The oil and gas industry has admitted that its canals and drilling rigs have destroyed 1,900 square miles of coastal wetlands on the US Gulf Coast, but a Federal Judge with deep industry ties has ruled that 97 companies off have no liability for the $50 billion damage.
Oil lawyer turned judge rules: industry not liable for $50bn Gulf Coast damage Farron Cousins DeSmogBlog | 19th February 2015 News Oil Oceans Fossil Fuels Law gulf-oil-depot-cut.jpg The oil and …
Reeling from California's decision to ban glyphosate, fearful of 're-evaluation' by EU and US regulators, and facing ruinous cancer claims in federal courts, the US chemical industry are fighting back, writes Carey Gillam. Their key argument: don't trust independent doctors and scientists - trust us! And as they just told a California court, profit must come before people.
On trial: Monsanto's 'alternative facts' about glyphosate Carey Gillam USRTK | 1st February 2017 News Pesticides Corporations Health Law USA Un Science roundup-cut.jpg Reeling from California's …
The chemical industry and the European Food Safety Authority are refusing to disclose key scientific evidence about glyphosate's risks, citing 'trade secrets' protection, writes Corporate Europe Observatory. They must be compelled to publish the 'mysterious three' scientific studies EFSA used to assess glyphosate as 'unlikely' to cause cancer to humans - contradicting the IARC's view.
… property which if released would harm their industrial and commercial interests as well as … which it represents, which rely heavily on industrial secrets to protect their …
Thanks to Andy Hall's investigations of abuses of migrant workers in Thailand's fish and pineapple industries, a criminal trial begins today in Bangkok - his own. He faces eight years in prison and a $10 million fine for exposing their crimes in a devastating report that has inspired international action against the companies involved.
On trial today - Thailand's food workers' rights Andy Hall | 2nd September 2014 News Food Thailamd Law Corporations andy-hall-team.jpg Thanks to Andy Hall's investigations of abuses of migrant …
Bee 'colony collapse disorder' cannot be ended by easy technofixes, writes Allan Stromfeldt Christensen. The real problem is the systematic abuse of bees in vast industrial monocultures, as they are trucked or flown thousands of miles from one farm to the next, treated with insecticides and antibiotics, and fed on 'junk food'.
… is the result of their enslavement in industrial monocultures Allan Stromfeldt … is the systematic abuse of bees in vast industrial monocultures, as they are trucked … we ultimately be able to? The real problem - industrial agriculture However, while CCD …
We, the signatories of this declaration, are calling on the European Union (EU) to exclude bioenergy from its next Renewable Energy Directive (RED), and thereby stop direct and indirect subsidies for renewable energy from biofuels and wood-burning.
… The EU is provoking a global expansion in industrial bioenergy use and the rapid … as it relies on a major expansion of industrial agriculture, of monoculture tree plantations, and of industrial logging. These industrial …
Yellowstone Park is home to America's last pure-bred wild bison, writes George Wuerthner. Yet the Park's management is planning to kill around a thousand of these precious animals this winter. Ostensibly it's to protect cattle on public lands near the park from brucellosis. But bison have never been known to transmit the disease to them. The real reason is to keep all the pasture for livestock.
Bloodbath in Yellowstone: the park's plan to slaughter 1,000 wild bison George Wuerthner | 14th December 2015 Activism USA Natural World Mammals Farming Biodiversity Ecology yellowstone-bison-cut.jpg …
After a five year battle against fracking companies, the New York Court of Appeals has ruled that towns and cities can pass zoning laws that forbid fracking and other industrial land uses. The verdict will inspire other communities across the USA to enact similar measures.
… zoning laws that forbid fracking and other industrial land uses. The verdict will inspire …
The disappearance of a satellite-tagged hen harrier on a Scottish grouse moor and the loss of eight Golden eagles in five years provide the latest evidence for a ban on driven grouse-shooting, writes EDUARDO GONCALVES. But birds of prey are only the most high-profile victims of a cruel and ecologically destructive industry.
Time to close down Britain's devastating grouse-shooting industry Eduardo Goncalves | 18th August 2016 Comment Birds Ecology Hunting Animal Welfare Natural World UK Scotland Regulation …
The government's policies on climate, energy and industry are not merely stupid, writes Alan Simpson. The repeated cuts to renewables and energy efficiency, combined with limitless largesse to fossil fuels, has reached the point of insanity in the face of the UK's legal obligations and the growing climate crisis. Only we, the people, can end the madness.
… blame it on 'green' energy rather than crap industrial policy. This is the heady terrain …
The lesson of fracking in the US and Canada is a simple one, writes Naomi Klein. The fracking industry is vicious, brutal and will stop at nothing to get its way. British anti-frackers can celebrate yesterday's achievements - but the fight ahead will not be an easy one.
Message to the UK: the fracking 'bridge' is burning! Naomi Klein | 27th January 2015 Comment Fracking Fossil Fuels Energy Climate Change Pollution Corporations Law US UK Canada …
Intensive grouse shooting on England's uplands is doing huge damage to fragile ecosystems, writes Martin Harper - and to the 'protected' hen harrier. It's high time to bring this industry under control with a new licencing system.
The grouse shooting industry is out of control - it must be regulated Martin Harper RSPB | 27th June 2014 Activism Hunting Birds Ecology UK Regulation hen-harrier-altai-cut.jpg Hen Harrier (Circus …
The British establishment does nothing quite so well as lies, cover-ups and high-level corruption, writes Georgina Downs - whether it's the Hillsborough disaster or permitting polluters to poison us. Georgina won her own High Court legal victory protecting rural residents from pesticide exposure as long ago as 2008 - only to have it snatched away as Court of Appeal judges closed ranks.
