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Everyone has The Right To Breathe clean air. Watch a video featuring Earthjustice Attorney Jim Pew and two Pennsylvanians—Marti Blake and Martin Garrigan—who know firsthand what it means to live in the shadow of a coal plant's smokestack, breathing in daily lungfuls of toxic air for more than two decades.

Coal Ash Contaminates Our Lives. Coal ash is the hazardous waste that remains after coal is burned. Dumped into unlined ponds or mines, the toxins readily leach into drinking water supplies. Watch the video above and take action to support federally enforceable safeguards for coal ash disposal.

ABOUT EARTHJUSTICE'S BLOG

unEARTHED is a forum for the voices and stories of the people behind Earthjustice's work. The views and opinions expressed in this blog do not necessarily represent the opinion or position of Earthjustice or its board, clients, or funders.

Learn more about Earthjustice.

View John McManus's blog posts
23 June 2010, 10:00 AM
John McManus

Gulf Drilling Moratorium Lifted by Court Order

Conservation groups will join government in trying to get it reinstated

Yesterday a federal district judge granted a request by oil industry groups and blocked a six month moratorium on new offshore oil drilling projects in the Gulf of Mexico put in place by the Obama administration. The judge ruled that the administration moved too fast and overreacted when it decided to stop deep offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The administration enacted the moratorium in response to the explosion and fire that took the lives of 11 men and caused the worst American environmental disaster in modern times. A government review after the explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon showed that additional safeguards are necessary before more deepwater drilling is allowed. Even more are virtually certain to be required after completion of other ongoing investigations.

The six month moratorium only applies to 33 offshore drilling operations drilling in greater than 500 feet of water. Thousands of other offshore Gulf oil wells continue to pump oil and are not affected by the moratorium. The industry group that challenged the moratorium told the judge that it would suffer grievous economic losses while its CEO told investors that most of its vessels were hard at work in the cleanup and customer charters.

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View Terry Winckler's blog posts
18 June 2010, 11:26 AM
Terry Winckler

Unleash The Mississippi River To Stop Gulf Oil Invasion

Report says river flow can be turned up to keep oil at bay
Works that divert 30 percent of Mississippi River

Now that human technology has failed to keep oil out of Gulf coast wetlands, some scientists think the solution lies with one of nature's most ancient techniques—flooding of the Mississippi River.

The scientists have concluded that powerful river flows kept oil from the BP/Gulf spill from invading large areas of wetlands. But as winter runoff diminished, so too did the river flow, and now oil is making a destructive invasion. The strong flow could be restored, however, by simply adjusting dams upstream that are diverting water out of the river bed.

It almost seems too simple, but as a report in Popular Mechanics points out, the Army Corps of Engineers is considering the idea and no one seems to oppose it. PM magazine says the idea was first presented last week to the EPA by Paul Kemp, a former professor of marine science at Louisiana State University and current vice president of the National Audubon Society's Louisiana Coastal Initiative.

Here is how the magazine writes about the idea:

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View David Guest's blog posts
16 June 2010, 11:32 AM
David Guest

Suing To Stop Industry's 'Fairy Tale' Oil Spill Plans

Government let BP, other oil companies get away with fiction

<Update: The EPA has revealed the chemical ingredients list of what's in the dispersant being put on oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico. Earthjustice sought the information through the Freedom of Information Act.>

Here in Florida, the oil spill calamity in the Gulf of Mexico is poised to undo years and years of our hard work to keep Florida's waters clean. That is a sobering and devastating fact.

So, it is with heavy hearts that we in the Florida Earthjustice office have turned our attention to the one thing we can apply our expertise to during this disaster: making sure federal rules are strengthened so that we don't have to watch such a ridiculously and shamefully inadequate spill cleanup response again.

To wit, we've filed seven federal suits against the Minerals Management Service, the agency that's supposed to regulate oil drillers. Our clients are the Sierra Club and the Gulf Restoration Network.

