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Tag: Coal

  • Elin Nordegren Is Reportedly Getting Serious With New Boyfriend

    Elin Nordegren may be forever famous as the ex-wife of Tiger Woods with emphasis on the “ex” after she split up with the pro-golfer following revelations that he was cheating on her with several other women. While she may never be able to escape that part of her life, the former model is definitely looking to put it all behind her with her current relationship.

    The NY Post is reporting that sources close to Nordegren are saying that she is getting serious with billionaire coal magnate Chris Cline. The owner of Foresight Reserves, LP, a company that owns more than three billion tons of coal reserves across Illinois and Northern Appalachia, has been dating Nordegren for a little over a year now. It’s not said how they met, but the two live next to each other in North Palm Beach.

    While living next to each other isn’t exactly a sign of wanting to take things to the next step, visiting the family is. Cline has reportedly already traveled to Sweden to meet Nordegren’s family. The two are also said to have great chemistry as both want to focus on philanthropy going forward. Not to mention, the two would probably want a full family to raise Nordegren’s two children and Cline’s four.

    Nordegren’s relationship with Cline isn’t the only way she’s putting her past behind her. It was revealed earlier today that Nordegren is actually great friends with Tiger Woods’ current girlfriend Lindsey Vonn. Previously, Nordegren was said to have hated Vonn, but the two apparently hit it off upon meeting each other.

    As her relationship with Cline becomes more serious, Nordegren will probably start to pull even further away from the limelight. After all, both her and Cline want to remain out of the public eye and just enjoy the company of each other on Cline’s yacht – Mine Games. If anything, she definitely snagged a man with a good naming sense.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Eskom, S. Africa’s Power Utility, Imposes Blackouts

    Thursday morning in South Africa, Eskom, the state-owned power utility which provides 95 percent of the country’s energy supplies, declared a power emergency for the entire country. This is the fourth such emergency to be declared since the beginning of 2014. However, this marks the first time Eskom has had to resort to rolling blackouts, or load shedding, since 2008.

    The energy crisis has come as a result of heavy rains in many of the coal-heavy regions of South Africa over the past week. Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba told South Africa’s members of parliament that “Over the last week, Eskom depleted its dry coal stockpiles at some power stations due to the rainy weather conditions. This contributed to severe system constraints due to lower output as a result of wet and poor quality coal.”

    Despite not being able to control the weather conditions, the South African MP’s think that Eskom and the current regime are still to blame: “In South Africa we do have the ability to predict the weather correctly. Eskom blames the unfortunate state of affairs on the rain and weather, and this is not the first heavy rains we’ve had since 2008… Their failure borders on negligent administration of our energy sources and (they) are letting down this country,” stated Cope MP Nick Koornhof.

    Current meteorological predictions put the chance of rain at 60 percent or above everyday until March 12, so the situation is not likely to improve much in the coming week.

    Eskom has been working since 2008 to avoid situations such as the one South Africa is currently facing by investing 500 billion rand ($46.7 billion) to build three new coal-fired power plants. Construction of said plants has not gone to schedule, however. One of the biggest plants, Medupi, was scheduled to be on-line as of late last year but has suffered due to contract negotiations and multiple labor disputes.

    Image via Facebook

  • Coal Ash Spill Now Subject To Criminal Probe

    The Associated Press is now reporting that the coal ash spill into a North Carolina river is now the subject of a federal investigation.

    The spill, which was discovered on February 2nd, resulted in tons of toxic materials seeping into the nearby Dan River. Somehow the coal ash had managed to escape a Duke Energy containment basin. The company waited nearly two days to inform the public.

    Federal prosecutors have stated that a federal grand jury in Raleigh, N.C. is currently investigating the case.

    In the aftermath of the coal ash spill both North Carolina regulators and Duke Energy have been served subpoenas by the U.S. attorneys office.

    The L.A. Times was able to view the contents of the subpoena on Thursday and have said that the document includes thirteen separate requests for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to hand over documents related to the spill.
    The Times said this includes all emails, memos and other recorded information about, “discharges or seepages from any coal ash pond”.

    The subpoena also requested the state agency’s records of its involvement with Duke Energy going as far back as 2010.

    Duke Energy received a subpoena on Monday as well according to spokesperson Thomas C. Williams. Williams declined to comment on the contents of the subpoena, saying that the information was confidential.

    Both Duke Energy and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources have stated that the organizations fully intend to comply with the wishes of investigators and have offered their full cooperation.

    As of right now, the investigation is criminal in nature, with the spill said to be the result of a felony offense. The exact offense or target of the criminal investigation is not known at this time.

