback told reporters in a Sunday night briefing. 'Driving will be very dangerous, with whiteout conditions.'
Last week, about 200 miles of Interstate 70 in Kansas were closed because of the massive winter storm that dumped well over a foot of snow in parts of the state. Winds are forecast in the 25 mph to 40 mph range.
Kansas activated an emergency operations center to assist stranded motorists.
From 6 inches to 10 inches of snow was expected in all but the northwestern region of Missouri through midday Tuesday, the weather service said. Kansas City was not expected to start receiving precipitation until midafternoon Monday.
The weather service expects heavy snowfall rates above 1 inch per hour in parts of Missouri, along with blowing and drifting.
The same storm blanketed eastern Colorado with snow on Sunday, prompting the cancellation of 200 flights in and out of Denver International Airport.
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper ordered all non-essential state personnel to report to work two hours later than scheduled on Monday to give Denver snow plow drivers more time to clear city streets.
(Reporting by Kevin Murphy; Additional reporting by Steve Olafson in Oklahoma City; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Greg McCune)
Plains states hit with 2nd winter storm in a week
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - A powerful winter storm hit parts of the U.S. southern Plains on Monday, creating blizzard conditions in Oklahoma and Texas and warnings in Kansas and Missouri that caught the brunt of a winter storm last week.
Snow fell at the rate of up to 2 inches per hour in the Amarillo, Texas, area, and the National Weather Service warned against travel, saying 'most roads are impassable.'
Airports in Amarillo and 120 miles to the south in Lubbock, Texas, were closed while Interstate 27 between the cities was shut down because of the blowing snow, state officials said.
Amarillo and parts north of Amarillo in the panhandle reported a foot of snow or more on Monday morning.
Parts of northwestern Oklahoma could get 16 inches to 24 inches of snow, with high winds that could create drifts up to 6 feet high, according to the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said it closed all highways in the Oklahoma panhandle because of blizzard conditions. Interstate 40 in the Texas panhandle was also closed, according to National Weather Service in Amarillo.
In Oklahoma City, some afternoon flights from Will Rogers World Airport were canceled in anticipation of the storm.
Kansas, hit by a foot or more of snow in spots last week, braced for possible worsening conditions on Monday and Tuesday.
Southwestern Kansas was under a blizzard warning and most of the rest of the state was under a winter storm warning. Light snow and sleet that moved into Kansas after sunrise was developing into up to a foot or more of snow with high winds.
In southwestern Kansas, snow began falling overnight in Dodge City, whipped by winds of 30 miles per hour (48.3 kilometers per hour) to 40 mph, said Marc Russell, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
'We have blizzard conditions off and on,' Russell said. 'We had all that snow last week and the ditches are full, so snow will blow over the roads pretty quickly and make them impassible.'
Officials at Wichita, Kansas, Mid-Continent Airport canceled most arriving and departing flights Monday morning. Schools in Wichita and many other districts in central and western Kansas were closed following the blizzard forecast.
'This storm has the potential to be more dangerous than last week's storm,' Kansas Governor Sam Brownback told reporters in a Sunday night briefing. 'Driving will be very dangerous, with whiteout conditions.'
Last week, about 200 miles of Interstate 70 in Kansas were closed because of the massive winter storm that dumped well over a foot of snow in parts of the state. Winds are forecast in the 25 mph to 40 mph range.
Kansas activated an emergency operations center to assist stranded motorists.
From 6 inches to 10 inches of snow was expected in all but the northwestern region of Missouri through midday Tuesday, the weather service said. Kansas City was not expected to start receiving precipitation until midafternoon Monday.
The weather service expects heavy snowfall rates above 1 inch per hour in parts of Missouri, along with blowing and drifting.
The same storm blanketed eastern Colorado with snow on Sunday, prompting the cancellation of 200 flights in and out of Denver International Airport.
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper ordered all non-essential state personnel to report to work two hours later than scheduled on Monday to give Denver snow plow drivers more time to clear city streets.
(Reporting by Kevin Murphy; Additional reporting by Steve Olafson in Oklahoma City; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Greg McCune)
Snow fell at the rate of up to 2 inches per hour in the Amarillo, Texas, area, and the National Weather Service warned against travel, saying 'most roads are impassable.'
