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Friday Finds: Fracking Causes Ice Cream Headaches
Extreme gas drilling fracks up ice cream ingredient Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, may cause a worldwide ice-cream headache by eating up supplies of a food additive that’s used in everything from ice cream to cosmetics, drugs and explosives, reports the Houston Chronicle. It turns out that guar gum, a magical white flour-like substance that’s added…
Read MoreUnplugged: EnergyGuide Program Mysteries Unveiled
When the Federal Trade Commission looked into energy efficiency labeling online, it found that retailer after retailer was failing to provide consumers with required information about appliance operating costs and energy usage. Even after the agency levied stiff fines against some retailers, many if not most retailers continued to ignore their consumers’ need for this…
Read MoreProtecting the Arctic by Doing Their Job
A patriotic tale of two examples of those who didn't take the Fourth of July off as a holiday.
Read MoreThree Coal Trains Derail In One Week
On Monday, a coal train derailed in Washington on its way to Spokane, spilling tons of coal and coal dust alongside the tracks. Then, on Wednesday afternoon, a coal train near Chicago derailed bringing a bridge down with it and killing a passenger in a car below. Finally, on Wednesday night, a train near the…
Read MoreTr-Ash Talk: The Good And Bad Coal Ash News
(Note from Lisa Evans: Last week, we nearly lost the battle for Environmental Protection Agency regulations. However, thanks to the chorus of voices from affected communities and public interest groups across the nation and to the amazing work of our champions in the House and Senate, a provision blocking an EPA coal ash rule was…
Read MoreIt’s True: Feds Must Protect False Killer Whales
If you were a false killer whale off the Hawaiian coast you’d probably be calling ocean 911 right about now on your underwater cell phone. You’d frantically shout: “Hurry, send help now! Us false killer whales are being killed by longline fishing hooks!” And the ocean 911 operator would respond: “We have been receiving a…
Read MoreIs The Fracking Boom Doing More Harm Than Good?
Tune in this Sunday to a debate between environmental advocates and defenders of the fracking industry. Deborah Goldberg, Managing Attorney in Earthjustice’s Northeast office, and Katherine Hudson Watershed Program Director at Riverkeeper of Riverkeeper will be arguing that the country’s natural gas boom is doing more harm than good. They’ll be squaring off against Joe…
Read MoreFriday Finds: Bumblebees Get Stung By Climate Change
Bumblebees join honeybees in buzzing off It turns out honeybees aren’t the only pollinators experiencing mysterious, massive die-offs, reports Grist. Bumblebees, those fuzzy, buzzy bees that pollinate everything from alfalfa to apples, are also disappearing. That’s bad news for farmers…and anyone who happens to like eating food. According to research published last year, the abundance…
Read MoreCourt Lets California Keep Clean Fuel Rule
Twenty seven million Californians—80 percent of the state’s population—are exposed to emissions from ocean-going vessels, resulting in serious health impacts such as cancer, respiratory illnesses like asthma, as well as increasing the risk of heart disease. California estimates that the ships’ direct particulate emissions cause 300 premature deaths across the state every single year, even…
Read MoreValuing Colorado’s Roan Plateau
How much are oil and natural gas worth? I’m not asking how much a barrel of sweet crude is going for these days or what your gas bill from the utility company was last month. The real question isn’t how much fossil fuels cost in terms of dollars, but rather, what is worth sacrificing in…
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