Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Oversight of Underground Piping Systems Commensurate with Risk, but Proactive Measures Could Help Address Future Leaks

Government Accountability Office http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-563 (summary) http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11563.pdf (full report) http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11563high.pdf (highlights) All U.S. nuclear power plant sites have had some groundwater contamination from radioactive leaks, and some of these leaks came from underground piping systems. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulates nuclear power plants to protect public health and the environment from radiation hazards. GAO was [...]

International Earth System Expert Workshop on Ocean Stresses and Impacts: Summary Report

International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) | International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) | World Commission on Protected Areas http://www.stateoftheocean.org/ipso-2011-workshop-summary.cfm http://bit.ly/lPcpHx (UN webcast announcing the report) An international panel of marine experts warns in a report released today that the world’s ocean is at high risk of entering a phase of extinction [...]

CLIMATE CHANGE: Improvements Needed to Clarify National Priorities and Better Align Them with Federal Funding Decisions

Government Accountability Office (Report to the Ranking Member, Committee on Natural Resources, House of Representatives) http://bit.ly/jbdR8E [From a Climate Wire story by Evan Lehman, sub. req'd]  The federal government has fragmented priorities to address climate change, confusing the cooperation among agencies and perhaps leading to a less effective use of public funding, according to a [...]

Climate Related Sea-level Variations Over the Past Two Millennia

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (published online before print June 20, 2011; doi: 10.1073/pnas.1015619108 ) / by Andrew C. Kempa, Benjamin P. Hortona, Jeffrey P. Donnelly, Michael E. Mannd, Martin Vermeere and Stefan Rahmstorff (open access article) http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/06/13/1015619108.full.pdf+html [Abstract]  We present new sea-level reconstructions for the past 2100 y based on salt-marsh sedimentary sequences [...]

Protecting People and Families from Radon: A Federal Action Plan for Saving Lives

An inter-departmental US  report led by EPA http://www.epa.gov/radon/pdfs/Federal_Radon_Action_Plan.pdf [From EPA information page] The plan includes federal government actions to reduce radon risks: · Launching a cross-government outreach initiative to educate families about the health risks associated with radon exposure and the solutions to address the risks. · Incorporating radon testing and mitigation into federal programs. [...]

Cal-Adapt: a Climate Change Adaptation Planning Tool for California

UC Berkeley | Google | California Energy Commission with data from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Santa Clara University, the Pacific Institute and the U.S. Geological Survey http://cal-adapt.org/ [From a San Francisco Chronicle story] …Not only is the state of California pioneering climate policies, but it’s also joined with data innovator Google to create a [...]

Options for Low-Carbon Development in Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council

Brookings Institution / by Charles Ebinger, Nathan Hultman, Kevin Massy, Govinda Avasarala and Dylan Rebois http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2011/06_low_carbon_ebinger/ESI_GCC_low_carbon_final.pdf The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states are experiencing some of the world’s fastest economic and energy-consumption growth. In this Energy Security Initiative paper, the authors explore policies for developing alternative energy, carbon capture and sequestration, and energy efficiency in [...]

Proposed Liability Framework for Geological Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide

Harvard Univ., Kennedy School, Belfer School / by Wendy B. Jacobs http://bit.ly/lUDJhp This paper proposes a framework for a liability regime for geological sites for sequestration of carbon dioxide. It incorporates issues that were discussed at the the June 21, 2010 Expert Workshop Addressing CCS Liability, Oversight, and Trust Fund Issues. Harvard Law School’s Emmett [...]

Summary Report of Expert Workshop Addressing CCS Liability, Oversight, and Trust Fund Issues

Expert Workshop Addressing CCS Liability, Oversight, and Trust Fund Issues Convened on June 21, 2010 in Washington, D.C. by Harvard Law School’s Emmett Environmental Law & Policy Clinic, with support from the Energy Technology Innovation Policy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School, and the Harvard University Center for the Environment http://bit.ly/jG84Jg This paper summarizes the [...]

FEMA: Action Needed to Improve Administration of the National Flood Insurance Program

US Government Accountability Office http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-297 [From Summary]  The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has been on GAO’s high-risk list since March 2006 because of concerns about its long-term financial solvency and related operational issues. Significant management challenges also affect the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) ability to administer NFIP. This report examines (1) the extent [...]