Thursday, July 31, 2014

Retired Coal Miner To EPA: ‘We’re Dying, Literally Dying For You To Help Us’

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/07/31/3465941/health-concern-epa-hearings/
"In the five minutes he was allotted, Stanley Sturgill spoke to the EPA about how he now suffers from black lung diseases among other respiratory illnesses and how the pollution from coal plants were adversely affecting not only his health, but the public’s too. His plea: "We’re dying, literally dying for you to help us"."

In 2014, Colorado Oil And Gas Spills Are Happening Twice A Day

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/07/29/3465290/colorado-oil-gas-spill/
"A Denver Post analysis of Colorado oil and gas spills so far in 2014 reveals that they are happening twice a day “and usually without anyone telling residents.”"

Why The Koch Brothers Are So Interested In Who Becomes The Next Attorney General Of Colorado

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/07/31/3466357/colorado-ag-energy-koch/
"Probably not coincidentally, Coffman is a staunch supporter of the oil and gas industry who has vowed to use the position to protect the rights of frackers and drillers."

Doomsday Trigger for Megadrought?

Doomsday Trigger for Megadrought?

"One of the worst North American droughts in history could be getting a whole lot worse."

Does NASA's Data Show Doomsday for New York City?

Does NASA's Data Show Doomsday for New York City?

"Unfortunately, we don't live in a sane world. We live in a world dominated by a fossil fuel industry that owns half of Washington and pretty much the entire Republican Party."

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Utility Trade Group Funds ALEC Attack on Americans Using Solar

Utility Trade Group Funds ALEC Attack on Americans Using Solar

"Through ALEC's bill and campaign, the group has been pushing changes to state laws that would increase costs for homeowners with solar who sell excess energy back to the grid, known as “net metering.”

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Alabama state officials: We won’t comply with the EPA because God gave us coal

Alabama state officials: We won’t comply with the EPA because God gave us coal

"Alabama state officials say that EPA carbon standards violate God's law. Seriously."

Songbirds Dying From DDT in Michigan Yards

Songbirds Dying From DDT in Michigan Yards

"The birds’ brains contained concentrations of DDE, a breakdown product of DDT, from 155 to 1,043 parts per million, with an average of 552. “Thirty in the brain is the threshold for acute death,” Zwiernik said. “All the birds exceeded that by at least two- or three-fold, and many by much more than that.” Twelve of the 29 birds had brain lesions or liver abnormalities."

Is the Future of the Planet in ALEC's Secret Hands?

Is the Future of the Planet in ALEC's Secret Hands?

"If want to have any chance of saving the human race from the greatest threat it has ever faced, then we need to start putting public interests ahead of corporate interests, and the only way we can do that is by getting money out of politics.

We need to amend the Constitution, to say that money is not speech, and that corporations are not people."

Climate change impact on congressional races

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Near Miss: The Solar Superstorm Of July 2012

Near Miss: The Solar Superstorm Of July 2012

"Two years ago, Earth experienced a close shave just as perilous, but most newspapers didn't mention it. The "impactor" was an extremesolar storm, the most powerful in as much as 150+ years."

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Dangerous consequences of big oil

Pennsylvania Fracking Regulators 'Woefully' Unprepared, Says State Audit

Pennsylvania Fracking Regulators 'Woefully' Unprepared, Says State Audit

"Placing the health and wellbeing of Pennsylvania residents at great risk, the state’s environmental regulatory body is "woefully" unprepared to monitor and regulate the shale oil and gas drilling boom, charged a report released by the state’s Inspector General on Tuesday."

CDC Head: Age of Antibiotic Resistance Is Nigh

CDC Head: Age of Antibiotic Resistance Is Nigh

"The growing threat of antibiotic resistance requires imminent action, the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned Tuesday."

Monday, July 21, 2014

Iowa Goes Bananas for GMOs | Common Dreams

Iowa Goes Bananas for GMOs | Common Dreams

"Despite what Iowa State University and the Iowa Farm Bureau might think about the need for GMO labels, one thing is for sure: consumers want the right to know what’s in their food and will continue to fight for mandatory GMO labeling."

The Brink of Mass Extinction

The Brink of Mass Extinction

"In the last decade alone, record high temperatures across the United States have outnumbered record low temperatures two to one, and the trend is both continuing and escalating."

Blockade at First Tar Sands Site in US Challenges 'Brazen Disregard for Climate Crisis' | Common Dreams

Blockade at First Tar Sands Site in US Challenges 'Brazen Disregard for Climate Crisis' | Common Dreams

"Happening now: Activists target construction at PR Spring tar sands site in Utah"

Giant hole, giant global warming impact

Renewables Account for More Than Half of 2014's New US Energy Capacity

Renewables Account for More Than Half of 2014's New US Energy Capacity

"According to the latest Energy Infrastructure Update from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, solar and wind energy constituted more than half of the new generating capacity in the country for the first half of 2014."

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Corporate Greed Exacerbates Drought: Nestle Believes Water Is Not a Basic Human Right

www.politicususa.com/2014/07/16/corporate-greed-exacerbates-drought-nestle-believes-water-basic-human.html
"Although the extreme California drought is just one reason to take action against Nestle, the point is the giant corporation is pillaging a basic necessity for human life all over the world with little opposition and relative impunity. The company touts job creation as validation for draining the water supply dry and selling it back to thirsty Americans, but when they have exhausted the water supply, no amount of jobs or money will sustain life devoid of water."

