Study Linking GM Maize to Cancer Must Be Taken Seriously by Regulators | Common Dreams

Study Linking GM Maize to Cancer Must Be Taken Seriously by Regulators | Common Dreams
"But last week, Seralini brought the whole scientific and corporate establishment crashing down on his head. In a peer-reviewed US journal, Food and Chemical Toxicology, he reported the results of a €3.2m study. Fed a diet of Monsanto's Roundup-tolerant GM maize NK603 for two years, or exposed to Roundup over the same period, rats developed higher levels of cancers and died earlier than controls. Séralini suggested that the results could be explained by the endocrine-disrupting effects of Roundup, and overexpression of the transgene in the GMO.

This was scientific dynamite. It was the first time that maize containing these specific genes had been tested on rats over two years - nearly their full lifespan - as opposed to the 90-day trials demanded by regulators. Around a dozen long-term studies of different GM crops have failed to find similar effects. Séralini's study also looked at the toxicity of the Roundup herbicide when fed directly to rats.

If the study stood up, then the consistent arguments of the industry that its GM maize is safe might be fatally undermined, with immense political, financial and social consequences."

Climate Change Takes a Bite Out of Global Food Supply | Common Dreams

Climate Change Takes a Bite Out of Global Food Supply | Common Dreams
"Humanity’s ability to feed itself is in serious doubt as climate change takes hold on land in the form of droughts and extreme weather, as well as on the world’s oceans."

Oxfam Warns Climate Change And Extreme Weather Will Cause Food Prices To Soar

Oxfam Warns Climate Change And Extreme Weather Will Cause Food Prices To Soar: A report from Oxfam warns that global warming and extreme weather will combine to create devastating food price shocks in the coming decades. Oxfam had previously warned that corn or maize would see a 177% rise in price by 2030 due to climate change and other factors (see Oxfam: Extreme Weather Has Helped Push Tens of Millions [...]/p

Police Accused of Using Torture Tactics Against Nonviolent Keystone XL Pipeline Protesters | Alternet

Police Accused of Using Torture Tactics Against Nonviolent Keystone XL Pipeline Protesters | Alternet
"A tree-sit continues in Texas despite an unprecedented escalation in police and industry violence toward peaceful blockaders working to prevent construction of the Keystone XL pipeline."

As Sea Levels Rise, Pacific Island Nations Call for Urgent Action on Climate Change | Common Dreams

As Sea Levels Rise, Pacific Island Nations Call for Urgent Action on Climate Change | Common Dreams
"Two small Pacific Island nations called on the United Nations this week to facilitate immediate action and a legally binding agreement to curb global warming, which has caused steadily rising ocean levels, immediately threatening the soon to be submerged states."

ALEC's (Corporate) Love Affair with Fracking | Common Dreams

ALEC's (Corporate) Love Affair with Fracking | Common Dreams
"Through ALEC, corporate lobbyists have an equal vote with state legislators on ALEC “model” bills, that are pushed in states across the nation. Often the bills were drafted by the corporate lobbyists before being approved by ALEC "task forces." ALEC's legislative agenda includes efforts to bar taxes on windfall profits of energy companies and numerous bills that would make it harder to regulate carbon or address global climate changes, as well as bills that would make it harder to hold these and other companies accountable when Americans are killed or injured as a result of a corporation's product or practices in regulated industries."

Nestlé: Malevolent Corporation Capitalizes on Global Water Crisis | Common Dreams

Nestlé: Malevolent Corporation Capitalizes on Global Water Crisis | Common Dreams
"But what does Nestlé know about delivering water and sanitation services? Nothing! It is involved with this partnership to gain credibility and to have the Swiss government open doors to new private water markets in the developing world. It is the same reason the company is deeply involved with the funding arm of the World Bank. In fact, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe chairs a new advisory board called the 2030 Water Resources Group that helps set policy models and priorities for water and sanitation programs around the world.

This is a disaster in a world where demand for water is outstripping supply at an accelerating rate. As Wenonah Hauter from Food and Water Watch says, Nestlé’s goal is to shift government policy away from providing public municipal water supplies to people, and toward a dependency on bottled water to provide basic drinking water. And of course, it is about capitalizing on the global water crisis.

