Protesters against hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale. Photo courtesy of Marcellus Protest.

Celebrity disses hydraulic fracturing
Forget traipsing around a creepy island with Leonardo DiCaprio. Actor Mark Ruffalo recently went on a much more daring crusade in his latest roll as a passionate environmental advocate speaking out against the practice of hydraulic fracturing, according to HuffPo. After attending an NYC event called "Fracking and Its Effects: A Panel Discussion," Ruffalo told HuffPo in an exclusive interview that risky technologies like fracking will lead to "greater degradation…and greater catastrophes," urging people to speak out on the issue. Visit Earthjustice's Web site to see how you can help put the brakes on fracking.

High-tech sweatshirt detects air pollution
A pair of NYU grad students with a flair for combining fashion and science have created a high-tech sweatshirt that features an image of pink lungs whose veins turn blue after coming in contact with air pollution, reports the NY Daily News. A tiny carbon monoxide sensor embedded in the shirt can pick up air pollutants from a range of sources, like cars and second-hand smoke. At $60 a pop, it's unlikely that the shirts will be mass produced any time soon, but in the meantime the shirts make quite the fashion statement.

Sharks are targeted for their fins to make shark fin soup. Photo courtesy of sxc.hu

Congress puts the kibosh on shark fin soup
Last week, Congress adopted legislation to curb shark finning, the practice of chopping off a shark's fins and dumping the finless shark back into the water, all so that people can dine on shark fin soup, reports the Washington Post. Though shark finning is currently banned off of the Atlantic Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico, the bill will protect sharks off of all U.S. coasts by requiring vessels to land sharks with their fins attached, helping to restore endangered shark populations.

Oil spill probe undermined by conflict of interest
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has alleged that the investigation into the cause of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has been tainted because Transocean and Cameron, two companies with a stake in the investigation's outcome, have been allowed to participate in the examination. Allowing these two companies is a bit like asking a bank thief to help investigate a robbery that he/she was involved in, but there's no word yet on whether the allegations will be taken seriously. In the meantime, Earthjustice is working hard to make sure those guilty of causing the biggest environmental disaster in the U.S. are held accountable.

Wolverines will have to wait for the protection they deserve. Photo courtesy of Lory Joly at http://oas.visitsweden.com

Leaked email reveals Fox News' climate change bias
Nonprofit media research center Media Matters recently came across an email showing that a top Fox News official ordered staff to cast suspicion on any mention of climate change science during their news reports, reports the Guardian, explaining that "it is not our place as journalists to assert such notions as facts, especially as this debate intensifies." With this latest revelation, it's no wonder then that a recent survey found that Fox News viewers are "significantly more misinformed than consumers of news from other sources."

Wolverines told to get in line for endangered species protection
Despite being fierce hunters, wolverine populations are on the decline, enough so to be considered endangered by federal wildlife officials, reports the Associated Press. Still, thanks to a backlog of other species that are in more imminent danger, the largest member of the weasel family won't be reaping the benefits of endangered species protection anytime soon. Instead, they'll need to get behind other species on the list, whose numbers total in the hundreds.

Dow Chemical and others have been accused of spying on Greenpeace. Photo courtesy of sxc.hu.

Judge orders GMO sugar beets to be ripped from the ground
Citing the potential for environmental harm, a federal judge in California has ordered farmers in Oregon and Arizona to rip up hundreds of acres of genetically modified sugar beets, reports the Associated Press. The ruling stems from an Earthjustice lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which issued permits for Monsanto's GM, Roundup Ready sugar beets without first determining what kinds of effects the genetically modified crops could have on other foods.

Greenpeace accuses corporations of playing spy games
Greenpeace is suing chemical giant Dow Chemical and others for alleged corporate espionage, reports the Washington Post. The environmental activist group, which has taken on such corporate giants as McDonalds, Coca Cola, and Monsanto, accuses the companies of hiring spies from 1998 to 2000 to "perform a range of 'clandestine and unlawful' actions to undermine its anti-pollution efforts against the chemical industry," including stealing confidential records and even sending phony volunteers to illegally record calls and hack security codes.