Our Stories

The Latest by David Lawlor

Development Writer

August 24, 2011

National Parks as Living Art

By David Lawlor

Remember the “Star Gate” sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey when Bowman takes his far-out, psychedelic-twinged trip through deep space? Well, a new series of aerial photos of national parks at Wired offers you a similarly mind-blowing experience all from the comfort of your desk chair. The NASA-sourced images of Death Valley National Park, Hawai’i’s …

August 19, 2011

Shell Oil Living in a Land of Make Believe

By David Lawlor  /  Alaska Office

Apparently, Shell Oil and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) live in a land of make believe. Thankfully, Earthjustice makes its abode in a place called reality. Earlier this month, BOEMRE approved Royal Dutch Shell’s plan to drill for oil next summer in the Alaskan Arctic’s Beaufort Sea. Putting the sled …

July 11, 2011

Greening Your Playlist

By David Lawlor

Every lifestyle has its de facto soundtrack. Depressed suburban teens have emo music. Trust funders living beachside have a steady supply of Bob Marley to keep them chanting down Babylon. And old folks with office jobs have Paul Simon and the Gipsy Kings. What about environmentalists? Besides recordings of rain storms or whale songs, what …

June 30, 2011

Obama to Science: See Ya After the Elections!

By David Lawlor

“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” – Isaac Asimov In American culture, perhaps no method or form of knowledge is regarded more highly than science. Philosophy and religion are unsettled debates over unknowable questions; art and poetry are the realms of divine inspiration and …

April 18, 2011

Oil and Gas Companies Shirk Tax Responsibility

By David Lawlor

Break out the streamers and the party hats—it’s Tax Day! Of course the overachievers filed their taxes months ago, but no doubt a few folks are frantically sifting through piles of paper at this very moment trying to locate that wayward W-2. Either way, every year millions of Americans file their taxes and pay their …

March 25, 2011

Deregulation of Genetically Engineered Alfalfa Prompts Lawsuit

By David Lawlor  /  Mid-Pacific Office

Monsanto commonly offers unsustainable solutions to the agriculture industry such as genetically engineered seeds and increased herbicide use and then dubs those dubious solutions "sustainable agriculture."

March 23, 2011

Power Plant Ordered to Stop Polluting the Monongahela River

By David Lawlor  /  Northeast Office

After 40 years without effective pollution controls, a scrubbing system was recently installed at the Hatfield’s Ferry power plant in Masontown, Penn., limiting the amount of sulfur dioxide and other pollutants the plant pumps into the air. But the plant’s failure to install a scrubbing system for its discharged wastewater means that the dangerous pollutants …

March 18, 2011

Longview Coal Export Terminal Application Withdrawn

By David Lawlor  /  Northwest Office

Residents of Longview, Wash., can exhale a sigh of relief today, secure in the knowledge that their health will not be jeopardized by a coal shipping terminal. Australian-based Ambre Energy and its subsidiary Millennium Bulk Logistics announced this week that the companies are withdrawing a permit application to construct a coal export facility in Longview …

March 3, 2011

Ambre Energy Gets Coal Export Permit Via Deception

By David Lawlor  /  Northwest Office

With many older coal-fired power plants going offline in the United States and construction of new plants significantly slowed, Australian-based Ambre Energy has a new game plan: send U.S. coal to China. The company has proposed building a shipping terminal in Longview, Wash., which would be the first West Coast port to transport coal, the …

February 10, 2011

One County’s Dirty Energy Legacy

By David Lawlor  /  Headquarters Office

It was nearly midnight, but it wasn’t dark. Standing more than a mile away in an illuminated watermelon patch, I could hear its spectacular roar; akin to the release of liquid propane burning off into a hot air balloon. And I could feel it. The searing heat radiated from the blazing column, transforming the landscape …