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Keystone Pipeline Facts

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

readersupportednews.org - By Robert Redford - Feb. 10 (News Analysis) - 'Joe Nocera's op-ed in the New York Times yesterday deserves a response and a reiteration of the facts surrounding the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. ...Let's put the rhetoric aside, and simply focus on the facts. Nocera wants us to believe that approving this pipeline is a matter of national security. ... The Keystone XL tar sands pipeline would not make the United States of America safer. Why? It would not make us safer, because the majority of the processed oil was already scheduled for export to foreign countries. That's right, this Keystone XL pipeline's Canadian tar sands oil would have

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League of Conservation Voters: George Allen Named to Dirty Dozen

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

action.lcv.org - Feb. 10 (Press Release) - Former Virginia Senator George Allen earned an abysmal 1% LCV lifetime score during his time in the Senate. Additionally, Allen has received nearly $500,000 from oil and gas interests. This is Allen's 3rd time on the Dirty Dozen, having been named to the list in 2000 and 2006.

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Panel: Start now to replace Nevada nuke site

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

tri-cityherald.com - By Matthew Daly - Jan. 28 (News Report) - The Union of Concerned Scientists said construction of an interim storage facility for nuclear waste poses a stiff political challenge and could distract from the more important goal of finding a permanent repository site.

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Reef Fish at Risk as Carbon Dioxide Levels Build

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

readersupportednews.org - Jan. 21 (Special Report) - Rising carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions threaten the survival of some fish species by sending their central nervous systems haywire.' Australian Associated Press

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Problems plague cleanup at Hanford nuclear waste site

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

USA Today - By Peter Eisler - Jan. 18 (Special Report) - Seven decades after scientists came here during World War II to create plutonium for the first atomic bomb, a new generation is struggling with an even more daunting task: cleaning up the radioactive mess.

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Oil Slick From Massive Spill in Nigeria Threatens Coastline, May Be Largest Spill in a Decade

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Dec. 27 (News Report) - Communities along Nigeria’s Niger Delta have been put on alert following a major oil spill from the oil giant, Shell. The massive oil slick is making its way to the Nigerian coast, threatening local wildlife and massive pollution along the shore. Much of the available information about the spill comes from the company responsible for it, Royal Dutch Shell, which says less than 40,000 barrels have leaked so far. But Nigeria’s National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency says the spill could be three times as large. It comes just four months after the United Nations said it would take 30 years and around $1 billion for a small section of the delta to recover from environmental damage caused by Shell and other companies.

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EPA issues strong limits on mercury emissions from smokestacks

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Los Angeles Times - By Neela Banerjee - Dec. 21 (News Report) - The Obama administration on Wednesday announced a tough new rule to limit emissions of mercury, arsenic and other toxic substances from sources such as power plants, a landmark measure that could prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths annually, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

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U.S. Publicly Shifts Climate Stance in Face of Widespread Criticism -- Then Quietly Backtracks

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Dec. 09 (News Report) - Talks at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Durban have entered their last official day, with focus now on a European Union-sponsored road map calling for a new climate treaty to be negotiated by 2015. The treaty would impose binding cuts on the world's biggest emitters of the heat-trapping gases, but would not likely go into effect until 2020. After being publicly heckled by a U.S. college student on Thursday and facing widespread accusations of obstructing the Durban talks, U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern said the Obama administration supports the E.U. road map. The U.S. State Department later backtracked on Stern's comments by taking the unusual step of issuing a clarification to its position, saying it does not yet support a legally binding deal to cut emissions. When Amy Goodman then tried to question Stern and fellow lead U.S. negotiator Jonathan Pershing about the apparent retraction, they refused to answer. [includes rush transcript]

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Canadian Activists Barred From Durban Summit for Protesting Environment Minister

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Dec. 07 (News Report) - Soon after Kent began speaking, six members of the Canadian Youth Delegation stood up and turned their backs on the minister. They were taken out of the room and later stripped of their credentials to the climate change conference. "Today, six of us stood up and turned our backs on the government of Canada, in the same way the government of Canada has turned its back on us," says activist Karen Rooney. "We are calling on the government of Canada to start putting the interests of people over the interests of polluters."

