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It's Not Trash, It's Compost
San Francisco approves nation's strongest composting/recycling plan
Read MoreSupreme Indifference
Two long and thoughtful pieces today, one from the Daily Journal, the other from Greenwire, discuss in painful detail the thumping environmental cases suffered at the hands of the Supreme Court this term. In each case, the court overturned a pro-environment ruling from a court of appeals. The first case involved whether the Navy must…
Read MoreMountaintop Removal Mining in the Senate, Part 3
Dr. Margaret Palmer is a world renowned water biologist who works at the university of Maryland, but has a home in West Virginia and family from the Appalachia region. "Headwater streams are exponentially more important than their size would suggest," said Dr. Palmer in testimony before the Senate. She compared headwater streams to the small…
Read MoreMore from the U.S. Senate Hearing on Mountaintop Removal
The first witness, an EPA official, was questioned extensively about the impacts both locally and globally of destroying entire forests, flattening mountains, and increasing flooding as a result of mountaintop removal mining. In the second witness panel are: Paul Sloan, Deputy Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation; Randy Huffman, Cabinet Secretary of…
Read MoreSenate Kicks Off Hearing on Mountaintop Removal Mining
The hearing started promptly at 3:30 pm with Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), a cosponsor of the Appalachia Restoration Act, stating that mountaintop removal mining "adversely effects the economies of the region." Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), also a cosponsor of the Appalachia Restoration Act, offered opening remarks including, "it’s not necessary to destroy our mountaintops in…
Read MoreGetting Closer to Clean Water for All
Last week the U.S. Senate moved forward on important legislation that ensures our streams, lakes, rivers and wetlands remain clean and safe. By a vote of 12-7, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee advanced a compromise version of the Clean Water Restoration Act, important legislation that reinforces the scope of the Clean Water Act…
Read MoreSacrificial Waters
High court clears way for mining company to destroy Alaskan lake
Read MoreGaseous Journalism
The other day I happened to tune in to the Diane Rehm show on NPR to hear John Holdren, the president’s science advisor, talk about the new climate change report that made stark headlines last week, reporting that warming is here, is having serious negative effects already, and is largely caused by human activity. There…
Read MoreMountaintop Removal Goes to Washington
The saga of mountaintop removal continues, and this time it’s headed to Congress. Two proposed bills—one in the Senate and one in the House of Representatives—could curtail mountaintop removal mining by banning certain activities related to this destructive mining practice. The Appalachia Restoration Act, a bill in the U.S. Senate, would prohibit dumping “excess spoil”…
Read MoreCalifornia Salmon, Free Willy and The God Squad
Earthjustice was thrilled this month when a strong new set of rules was issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service to protect California’s endangered salmon species. We’ve working to protect California salmon since the 1980s and the new biological opinion is a huge step in the right direction. But some people just hate good news about…
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