Occupy L.A.: LAPD on tactical alert; protesters say eviction imminent

The Los Angeles Police Department on Tuesday night issued a citywide tactical alert as Occupy L.A. protesters braced for their imminent eviction from the City Hall lawn.

Los Angeles police have not said when they will evict the protesters.Belstaff An LAPD email alert said the tactical alert was "due to unusual occurrence in downtown L.A." The LAPD was beginning to put up traffic barriers along streets around City Hall.

Several people reported seeing large numbers of police cars driving into Dodger Stadium, where officers were apparently gathering.

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Some activists placed trash and recycling bins to block the main entrance to the lawn,Belstaff outlet saying they saw the barrier as some level of protection against the expected eviction.

The LAPD set a Monday morning deadline for the protesters to leave.

At a meeting of demonstrators Tuesday evening, organizers said that it was "very probable" that some kind of raid will occur Tuesday.Belstaff jacket They did not reveal the source of the information.

An excited man ran through the camp screaming "the cops are coming from the northeast side! The cops are coming!" His Paul Revere-like sprint set the camp ablaze with nervous talking.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said he decided that it was time to evict Occupy L.A. protesters from the City Hall lawn after learning that there were children staying there.

Given the smattering of assaults and other incidents reported at the camp, “the chaos out there could produce something awful,”Belstaff blouson he said in an interview with The Times.

The mayor, a former union organizer and president of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said he and LAPD Chief Charlie Beck jointly made the decision to allow overnight camping on the lawn in hopes of charting a “different path” with protesters. That was, he said, in part because he respects many of their views.

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Many at the tent city--which grew to include its own library, multitude of committees and even a schedule of yoga classes--were drawn by outrage at economic policies that they say favor the rich. But many also pledge allegiance to a variety of other causes, including legalizing marijuana and ending the Federal Reserve.

Climate Change Evaporates Part of China's Hydropower

SHANGHAI -- China has set ambitious goals for itself to develop hydropower to help mitigate the risks of climate change,Belstaff Outlet but increasing extreme weather events likely rooted in climate change are now sabotaging the goals' foundations.
The latest blow came in September, when many major rivers across China ran into an unusual shrinkage, with less than 20 percent water remaining at some stretches. As a result, the nation's hydroelectric generation dropped by almost a quarter compared with last year. There has been an ever-widening decrease in power each month since July, according to a recent government statement.
As water stocks in key hydro stations decline,Canada Goose Chilliwack the regular dry season is approaching. The resulting stress on hydroelectric generation will last into next year, the statement said.
The Chinese government has yet to explain why the water flows slumped. But experts blamed it on climate change, warning of more future droughts in areas traditionally blessed with water.
If this expectation comes true,Canada Goose Expedition it will hamper China's hydropower sector, which contributes most of the country's carbon-free electricity. It will also threaten a national strategy in transmitting electricity from resource-rich western China to feed the country's power-hungry manufacturing sector, most of which is in the east.
For Guangdong province, located on China's east coast, this threat has already turned into a daily reality. Since its western neighbors this year failed to send as much electricity as usual, the manufacturing hub, with a capacity to produce more than half of the world's desktops and toys, is forced to conserve electricity.
Turbines left high and dry
China Southern Power Grid, the region's electricity distributor, attributed the energy shortage partly to the evaporation of hydropower.
As of July, on average,Belstaff Jacket not even half of its installed hydropower capacity found water to turn turbines, the company's statistics show. And several major hydro stations, built as part of the west-to-east electricity transmission plan, failed to do their jobs.
Goupitan, the largest hydroelectric generator in Guizhou province, reportedly produced only 10 percent of its normal output per day, due to shrinking water flows. And in another hydro station called Longtan, located in the Guangxi region, this year's missing rain dropped its reservoir's water level to a point dozens of meters lower than previous years.
"This will definitely negatively affect our hydroelectric production from now to next summer," said Li Yanguang, who is in charge of public relations in the power station. Asked whether next summer -- a regular rainy season -- could make the situation better, Li answered in a cautious tone.
"This totally depends on weather," he said. "We can't predict that."
Hydro growth plan sticks despite falling power output
But Lin Boqiang, one of China's leading energy experts, is confident that the nation's hydroelectric generation may just go in one direction: getting worse.
"If climate change caused this year's water flow decreases, which I think it did, and then its impact [on rivers] will be a long term. It will take a toll on China's hydroelectric output, and also push up the cost of using it," explained Lin, who directs the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University.
But still, from Lin's point of view, such setbacks can't compete with the Chinese desire for tapping more water power. China, already the world's largest hydropower user, plans to add another 120 gigawatts by 2015 -- a crucial step toward greening 15 percent of its power mix by the end of the decade.
Yang Fuqiang, a senior climate and energy expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council, agreed that China's hydropower plan will stand, though not primarily for energy supply concerns.