Thu, 25/04/2013 Steven Viney Louise Sarant This piece was written for Egypt Independent’s final weekly print edition, which was banned from going to press. Two months before word about Egypt Independent’s potential closure first surfaced, Noor Noor, executive coordinator of the NGO Nature Conservation Egypt, discussed the loss at stake. “Egypt Independent is one of […]

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April 27, 2013 By Samya Kullab BEIRUT: From the shore, the site of Lebanon’s potential maritime oil and gas reserve appears a vast expanse of blue sea. But well below the surface water, a depth impenetrable even by the sun’s rays, lie 10 state-demarcated exploration blocks still to be auctioned off to oil companies, in […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 04/24/2013 Letter to Netanyahu says decision whether or not to export Israel’s natural gas is a weighty one that demands public discussion. TAt an emergency session of the Knesset’s Social-Environment Lobby on Wednesday, some 60 MKs signed a letter demanding that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu bring the issue of determining gas export […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 04/25/2013 CEO of Electric Corp. says production potential of existing infrastructure is insufficient to create ample reserve. Despite the influx of natural gas from the Tamar reservoir, the country is still likely to face an alarmingly low electricity reserve this summer, similar to that of last year, Israel Electric Corporation CEO and […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 04/25/2013 Israeli “smart water” network and software management firm Whitewater awarded at ceremony in New York. The Israeli “smart water” network and software management firm Whitewater was named a 2013 Bloomberg New Energy Pioneer at a ceremony in New York earlier this week. Whitewater received the award at the sixth annual Bloomberg […]

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Resident of Hamas-ruled territory first started producing charcoal using trees IDF cut down to deprive terrorists of cover when they fire rockets Associated Press Published: 04.27.13 In adapting to years of border blockades and shortages, Palestinians in Gaza have become experts at recycling and making new out of old. That includes turning scrap wood into […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 04/29/2013 Bonfires, meteorological conditions during Lag Ba’omer stimulate hike up air pollution 17 times normal levels. By sunrise on Lag Ba’omer Sunday, air pollution levels had risen up to 17 times their normal values across the country, the Environmental Protection Ministry reported. As Israeli revelers created bonfires across the country beginning Saturday […]

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“Who would have thought that recycling can make such a difference? I can’t thank UNRWA enough for changing my little boy’s life”, said the mother of 7-year-old Hadi El Khatib, a resident of Ein El Hilweh refugee camp, during a recycling ceremony celebrating UNRWA Lebanon Field Office’s new initiative “Give Someone an Opportunity: Recycling Makes […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 04/24/2013 Order of Saint Lazarus pledges to fund rehabilitation of Azariya path. n a small Palestinian village where Jesus was said to have brought Lazarus back to life, sewage now runs through the streets and outdated walking paths expose pilgrims neither to local people nor to nature, an ecological architect told a […]

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By DANIEL K. EISENBUD 04/25/2013 Jerusalem deputy mayor: Nothing can be done in Jerusalem without engaging city’s different faiths. International environmentalists, spiritual leaders, government officials and business leaders gathered for a third day to discuss practical solutions for creating greater environmental and economic sustainability at the YMCA in Jerusalem on Wednesday. The First International Symposium […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 04/23/2013 Protesters: Conference organizers, government officials have a capitalist agenda, are betraying the public. Environmental activists protested outside and repeatedly interrupted speeches during the Fifth National Energy Convention on Monday morning, slamming the government for hijacking the public’s natural gas resources. Standing outside Tel Aviv’s Hilton Hotel with banners, the protesters from […]

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HAARETZ In new report, Greenpeace says Israel must revolutionize its energy consumption by ensuring half of its electricity comes from renewable sources within 30 years. By Zafrir Rinat | Apr.22, 2013 srael can and must revolutionize its energy consumption such that within 30 years half of its electricity comes from renewable sources, the international environmental […]

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April 24, 2013 01:19 AM By Mohamad El Amin The Daily Star BEIRUT: Fresh analysis of offshore seismic surveys of Lebanon are showing that tapping into Lebanon’s gas wealth might be easier than first thought, said experts at a major oil conference Tuesday. “On the old 2-D data, we had initially thought that the main […]

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April 23, 2013 01:46 AM By Lysandra Ohrstrom The Daily Star BEIRUT: Even if Lebanon manages to overcome domestic obstacles and begin producing natural gas from its potential offshore hydrocarbon reserves, seismic shifts in the global energy market may forestall its dream of becoming an energy-exporting nation. International experts at the Oil and Gas conference […]

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by Omar Obeidat | Apr 23, 2013 | 23:43 AMMAN –– The uninterrupted flow of gas supplies from Egypt, albeit below the original agreed on amounts, cut down the Kingdom’s oil import bill by JD172 million in the first two months of 2013. According to a report on Jordan’s external trade, released Monday by the […]

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April 22, 2013 01:29 AM The Daily Star SIDON, Lebanon: Future Bloc MP Bahia Hariri saluted the Sidon municipality Sunday for a project to eliminate a hazardous landfill in the city, during an event to celebrate student artistic projects. Hariri’s comments were made during a ceremony awarding certificates of excellence to students attending public and […]

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Environmental Protection Ministry is pushing forward legislation that would deal with deficient maintenance of cooking gas canisters. By Zafrir Rinat | Apr.22, 2013 Inspection and enforcement of the placement and maintenance of cooking gas canisters is deficient and endangers public safety, the Environmental Protection Ministry said Sunday. The ministry has formulated a bill that it […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 04/23/2013 Councilman Reuven Lediansky merges members from Tel Aviv Green Movement and Let Live parties under one unified hat called “Green Transformation.” Just in time for Earth Day and six months ahead of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipal elections, one city councilman has launched a new movement with a revamped environmental platform. With […]

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April 22, 2013 By Samya Kullab BEIRUT: The walk down Damascus Road to Downtown can be disorienting for pedestrians forced to navigate narrow, broken sidewalks and distracted by the cacophonyof bulldozers ripping open the earth. The idea that what was once the Green Line – now littered with dilapidated structures – could be transformed into […]

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by Hana Namrouqa | Apr 23, 2013 | 23:26 AMMAN — If Jordan invests in environmental conservation, it can generate 50,000 job opportunities and over JD1.3 billion in revenues in a decade, according to a report released on Tuesday. The report, which was prepared in cooperation with the French Development Agency and related authorities, seeks […]

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