It is time to call out Nestlé and the governments that partner with them. I will return to Nestlé’s home base again soon where we will shout out against this malevolent water hunter."

California's Prop 37: Monsanto, GMO Labelling and the Public Interest | Common Dreams

California's Prop 37: Monsanto, GMO Labelling and the Public Interest | Common Dreams
"While the initiative merely seeks to add a few words to nutrition labels, it has incurred the wrath and moneyed opposition of biotech and food giants - no doubt because they fear the initiative might herald actual regulations on an industry that has long been allowed to experiment willy-nilly with the food people consume in the United States."

100 Million Could Die Due To Climate Change By 2030

100 Million Could Die Due To Climate Change By 2030: 100 million people could die as a result of climate change by 2030, a new report from DARA, a nonprofit institute based in Spain, concludes. Climate change already contributes to “400,000 deaths on average each year,” mainly due to “hunger and communicable diseases that affect above all children in developing countries,” while “an estimated 4.5 [...]/p

Food System Failure: Cows Eating... Gummy Worms? | Common Dreams

Food System Failure: Cows Eating... Gummy Worms? | Common Dreams
"A recent article from Reuters paints a frightening picture of the U.S. industrial agriculture system that has cows eating cookies and gummy worms, and farmers unable to afford the corn they have become dependent on for feeding the animals."

Fighting Keystone XL in the Heart of Texas | Common Dreams

Fighting Keystone XL in the Heart of Texas | Common Dreams
"Now in the tradition of forest defenders in the Northwest and mountain defenders in Appalachia, the Texas campaign has embraced escalated direct action as a tool to delay and stop the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. It’s good to remember as climate movements move forward using these tactics, the more we escalate, the more we will sacrifice."

$20 Dollar Per Ton Carbon Tax Could Reduce Deficit By $1.2 Trillion In 10 Years

$20 Dollar Per Ton Carbon Tax Could Reduce Deficit By $1.2 Trillion In 10 Years: Over the last year, there’s been increasing talk in Washington political circles — including conservative ones — about how to use a carbon tax as a deficit reduction tool. However, with an election season in full swing and a large number of Congressional Republicans campaigning against climate action, the current likelihood of getting a price [...]/p

The Trillion-Gallon Loophole: Shockingly Lax Rules for Drillers that Inject Pollutants Into the Earth | Alternet

The Trillion-Gallon Loophole: Shockingly Lax Rules for Drillers that Inject Pollutants Into the Earth | Alternet
"The waste – the byproduct of oil and gas drilling – was described in regulatory documents  as a benign mixture of salt and water. But as the liquid rushed from the trucks, it released a billowing vapor of far more volatile materials, including benzene and other flammable hydrocarbons."

Top 10 Ways Corporate Food Is Making Us Fat and Threatening Our Food Supplies | Alternet

Top 10 Ways Corporate Food Is Making Us Fat and Threatening Our Food Supplies | Alternet
"Large corporations account for half of the national economy and pay more for lobbyists to write and pass laws in Congress favorable to themselves than they do in Federal taxes. The way in which the Congressional committees that are supposed to watch certain industries actually become beholden to them is called ‘legislative capture.’

For this reason, I don’t entirely trust the US government any more to look out for our health. We are increasingly exposed to thousands of chemicals that haven’t really been tested (plastics are full of them). We’re not even given the courtesy of knowing which foods are genetically modified so we can make a market choice for the natural ones.

Here are the top ten disturbing news stories about our food that have come across my screen in recent days, and which inspire a certain amount of alarm in me."

Romney Energy Plan: Hot Cow Manure on Climate Change's Open Wounds

Romney Energy Plan: Hot Cow Manure on Climate Change's Open Wounds
"Facing the greatest threat in human history - catastrophic climate change - Mitt Romney, mixing arrogance, ignorance and the denial of science, would have us practice the modern-day equivalent of putting hot cow manure on open wounds."

Analysis: 93 Percent Of Fox News Climate Coverage Is ‘Misleading’

Analysis: 93 Percent Of Fox News Climate Coverage Is ‘Misleading’: There’s a new report out today analyzing climate coverage from Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News and Wall Street Journal. The results likely won’t shock anyone who reads this blog. According to a review of recent climate coverage at these two outlets, 93 percent stories from Fox News on climate were misleading and 81 percent of stories [...]/p

Tipping into New Climate Territory as Scientists Put Fears on Ice | Common Dreams

Tipping into New Climate Territory as Scientists Put Fears on Ice | Common Dreams
"AS ARCTIC sea ice hits a record low, focus is turning to climate ''tipping points'' - a threshold that, once crossed, cannot be reversed and will create fundamental changes to other areas."

