USM National Green Campus
News Archive

Week of July 12, 2010

News from Across the USM Campuses  

BP begins new operation to seal off leaking Deepwater Horizon well: Oil gushing at full force as firm tries to fit new cap - Obama commission starts hearings in affected region (By Suzanne Goldenberg, The [UK] Guardian, 7/11/10) [Article cites Dr. Donald F. Boesch, President of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and a member of President Obama's oil spill investigation commission]

Oil-spill investigation commission visits Houma (By Nikki Buskey, The Houma [LA] Courier, 7/11/10) [Article cites Dr. Donald F. Boesch, President of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and a member of President Obama's oil spill investigation commission]

Dispute on Oil Spill Panel Flares Before First Meeting (By Stephen Power, The Wall Street Journal, 7/10/10) [Article cites Dr. Donald F. Boesch, President of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and a member of President Obama's oil spill investigation commission]

Shoving septic systems aside a priority (By Jenny Hopkinson, DelMarVaNow.com, 7/7/10)

The coast isn't clear - Our view: The Coastal Bays earn a so-so grade but environmental warning signs are too numerous to ignore (The Baltimore Sun - Our View, 7/6/10) [Report cited in the article was prepared by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science]

EPA targets pollution from power plants: Proposed rule could make Maryland's air cleaner (By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun, 7/6/10)

State of Maryland News

Residents, environmentalists take on steel mill: Years of frustration with Sparrows Point pollution come to a head in lawsuit (By Meredith Cohn and Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun, 7/10/10)

Drought strikes Maryland farms: Tobacco, grains crops parched (By Frank D. Roylance, The Baltimore Sun, 7/9/10)

Sparrows Point steel mill pollution suit filed: Plant accused of contaminating waterways, threatening residents' health (By Timothy B. Wheeler and Meredith Cohn, The Baltimore Sun, 7/9/10)

Students get mucky cleaning up Back River: Baltimore river restoration effort called model for reviving Chesapeake Bay (By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun, 7/7/10)

Maryland broils in record heat: Little relief expected today (By Frank D. Roylance and Katherine Smith, The Baltimore Sun, 7/6/10)

USM Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change Initiative
National and International News

Cap on gushing well removed, oil flows freely: BP hopes to install new dome to contain Gulf leak within a few days (By Tom Breen, The Associated Press as reported by MSNBC.com, 7/10/10)

UK heatwave may have caused hundreds of deaths: Fears for elderly and vulnerable as sharp rise in fatalities is linked to hot weather (By Dave Batty and agencies, The [UK] Guardian, 7/10/10)

Scientists expected Obama administration to be friendlier: A culture of politics trumping science, many say, persists despite the president's promises. The use of potentially toxic dispersants to fight the gulf oil spill is cited as just one example. (By Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger, Tribune Washington Bureau as reported by The Los Angeles Times, 7/10/10)

Heat Waves Could Be Commonplace in the US by 2039 (Science Daily as adapted from materials provided by Stanford University, 7/9/10)

NAACP going green? (By Tim Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun - B'More Green Blog, 7/9/10)

New BP Data Show 20% of Gulf Spill Responders Exposed to Chemical That Sickened Valdez Workers (By Elana Schor, Greenwire as reported by The New York Times, 7/9/10)

Installation of new cap on Gulf of Mexico well begins Saturday (By Jaquetta White, The Times- Picayune, 7/9/10)

More colleges using green as a selling tool (By Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 7/8/10)

CBO says climate bill would cut deficit by $19B: Cap-and-trade plan of selling carbon credits is stalled in Senate (By Matthew Daly, The Associated Press as reported by MSNBC.com, 7/7/10)

Germany targets switch to 100% renewables for its electricity by 2050: Germany already leads the world on renewable energy and could become first G20 country to kick the fossil-fuel habit (By Reuters in Britain, 7/7/10)

British report clears scientists in 'climategate' case cited by Cuccinelli in U.Va. probe (By Rosalind Helderman, The Washington Post, 7/7/10)

BP Media Clampdown: Journalists Now Face Possibility of Fines, Prison Time (By Jason Linkins, Huffington Post, 7/6/10)

Brutal heat wave to roast East again: Humidity intensifies misery; air to feel like 105-plus in some areas  (By MSNBC staff, MSNBC.com, 7/6/10)

Recovery effort falls vastly short of BP's promises (By Kimberly Kindy, The Washington Post, 7/6/10)

Oil seeps into New Orleans' Lake Pontchartrain (By Cain Burdeau, The Associated Press as reported by Yahoo News, 7/6/10)

Please send your ideas and comments regarding campus sustainability to green@usmd.edu