Tr-Ash Talk: Dam Shame

If you live in Indiana, it’s best not to live below one of the state’s 53 coal ash dams. The state’s laissez-fare attitude toward these deadly structures has created a potentially disastrous public hazard. Recent dam breaks in Indianapolis should have sounded the alarm, but apparently it takes more than 30 million gallons of toxic…

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EPA On Clean Air Act: 160,000 lives saved last year

Despite the House GOP majority attempting to quash our clean air, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is serious about our right to breathe. Today, the agency released a report that champions the Clean Air Act as a lifesaver, health protector – and economic bolster. The report analyzed effects of the Clean Air Act on the…

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Radioactive water being dumped into our rivers?

The recent New York Times investigation into the dangers posed to our air and water by fracking is a must-read. The meat of the investigation deals with radioactive material in wastewater from the fracking process and its possible migration into our lakes and rivers. The paper’s findings are alarming to say the least, here are…

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Thanking House Leaders Who Stood For Clean Air

  This week has been a welcome reprieve from the madness in the House of Representatives last week. Among the many environmental amendments passed in the House budget plan is one that blocks regulations of mercury and other air pollution emanating from cement plants. Despite the calm after the storm, we’ve got continued movement from…

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Arctic Alarm – Time To Agree On Environmental Standards

Russia is moving ahead with plans to drill in the Arctic (with BP at its side, no less). This is a clear wake-up call: Arctic basin countries need to create an agreement on international environmental standards for the Arctic. Because oil exploration exposes the Arctic to spills that cross artificial boundaries on a map, international…

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Friday Finds: BPA's Bearded Ladies

EU moves forward on chemical regs while U.S. gets bearded females The European Union recently announced that it will ban six toxic substances under its Registration, Evaluation, Authorization & Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) program, reports Chemical & Engineering News. The landmark move, which includes phasing out three plastic softening chemicals and a flame retardant, stands…

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Tr-Ash Talk: House Broken

Early Saturday morning, the U.S. House of Representatives approved an amendment to the House budget bill that had nothing to do with trimming the federal deficit, but everything to do with sweetening the bottom line of the likes of Duke Energy, AEP, Ameren and Southern Company. The House passed this amendment at about two in…

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Monday Reads: The Wildlife Meets Music Edition

News headlines last week prominently featured both music (the Grammy Awards rolled out their red carpet) and the environment (the GOP’s proposed spending legislation steamrolled through the House, nearly crushed under the weight of riders and amendments seeking to rollback many environmental and public health gains of the past several years). What readers may not…

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House Approves Anti-Environment Spending Bill

 It’s a shame that it took the House days and many late night and early morning hours to come up with a budget plan like this. And during the wee hours of 4:35 a.m. the final roll call counted a vote of 235 to 189. And just like that our elected leaders eliminated safeguards for…

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