The 50th Anniversary Of ‘Silent Spring’ Reminds Us Of The Importance Of Environmental Regulations

The 50th Anniversary Of ‘Silent Spring’ Reminds Us Of The Importance Of Environmental Regulations: by Arpita Bhattacharyya This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the release of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, a book often credited with launching the modern environmental movement. As we celebrate recent vital regulations, from new fuel economy standards to carbon pollution standard, it’s important to look back on how one book moved the American public [...]/p

Elizabeth Warren Warns GOP-Controlled Senate Would Make Climate Denier Jim Inhofe Head Of Environment Committee

Elizabeth Warren Warns GOP-Controlled Senate Would Make Climate Denier Jim Inhofe Head Of Environment Committee: With more than 300 votes targeting the Environmental Protection Agency, de-funding clean energy, and promoting unfettered use of fossil fuels, the current House of Representatives has been dubbed the most anti-environmental House in history. And if Republicans gain control of the Senate, the same record will define that body too. That’s the warning from Elizabeth [...]/p

Idaho Wildfires Head Toward Radioactive Sites | Common Dreams

Idaho Wildfires Head Toward Radioactive Sites | Common Dreams
"The wildfires that have ravaged Idaho for over a month are now bringing new fears as the fires have burned through three radioactive mining sites and are heading towards a fourth, Reuters reports."

Bill McKibben: Go After the “Outlaw” Fossil Fuel Companies

Fifty Years After ‘Silent Spring,’ Let’s Not Roll Back Environmental Protections | Common Dreams

Fifty Years After ‘Silent Spring,’ Let’s Not Roll Back Environmental Protections | Common Dreams
"Mitt Romney wants to open up more federal lands and waters to drilling for oil and natural gas. His party is pushing, in the name of freedom and economic opportunity, to roll back a variety of environmental protections. Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, are seeking to ease pesticide regulations; some are even questioning the Environmental Protection Agency’s ban on DDT, reopening a controversy that stretches back half a century."

Melting Arctic ice cap is like an open door on the earth’s freezer, warns climate activist

Shell Sues to Ban Public Protest Against Arctic Drilling | Common Dreams

Shell Sues to Ban Public Protest Against Arctic Drilling | Common Dreams
"Oil company Royal Dutch Shell went to court Friday to ban public protest against the company's Arctic drilling plans."

The Trillion-Gallon Loophole: Lax Rules for Drillers that Inject Pollutants Into the Earth | Common Dreams

The Trillion-Gallon Loophole: Lax Rules for Drillers that Inject Pollutants Into the Earth | Common Dreams
"The waste – the byproduct of oil and gas drilling – was described in regulatory documents as a benign mixture of salt and water. But as the liquid rushed from the trucks, it released a billowing vapor of far more volatile materials, including benzene and other flammable hydrocarbons."

Koch Brothers Cashing in 220,000 Acres of Tar Sands Holdings

Koch Brothers Cashing in 220,000 Acres of Tar Sands Holdings
"Recent action by Koch Oil Sands pulls the curtain back further on the Koch family's deep but quiet involvement in Canada's oil sands industry."

Ice-Free Arctic Is “Uncharted Territory” | Common Dreams

Ice-Free Arctic Is “Uncharted Territory” | Common Dreams
"The melt of Arctic sea ice has reached its lowest point this year, shrinking 18 percent from last year’s near-record low."

How Mitt Romney and Bain Helped Grow Monsanto Into a Biotech Giant | Alternet

How Mitt Romney and Bain Helped Grow Monsanto Into a Biotech Giant | Alternet
"The romance between Romney and Monsanto began back in 1977, when the recently minted Harvard Law and Business School graduate joined Bain, the Boston-based consulting firm launched in 1973, the same year Monsanto became one of its first clients. One of Bain’s founding partners, Ralph Willard, described to theBoston Globe  in 2007 how “Romney learned the technical aspects of the chemical business so thoroughly that he sounded as if he had gone to engineering school instead of business school,” and that Monsanto executives soon began “bypassing” him to go directly to Romney.This history matters not just because of the light it sheds on Romney’s self-ballyhooed business experience but because of the litany of Monsanto corporate objectives that clash with planetary concerns. If Romney is elected, this bête noire of environmentalists will have a very old friend in a very high place."