Our review of federal records turned up lax regulation and make-believe filings by BP about the company's ability to handle a spill. For example:

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View Terry Winckler's blog posts
15 June 2010, 4:10 PM
Terry Winckler

President Obama Speaks About BP Oil Spill in Gulf

This is a live blogging report as the president speaks from Oval Office

<Update at 6:05> The Atlanta Constitution expressed disappointment that President Obama "squandered" his "crisis moment." The president mentioned the moon-shot of another generation, but the Constitution said he failed to make one of his own.

A more evenhanded assessment came from The Washington Post, as it wondered whether the president had "turned a corner" with his speech. The New York Times said it was vague on content.

<Update at 5:50> For those of us looking for something drastically different or dramatic from President Obama in tonight's speech, there was little. He did stand strong in pushing for his energy bill, but gave no clue whether it would morph or not morph from being a climate bill. Energy tax or price on carbon? Not a word.  Here is his strongest statement after calling out for comprehensive energy legislation:

The consequences of our inaction are now in plain sight. Each day, we send nearly $1 billion of our wealth to foreign countries for their oil. And today, as we look to the Gulf, we see an entire way of life being threatened by a menacing cloud of black crude.

The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now.

<Update at 5:30> In a speech as short in length as it was broad in reach, President Obama vowed to take on BP and make the company compensate its many Gulf coast oil spill victims; restore the Gulf coast; set up regulatory assurances that this kind of spill will never happen again by making the government a watchdog of the oil industry; and put the country on course to a clean energy future. There are few details to pull from the speech and little that hasn't already been reported on the president's programs.

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View Jessica Knoblauch's blog posts
11 June 2010, 4:32 PM
Jessica Knoblauch

Unearthed This Week

Hazardous waste exemption, oil dispersants, BP goes Orwellian

Some top stories from the past week at Earthjustice…

This week, Earthjustice scored a big victory for our lungs with the announcement that the EPA is finally abandoning a dangerous rule—granted by the Bush administration—that would permit the unregulated burning of hazardous waste.

BP's latest effort to clean up its soiled image took it into even murkier waters after the oil giant recently began buying search terms like "oil spill" on Google and Yahoo search engines so that the company's official web site would be the first link to appear on a search page.

Amidst a vote on Sen. Murkowski's (R-AK) resolution to bail out big polluters, Earthjustice President Trip Van Noppen called on the Senate to put aside partisan politics and protect the American people by voting against this bill. Thankfully, the Senate has voted 53-47 against the bill.

Campaign manager Brian Smith reported on Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's recent announcement of a memorandum of understanding to establish the Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Consortium, which has the goal of tapping into the estimated 1 million megawatts of potential wind power that exists off the east coast.

Earthjustice was curious to know just what's in all of those chemical dispersants that we're dropping into the Gulf of Mexico by the millions of gallons, so we filed a Freedom of Information Act request to get more information. Here's what we found (hint: it's not good).

View Jessica Knoblauch's blog posts
09 June 2010, 3:32 PM
Jessica Knoblauch

Orwell Would Be Proud of BP

Company makes it almost impossible to miss its oil spill spin

The company formerly known as "Beyond Petroleum" is at it again.

In its latest effort to lasso the messaging on the disaster in the Gulf, BP recently purchased several phrases like "oil spill" on Google and Yahoo search engines so that the first item people see when searching these terms is BP's official Web site.

"Learn more about how BP is helping," reads the text alongside the link to the BP site, positioned at the very top of a Google search page. After clicking on the link, users are drawn into BP's sanitized version of the spill, complete with inspiring images of cleanup workers and men and women looking appropriately concerned about the issue at hand.

According to a spokesperson for the oil giant, BP's motive for purchasing the search terms was completely innocent.

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View Sam Edmondson's blog posts
04 June 2010, 3:43 PM
Sam Edmondson

President Obama Returns to Gulf as BP Spill Widens

President travels to Louisiana, oil spill travels to Florida
A tar ball. Photo: USGS

Fresh off a "Larry King Live" appearance (see below) in which he said "BP has to shut down this well," a "furious" President Obama flew to Louisiana today to meet with regional officials and beleaguered local residents as new events unfolded in the BP oil spill saga. The president hooked BP with fresh barbs, criticizing a $50 million TV ad campaign designed to salvage the company's image when what truly needs salvaging are the oil-soaked beaches, wetlands, wildlife, and businesses of Gulf Coast states.

