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Grumblers Can Cheer Longer Lives
This column by Earthjustice President Trip Van Noppen appeared in Alternet. Americans who love to grumble about regulations now have some they can cheer about. The New England Journal of Medicine is reporting that we now live an extra five months, thanks to regulations that have cleaned up air pollution over the last few decades.…
Read MoreSad Day for Appalachia
In a devastating blow to the mountains, streams and people of Appalachia, today, federal judges ruled in favor of a mountaintop removal mining case. As a result, mining companies can conduct mountaintop removal mining operations without minimizing stream destruction or conducting adequate environmental reviews. The Appalachian community will now—more than ever—be dependent on President Barack Obama to…
Read MoreDrilling Threatens 'Polar Bear Seas'
(UPDATE: Since this was posted, more than 21,000 Earthjustice supporters sent comments to the Minerals Management Service opposing expansion of oil and gas exploration in the "Polar Bear Seas.") The Beaufort and Chukchi seas are home to one in five of the world’s remaining polar bears. That’s why these icy waters north and west of…
Read MoreBag Ban Rolls Across Nation
Lots of eyes rolled two years ago when San Francisco banned plastic grocery bags, but milllions of saved bags later, the experiment has swept across America, into many foreign countries and may soon take root in the nation’s capital. A Washington, D.C. councilmember has proposed legislation aimed at reducing the amount of trash that falls…
Read MoreU.S. Whaling Commissioner Selling Out to Japan
One of my favorite memories is of being in Brighton, England, in June 1985 when the International Whaling Commission, after a struggle that lasted well over a decade, adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling, to last for at least five years. It has lasted for almost 24 years, but now seems in jeopardy of being…
Read MoreWelcome to Jurassic Park, Kansas
At a time when this country is finally emerging from eight Jurassic years, many Kansas legislators are determined to resurrect a 1,500 megawatt dinosaur of a power plant that their governor — supported by two-thirds of her constituents — vetoed three times last year. Actually, I stole the "dinosaur" description from a disgusted Kansas City…
Read MoreWill Salazar Save the Roan Plateau?
After cancelling oil and gas leases in Utah last week, Interior Sec. Ken Salazar is strongly hinting that he might do the same with a crown jewel of Colorado — the Roan Plateau. The Roan is a rippling expanse of natural riches that rises dramatically 3,000 feet above a plain in the state’s northwest quadrant.…
Read MoreA Threat to National Security?
I never know whether to dignify irrational wing-nut attacks on environmentalists in general and specific organizations in particular by mentioning them in print, but the latest is so over the top that I can’t resist. Something called the Capital Research Center recently published a screed titled, "EarthJustice [sic] Legal Defense Fund [sic]: How Environmentalism Weakens…
Read MoreObama Unleashes – the Boot
Obama has quickly switched from the bump to the boot. All week he’s been kicking over Bush-era dominoes, and today’s was a whopper. The Environmental Protection Agency is starting to review its 2007 refusal to let California regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. The review affects 16 other states that also want to control emissions.…
Read MoreWhen the Cows Come Home, You Won't Want to Be There
A study in this month’s "American Journal of Agricultural Economics" shows a significant correlation between rising numbers of factory farm animals and increased infant mortality. The study found that an increase of 100 million pounds of farm animal flesh meant 123 more infant deaths for every 100,000 babies born. That means our shift in the…
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