Bill McKibben’s Rolling Stone Article Was a Hit — So Why Didn’t It Make a Splash? | Common Dreams

Bill McKibben’s Rolling Stone Article Was a Hit — So Why Didn’t It Make a Splash? | Common Dreams
"Have you seen the numbers on Bill McKibben’s numbers? If you follow environment-related news (and even if you don’t), there’s a good chance you’ve read Bill McKibben’s recentRolling Stone article, Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math. I know this because of the numbers displayed right below the article’s headline: 112k Facebook likes, more than 12,000 mentions on Twitter, 7,300 Stumble Upon tags, and nearly 5,000 reader comments. “Wickedly viral,” is how the New England-dwelling McKibben has described the response to the piece."

When will the total collapse of the Arctic ice sheet occur?

Professor Peter Wadhams, Professor of Ocean Physics and Head of the Polar Ocean Physics Group - Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge joins Thom Hartmann. According to one of the world's top sea-ice experts - the entire Arctic ice shelf could be completely melted in just a couple of years - spelling disaster for the Earth. Have we reached the breaking point of the planet - or it there still time to get our acts together - and save the only home we know?

STUDY: Agriculture Giant Monsanto’s Products Cause Tumors, Organ Damage In Rats

STUDY: Agriculture Giant Monsanto’s Products Cause Tumors, Organ Damage In Rats: A new study out today may hurt efforts by America’s largest biotechnology company, Monsanto, to defeat a California ballot initiative that would require labels on genetically modified foods (GMOs). The French study found that rats who were either fed a lifetime diet of Monsanto’s genetically modified corn or exposed to the company’s popular herbicide, Roundup, [...]/p

'Planetary Emergency': New Data Elevates Climate Change Alarm | Common Dreams

'Planetary Emergency': New Data Elevates Climate Change Alarm | Common Dreams
"Drawing on new data on the rate of melting arctic ice released Wednesday by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), leading scientific experts and environmental campaigners upped the level of alarm and issued a renewed call to action by calling the growing reality of climate change a "planetary emergency"."

NOAA: Record High Ocean Temperatures in North Atlantic | Common Dreams

NOAA: Record High Ocean Temperatures in North Atlantic | Common Dreams
"Ocean temperatures -- from the ocean bottom to the sea surface -- off the northeast coast of the U.S. have soared to their warmest ever, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Tuesday."

New Study Links BPA to Obesity in Kids | Common Dreams

New Study Links BPA to Obesity in Kids | Common Dreams
"Children with higher levels of BPA (bisphenol A) may be more likely to be obese, according to a study published today in The Journal of the American Medical Association."

19 Companies, Including Starbucks And Levi Strauss, Urge Congress To Extend Wind Tax Credit

19 Companies, Including Starbucks And Levi Strauss, Urge Congress To Extend Wind Tax Credit: A group of 19 leading companies has sent a letter to Congress asking lawmakers to immediately extend a key tax credit for wind that is set to expire at the end of the year. The diverse coalition of firms, which includes Ben & Jerry’s, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss, Starbucks, and Yahoo!, says that raising [...]/p

Study: Deeper CO2 Cuts Needed to Save World's Dying Corals | Common Dreams

Study: Deeper CO2 Cuts Needed to Save World's Dying Corals | Common Dreams
"Limiting climate change to two degrees C won’t save most coral reefs, according to new, state-of-the-art research."

Arctic Sea Ice Will Reach 'Final Collapse' Within Four Years: Expert | Common Dreams

Arctic Sea Ice Will Reach 'Final Collapse' Within Four Years: Expert | Common Dreams
"Arctic waters will be completely ice free within four years, according to leading Arctic ice expert Professor Peter Wadhams of Cambridge University."

France Says No to Genetically Modified Crops, No to Fracking | Common Dreams

France Says No to Genetically Modified Crops, No to Fracking | Common Dreams
"France will maintain its ban on genetically modified crops [GMOs] and will ban fracking, politicians announced during an environmental conference held in Paris Friday and Saturday."