Water Wars and Creeping Privatization

Water Wars and Creeping Privatization

"The newly enacted Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act holds promise for life in a world shaped by climate change. However, privatization proponents are working hard to privatize ownership and control our water infrastructure."

Aussie Senate Repeals Carbon Tax, Ignores Their Own Extreme Weather

Aussie Senate Repeals Carbon Tax, Ignores Their Own Extreme Weather

"Australia, which has the notorious distinction of being the developed world’s worst polluter per head of population, voted to repeal a carbon tax on the country’s 300 biggest polluters."

Danger Zone: Major Nuclear Waste Dump Continues to Emit Dangerous Levels of Radiation

www.alternet.org/environment/danger-zone-major-nuclear-waste-dump-continues-emit-dangerous-levels-radiation
"Environmental radiation releases spiked again in mid-June around the surface site of the only U.S. underground, nuclear weapons waste storage facility near Carlsbad, New Mexico."

With Nuclear Weapons and Climate Change, Things Could Get Worse | Common Dreams

With Nuclear Weapons and Climate Change, Things Could Get Worse | Common Dreams

"There’s more bad news from the climate scientists. Not about global warming, where the news is never good, but about the impact nuclear weapons would have on the atmosphere, our climate, and food production if even a very small number were used in a limited, regional conflict."

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Rightwingers Advised to Invest in Water as Fracking in Drought Areas Prompts Activism

Rightwingers Advised to Invest in Water as Fracking in Drought Areas Prompts Activism

"As a historic drought grips the U.S. southwest, towns in Texas and California are taking action to make sure precious fresh water is not wasted and spoiled through fracking.
At the same time, some investment advisors are urging right-wingers at the annual libertarian "Freedom Fest" to view drought and skyrocketing water prices as a major investment opportunity."

‘Drought shaming’ in California water wars

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Koch-Funded Texas Gubernatorial Candidate Limits Public Chemical Disclosure After Deadly Explosion

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/07/09/3457624/greg-abbott-koch-chemical-west-texas/

"In reporting on Abbott’s decision, the Dallas Morning News wrote that “the fact that Abbott has taken thousands of dollars from political donors related to Koch Industries, a multinational corporation with extensive chemical interests, creates particularly noxious ‘optics’ for the Republican attorney general in his campaign for governor.”
That’s right, what Abbott was less willing to discuss was that his campaign has received more than $75,000 from Koch interests since the April 2013 explosion at the West Fertilizer Plant, including a $25,000 contribution from first-time donor Chase Koch, who recently became the head of Koch Industries’ fertilizer division."

Is This The Dawn of a Renewable Energy Revolution?

California Charged with 'Rubber-Stamping' Pesticides Linked to Bee Deaths | Common Dreams

California Charged with 'Rubber-Stamping' Pesticides Linked to Bee Deaths | Common Dreams

"Environmental groups on Tuesday called out the state of California for illegally pushing new agricultural uses for certain pesticides despite mounting evidence that they are devastating honeybee populations."

Dangerous pipeline proposal

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

How politics derailed EPA science on arsenic, endangering public health

www.publicintegrity.org/2014/06/28/15000/how-politics-derailed-epa-science-arsenic-endangering-public-health
"It is a battle between politics and science. Mining companies and rice producers, which could be hurt by the EPA’s findings, lobbied against them. But some of the most aggressive lobbying came from two pesticide companies that sell a weed killer containing arsenic."

Koch-backed AG helps hide chemical plant dangers

Monday, July 7, 2014

Profiteers Cashing In on Nation's Catastrophic Water Crisis | Common Dreams

Profiteers Cashing In on Nation's Catastrophic Water Crisis | Common Dreams

"America's food growing regions face a crisis of "catastrophic" proportions as historic drought continues to drive the nation's largest water reserves to record lows."

Thursday, July 3, 2014

NASA Satellite Launched to Help Track 'Challenge of Our Generation' | Common Dreams

NASA Satellite Launched to Help Track 'Challenge of Our Generation' | Common Dreams

"NASA on Tuesday launched a rocket carrying a satellite that will track atmospheric carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas fueling climate change—the "challenge of our generation"."

GMO Labeling Bill Moves Forward in Oregon | Common Dreams

GMO Labeling Bill Moves Forward in Oregon | Common Dreams

"Voters in Oregon want to know what's in their food and in November they will be given the chance to have their voices heard."

'Buzzword List' Reveals What State Officials Can't Say About Fracking | Common Dreams

'Buzzword List' Reveals What State Officials Can't Say About Fracking | Common Dreams

"Former employees of the Pennsylvania Department of Health were ordered by supervisors to ignore complaints about fracking-related health issues and follow a host of other rules to keep the dangers of drilling under wraps — even at the expense of people's health."

Renewables Projected To Add Triple The Capacity Of New Fossil Fuel Plants By 2030

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/07/01/3449868/renewables-soar/
"There seems little doubt that fracked wells — those that are still producing and those that are abandoned — leak methane into the water and air creating serious health and climate problems."

Four Of 10 Fracked Wells In Pennsylvania Are Projected To Fail, Spewing Methane Into Air And Water

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/07/02/3453533/fracked-wells-methane/
"There seems little doubt that fracked wells — those that are still producing and those that are abandoned — leak methane into the water and air creating serious health and climate problems."

Birthing a Solar Age