Warnings Ignored, Shell's Arctic Drilling Rig Runs Aground Off Alaskan Coast | Common Dreams

Warnings Ignored, Shell's Arctic Drilling Rig Runs Aground Off Alaskan Coast | Common Dreams
"Fulfilling dire predictions by environmentalists and conservationists that oil exploration and extraction in the Arctic was frought with peril, a Royal Dutch Shell offshore drilling rig carrying roughly 150,000 gallons of oil ran aground on an island in the Gulf of Alaska on Monday night threatening the pristine waters with a potential spill."

Why We Need a New Year's Revolution Against the Corporatocracy | Alternet

Why We Need a New Year's Revolution Against the Corporatocracy | Alternet
"Starting today, not next year, we all have to become climate hawks and democracy activists, breaking corporate control over the marketplace and over our elections, media, and public policy. Starting today we must move together to save our climate, our civilization, and Mother Earth."

Remembering Environmentalist Becky Tarbotton, 1973-2012

Remembering Environmentalist Becky Tarbotton, 1973-2012: by Tina Gerhardt, via The Progressive “We need to remember that the work of our time is bigger than climate change. We need to be setting our sights higher and deeper. What we’re really talking about, if we’re honest with ourselves, is transforming everything about the way we live on this planet. We don’t always [...]/p

Story of the Year: It’s Global Warming, Stupid | Common Dreams

Story of the Year: It’s Global Warming, Stupid | Common Dreams
"My favorite headline of 2012 was “It’s Global Warming, Stupid,” which appeared on the cover of Bloomberg Businessweek on Nov. 1, just days after Hurricane Sandy hit the Northeast."

McKibben To Wall Street Journal: ‘Fossil-Fuel Companies Have Become Outlaws Against The Laws Of Physics’

McKibben To Wall Street Journal: ‘Fossil-Fuel Companies Have Become Outlaws Against The Laws Of Physics’: Bill McKibben has a letter responding to an error-riddled Wall Street Journal op-ed — though I guess that’s redundant. This one attacks clean energy and the fossil-fuel divestment effort McKibben supports. McKibben writes: Robert Bryce’s Dec. 17 op-ed (“Harvard Needs Remedial Energy Math“) attacking campus efforts to have universities divest themselves of holdings in fossil-fuel [...]/p

Meet the Woman Battling Japan's Whaling Fleet in Antarctic Ocean | Common Dreams

Meet the Woman Battling Japan's Whaling Fleet in Antarctic Ocean | Common Dreams
"Now Fox, a co-founder of the campaigning group Women for Whales, is to be a key player in the Sea Shepherd conservationsociety's Operation Zero Tolerance. In its biggest venture to date, the society will soon be sending four ships to take on the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean with the aim of preventing the death of even a single whale."

5 Important U.S. Energy Stories of 2012 | Alternet

5 Important U.S. Energy Stories of 2012 | Alternet
"The news cycle was dominated by energy: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made fossil fuel extraction his number one priority; fossil fuel interests spent hundreds of millions of dollars to promote oil, coal, and gas during the election; and President Obama busily defended his promotion of renewable energy after getting attacked by the fossil fuel lobby."

Climate Risks Have Been Underestimated for the Last 20 Years | Alternet

Climate Risks Have Been Underestimated for the Last 20 Years | Alternet
"The world's most authoritative voice on climate science has consistently understated the rate and intensity of climate change and the danger those impacts represent, say a growing number of studies."

U.S. Sailors File Lawsuit: TEPCO Lied About Radiation Levels

U.S. Sailors File Lawsuit: TEPCO Lied About Radiation Levels
"How awful; I can't begin to imagine how many other unwitting rescue workers were exposed to dangerous levels. It seemed clear from the start that TEPCO was not telling the truth about the radiation levels:"

Stunned Community Mourning the Loss of Renowned Environmental Leader Rebecca Tarbotton of Rainforest Action Network | Alternet

Stunned Community Mourning the Loss of Renowned Environmental Leader Rebecca Tarbotton of Rainforest Action Network | Alternet
"The death of RAN's executive director, Tarbotton, 39, has left friends, family and colleagues stunned and devastated."