From Hillsborough to pesticides: establishment cover-ups, lies and corruption Georgina Downs | 4th May 2016 News Law Human Rights UK EU Health Farming Corporations spraying-cut.jpg The British …
Internal Glasgow University emails show that it terminated geophysics professor David Smythe's email account and access to scientific papers because his concerns about the impacts of fracking were upsetting its 'industrial research partners', writes Kyla Mandel - not as part of a 'routine review' as previously stated.
… the impacts of fracking were upsetting its 'industrial research partners', writes Kyla … by cutting off this lifeline." Making 'industrial research partners' unhappy The … suggests, some of the university's "various industrial research partners" were not happy …
Thanks to damage to coastal wetlands by the oil & gas industry, Louisiana is losing two acres to the sea an hour, writes Julie Dermansky. The companies are legally obliged to repair their damage - but they haven't and the cost has reached $50 billion. The answer? A Bill backed by the state governor to make them immune from lawsuits.
New Orleans: oil & gas evading $50bn coastal restoration obligations Julie Dermansky | 5th September 2014 News USA Oil Fossil Fuels Oceans Law Politics la-wellhead-paul-goyette-cut.jpg Thanks to …
Denton's 59-41 vote to ban fracking has got right up the nose of the state's fossil fuel elite, writes Julie Dermansky. The Texas city has already been hit with two lawsuits - but it's going to fight them all the way, with a $4 million legal fund ready and waiting.
Denton, Texas hit with lawsuits after landslide fracking victory Julie Dermansky | 11th November 2014 News USA Oil Gas Fracking Law Politics frack-free-denton-cut.jpg Denton's 59-41 vote to ban …
A new report on the Channel's fisheries is a timely reminder of the ecological trend to 'simplification' as whole trophic levels are stripped away by over-exploitation, writes Horatio Morpurgo. Yet the government's profit-focused vision of 'sustainability' is missing the essential element - allowing the recovery of marine ecosystems.
… for which it is prized. As fishing fleets industrialised in the early 20 th century, …
As falling milk prices push dairy farm out of business, new mega-dairies and feedlot operations of 700 or more cows are filling the void, writes Andrew Wasley. Never mind the pollution, slurry lagoons, and heavy plant on country lanes - do we want the cows that produce our milk confined to sheds? And what's the future for traditional dairy farmers with small, well cared for herds?
… The march of the industrial mega-dairy - is this the future of … where we want our milk to come from? It is an industrial scene a world away from the popular … But campaigners have warned that this new industrialised model of milk production could …
A Spending Bill now under debate in Congress would cut over $100 million from renewable energy, grant extra funds for dumping nuclear waste and fossil fuel research, exempt 'mountain top removal' coal from regulation, and limit the EPA's power to enforce clean water laws.
House Spending Bill's huge dirty energy giveaway Farron Cousins | 24th June 2014 News US Law Politics Fossil Fuels Nuclear Energy Renewables mtr-wva-cut.jpg A Spending Bill now under debate in …
The global catch of fish and seafood is falling at three times the rate reported by the United Nations and urgently needs to be slowed to avoid a crash, reports Christopher Pala. The finding comes in a new study for Nature which quantifies the huge illegal industrial fish pillaging taking place around the world, together with artisanal catches, which in 2010 added over 50% to UN estimates.
… for Nature which quantifies the huge illegal industrial fish pillaging taking place around … the world's international fleets of industrial fishing vessels are seeing their … and Agriculture Organization their so-called industrial catches - few large vessels, few …
The mass poisoning of farm animals in Kent in 1963 was traced to a factory where a pesticide developed as a WWII chemical warfare agent was manufactured, writes John Clark. The event, so close to the publication of Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring', galvanised a growing ecological awareness - all the more so as the government's only wish was to hush the matter up.
… Africa and on cases of animals affected by industrial fluoride poisoning in England. … the Smarden incident as not simply a local industrial waste spill, but as deadly evidence … critique of the dangers of an intensive, industrial approach to agriculture. Good, like …
At what point are technologies so complex, uncertain, or unmanageable as to be beyond regulation? The question is key to human and ecological health, writes Jonatham Latham. But instead of learning from successful approaches, such as aviation safety, we are throwing the lessons away when faced with truly complex problems - like chemicals, GMOs, and now 'gene drives'.
… day is how to safely manage the outputs of industrial innovation. Novel products … of regulation Regulation of the products of industrial processes comes in quite diverse … short, one can show that regulations covering industrial products vary along two main …
Bananas are at the sharp end of industrial agriculture's chemical war on pests and pathogens, writes Angelina Sanderson Bellamy. But even 60 pesticide sprays a year isn't enough to keep the diseases at bay. It's time to seek new solutions with little or no use of chemicals, working with nature, growing diverse crops on the same land - and breaking the dominance of the banana multinationals.
… Bananas are at the sharp end of industrial agriculture's chemical war on pests …
The Philippines is taking a huge leap forward in the climate wars, writes Ellen Baker, with the world's 'top 50' energy giants standing accused of violating international human rights law as a result of their fossil fuel production. This is the first such investigation ever to take place anywhere in the world - and it just opened up a whole new front of corporate vulnerability.
… were responsible for over a fifth of global industrial emissions in 2010 . Industrial emissions are accelerating climate …