President Obama's third visit to the Gulf since the spill's start transpired as tar balls began peppering Florida's sandy beaches, just hours after BP installed a "top cap," the company's latest attempt to contain the hemorrhaging well.

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View Raviya Ismail's blog posts
04 June 2010, 12:56 PM
Raviya Ismail

Hey Hey, Ho Ho! BP's Oil Spill's Got to Go!

While Florida meets oil sheen, protestors push for BP accountability
Photo: Friends of the Earth

Nearly 200 journalists, environmental activists and representatives of public interest organizations (Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Public Citizen, 350.org and others) gathered in front of BP's headquarters downtown today to stage a citizen's arrest of the oil giant for the Gulf of Mexico gusher that has been fouling coastlines, killing marine life and devastating Gulf coast communities.

The assembled crowd called for a clean energy future and one that doesn't put profits over people.

Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., a resident of Shreveport, Louisiana who works with the Hip Hop Caucus said of BP, "Your greed is killing my people," and urged President Obama that "this is not the time to play politics."

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View Terry Winckler's blog posts
02 June 2010, 12:23 PM
Terry Winckler

Obama Vows To End National Addiction To Oil and Coal

Gulf oil spill finally brings out heartfelt sentiments and promises

For the first time since oil started flooding the Gulf of Mexico, President Obama has shown passion and vision about where this unfolding tragedy should lead us -- to end our national addiction to oil and other forms of carbon-based energy.

"The next generation will not be held hostage to energy sources from the last century," the president vowed today in a speech clearly aimed at a rising chorus of critics who, like us, wonder why the president has been so inspirationally absent on what may be this nation's worst environmental disaster. Last Friday, while standing amid the oily carnage on a Louisiana beach, Obama did little more than pluck a tar ball from the sand and show it to the press. What a letdown. What a missed opportunity.

Today was better.

In a speech on economics at Canegie Mellon University, President Obama steered straight to the oil spill and said it exemplified what we must leave behind on our way to a clean energy future. "I will make the case for a clean-energy future wherever I can, and I will work with anyone from either party to get this done. But we will get this done," he said. He gave a string of assurances and promises about how he will shape that future, among them these:

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View Terry Winckler's blog posts
28 May 2010, 12:26 PM
Terry Winckler

What's In Oil Spill's Toxic Stew? We Demand An Answer

Earthjustice files action to discover what's in chemical dispersant
Dispersant sprayed in Gulf of Mexico

Today, the maker of a controversial dispersant used in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill declared, "We have nothing to hide." In fact, that's the headline of a New York Times story on the dispersant.

If that were true, we at Earthjustice and our clients wouldn't have to take formal action to find out what's in the dispersant. British Petroleum, which has used more than 800,000 gallons of "Corexit" to combat its oil spill, won't reveal what is in the compound. Thus, we have been forced to send a formal Freedom of Information Act request to the Environmental Protection Agency, asking for the information.

<Update: Earthjustice Vice President of Litigation Patti Goldman notes that "Nalco put out a release trying to allay concerns about the ingredients in its dispersants, but its statement raises more concerns than it answers. First, it asserts that all of the ingredients "have been determined safe and effective by the EPA." While the Food and Drug Administration makes such determinations for drugs, the Toxics Substances Control Act is so weak that it does not require that EPA make such safety findings before chemicals are allowed on the market. That is why a diverse health, environmental, and labor coalition (including Earthjustice) are calling for an overhaul of that law. Given that EPA is not in the business of declaring chemicals safe and effective, I doubt EPA would back up Nalco's claim. Second, Nalco tries to prove that Corexit ingredients are safe by pointing to their presence in cosmetics, lotions, and stain blockers. That gives me little comfort. Cosmetics and lotions often contain phthalates, which have been associated with reproductive impacts and endocrine disruption. And some stain blockers contain ingredients classified as cancer-causing or neurotoxins."> 

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