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Tr-Ash Talk: Shake, Rattle and Coal
The earthquake that yesterday rattled foundations along the eastern seaboard, shut down a nuclear power plant and cracked the Washington Monument also shook a great many dangerous coal ash dams, similar to the one that failed in Harriman, Tennessee almost three years ago. Several large ash ponds are located near the epicenter of the quake,…
Read MoreMcKibben, Others Arrested In Tar Sands Protest
D.C. police have arrested 160 people and counting, in response to a non-violent protest against the Keystone XL Tar Sands pipeline. Among those arrested– Bill McKibben, prolific environmental author and co-founder of 350.org. Released today after three days in jail, McKibben encouraged the continuation of the two-week protest, which is taking place in front of…
Read MoreNorthwest Salmon Re-Birth Dam Close
Next month, contractors will start removing two massive dams on the Elwha River which runs through Washington’s Olympic peninsula. It is expected to bring about the largest single increase of salmon habitat and population in the Northwest. The dam removal caps efforts started more than 20 years ago by a local tribe and visionary activists…
Read MoreShell Oil Living in a Land of Make Believe
Apparently, Shell Oil and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) live in a land of make believe. Thankfully, Earthjustice makes its abode in a place called reality. Earlier this month, BOEMRE approved Royal Dutch Shell’s plan to drill for oil next summer in the Alaskan Arctic’s Beaufort Sea. Putting the sled…
Read MoreFriday Finds: Herbicide Overkill
Monsanto’s herbicide harms plants it’s meant to protect Monsanto’s popular herbicide Roundup may be harming more than just weeds, reports Reuters. A recent study by US Department of Agriculture microbiologist Bob Kremer found that repeated and widespread use of Roundup, which contains the active ingredient glyphosate, on crops genetically engineered to withstand the pesticide is…
Read MoreTr-Ash Talk: State of Failure
Yes, we’re still waiting. And while we wait for comprehensive federal standards that regulate toxic coal ash, we have some more bad news about the state of states’ coal ash disposal. We joined with Appalachian Mountain Advocates to release a report detailing the lack of state-based regulations for coal ash disposal and the 12 worst…
Read MorePowerful Opposition to MTR in the Heart of Coal Country
A major new poll released today reveals some shocking truths about public opinions on mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia. The polling, conducted by the Democratic Lake Research Partners and Republican Bellwether Research & Consulting and funded by Earthjustice, Appalachian Mountain Advocates (formerly the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment), and the Sierra Club…
Read MoreFriday Finds: SpongeBob's Global Warming Conspiracy
FOX News attacks climate change believing sponge A sea sponge is the latest target of the FOX News climate denial-sphere, reports ThinkProgress. In a recent episode of FOX and Friends, the hosts rip into the popular kids’ cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants for its segment on climate change, which points to humans as the source of Earth’s…
Read MoreU.S. Faces Hard Landing At Europe's Tea Party
Non-European airline carriers are up in arms over new EU regulations that would require all planes in the European airspace to either reduce their emissions or pay a carbon-offset fee after 2012. Backed by industry, the airlines are wielding the Revolutionary War cry — “No taxation without representation” — as their righteous slogan. Only this…
Read MoreLessons Unlearned
Last summer, we were captivated by a live video feed of oil spewing from a broken well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. The Deepwater Horizon disaster woke up America to the dangers of offshore oil drilling, and the government was quick to act. Shortly after 11 workers lost their lives, the Obama…
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