House Republicans Voted Against The Environment More Than 300 Times Since 2011

House Republicans Voted Against The Environment More Than 300 Times Since 2011: The House of Representatives added to its historic tally of anti-environment votes with a 245 to 161 vote on Friday approving the GOP’s “No More Solyndras Act” — a messaging bill that hampers Department of Energy loan guarantees to clean energy projects. Under GOP leadership, the House has voted 302 times against the environment since [...]/p

Environmentalists Plan Mass Mobilization Against Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline | Common Dreams

Environmentalists Plan Mass Mobilization Against Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline | Common Dreams
"Environmental activists in Canada have announced plans for a mass sit in at the British Columbia legislature, to protest the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline. Greenpeace Canada has claimed that the organizers's goal is to create the "biggest act of civil disobedience" on the tarsands issue in Canada to date.

The action is backed by over 80 community, union, business and First Nation leaders, including Stephen Lewis, David Suzuki, Maude Barlow, Naomi Klein, Tom Goldtooth, David Coles, Vandana Shiva, Bill McKibben, John O’Connor, and Tony Clarke. You can view the full list at defendourcoast.ca."

House GOP Votes to Transfer Tens of Thousands of Acres of Minnesota Public Lands to the State for Sulfide Mining | Alternet

House GOP Votes to Transfer Tens of Thousands of Acres of Minnesota Public Lands to the State for Sulfide Mining | Alternet
"At issue is a bill introduced by Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-MN), called the “Minnesota Education Investment and Employment Act” (H.R. 5544). The bill would give 86,000 acres of state-owned “school trust” lands within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to the federal government in exchange for similar but unspecified acreage in Superior National Forest outside of the wilderness area."

Harvesting a Climate Disaster | Common Dreams

Harvesting a Climate Disaster | Common Dreams
"Farmers went to Washington yesterday. Members of a coalition representing more than 80 agricultural organizations rallied on Capitol Hill to demand passage of a new farm bill that has been stalled in Congress."

Environmentalist Bill McKibben on Keeping a Strong Focus on Climate Change

Environmentalist Bill McKibben on Keeping a Strong Focus on Climate Change
"Bill McKibben, founder of the international climate change group 350.org, is one of the world's leading campaigners on the climate change crisis. In 2010, theBoston Globe called him "probably the nation's leading environmentalist." The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) interviewed McKibben to ask about the status of the global climate change movement and the current priorities of 350.org. McKibben will be in Madison, WI to address "Fighting Bob Fest" September 15."

Big Ag Directly Funded Anti-Organics Stanford Study: Report | Common Dreams

Big Ag Directly Funded Anti-Organics Stanford Study: Report | Common Dreams
"A study released last week by Stanford scientists, which claims organic foods are no more healthy than non-organic foods, was funded by corporate agriculture and biotechnology giants, according to a new report by the Cornucopia Institute."

Scotts Miracle-Gro to Pay Record Fines for Poisoning Birds and Selling Illegal Pesticides

Scotts Miracle-Gro to Pay Record Fines for Poisoning Birds and Selling Illegal Pesticides
"America's leading lawn care company is in big trouble for potentially poisoning wild birds across the country, and lying to the government and consumers about pesticide products."

Arctic Death Spiral: The Video

Arctic Death Spiral: The Video: Last week, I reported that leading scientific experts were warning we could see a “near ice-free Arctic in summer” in a decade — if volume trends continue. Here’s a short video showing those ominous trends from 1979 through early September 2012: Since 1979, the volume of summer Arctic sea ice has declined by 75% and [...]/p

Conservationists Issue Plea to Save 100 Most Endangered Species | Common Dreams

Conservationists Issue Plea to Save 100 Most Endangered Species | Common Dreams
"Over 8,000 conservation experts have issued a plea to save the world's 100 most endangered species."

Mountains, Environmentalists Mourn Loss of Larry Gibson | Common Dreams

Mountains, Environmentalists Mourn Loss of Larry Gibson | Common Dreams
"Few people in our country were so fearless in the face of political pressure, bankers, Big Coal backlash and even death threats; and fewer people had the inspiring impact of this determined mountaineer, who had spent the last two decades crisscrossing the country, leading protests and beseeching power brokers to defend his Appalachian mountains from reckless strip mining operations.

