In the Shadow of the Stacks

"It’s like hell. Living in hell," says Marti Blake, when asked about being neighbors with a coal-fired power plant. "It’s filthy, it’s dirty, it’s noisy, it’s unhealthy." For the past 21 years, Blake has lived across the street from the Cheswick Generating Station in Springdale, PA. A family situation left her trying to find a…

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Major Win in Twenty-Year Fight to Cut Mercury

Marti Blake lives near the Cheswick coal-fired power plant in Pennsylvania and has suffered serious health complications.

Earthjustice’s litigation and advocacy helped to finally bring coal-fired power plants—the juggernauts of toxic air pollution—under EPA scrutiny. New rules released in December 2012 will slash mercury emissions by 90 percent and save thousands of lives.

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Unplugged: Who Asked GOP To Take On Light Bulb Fight?

Usually when our elected leaders fight federal rules, they are going to the mat for their corporate benefactors. Yet we scratch our heads in wonder over who exactly has pushed them to take on this light bulb fight. Last week, the House GOP majority included in their must-pass funding legislation a rider to block funding…

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Lump of Coal (Make That a Clump of Oil) In Your Stocking

It’s that time of year again. No, I’m not talking about the great big man in the red suit and last-minute Christmas shopping. I’m talking about the House GOP majority trying to deliver on their year-long assault on environmental and public health protections in the last two bills that will be passed by Congress this…

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Friday Finds: Quench Your Chemical Thirst

American sodas spiked with flame retardants That mid-day caffeine boost you reach for every afternoon may contain a chemical that causes skin lesions, memory loss and nerve disorders, reports Environmental Health News. Sodas like Mountain Dew and Gatorade contain brominated vegetable oil (BVO), a synthetic chemical  that keeps a soda’s fruity flavors well-mixed inside the can…

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Report Shows Climate Change Threats To Communities in Latin America

Consider this: the United States has contributed 28.75 percent of historical, cumulative greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while all Central and South American nations combined have only contributed 3.58 percent. And that, although the population of Latin America is nearly double that of the United States. Of course, the tricky thing about climate change is that…

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U.S. Falls Short At U.N. Climate Conference

(Earthjustice attorney Erika Rosenthal represented the organization at U.N. climate talks that wrapped up Sunday in Durban, South Africa.) The first U.N. climate talks held on African soil ended in the wee hours of Sunday with important progress in several key areas – preserving the Kyoto Protocol, launching negotiations on a new more comprehensive accord,…

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