Uncategorized Archives

Oceans Protection A Top Priority at Rio+20

(Trip Van Noppen is President of Earthjustice) More than 130 heads of state, other leaders, and some 50,000 participants from all over the globe are gathering this week in Rio de Janeiro, the most-visited city in the southern hemisphere, for the Rio+20 Earth Summit. I am here with Martin Wagner, head of the Earthjustice International…

Acidification Threatens Oceans' Food Web

(Trip Van Noppen is President of Earthjustice) It started in 2005, when baby oysters began dying by the billions in Oregon and Washington. At first, the fishermen weren’t worried, hardened by years of dealing with nature’s fickleness. But, when the die-offs continued year after year, seamen and scientists alike started seeking answers. What they found…

Red Bluff Success Story

One of the most significant measures undertaken to protect California’s iconic Sacramento River salmon runs and improve fish passage will enter its final stage this summer. Workers are completing a new, more fish-friendly pumping station at the former Red Bluff Diversion Dam, a river-spanning structure operated by the Tehama Colusa Canal Authority. The dam’s seasonal…

Arctic Drilling Fleet Poised To Sail

As I write this, ships are being prepared to steam northward from several ports to begin poking holes in the floor of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas in search of oil. Thanks to legal action by Earthjustice over the last few years, and thanks also to a one-year time-out called in the wake of the…

Forest Service Reloads Assault On Colorado Roadless Area

Coal is dirty. It’s the dirty fuel that gives us mercury in our lakes, acid rain in our skies, carbon pollution, leaky ash ponds, and scraped-off mountains and buried streams in Appalachia. And just like the coal itself, Arch Coal’s proposed West Elk mine expansion into the Sunset Roadless Area in western Colorado will be…

Friday Finds: Australia Plans World's Largest Marine Reserve

Australia announces world’s largest marine reserve Just in time for this week’s Rio+20 Earth Summit, Australia has announced its plans to create the world’s largest marine reserve, reports the BBC. The protected zone will cover more than a third of Australia’s waters (about 3 million square kilometers) and will include restrictions on fishing as well…

Time Is Ticking On 'Franken-food' Review

Californian voters will vote in the fall on a proposal to require most food products to label known genetically modified organism ingredients.

Spurred by Earthjustice, EPA Issues Limits for Deadly Soot

Just two weeks ago, the Environmental Protection Agency was dithering on a proposal to strengthen protections against an air pollutant that causes tens of thousands of avoidable deaths every year. Enter Earthjustice attorney, Paul Cort, who on behalf of citizen groups asked a federal judge to order the EPA to get moving. So compelling was…

Death Valley Wilderness Is Safe

A 6-year legal battle to save some of Death Valley National Park’s wilderness areas from development paid off this week. The national park (biggest in the lower 48) is in Inyo County, California. Inyo County asserted it had legal title to several dirt paths in the park under a Civil War-era federal law intended to…