Water and Climate Safety, Finance Security, Drive Keystone XL Conflict
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
This year, following the president’s actions, opponents and supporters in Nebraska are preparing for the second round of a momentous confrontation over the Keystone XL pipeline. Montana and South Dakota already have approved construction. The Nebraska Public Service Commission, though, has not.
Water, History, and Finance Converge As Sioux Nation Mounts Storied Battle Over Oil Pipeline
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
Heavy snow and winter cold settled this month on thousands of Native Americans and their supporters encamped on the banks of the Cannonball River, some 30 miles south of Bismarck, North Dakota.
Halt to Dakota Pipeline Is Part of International Resistance to Water Threats
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
By almost any of the conventional measures of cultural and economic influence, the clash over water security and heritage between a tiny North Dakota Native American tribe and a wealthy and well-connected Texas pipeline operator would appear hopelessly tilted one way.
Big Banks Finance Water-Damaging, Climate-Warming Energy Projects
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
Some 338 gigawatts of new coal-fired electrical generation are under construction around the world, principally in Asia, according to a March study by CoalSwarm, a global network of researchers.
Popularity of Big Hydropower Projects Diminishes Around the World
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
Cambodia joins a lengthening list of nations around the world that are reassessing big hydropower dams in an era when wind and solar power are less expensive, much easier to build, less damaging, and far less vulnerable to droughts and floods.
Water Scarcity, Public Protest Slow Foreign Farmland Purchases
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
This month, in a new report, GRAIN found that investment in foreign land holdings, purchases that the group calls “land grabs,” remains prevalent around the world.
Water-Related Risks Strand $Billions in Energy, Mining, Power Projects
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
More than a decade later economists and financial analysts are again identifying powerful signals of economic distress, this time in the energy, mining, power-producing, and farm industries.
South African Power Plants Roiled By Global Pivot Away From Carbon
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
Bankruptcies, project shutdowns, regulation, and emission limits curb enthusiasm for fossil fuels.