On Monday, millions of Angelinos had a rude awakening. At 6:25AM, a magnitude 4.4 earthquake occurred in the Santa Monica Mountains, at a relatively shallow depth of 5 miles.
“The location is somewhat surprising. It’s within the Santa Monica Mountains. We have not seen seismicity in it in recent times,” said Caltech seismologist Egill Hauksson. “It has been dormant for quite some time.”
Esta mañana, millones de Angelinos tuvieron un brusco despertar. A las 6:25 de la mañana, un terremoto de magnitud 4.4 se produjo en las montañas de Santa Mónica, a 8 km de profundidad – relativamente poco profundo. “La ubicación es… More »
The best thing since sliced bread? Or wasted effort and only good for giving politicians political cover? What should we make of the new Colorado air emissions rules?
Some have claimed the rules will protect air quality and public health, while enabling responsible, economic energy development.
Others have called the rules weak and providing no gain for the environment.
The Sochi Games couldn’t have gone much better for Vladimir Putin. He has successfully used the prestige of the Olympics to bolster his reputation in Russia—all while blanketing concerns like gay rights, free speech and corruption under a layer of wet Sochi snow. (Though his intervention in Ukraine may dwarf all). For the reputation of the Olympics, however, the Sochi Games leave a mixed legacy. The world is now wondering whether the Olympics, a showcase for values like excellence and fair play, are as morally agnostic as they seem.
The recent news about Exxon-Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson’s participation in a lawsuit against the construction of a large water tower near his home and ranch in Texas was extraordinarily symbolic, and could help combat the rhetoric being thrown at opponents of fracking, who are often cast away by industry as being unreasonable “NIMBY’s”: Not In My Back Yard.
The 16-story tower would – among other uses – provide water for fracking operations in the area. It would be a large, unsightly industrial installation, similar in some respects to the thousands of 16 story high Exxon-commissioned drill rigs and heavy machinery towering above neighborhoods and ranches throughout the country. The difference is that the proposed water tank would sit quietly nearby in years to come – a stark contrast to noisy fracking sites that emit hazardous air pollution and sometimes contaminate drinking water.