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The World Environment News is a daily environmental update bringing you all the latest environmental stories, pictures and video from across the globe, courtesy of the Reuters news service. if it’s happening in the world of environment, it’s happening in the World Environment News.
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Latest News (173 stories)
Russian Oil Pipeline Firm Revives Plan To Bypass Ukraine
Photo: Vasily Fedosenko
Date: 16-Feb-12
Country: RUSSIA
Author: Olesya Astakhova
Russia's oil pipeline monopoly Transneft is in talks on building a link between its routes in Germany and the Czech Republic to ensure that its exports to central Europe can bypass Ukraine if necessary, a top company official said.
SunPower Claims SolarCity, Ex-Staff Stole Secrets
Date: 16-Feb-12
Country: USA
Author: Braden Reddall
SunPower Corp (SPWR.O) is suing five former employees and SolarCity Corp in U.S. federal court, accusing the five of stealing tens of thousands of confidential SunPower documents before they left to work for the rival solar firm.
Russia Urges "Serious" Search For Compromise With Iran
Date: 16-Feb-12
Country: RUSSIA
Author: Steve Gutterman
Russia said global powers must work harder to win concessions from Iran over its nuclear program, warning that Tehran's desire for compromise is decreasing as it moves closer to being able to build atomic weapons.
EU Climate Chief: Would See Merit In Airline CO2
Date: 16-Feb-12
Country: USA
Author: Matt Daily
The European Union's climate chief said on Tuesday she hopes countries opposed to its rules that charge airlines for carbon emissions take their complaints to the U.N. aviation body, where talks could help to defuse tensions over the strict measures.
Nepal Crocodile Farm Aims To Save Endangered Species
Date: 16-Feb-12
Country: NEPAL
Author: Gopal Sharma
As Prem Sharma steps gingerly into the sand-filled chamber, lines of baby crocodiles basking in the warm sunshine splash into a pond, eyes glinting behind their long, thin snouts.
SCE Begins Plugging Tubes At San Onofre 2 Reactor In Calif
Date: 16-Feb-12
Country: USA
Author: Eileen O'Grady in Houston
Workers at Southern California Edison's San Onofre nuclear plant in California have begun plugging tubes in the Unit 2 steam generators, the company said on Wednesday.
Republicans May Subpoena White House Staff On Solyndra
Date: 16-Feb-12
Country: USA
Author: Roberta Rampton
Republicans in the House of Representatives on Wednesday threatened to subpoena five White House aides in their investigation of Solyndra LLC, the failed solar panel maker that received more than $500 million in federal loan guarantees.
Exclusive: Goldman Front-Runner For Vale's Colombian Coal Ops
Date: 15-Feb-12
Country: BOGOTA/LONDON
Author: Jack Kimball in Bogota and Jacqueline Cowhig in London
Goldman Sachs is the front-runner in an auction to buy the Colombian coal assets of Brazil's Vale, attempting to achieve strategic port access, while Glencore waits in the wings and rival traders stay away, industry sources familiar with the matter said.
Congressman Introduces Bills To Stop US Natgas Exports
Date: 15-Feb-12
Country: USA
Author: Roberta Rampton
The United States should stop exports of natural gas to prevent domestic prices from rising, Democratic Congressman Edward Markey said on Tuesday while introducing two bills in the House of Representatives to prevent shipments.
Low Carbon Accelerator NAV Slumps, Stops Investing
Date: 15-Feb-12
Country: UK
Author: Nina Chestney
Low Carbon Accelerator Ltd, a UK-listed low-carbon investment company, said it would make no new investments after its net asset value dropped by over 50 percent last year due to a challenging global economy.
EU Vote On Tar Sands Law Expected On February 23
Date: 15-Feb-12
Country: BELGIUM
Author: Barbara Lewis
European Union officials are expected to vote on February 23 on a draft law that would label fuel produced from tar sands as more polluting than that from other forms of oil, according to a draft agenda seen by Reuters.
Energy Conversion Files For Bankruptcy Protection
Date: 15-Feb-12
Author: Caroline Humer
Lightweight solar product maker Energy Conversion Devices Inc filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, the latest in a string of solar companies that have collapsed in an industry shakeout.
Monsanto Says To Appeal French Poisoning Verdict
Date: 15-Feb-12
Country: FRANCE
Author: Thierry Leveque
U.S. agri-business giant Monsanto said on Tuesday it will appeal a French court ruling that found it responsible for the poisoning of a farmer who inhaled a weedkiller in what is the first such case to reach court in France.
USDA Sees Corn Stocks Double Next Year
Photo: Brian C. Frank
Date: 14-Feb-12
Country: USA
Author: Sam Nelson
A U.S. government report on Monday showed farmers in the United States will plant the largest area with corn this spring since World War Two, which could double the razor-thin stocks of this year and help defray costs to consumers and food companies.
