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Mountaintop 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 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…
Read MoreCourt Legalizes Pollution of America Water Supplies
A disappointing decision by the federal appeals court in Atlanta will legalize pollution in many American drinking water supplies, and we have the former Bush administration to thank for it. The case goes back to 2002, when we sued, on behalf of the Florida Wildlife Federation, to get the South Florida Water Management District to…
Read MoreFeds Release Chilling Climate Change Report
It’s as close as our own backyards, as far away as the Arctic. It’s affecting birds, boys, butterflies and bugs. Creeks are feeling it, and the oceans, too. It’s here, it’s now, and mostly it’s caused by humans. It’s global warming and we have to take immediate, powerful counter measures to prevent massive planet-wide consequences,…
Read MoreTongass Roads
America's special rainforest remains in a state of regulatory limbo
Read MoreDoublespeak in the Woods
Remember "Healthy Forests"? This was one of the euphonious program names hatched by Karl Rove or another of the Bush wordsmiths to mask a real purpose. There was also the Clear Skies Initiative, which actually aimed to weaken the Clean Air Act. Healthy Forests argued that the best way to control wildlfire and protect rural…
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