Elevating acidity threatens corals

2013 Is Year Zero for Climate Change | The Nation

2013 Is Year Zero for Climate Change | The Nation
"As this wild year comes to an end, we return to the season of gifts. Here’s the gift you’re not going to get soon: any conventional version of Paradise. You know, the place where nothing much happens and nothing is demanded of you. The gifts you’ve already been given in 2012 include a struggle over the fate of the Earth. This is probably not exactly what you asked for, and I wish it were otherwise—but to do good work, to be necessary, to have something to give: these are the true gifts. And at least there’s still a struggle ahead of us, not just doom and despair."

West Antarctica Warming Three Times Faster Than Global Average, Threatening To Destabilize This Unstable Ice Sheet

West Antarctica Warming Three Times Faster Than Global Average, Threatening To Destabilize This Unstable Ice Sheet: This is a repost of a National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) news release (plus links and excerpts from other recent studies at the end). BOULDER—In a finding that raises further concerns about the future contribution of Antarctica to sea level rise, a new study finds that the western part of the continent’s ice sheet [...]/p

Kidnappings, Pirates, Halliburton, Fracking, And Me.

Kidnappings, Pirates, Halliburton, Fracking, And Me.: by RL Miller The London-based Control Risks holds itself out as “an independent global risk consultancy specializing in helping organizations manage political, integrity, and security risks in complex and hostile environments.” Or, in practical terms, it provides anti-piracy services, handles kidnappings and other crises, and writes white papers analyzing terrorism risks in various countries. One [...]/p

Palm Oil Is in Everything from Soap to Waffles -- And Causing Massive Human Suffering and Environmental Harm | Alternet

Palm Oil Is in Everything from Soap to Waffles -- And Causing Massive Human Suffering and Environmental Harm | Alternet
"The ubiquity of palm oil may surprise you. At least one-quarter of all the products found in a grocery story contain palm oil or one of its hundreds of chemical derivatives. Here’s a short list of some of the common brands that use palm oil: 

• Neutrogena: Neutrogena Naturals Multi-Vitamin Night Cream
• Aveda: Aveda Green Science’s Firming Face Cream
• Clinique: Liquid Facial Soap Extra Mild
• Kellogg’s: Girl Scout Cookies
• Nestlé: Wonka Chocolate Bars
• Kraft: Cool Whip
• Earth Balance: Organic natural buttery spread
• Nature’s Path: Organic buckwheat wildberry waffles
• Clif Bar: Lemon Zest Luna Bar

Chick-fil-A’s Latest Horror -- Children's Book Loaded with Propaganda to Conceal the Horrors of Corporate Agriculture | Alternet

Chick-fil-A’s Latest Horror -- Children's Book Loaded with Propaganda to Conceal the Horrors of Corporate Agriculture | Alternet
"This is not an overstatement. Chick-fil-A, like most fast-food companies, is the retail expression of the factory farming industry — an industry whose  hideous treatment of animals, vertical integration and rooting in monoculture is the opposite of the diversified family farm so beautifully glorified in “The Jolly Barnyard.” Perhaps worse, as a primary buyer — and, thus financial supporter — of the factory-farmed products, Chick-fil-A is one of the major fast-food players responsible for the demise of “Jolly Barnyard”-esque family farms.

But rather than own up to its record with a children’s book about its odious business model, Chick-Fil-A (not surprisingly) wants kids to think of it through a much more pleasant story."

New Year’s Revolution: Connecting the Dots, Coming Together and Fighting Like Hell | Common Dreams

New Year’s Revolution: Connecting the Dots, Coming Together and Fighting Like Hell | Common Dreams
"The bottom line for humans, as we review our year-end 2012 financials, is discouraging. If we cannot reduce fossil fuel consumption by 90% within the next 20 years and leave most remaining fossil fuel reserves in the ground, if we cannot naturally sequester several hundred billion tons of CO2 and greenhouse gases through global reforestation, organic farming and carbon ranching practices we are doomed."

