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Poisoned by the Midas Touch
Silver was the precious metal at the foundation of the Roman Empire’s economy and since silver is often embedded in lead ore, lead was an abundant byproduct available throughout the empire. As such, Romans used lead in everything from plumbing pipes to wine to women’s makeup. In a sense, it was the high fructose corn…
Read MoreSaying Goodbye to a Hero and Pledging to Fight Harder
Last night we lost a true hero, Judy Bonds of Marfork, West Virginia. Judy—the executive director of Coal River Mountain Watch, Goldman Prize recipient, and friend and partner of Earthjustice—was a courageous leader in the fight to protect Americans and future generations from the poisonous pollution and destruction of mountaintop removal mining. She was an…
Read MoreMassachusetts is Latest State to Target Greenhouse Gases
So, now Massachusetts has joined the list of states that aren’t waiting for Congress to turn this country away from greenhouse-gaseous sources of energy. That state has set aggressive limits on emissions and plans to reach those targets by relying on clean energy programs already in place, including components of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)…
Read MoreCelebrating Americans Who Didn't Die in 2010
According to estimates from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 160,000 American lives were saved in 2010 by the Clean Air Act’s health protections. Four decades of clean air protections have made the U.S. stronger, healthier and more prosperous.
Read MoreFriday Finds: No Shark Fin Soup For You!
Congress puts the kibosh on shark fin soup Last week, Congress adopted legislation to curb shark finning, the practice of chopping off a shark’s fins and dumping the finless shark back into the water, all so that people can dine on shark fin soup, reports the Washington Post. Though shark finning is currently banned off of…
Read MoreA Margin Error of…Times 20???
Just last week we marked the two-year anniversary of the Kingston, TN TVA coal ash spill. Today, Earthjustice, the Environmental Integrity Project and Stockholm Environment Institute’s U.S. Center have released an analysis of an analysis: basically the EPA overinflated (by 20 times!) the values for coal ash recycling. The EPA claims that coal ash recycling…
Read MoreCourt Rules in Favor of Mexican Environmentalists
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ruled against Mexico and its army in the case of two Mexican farmers who were persecuted as a result of their environmental advocacy. The Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA), Earthjustice’s partner organization in international environmental law, submitted an amicus brief in the case supporting the farmers. Teodoro…
Read MoreA New Chance for BLM Wild Lands
One of the more frustrating tactics used repeatedly by the Bush administration in environmental matters was something we called “sue and settle.” These were cases filed against the government by states, industrial interests, or others seeking, for example, to open up wild lands to development. The defendant—the government—would then capitulate to the demands of the…
Read MoreFriday Finds: Oil Spill Sand Berm FAIL
Oil spill sand berms saturated in failure Miles of sand berms built to protect the coastline during the Gulf oil spill that cost millions of dollars were a huge waste of money, according to a presidential oil spill commission. During the spill, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal strongly insisted on having the berms, despite scientists and…
Read MoreA New Year with Cleaner Air
Earthjustice is feeling merry today – and it’s not just the holidays. In part to our litigation, today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced timetables for setting greenhouse gas emission limits for power plants and oil refineries. In a press call making the announcement, Gina McCarthy—EPA’s Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation…
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