Applying a cancer-causing poison on California’s farm fields sounds like some dastardly plot hatched by a Batman super-villain. Unfortunately, reality is often scarier than fiction.

In December 2010, the state approved the known carcinogen methyl iodide for use on the farm fields. Yes, you read that right—a chemical that actually causes cancer was approved to be applied on the fields that grow the Golden State’s prized crops.

Earthjustice promptly filed a lawsuit in January challenging the state’s approval of the toxic pesticide. Because of that lawsuit, Earthjustice recently obtained internal documents detailing dire warnings about methyl iodide from scientists at the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. Unfortunately, those warnings fell on deaf ears and then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger approved methyl iodide for use.

Death Valley National Park. (Photo: NASA)

Remember the “Star Gate” sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey when Bowman takes his far-out, psychedelic-twinged trip through deep space? Well, a new series of aerial photos of national parks at Wired offers you a similarly mind-blowing experience all from the comfort of your desk chair.

The NASA-sourced images of Death Valley National Park, Hawai'i’s Volcanoes National Park, and other national parks present a kaleidoscopic mosaic of colors, textures and beauty. From above, the natural treasures appear as abstract works of art. The perspective belies interesting natural features as well. Who knew the Northern California coastline near Redwood National Park was so, well, straight? Or that Crater Lake in Oregon was so, well, strikingly blue?

Oil drilling platforms at Cook Inlet, Alaska. (Photo: Florian Schulz / visionsofthewild.com)

Apparently, Shell Oil and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) live in a land of make believe. Thankfully, Earthjustice makes its abode in a place called reality.

Earlier this month, BOEMRE approved Royal Dutch Shell’s plan to drill for oil next summer in the Alaskan Arctic’s Beaufort Sea. Putting the sled in front of the dog team, BOEMRE approved Shell’s risky drilling plan before ensuring the company had a realistic oil spill response plan. Shell’s current oil spill plan would be laughable if the consequences weren’t so dire.

Bonnie Raitt

Every lifestyle has its de facto soundtrack. Depressed suburban teens have emo music. Trust funders living beachside have a steady supply of Bob Marley to keep them chanting down Babylon. And old folks with office jobs have Paul Simon and the Gipsy Kings.

What about environmentalists?

Besides recordings of rain storms or whale songs, what do tree huggers and bioregionalists listen to when they jam out? Well, here is a collection of eco-groovy tunes to add to your playlist that not only rock, but will garner you instant enviro street cred.

“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” – Isaac Asimov

In American culture, perhaps no method or form of knowledge is regarded more highly than science. Philosophy and religion are unsettled debates over unknowable questions; art and poetry are the realms of divine inspiration and the muses. But science, ah science, the bearer of truths heretofore uncovered and the proverbial sledge hammer of objective reality—surely science is where we can find answers about how to govern our land and its people.

Don’t just take my word that science is the penultimate arbiter of truth; President Obama feels (or at least used to) the same way. In a March 2009 presidential memorandum titled “Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies,” the president wrote: “Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my Administration on a wide range of issues, including improvement of public health, protection of the environment, increased efficiency in the use of energy and other resources, [and] mitigation of the threat of climate change…”

And then gas prices climbed to more than $4 a gallon.

The natural gas industry gets so many tax breaks you'd think the Marcellus Shale deposit was located in the Cayman Islands.

Break out the streamers and the party hats—it’s Tax Day! Of course the overachievers filed their taxes months ago, but no doubt a few folks are frantically sifting through piles of paper at this very moment trying to locate that wayward W-2.

Either way, every year millions of Americans file their taxes and pay their fair share to keep our country running. But for many companies, including those in the oil and gas industries, ducking the taxman has become par for the course.

From avoiding state severance taxes (more on that in a minute) to reaping the benefits of an industry-friendly federal tax code, America’s oil and gas industry benefits from subsidies that increase the federal debt. These tax breaks help make oil and gas artificially “cheap” energy sources, while you and I foot the bill for the industries’ pollution.

Photo by Gary D. Robson.

Monsanto commonly offers unsustainable solutions to the agriculture industry—such as genetically engineered seeds and increased herbicide use—and then dubs those dubious solutions “sustainable agriculture.” The company’s latest unsustainable solution comes in the form of genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa, which the United States Department of Agriculture recently deregulated and approved for planting.

Alfalfa is the fourth most prevalent crop in the United States and is a key feedstock for the dairy industry. Despite the lack of any apparent shortage in the country’s current alfalfa supply, USDA decided that deregulation of GE alfalfa was necessary. In response, attorneys at Earthjustice and the Center for Food Safety filed suit last week against USDA arguing that the agency’s unrestricted approval of GE alfalfa was unlawful.

View of the Monogahela River in Pittsburgh. (Photo by Dave Gingrich)

After 40 years without effective pollution controls, a scrubbing system was recently installed at the Hatfield’s Ferry power plant in Masontown, Penn., limiting the amount of sulfur dioxide and other pollutants the plant pumps into the air. But the plant’s failure to install a scrubbing system for its discharged wastewater means that the dangerous pollutants that formerly fouled the air are now being dumped into the Monongahela River, a drinking water source for more than 350,000 people living south of Pittsburgh.

Earthjustice attorney Abigail Dillen, representing the Environmental Integrity Project and Citizens Coal Council, successfully fended off a legal challenge from plant owner Allegheny Energy, which sought allowance for its facility to continue polluting the river. The company claimed that it was acceptable to foul the river because the scrubber system at Hatfield’s Ferry should be considered an existing source of pollution rather than a “new discharger.” Chief Judge Thomas W. Renwand rejected the company’s argument this week, deciding in favor of our clients. The decision lays the foundation for requiring a wastewater scrubber system and limiting water pollution from the power plant.

Coal train photo courtesy of Surfrider Foundation

Residents of Longview, Wash., can exhale a sigh of relief today, secure in the knowledge that their health will not be jeopardized by a coal shipping terminal. Australian-based Ambre Energy and its subsidiary Millennium Bulk Logistics announced this week that the companies are withdrawing a permit application to construct a coal export facility in Longview on the shores of the Columbia River. Earthjustice played a leading role in opposing the terminal and informing the public about the environmentally harmful project.

With many older coal-fired power plants going offline in the United States and construction of new plants significantly slowed, Australian-based Ambre Energy has a new game plan: send U.S. coal to China.

The company has proposed building a shipping terminal in Longview, Wash., which would be the first West Coast port to transport coal, the largest source of carbon pollution, across the Pacific Ocean. The coal would be sourced from mines in Wyoming and Montana. In December 2010, Earthjustice and a coalition of allies filed an appeal to prevent construction of the terminal.