EJToday is SEJ's selection of new and outstanding stories on environmental topics in print and on the air, updated every weekday. SEJ also offers a free e-mailed digest of the day's EJToday postings, called SEJ-beat. SEJ members are subscribed automatically, but may opt out here. Non-members may subscribe here. EJToday is also available via RSS feed. Please see Editorial Guidelines for EJToday content.
Tests Show High Cancer-Causing Pollution at Canadian Train-Crash Site
Canadian Press, 08/14/2013"MONTREAL -- Tests conducted by an environmental group suggest last month’s Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, train disaster had a devastating impact on water quality and soil in the affected area."
Mexican President Proposes Opening Energy Sector to Foreign Investment
NY Times, 08/13/2013"MEXICO CITY — President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico on Monday, pushing one of the most sweeping economic overhauls here in the past two decades, proposed opening his country’s historically closed energy industry to foreign investment."
"Britain's PM Backs Fracking for Shale Gas"
Reuters, 08/13/2013"Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron has given his unequivocal backing to the divisive 'fracking' process used to extract shale gas from rocks, risking angering his party's supporters from more rural areas."
"North Dakota Oil Boom Seen Adding Costs for Rail Safety"
Bloomberg, 08/13/2013"Crude oil shipped by railroad from North Dakota is drawing fresh scrutiny from regulators concerned that the cargo is adding environmental and safety hazards, something that analysts say could raise costs."
"Power Grid Increasingly Vulnerable To Severe Weather, Report Says"
LA Times, 08/13/2013"Americans can expect more major power outages because of severe weather driven by climate change, a federal report says."
"Hyperloop: Elon Musk Imagines a Tubular Future of Travel"
Christian Science Monitor, 08/13/2013"Hyperloop plans revealed Monday envision a 'fifth mode of transport' in which passengers travel at extreme speeds through tubes to reach their destination. Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, says the idea is 'extremely speculative.' But if Elon Musk's hyperloop is ever built, it could revolutionize transportation and energy."
"Amid Pipeline Debate, Two Costly Cleanups Forever Change Towns"
NY Times, 08/12/2013"MARSHALL, Mich. — As the Obama administration inches closer to a decision on whether to approve construction of the much-debated Keystone XL pipeline, costly cleanup efforts in two communities stricken by oil spills portend the potential hazards of transporting heavy Canadian crude."
Shoddy Science Almost Led US FWS To Use Flawed Map in KXL Review
Greenwire, 08/09/2013"A year ago, the Fish and Wildlife Service was poised to use a scientifically flawed range map for the American burying beetle during a preliminary assessment of the Keystone XL pipeline's effect on the endangered insect."
"Cut Emissions? Congress Itself Keeps Burning A Dirtier Fuel"
NY Times, 08/09/2013"WASHINGTON — As part of the climate change agenda he unveiled this year, President Obama made a commitment to significantly reduce the federal government’s dependence on fossil fuels. The government, he said in a speech in June at Georgetown University, 'must lead by example.' But just two miles from the White House stands the Capitol Power Plant, the largest single source of carbon emissions in the nation’s capital and a concrete example of the government’s inability to green its own turf."
Ark. Spill Victims on 'Wrong' Side of Fence Left to Fend for Themselves
Arkansas Times, 08/09/2013"MAYFLOWER, Ark. -- In the week after an oil spill strangled the air in Ann Jarrell's neighborhood, tens of thousands of her bees either died or went mad."
"Rail Agency Probes Possible Safety Flaws in Crude Transit"
Bloomberg, 08/09/2013"The Federal Railroad Administration said it is investigating the safety of transporting crude oil by rail, including whether chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing are corroding tank cars."
"EPA Wants To Allow Continued Wastewater Dumping In Wyoming"
NPR, 08/08/2013"The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to let oil companies continue to dump polluted wastewater on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. This includes chemicals that companies add to the wells during hydraulic fracturing, an engineering practice that makes wells produce more oil."
2nd State Dept. IG Probe Could Jeopardize Obama's KXL Timeline
EnergyWire, 08/07/2013"An independent government inquiry into the State Department's choice of a private contractor to steer the latest Keystone XL environmental review could remain open through this fall, raising the specter of a further delay in a final decision on the contentious pipeline project that President Obama vowed in March to rule on before 2014."
"Biofuels: EPA Slashes This Year's Cellulosic Targets"
Greenwire, 08/07/2013"U.S. EPA has backed down from an ambitious target for cellulosic biofuel production, releasing a final rule today that requires refiners to blend 6 million gallons into the nation's supply of gasoline this year."
"Accidents Show Depth of Danger in Shallow Waters"
FuelFix, 08/07/2013"The 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill focused attention on the hazards of drilling for oil a mile below the surface of the sea, but recent incidents have brought new attention to dangers that still lurk on the shallow continental shelf, where companies rely on decades-old pipes and platforms to tap aging fields."

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