    It has been revealed that water contamination may be older than the most recent spill. In fact the Waterkeeper Alliance has attempted to sue Duke Energy in the past over suspected contamination. Peter Harrison, a lawyer who has represented the Waterkeeper Alliance, says that it’s very likely the company has been contaminating water in the surrounding area for years.

    “The day of reckoning has come,” Harrison says. “It’s high time this activity by the state is examined through a criminal lens, because this is criminal behavior.”

    The fact that this is one of four known major toxic spills in the region within a matter of weeks is also troubling.

    Image via Youtube

  • China: Smog Chokes Chinese Manchuria, as Overpopulated Asian Giant Burns Coal

    Vast areas of China’s north-east were choking in smog on Monday, as the Asian giant grappled with yet another horrendous air pollution crisis threatening millions of lives.

    Schools and colleges were forced to suspend classes in Chinese Manchuria’s largest cities, including the culturally rich metropolis of Harbin. Road traffic was paralyzed as visibility was drastically compromised, while local airports were shut-down annoying thousands of travelers.

    While the emerging global power has made rapid strides in curtailing particulate matter with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less (PM10),

    the index measuring particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less (PM2.5), shot above 1,000 in Harbin urban area, with a population of more than 11 million people, or one third the size of Canada. A reading above 300 is considered alarmingly hazardous, with severe health consequences for respiratory functions and eyes, whereas the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommendations are set at daily levels of 20 or less.

    This means the level of smog was 50 times more than WHO limits, a figure worth pondering over for environmental activists as well as international community. The powerful state controlled Xinhua News Agency was compelled to lament that on the first day of winter heating, airports, highways, schools were hampered by smog, a predictable result of coal produced electricity. (image)

    In addition, the visibility was reduced to 10 meters, while the smog is expected to envelope the vast region bordering Russia, Korea and Japan for the next couple of days. Air quality in Chinese cities has not only severely affected the health of Chinese nationals, but the dense smog has made its way to Korean peninsula, Japan, as well as Russia’s Amur region.

    Matters came to a head in February 2013, when Japan accused arch foe China of waging a smog war and even endangering Mount Fuji, its beloved national symbol. The Chinese Communist Party, which is not as communist after all these days, is acutely aware of the power and potential of popular resentment channeling into political action over the burning issue of air, water and soil pollution.

    Much like Washington DC-New York clique that enjoys gullible American tax-payers’ wealth, social media users of China’s popular Sina Weibo micro-blogging site mocked Beijing authorities in anger, as they shared stories of corrupt government officials using state-of-the-art purifiers and high quality food from organic farms, while the 99% suffer from debilitating smog and deadly food safety scandals.

    In fall 2012, Hong Kong SAR was invaded by smog from mainland, as the city dwellers scrambled to contain the health hazard. Beijing has witnessed PM2.5 levels of 900 or more recurrently including last winter, jeopardizing the health of its 20 million urban residents.

    Last week, Beijing released a color-coded alert system, similar to Bush regime’s color-coded terror-alert, to address air pollution catastrophes, including suspension of factory work, construction, school closures etc. Despite Beijing’s two-pronged effort to curb pollution by population control through the imposition of “one child policy,” and massive investments in renewable energy, the population momentum is so powerful, that it will take years, if not decades to arrive at WHO’s standards of air, water and soil quality.

    China should look towards the much cleaner South Korea for inspiration on ways to reduce air-pollution as well as population growth, as both countries share Confucian culture and patterns of behavior, life style and value system.

    [image from wikimedia and US government]

  • Greenpeace Asks Facebook To Unfriend Coal

    Greenpeace is putting more pressure on Facebook to persuade the company to stop using coal to power its data centers.

    Greenpeace is calling on Facebook to “unfriend” coal by Earth Day on April 22. The Greenpeace Unfriend Coal Facebook page has over 98,000 likes.

    “Just as Facebook has revolutionised the way the world communicates, so it can revolutionise the IT sector’s current reliance on coal,” Greenpeace said in a blog post. “Facebook’s reputation for innovation means that wherever it goes, other IT companies will follow.”

    Greenpeace is asking Facebook to develop a plan by 2021 to be entirely coal free. It is also calling on Facebook to educate its users about how it powers its services and its carbon footprint.

    “At current growth rates, data centers and telecommunication networks – two key components of ‘the cloud’ that Facebook depends on – will consume about 1,963 billion kilowatts hours of electricity in 2020,” Greenpeace says on its Unfriend Coal Facebook page.

    “That’s more than triple their current consumption and more than the current electricity consumption of France, Germany, Canada and Brazil combined. Facebook has a real opportunity to lead by example by extending this spirit of innovation to the environment.”