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Tr-Ash Talk: Is Poisoned Water Necessary for Jobs?
So, you’d think we’d all be in agreement here: clean water is a boon for everyone. That means, keep coal ash (full of mercury, arsenic, hexavalent chromium and other nasty stuff) out of our drinking water, right? Sadly, that doesn’t hold true for everyone. Some members of the House of Representatives think that funding 2.9…
Read MoreFriday Finds: Big Win for Great Barrier Reef
Coal project kept out of Great Barrier Reef This week, Australian environment minister Tony Burke put a stop to a billion dollar coal project that could have negatively impacted the Great Barrier Reef, reports CorpWatch. The world’s largest coral ecosystem, the Great Barrier Reef contains an abundance of marine life, is one of the seven…
Read MoreThe Many Humble Heroes of Appalachia
As we were working on our new campaign ("Mountain Heroes") to stop mountaintop removal coal mining, many of the folks who shared their stories told us they felt bashful about being called "heroes." In our society today, when we talk about a hero many of us imagine a caped figure flying through the sky, lifting…
Read MoreIntroducing Our New Mountain Heroes Website and Campaign
Over our years of working to stop mountaintop removal mining, we at Earthjustice have met so many brave and dedicated people fighting for their communities, mountains and waters. In 2010, Earthjustice launched our “Mountain Heroes” campaign to share their inspiring stories and show that this is not just a fight for the environment—it’s a fight…
Read MoreFriday Finds: Backpacking Brain Boost
Taking a hike may boost your brainpower Spending time outside doesn’t just make you happier and calm your frazzled nerves, reports the Wall Street Journal. It can also improve creativity. According to a yet-to-be-published paper by University of Kansas researchers, a group of hikers that spent four days in the woods outperformed another set of…
Read MoreJudge Jumpstarts Action on Deadly Soot
Nothing cuts baloney like a court order. Today, in response to a request made by Earthjustice, a federal judge gave the Environmental Protection Agency one week to sign a proposal for tightening standards on soot, an airborne mixture of tiny particles that causes tens of thousands of early deaths every year. The court’s action is…
Read MoreEnergy Giant Ditches Coal Plant Retrofit
She’s big, dirty and 42-years old—that’s old in power plant years. They call her Big Sandy in Kentucky and she has two and a half years to clean up her act until she’s either shut down or replaced with newer, cleaner energy resources. Right now, she burns millions of tons of coal each year, equaling…
Read MoreAn Unhealthy Mountaineer
Over this past long weekend, spent backpacking in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, I was reminded of a memorable method for distinguishing two of our stateliest trees. Though these two specimens are similar in many respects, the pine cones of “prickly ponderosa” have small spikes that point outwards, while those of “gentle Jeffrey” curve inward. (The…
Read MoreScofflaw Bison Occupy Private Grazing Lands Near Yellowstone
A group of 27 bison occupying privately owned grazing lands outside of Yellowstone National Park’s western border were detained by authorities on May 24. The group of animals included 12 newborn calves, 12 mothers, and three juveniles. The Montana Department of Livestock led the raid with support from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and…
Read MoreFriday Finds: Fracked Beer’s Killer Buzz
Breweries worry that extreme gas drilling will frack their beer It turns out that hydraulic gas drilling or fracking doesn’t just contaminate the air and water; it could also mess up your favorite brew, reports Mother Jones. Brewmasters like Brooklyn Brewery and upstate New York’s Ommegang Brewery are raising the alarm about toxic fracking chemicals…
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