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Indigenous Activists From Canada Protest Tar Sands Oil at Durban Climate Change Summit

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Dec. 06 (News Report) - This morning in Durban, South Africa, a group of youth and indigenous activists from Canada gave delegates to the U.N. climate talks mock gift bags containing samples of fake tar sands along with tourism brochures for Canada and Canadian flags. Kandi Mossett, one of the activists participating in the action, says Canada’s reliance on tar sands oil “is the largest catastrophic project that I am aware of on earth right now.” Mossett, who is the Native Energy and Climate Campaign Organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network, notes that the tar sands extraction process is energy and water-intensive, emits immense amounts of pollution into the air, and destroys the landscape. “To even get to the tar sands they have to remove boreal forests — old growth forests — and they call it ‘overburden.’ They just scrape it off and get rid of that. And then they dig down and move so many tons of earth,” Mossett says. “Then they squeeze out the last little 10 percent of oil that’s actually in the sand. And then they have to use chemicals to make it liquid enough to be able to put it through the pipelines — it’s much more toxic than any other kind of, you know, sweet crude oil.”

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Thousands March at U.N. Climate Summit in Durban to Demand Climate Justice

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Dec. 05 (News Report) - Key issues at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP17, remain unresolved, including the future of the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty with enforceable provisions designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Delegates are also debating how to form a Green Climate Fund to support developing nations most affected by climate change.

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White House Could Cast Decisive Vote to Permit 20,000 Fracking Wells in Delaware River Basin

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Nov. 11 (News Report) - This week the Delaware River Basin Commission released draft regulations to allow for the natural gas drilling technique hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, in the river's watershed, which provides water to 15.6 million people in New York City, Philadelphia and New Jersey. The proposed plan would allow for some 20,000 gas wells to be developed in the watershed. A vote on the regulations is set for Nov. 21 and could prompt a battle between activists and the White House, which holds a seat on the commission and may cast the deciding vote. We speak with Josh Fox, whose documentary about fracking, "Gasland," was nominated for an Academy Award, and play an excerpt of his new video about the possible impacts natural gas fracking could have in the Delaware River Basin. [includes rush transcript]

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Debate on Fracking: Was Syracuse Right to Ban the Controversial Natural Gas Drilling Process?

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Nov. 04 (News Analysis) - Syracuse... recently became the third city in New York state to ban the natural gas drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking. The Syracuse Common Council voted unanimously last week to ban fracking within city limits. They also voted to limit where wastewater from the fracking process can be stored. Fracking is controversial because it injects millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals deep into the earth in order to break up shale rock and release natural gas. Many feel this extraction process raises a myriad of human health and environmental issues.

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Xenon detected at Fukushima plant

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - By Roland Buerk - Nov. 02 (News Report) - A radioactive gas has been detected at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, the facility's operator says. Tepco said xenon had been found in reactor two, which was previously thought to be near a stable shutdown. There has been no increase in temperature or pressure, but the discovery may indicate a problem with the reactor. Boric acid - used to suppress nuclear reactions - has been injected as a precaution. Ever since the meltdowns in March triggered by the huge earthquake and tsunami, engineers have been working to bring the Fukushima reactors under control.

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GM crops promote superweeds, food insecurity and pesticides, say NGOs

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By John Vidal - Oct. 19 (News Report) - Report finds genetically modified crops fail to increase yields let alone solve hunger, soil erosion and chemical-use issues Genetic engineering has failed to increase the yield of any food crop but has vastly increased the use of chemicals and the growth of "superweeds", according to a report by 20 Indian, south-east Asian, African and Latin American food and conservation groups representing millions of people. The so-called miracle crops, which were first sold in the US about 20 years ago and which are now grown in 29 countries on about 1.5bn hectares (3.7bn acres) of land, have been billed as potential solutions to food crises, climate change and soil erosion, but the assessment finds that they have not lived up to their promises. The report claims that hunger has reached "epic proportions" since the technology was developed. Besides this, only two GM "traits" have been developed on any significant scale, despite investments of tens of billions of dollars, and benefits such as drought ...

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Koch-Owned Georgia-Pacific Plant Linked To High Cancer Rates, Film Alleges

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Lucia Graves, Jordan Howard - Oct. 13 (News Report) - David Bouie, a 64-year-old resident of Crossett, Ark., says something isn't right on Penn Road. In the 15 homes on his street, 11 people have recently died of cancer.