Keystone May Be Revived After U.S. Election: Canada Official
Photo: Joshua Roberts
Date: 14-Feb-12
Country: USA
Author: Joshua Schneyer
The finance minister for Canada's top oil producing province of Alberta said he expects the Canada-to-U.S. Keystone XL pipeline project to be "revived" following presidential elections this year.
A Year On, Only Brief Home Visits For Japan Nuclear Evacuees
Date: 14-Feb-12
Country: JAPAN
Author: Chris Meyers
Back home for just three hours, a tearful Miyoko Takeda sorted through her belongings. She left behind the kimonos she once wore as a traditional dancer, fearful they might be contaminated by radiation.
Wildlife Up Close In A Sea Kayak Off Cape Town
Date: 14-Feb-12
Country: SOUTH AFRICA
Author: Ed Stoddard
A pair of African penguins glide over the water while a pod of dolphins approach in the background.
Soil Erosion Increasing Global Warming Threat: UNEP
Date: 14-Feb-12
Country: UK
Author: Nina Chestney
Global warming will get worse as agricultural methods accelerate the rate of soil erosion, which depletes the amount of carbon the soil is able to store, a United Nations' Environment Programme report said on Monday.
Obama Seeks Clean Energy, Pipeline Funds In Budget
Date: 14-Feb-12
Country: USA
Author: Timothy Gardner
The White House proposed more funds for renewable energy and pipeline safety in the 2013 budget while renewing the call to end subsidies for the oil and gas sector.
EU Must Deliver Investment Grade Green Policy: HSBC
Date: 14-Feb-12
Country: BELGIUM
Author: Barbara Lewis
Energy efficiency and low carbon investment is gaining traction as a financial asset class, but to deepen confidence the European Union must deliver "investment grade policy" a senior executive at HSBC said on Monday.
Part Of BP Investor Case Over Gulf Spill Dismissed
Date: 14-Feb-12
Country: USA
Author: Jonathan Stempel
A U.S. federal judge dismissed a large part of a nationwide lawsuit accusing BP Plc and top executives of fraud for misleading shareholders before and after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill about the oil company's ability to respond to an accident.
Monsanto Guilty Of Chemical Poisoning In France
Date: 14-Feb-12
Country: FRANCE
Author: Catherine Lagrange and Marion Douet
A French court on Monday declared U.S. biotech giant Monsanto guilty of chemical poisoning of a French farmer, a judgment that could lend weight to other health claims against pesticides.
Magnitude 5.3 Quake Hits Northern California: USGS
Date: 14-Feb-12
Country: USA
Author: Sandra Maler
A Magnitude 5.3 quake struck northern California on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.
Insight: Poland's Shale Gas Play Takes On Russian Power
Photo: Denis Sinyakov
Date: 10-Feb-12
Country: POLAND
Author: Michael Kahn, Braden Reddall and Gabriela Baczynska
When Wieslaw Radzieciak took office as the mayor of Lesniowice in the gently-rolling farmland of southeastern Poland 26 years ago, the Soviet garrisons that dotted the county were a stark reminder of which superpower was in control.
Bungled Conservation Effort Kills South African Rhino
Photo: Siphiwe Sibeko
Date: 10-Feb-12
Country: SOUTH AFRICA
Author: Jon Herskovitz
A group of animal conservationists in South Africa accidentally killed a rhinoceros they were attempting to make safe from poachers in a botched public relations event.
New 367 MW Offshore Wind Farm Opens In UK
Date: 10-Feb-12
Country: UK
Author: Nina Chestney
A new 367 megawatt offshore wind farm opened off the Cumbrian coast in Britain Thursday and will supply up to 320,000 households with renewable power a year, the companies behind the project said.
UK Wants Sustained Cuts To Solar Panel Tariffs
Date: 10-Feb-12
Country: UK
Author: Oleg Vukmanovic
The UK government on Thursday recommended slashing subsidies for solar panels on homes from July 1 after a boom in installations last year nearly exhausted its support budget.
Inspector: No Improper Influence On Keystone Line
Date: 10-Feb-12
Country: USA
Author: Timothy Gardner; and Ayesha Rascoe
The State Department Inspector General issued a review on Thursday that found "no evidence" the company that wants to build the Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL crude oil pipeline had improperly influenced on a contractor that performed the environmental review of the project.
NRC Approves First New Nuclear Plant In A Generation
Date: 10-Feb-12
Country: USA
Author: Ayesha Rascoe
Regulators on Thursday approved plans to build the first new nuclear power plant in the U.S. in more than 30 years, despite objections of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman, who cited safety concerns stemming from Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster.
Blizzards Push SE Europe Energy Grids To Limits
Photo: Lisi Niesne
Date: 09-Feb-12
Country: LONDON/SARAJEVO
Author: Oleg Vukmanovic
Blizzards and ice-laden power lines in southeastern Europe pushed gas and electricity networks near to breaking point Wednesday as consumption soared, while some western countries scrambled to prevent similar breakdowns.