US beef carries a heavy environmental cost in water, land, emissions. But few of us know quite how damaging beef is, writes Gidon Eshel, nor that it is more than five times worse than pork, poultry, eggs or cheese. Isn't it time we did something about it?
The true cost of your beefburger is much worse than you know Gidon Eshel | 22nd July 2014 Comment Food Farming USA Climate Change Water beef-feedlot-cut.jpg US beef carries a heavy environmental cost …
Coal leases on public lands operated by the US Bureau of Land Management are responsible for 40% of US coal production and 14% of total US CO2 emissions, writes Mike Gaworecki - yet their environmental impacts have not been reviewed in 35 years.
BLM sued - no environmental review of coal leasing since 1979 Mike Gaworecki | 8th December 2014 News Climate Change Law USA Coal Fossil Fuels powder-river-trains-cut.jpg Coal leases on public lands …
Thirty-five distinguished scientists urge the US-EPA not to register new mixtures of the herbicides 2,4-D and glyphosate, intended for use on herbicide-tolerant GMO crops. Approval of the herbicide mixtures would endanger both human and environmental health.
Scientists write: EPA, ban 'agent orange' herbicide mix and GMO crops! The undersigned | 3rd July 2014 Comment Farming Toxics USA GMOs Regulation windy-day-spray-cut.jpg Thirty-five distinguished …
Six environment heroes, one from each continent, are honoured for their work today - fighting threats from giant coal mines to forest destruction, fracking, high dams, illegal development and toxic waste dumps. Sophie Morlin-Yron reports.
2014 Goldman winners - fighting coal, dams, palm oil, fracking, toxic waste Sophie Morlin-Yron | 28th April 2014 News Fracking Fossil Fuels Waste Water Energy USA Indonesia Russia Peru Africa India …
A health study in Pennsylvania, USA, shows that people living near fracking and other natural gas wells are more likely to suffer from skin conditions and upper respiratory symptoms. It calls for further study of the associations, including the role of specific air and water exposures.
Skin, respiratory symptoms increase near gas wells The Ecologist | 25th September 2014 News Gas Fossil Fuels Science Fracking USA Health pa-gas-well-cut.jpg A health study in Pennsylvania, USA, shows …
The oil and gas industry is disrupting communities and damaging ecosystems worldwide, writes David Poritz. Tough, independent social and environmental standards for the industry can bring urgently-needed improvements to company practices - even where government regulation has failed.
Certified-responsible oil and gas - we need it now! David Poritz | 21st October 2014 Comment Oil Fossil Fuels Ecuador Amazon USA Nigeria Society david poritz hart hat-cut.jpg The oil and gas industry …
Among the risks of fracking are fragmentation of wildlife habitats, groundwater depletion, surface water pollution. The risks are compounded by a failure among companies and regulators to record or disclose essential information - from the chemicals used, to the time and place of toxic spills.
Fracking - US companies and regulators must disclose environmental data Kimberly Terrell Morgan Tingley Sara Souther | 4th August 2014 Comment Toxics USA Fracking Fossil Fuels Science Regulation …
For sheer guts, vision and results, a single organisation stands out among the US's environmental defenders - the Alliance for the Wild Rockies. Jeffrey St. Clair met its leader, Mike Garrity, winner of 2014's Grassroots Activist Award.
Defender of the Rockies Jeffrey St. Clair | 3rd March 2014 Comment USA Natural World Law Forests bridger-mtns.png For sheer guts, vision and results, a single organisation stands out among the US's …
The Keystone XL pipeline was dealt a blow in a Nebraska court this week when a key enabling law was ruled 'unconstitutional' - bringing the controversial project to a standstill in the state.
Nebraska court decision halts Keystone XL pipeline Sophie Morlin Yron | 21st February 2014 News Oil Fossil Fuels Law USA nebraska-kxl.png The Keystone XL pipeline was dealt a blow in a Nebraska court …
Liberal environmentalism represents a dangerous delusion, writes Scott Parkin - that 'playing nice' with Earth-destroying corporations and politicians can yield results worth having. Radical change on climate will only result from bold, confrontational direct actions against the fossil fuel industries and their apologists.
… Politics USA utah-tar-sands-cut.jpg Liberal environmentalism represents a dangerous …
The EPA's plan for 'clean power' are welcome, writes Tim Judson - except for its inclusion of nuclear, and economic distortions and serious omissions that favour the technology. In this open letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, he and co-signatories call on her to ditch the 'false and irrational assumptions' used to justify both new and existing nuclear power.
There's no place for nuclear in the 'Clean Power Plan' Tim Judson NIRS | 28th November 2014 Comment Energy USA Nuclear Renewables Climate Change 3-mile-island-cut.jpg The EPA's plan for 'clean power' …
America's expanding oil production threatens the pristine Pacific Northwest region of the country with a rash of new oil terminals along the coast, writes Valerie Brown, and hugely expanded traffic of freight trains loaded with hundreds of cars of crude oil heading for California refineries.
US oil boom threatens pristine North-West with crude transport corridors Valerie Brown Climate News Network | 11th November 2014 News Oil Fossil Fuels Transport USA Canada Climate Change …
The Yucca Mountain radioactive dump may have been officially 'cancelled', writes John LaForge, and with very good reason. But like all those zombies out for Hallowe'en last night, it's not dead yet, as US nuclear regulators declare that the site perfectly meets nuclear waste storage requirements.