His message was simple and to the point: Love them or leave them, just don’t destroy them."

US Just Experienced Warmest Year-to-Date Period Ever | Common Dreams

US Just Experienced Warmest Year-to-Date Period Ever | Common Dreams
"Climate change continues to bring extreme, record breaking weather to the U.S., according to the most recent calculations from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released Monday.

The contiguous U.S. just experienced the third hottest summer ever. And the year-to-date (Jan. - Aug.) period was also the warmest first 8 months ever recorded for the contiguous U.S.

The summer (June - Aug.) national average was 2.3°F above the 20th century average at 74.4°F, surpassed only by the summers of 2011 and 1936 for warmest summer in recorded history.

For the year-to-date period, the contiguous U.S. was 4.0°F above the 20^th century average at 58.7°F, surpassing the previous record for this period set in 2006."

Paul Ryan Supported Green Auto Loans Before Launching A Political Attack On The Program

Paul Ryan Supported Green Auto Loans Before Launching A Political Attack On The Program: Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan, the father of the GOP’s slash and burn budget, is once again coming under scrutiny for asking the federal government for clean energy stimulus money. Last month, Ryan was called out for securing more than $25 million in stimulus funds for clean energy programs in 2009 — even while publicly [...]/p

Kit To Turn Gas Engine Into Hybrid To Be Released This Year

Kit To Turn Gas Engine Into Hybrid To Be Released This Year
"And since the Obama administration recently announced new fuel efficiency standards of 54.5 mpg by 2025, it makes it even more likely that this technology will spread in order to meet the new goals."

Why Climate Change Is A Public Health Issue

Why Climate Change Is A Public Health Issue: Some public health officials argue that the image associated with global warming shouldn’t be a polar bear surrounded by melting ice caps, but rather a child suffering from heat exhaustion. Some social scientists believe that the issue of global warming could resonate with a larger segment of the general population if it is framed in [...]/p

Gov. Romney And Rep. Paul Ryan Want To Drill, Slash, And Sell Our Public Lands

Gov. Romney And Rep. Paul Ryan Want To Drill, Slash, And Sell Our Public Lands: by Jessica Goad Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee, told The Reno Gazette-Journal earlier this year that he doesn’t know “the purpose of ” public lands. Presidents since Theodore Roosevelt—who was an avid hunter and the father of American conservation—have realized the many purposes of public lands. They support our nation’s energy [...]/p

Shell Bores Into Arctic Sea Despite Flimsy Safety Tests | Common Dreams

Shell Bores Into Arctic Sea Despite Flimsy Safety Tests | Common Dreams
"Shell began drilling into the Arctic on Sunday despite little safety testing and without its containment barge."

America Is Only Nation Where Climate Scientists Face Organized Harassment

America Is Only Nation Where Climate Scientists Face Organized Harassment: Katherine Bagley, via InsideClimate News The harassment faced by U.S.-based climate scientists has been well documented in the media—but not the harassment of scientists in Europe, Canada or the rest of the world. That’s because there hasn’t been much to report. While outspoken scientists of human-caused climate change in the United States endure torrents of [...]/p

Romney Funder Miracle Gro Fined $12.5 Million For Violating Pesticide Laws

Romney Funder Miracle Gro Fined $12.5 Million For Violating Pesticide Laws: Scotts Miracle-Gro, the company best known for its eponymous fertilizer, has been ordered to pay $12.5 million in civil and criminal fines for violating the Environmental Protection Agency’s pesticide laws, a judge ruled on Friday. The company plead guilty to “illegally applying insecticides to its wild bird food products that are toxic to birds, falsifying [...]/p

Climate Change Wreaks Havoc on US Power Plants | Common Dreams

Climate Change Wreaks Havoc on US Power Plants | Common Dreams
"The warmest summer on record in the US, along with increased demand and diminished water supplies have put intense and unexpected pressure on the nation's power plants, according to new reporting by the Washington Post."

At Universities, Fracking Research Funded by Oil and Gas Companies | Common Dreams

At Universities, Fracking Research Funded by Oil and Gas Companies | Common Dreams
"Critics are calling it "frackademia"—the nexus between academia and companies with a stake in "fracking," the controversial method of extracting gas and oil from shales."