Airports in Amarillo and 120 miles to the south in Lubbock, Texas, were closed while Interstate 27 between the cities was shut down because of the blowing snow, state officials said.
Amarillo and parts north of Amarillo in the panhandle reported a foot of snow or more on Monday morning.
Parts of northwestern Oklahoma could get 16 inches to 24 inches of snow, with high winds that could create drifts up to 6 feet high, according to the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said it closed all highways in the Oklahoma panhandle because of blizzard conditions. Interstate 40 in the Texas panhandle was also closed, according to National Weather Service in Amarillo.
In Oklahoma City, some afternoon flights from Will Rogers World Airport were canceled in anticipation of the storm.
Kansas, hit by a foot or more of snow in spots last week, braced for possible worsening conditions on Monday and Tuesday.
Southwestern Kansas was under a blizzard warning and most of the rest of the state was under a winter storm warning. Light snow and sleet that moved into Kansas after sunrise was developing into up to a foot or more of snow with high winds.
In southwestern Kansas, snow began falling overnight in Dodge City, whipped by winds of 30 miles per hour (48.3 kilometers per hour) to 40 mph, said Marc Russell, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
'We have blizzard conditions off and on,' Russell said. 'We had all that snow last week and the ditches are full, so snow will blow over the roads pretty quickly and make them impassible.'
Officials at Wichita, Kansas, Mid-Continent Airport canceled most arriving and departing flights Monday morning. Schools in Wichita and many other districts in central and western Kansas were closed following the blizzard forecast.
'This storm has the potential to be more dangerous than last week's storm,' Kansas Governor Sam Brownback told reporters in a Sunday night briefing. 'Driving will be very dangerous, with whiteout conditions.'
Last week, about 200 miles of Interstate 70 in Kansas were closed because of the massive winter storm that dumped well over a foot of snow in parts of the state. Winds are forecast in the 25 mph to 40 mph range.
Kansas activated an emergency operations center to assist stranded motorists.
From 6 inches to 10 inches of snow was expected in all but the northwestern region of Missouri through midday Tuesday, the weather service said. Kansas City was not expected to start receiving precipitation until midafternoon Monday.
The weather service expects heavy snowfall rates above 1 inch per hour in parts of Missouri, along with blowing and drifting.
The same storm blanketed eastern Colorado with snow on Sunday, prompting the cancellation of 200 flights in and out of Denver International Airport.
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper ordered all non-essential state personnel to report to work two hours later than scheduled on Monday to give Denver snow plow drivers more time to clear city streets.
(Reporting by Kevin Murphy; Additional reporting by Steve Olafson in Oklahoma City; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Greg McCune)
Plains states threatened by strong winter storm
(Reuters) - A powerful winter storm threatened the U.S. southern plains states on Monday, promising a mix of rain and snow that was likely to bring heavy snowfall to southeastern Kansas and central Missouri from Monday night to Tuesday morning, the National Weather Service said.
'Heavy snowfall rates in excess of an inch per hour will be possible in some locations,' the service said. 'Gusty northeast to north winds will result in considerable blowing and drifting of snowfall.
'Significant amounts of snow are forecast that will make travel dangerous,' it said.
The same storm had blanketed eastern Colorado with snow on Sunday, prompting the cancellation of 200 flights in and out of Denver International Airport.
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper ordered all non-essential state workers to report to work two hours later than scheduled on Monday to give Denver snow plow drivers more time to clear city streets.
(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
'Heavy snowfall rates in excess of an inch per hour will be possible in some locations,' the service said. 'Gusty northeast to north winds will result in considerable blowing and drifting of snowfall.
'Significant amounts of snow are forecast that will make travel dangerous,' it said.
The same storm had blanketed eastern Colorado with snow on Sunday, prompting the cancellation of 200 flights in and out of Denver International Airport.
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper ordered all non-essential state workers to report to work two hours later than scheduled on Monday to give Denver snow plow drivers more time to clear city streets.
(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Higgins and Drew weather the elements to win Rally in the 100 Acre Wood
PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN' '_http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd'> Higgins and Drew weather the elements to win Rally in the 100 Acre Wood - Autoweek
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