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Republicans for Dirtier Air and Fewer Jobs

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Steven D - Sep. 23 (News Analysis) - House Republicans have scheduled a vote Friday to cripple the Clean Air Act. Their bill would allow more pollution of our air and change the way the Clean Air Act has been implemented over the past 40 years. I'm sure anyone with COPD, asthma and other respiratory and auto-immune disorders is simply thrilled that this a major priority for Republicans in Congress:

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Court Ruling Backs Ecuadorian Effort to Hold Chevron Accountable For Amazon Pollution

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Sep. 20 (News Report) - A U.S. appeals court has ruled oil giant Chevron cannot escape an $18 billion fine for massive pollution of the Amazon rain forest. Amazonian residents won the damages in an Ecuadorian court earlier this year, and Chevron says it will appeal the decision. It is the latest development in a complex, 18-year legal battle that has gone before judges not just in Ecuador and the United States, but also the Hague. We speak with Atossa Soltani, executive director of Amazon Watch, which has worked closely with the Amazon residents suing Chevron. Atossa Soltani is in New York City this week to draw attention to environmental causes in the Amazon in conjunction with two major gatherings, the Clinton Global Initiative and the United Nations General Assembly. [Transcript to come. Check back soon.]

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Gulf Oil Spill: Federal Report Released On BP Spill

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Harry R. Weber, Dina Cappiello - Sep. 14 (News Report) - A key federal report puts ultimate responsibility on BP for the catastrophic failures leading to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history and the deaths of 11 rig workers, especially regarding the cement seal that was put in place the day before the explosion that triggered the spill.

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Smog v. Jobs: Is Obama Admin Endangering U.S. Environment, Public Health With Retreat on Smog Standards?

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Sep. 07 (Interview) - As the nation headed into Labor Day weekend, the Obama administration quietly asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw a plan to limit smog pollution that was projected to prevent 2,200 heart attacks and 23,000 asthma attacks annually. Obama said he made the decision in hopes of reducing regulatory burdens for businesses in a time of economic uncertainty. The move was seen as a major victory for polluters and some business leaders, and another setback for environmentalists. We host a debate with John Walke, the Clean Air Director at the Natural Resources Defense Council; and Dr. Roger McClellan, adjunct professor at the Duke University Medical Center and past chairman of the EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee. [Transcript to come. Check back soon.]

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Meet the Shady Dallas Mega-Billionaire Industrialist Pouring Money into Rick Perry's Coffers

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Joe Conason - Aug. 30 (Investigative Report) - When environmental regulators do their job properly, that can mean serious trouble for Perry’s largest political donors. The outstanding example is Harold Simmons, a Dallas mega-billionaire industrialist who has donated well over a million dollars to Perry’s campaign committees recently. With Perry’s eager assistance—and despite warnings from Texas environmental officials—Simmons has gotten approval to build an enormous radioactive waste dump on top of a crucial underground water supply.

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Fifty-Four Protesters Arrested as Environmental Report on Tar Sands Pipeline Is Released

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

truth-out.org - By Mike Ludwig - Aug. 26 (News Report) - As environmental activists were handcuffed in front of the White House on Friday, the State Department released the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the massive Keystone XL pipeline that would pump crude oil from the Alberta tar sands in Canada across six western states to stations in Oklahoma and Texas.

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Do the Koch Brothers Want a Toxic Disaster?

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Robert Greenwald - Aug. 24 (News Analysis) - och Industries and its army of subsidiary corporations operate 57 chemical facilities in the US and have fought in and out of Congress to avoid a comprehensive safety solution that would mitigate fallout from any natural and man-made disasters, according to a new investigation from Greenpeace.

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Flyover Surveillance Reveals Large Amount of Surface Oil at Deepwater Horizon Site

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - Aug. 22 (News Report) - We set off a firestorm Wednesday (August 17) when we reported that oil is rising once again from BP’s Macondo Well. We were informed by multiple, credible sources over the weekend and into Monday that BP had hired a fleet of shrimp boats to contain a slick sweeping across the old Deepwater Horizon site.' Stuart Smith, The Stuart Smith Blog

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Department Of Justice Investigates BP For Faulty Oil Spill Estimates

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By John Rudolf - Aug. 22 (News Report) - On April 25, 2010, BP assured the Gulf Coast that a disaster wasn't unfolding. Five days earlier, the Deepwater Horizon, a BP-leased rig in the Gulf of Mexico, had suffered a massive blowout, killing 11 men and seriously injuring 17 others.

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