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Obama 'Promise' Keeps Arctic Drilling On Table
On backing down, backing away, and backing into a corner . . . President Obama’s statement, “I will not back down from making sure an oil company can contain the kind of oil spill we saw in the Gulf two years ago,” was one the more awkward sentences in his State of the Union speech,…
Read MoreThink the Weather's Getting Crazier? You're Right
I’m going to stand back and just give you a taste of a report from the Earth Policy Institute. Scary. I recommend you read the whole thing and send it around. There are still people who should know better denying climate change. They are welcome to believe whatever they like, but they shouldn’t be playing…
Read MoreTimes Columnist Spouts Keystone Nonsense
The New York Times describes Joe Nocera as a business columnist, but a quick scan of recent columns is very heavy on pieces about the woes of the NCAA, the National Collegiate Athletic Association. If today’s column is any indication, we’d all be better off if he stuck with sports. His thesis is that rejecting…
Read MoreCoal’s Hollow Promises To Northwest Communities
Each time a new coal export terminal is proposed at a Pacific Northwest port, industry promises to take appropriate measures to protect the surrounding environment and community from the terminal’s inherent pollution. The harmful effects of coal dust blowing into communities from enormous coal piles and trains carrying coal in open boxcars while spewing coal…
Read MoreMonday Reads: The Arctic Nights Edition
All we know, to the best of our knowledge, is that we don’t yet know enough
Read MoreWhales and Wolves: The Hollywood Versions
The uplifting movie Big Miracle, opening this weekend, has the power to educate people across the country about America’s Arctic Ocean, along with the people and wildlife that call it home. This is the same place Royal Dutch Shell is planning to drill in our Arctic waters this summer—with no viable method to clean up…
Read MoreFriday Finds: Snakes in the ‘Glades
Pythons and anacondas put the squeeze on the Everglades Forget snakes on a plane. Snakes like pythons and anacondas are taking over the Florida Everglades and eating everything—including rabbits, raccoons and even deer—in sight, reports the Washington Post. Thanks to reckless owners releasing pets they no longer want, invasive snakes are slowly climbing their way…
Read MoreTr-Ash Talk: Coal Numbers Don’t Add Up
The American Coal Ash Association is trying with might to mislead us. In a recent press release, they exaggerated the impact the Environmental Protection Agency’s rulemaking process is having on coal ash recycling, claiming a decrease in the recycling of combustion waste from coal plants since the EPA started work on a coal ash rule.The…
Read MoreCoos Bay, Oregon is Coal Industry’s Latest Target
A new battle has emerged in the fight over proposed coal export terminals in the Pacific Northwest. The Oregon Department of State Lands recently issued a permit allowing the Port of Coos Bay to conduct the largest dredging project in an estuary in state history. The permit allows for dredging of the first 1.75 million…
Read MoreWorld Wetlands Day: Happy Underrated Water Body Day!
In addition to being Groundhog Day, Feb. 2 is World Wetlands Day. Say what? An international day to celebrate swamps? If you’re scratching your head wondering why in the world we’d throw a party for swamps (and bogs and marshes and fens and floodplains and other wet, buggy places), here’s why: Wetlands protect us. They’re…
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