Yucca Mountain radioactive waste dump is all too 'undead' John LaForge | 1st November 2014 News Nuclear Waste USA Regulation yucca_mountain-cut.jpg The Yucca Mountain radioactive dump may have been …
First corporations gained legal personhood, writes Don Fitz. Next they seized the right to force 'free trade' on unwilling populations. Now they are making sure that 'corporate rights' trump citizen rights - like the right to wholesome food and a healthy environment. That's where the 'Right to Farm' constitutional amendments come in ...
Missouri's 'Right-to-Farm' - an early win for third wave corporatocracy Don Fitz | 22nd August 2014 Activism Corporations Law USA Farming mo-hog-farm-cut.jpg First corporations gained legal …
It's the fossil fuel industry's latest stroke of genius - a coal substitute that's cheaper, dirtier and more toxic than coal itself, writes Ben Whitford. The waste product of refining heavy oil from Canada's tar sands, petcoke is stored in open mountains around Chicago's 'Slag Valley', sending plumes of sticky black dust over poor neighborhoods every time the wind blows.
Petcoke: the toxic black dust coming to a community near you Ben Whitford | 9th December 2014 News Fossil Fuel Cities Waste Pollution USA Oil Corporations Politics photo-anthony martinez-cut.jpg It's …
On January 9 thousands of gallons of a toxic chemical used to produce “clean coal”, spilled into Elk River, leaving 300,000 with no water supply. Trish Kahle asks - how could this happen?
They poisoned the river for a 'clean coal' lie Trish Kahle | 16th January 2014 News Coal Fossil Fuels USA Energy Society wva-water-distribution.png On January 9 thousands of gallons of a toxic …
In the four years since the Deepwater Horizon blowout there's been a lot of regulatory activity, writes Jacqueline Lang Weaver. Yet the regulatory framework today is weak, complex, under-funded, industry dominated - and it's uncertain that the Gulf of Mexico is really any safer than in 2010.
Four years after Deepwater Horizon: has offshore safety improved? Jacqueline Lang Weaver | 23rd April 2014 News Oil Oceans Pollution Regulation USA Fossil Fuels deepwater-horizon.jpg In the four …
Long-disused oil and gas wells in the US have been found to be a 'significant' source of the super greenhouse gas methane, writes Richard Heasman. The climate impact of oil and gas is underestimated, as this long term impact is not included in existing calculations.
Disused oil and gas wells wells a major source of methane Richard Heasman Oliver Tickell | 28th December 2014 News Oil Gas Fracking Climate Change USA UK drake-oil-well-pa-cut.jpg Long-disused oil …
Livestock ranching on US public lands underlies a vast range of environmental problems - so should we welcome 'conservation buyouts' of ranches that own grazing leases? No way, writes William Williers, because the lands are already ours, and to 'buy' them is to support and perpetuate a $1 billion per year fraud against the American people.
… ironically, is being called 'free-market environmentalism' - a startling misnomer in …
Only four countries opposed a UN Resolution on 'depleted uranium' munitions: the USA, UK, France and Israel, all nuclear WMD states whose use of DU leaves battle fields contaminated with toxic, radioactive residues for millennia into the future. The overwhelming support for the Resolution puts the WMD states on notice - DU munitions are no longer acceptable.
UN Resolution warns nuclear WMD states: end is nigh for DU munitions John LaForge | 10th November 2014 Comment War WMD Nuclear Health Toxics USA UK Un highway-of-death-cut.jpg Only four countries …
The US is poised to 'deregulate' GMO corn, soybean and cotton varieties resistant to the herbicides 2,4-D and dicamba. The result will be a big increase in the use of those herbicides, as high as 600%. Only a huge public outcry can now stop the GMO-herbicide juggernaut.
Last chance to stop USDA approval of 2,4-D GMO crops The Ecologist | 14th August 2014 News USA Farming GMOs Regulation Health Toxics spraying-crops-cut.jpg The US is poised to 'deregulate' GMO corn, …
The world is in the grip of a 'fracking frenzy that threatens us for centuries to come with polluted aquifers, runaway climate change, destruction of biodiversity and worthless 'sub-prime' investments. Just as the world must make the transition to a sustainable future, our 'leaders' are determined to make this last losing throw of the fossil fuel dice.
'Fracking frenzy' - how the shale gas industry is threatening the planet Friends of the Earth Europe | 11th December 2014 News Fracking Fossil Fuels EU Climate Change Pollution Waste USA …
The US fracking industry has a dirty secret. It has secured a total of seven loopholes and exemptions that give it the power to pollute at will - and citizens have no comeback. Now it's time to fight back!
Time to end the Cheney / Halliburton loophole The Daily Take the Thom Hartmann Program | 15th February 2014 Comment Fossil Fuels Fracking USA fracking-rig.png The US fracking industry has a dirty …
The Walton family, owners of Walmart and Asda, project a 'public environmentalism', writes Mike Gaworecki. But their real agenda is to advance a monopolistic corporate economic model that is threatened by decentralised energy solutions like rooftop solar. The answer? Exterminate!
… owners of Walmart and Asda, project a 'public environmentalism', writes Mike Gaworecki. But … demonstrate, beneath the family's public environmentalism lies a deeper agenda: … corporate economic model. The Waltons' environmentalism is best understood not as a …