National Pork Producers Council: Anti-Science & Anti-Animal | Common Dreams

National Pork Producers Council: Anti-Science & Anti-Animal | Common Dreams
"The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) summed up its anti-scientific and anti-animal views when, in attempting to defend the industry’s confinement of mother pigs in cages so small the animals can’t even turn around, NPPC communications director Dave Warner told the National Journal, “So our animals can’t turn around for the 2.5 years that they are in the stalls producing piglets. I don’t know who asked the sow if she wanted to turn around....."

'Unprecedented,' 'Amazing,' 'Goliath': Scientists Describe Arctic Sea Ice Melt | Common Dreams

'Unprecedented,' 'Amazing,' 'Goliath': Scientists Describe Arctic Sea Ice Melt | Common Dreams
"he rate of Arctic Sea ice melt has caught scientists by surprise, leaving them to describe the current record low levels as "amazing," "a Goliath" and "unprecedented."  While a record low was recorded on Aug. 26, the ice level continues to fall, and the National Snow and Ice Data Center reports that there is still a week left in the melting season."

Study: Extreme Weather Hammers Global Food System | Common Dreams

Study: Extreme Weather Hammers Global Food System | Common Dreams
"A new report released Wednesday says that the full impact of climate change and extreme weather events on global food prices is being underestimated and warns that without a more acute understanding of how global warming threatens agricultural systems and economies, governments will be unable to prepare for future disasters"

Genetically Modified Corn Gives Rise To Superworms As Agribusiness Lobbies Against GMO Labeling

Genetically Modified Corn Gives Rise To Superworms As Agribusiness Lobbies Against GMO Labeling: Agricultural giant Monsanto Company has risen to the top of the corporate food chain largely thanks to its seeds. These are no ordinary seeds — they have been genetically modified (GM) to withstand and even produce herbicides and pesticides. Monsanto’s GM corn and soybean seeds have become so widespread over the past two decades that [...]/p

Study: Extreme Weather Hammers Global Food System | Common Dreams

Study: Extreme Weather Hammers Global Food System | Common Dreams
"A new report released Wednesday says that the full impact of climate change and extreme weather events on global food prices is being underestimated and warns that without a more acute understanding of how global warming threatens agricultural systems and economies, governments will be unable to prepare for future disasters."

US-Funded Armies Slaughtering Record Number of Elephants | Common Dreams

US-Funded Armies Slaughtering Record Number of Elephants | Common Dreams
"The illegal elephant ivory trade is reaching record levels and “Africa is in the midst of an epic elephant slaughter,” reports the New York Times. As demand for elephant ivory grows in China, more and more poachers, including some of Africa’s most infamous armed groups, are killing elephants to cash in. Tens of thousands of elephants are being killed every year in Africa, conservationists say, as poachers kill them for nothing other than their tusks."

The Six Stages of Climate Grief | Common Dreams

The Six Stages of Climate Grief | Common Dreams
"Acceptance is the hardest stage, because what experts tell us lies ahead is so damn scary, it will make you want to hop into Rush Limbaugh's lap and stay there: We are surpassing all of scientists' worst-case scenarios by a long shot — we are now on track to an 11-degree Fahrenheit rise by the end of the century, according to the International Energy Agency. We've broken over 4,000 temperature records in the United States just this year, and scientists tell us record droughts, floods, storms, and forest fires all may become "the new normal."

We must accept this dreadful prognosis if we are to act appropriately."

Brooklyn's Self-Powered Solar Building: A Game-Changer for Green Construction?

Brooklyn's Self-Powered Solar Building: A Game-Changer for Green Construction?
"New York City's triangular-shaped buildings are notorious for being problematic sites for solar panels. Starting this fall, one five-story Brooklyn complex will defy that notion—by generating more solar power than it uses and becoming one of the city's greenest structures."

Drug Company Apology "Too Little, Too Late" for Thalidomide Victims | Common Dreams

Drug Company Apology "Too Little, Too Late" for Thalidomide Victims | Common Dreams
"Thalidomide, which was marketed worldwide in the 1950's and 1960's as a cure for pregnant women's morning sickness and other ailments, caused thousands of babies to be born with extreme birth defects, including missing limbs, malformed organs and blindness."