TEPCO Can't Keep Up with Costs of Its Nuclear Disaster at Fukushima | Common Dreams

TEPCO Can't Keep Up with Costs of Its Nuclear Disaster at Fukushima | Common Dreams
"Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the now infamous Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan admitted Thursday that it does not have enough funds make payments related to the disaster that continues to plague the communities in and around where the meltdown took place in early 2011."

Watchdogs: US Regulators Are Not Prepared to Prevent Arctic Spill, Sue for Access to Info on Shell Oil Drilling Plan

Watchdogs: US Regulators Are Not Prepared to Prevent Arctic Spill, Sue for Access to Info on Shell Oil Drilling Plan
"Royal Dutch Shell plans to drill for oil this spring in the arctic Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off the northern coasts of Alaska, but watchdogs and environmentalists are not yet convinced that Shell and federal regulators have taken enough steps to prevent or contain a potential oil spill in the treacherous and icy waters."

Endangered Colorado: Is it Too Late to Save One of Our Greatest Rivers? | Alternet

Endangered Colorado: Is it Too Late to Save One of Our Greatest Rivers? | Alternet
"What once was a majestic river is today a saline slurry, with a salt content so high it cannot be used to water even the most hardy of garden plants. What have we done?"

How a Country With One of the World's Largest Economies Is Ditching Fossil Fuels | Alternet

How a Country With One of the World's Largest Economies Is Ditching Fossil Fuels | Alternet
"The country is headed for 80 percent renewable energy and has complete buy-in from all political parties."

STUDY: Antarctica Is Heating Up Even Faster Than Previously Thought

STUDY: Antarctica Is Heating Up Even Faster Than Previously Thought: Dangerous climate-change induced melting of Antartica’s ice may be happening even faster than we think, as a new study has found that Antarctica is warming far more quickly than scientists had previously thought. The study, published in the journal Natural Geoscience, reviewed a previously spotty dataset on Antarctic temperature, correcting several gaps. The New York [...]/p

'Ominous' New Research: Earth's Coldest Regions Warming Fastest | Common Dreams

'Ominous' New Research: Earth's Coldest Regions Warming Fastest | Common Dreams
"The litany of extreme weather events this year and the mounting discoveries supplied by climate scientists have made 2012 a year in which the realities of a warmer planet make ignoring the impacts of human caused climate change no longer possible."

'Kochtopus' Graphic Maps Koch Brothers Influence on Climate Policy

'Kochtopus' Graphic Maps Koch Brothers Influence on Climate Policy
"The author of a new report on U.S. carbon billionaires give a tour of the Kochtopus — a map of the empire of Charles and David Koch. The Kochs run oil refineries and control thousands of miles of pipeline, giving them a massive personal stake in the fossil fuel industry. Democracy Now! is joined by Victor Menotti, executive director of the International Forum on Globalization."

Climate-denying Indiana Regulator Helps ALEC Coal Companies Delay EPA Climate Rules | Alternet

Climate-denying Indiana Regulator Helps ALEC Coal Companies Delay EPA Climate Rules | Alternet
"Leaked documents reveal that ALEC's anti-environmental jamboree was inundated with coal money and featured an Indiana regulator advising coal utilities on delaying EPA rules."

Bill McKibben: It’s time to stand up to the fossil fuel industry

Sean Lennon on NY fracking battle: If it’s too dangerous in Manhattan, it’s too dangerous everywhere

10 Energy Numbers To Remember From 2012

10 Energy Numbers To Remember From 2012:  Sometimes energy makes headlines, sometimes it doesn’t.  But it almost always has important implications for the global economy, the environment, and our day-to-day lives. Here are 10 energy statistics from 2012 that capture some of the most noteworthy trends of the year, and that will shape the energy world in [...]/p

Fight for GMO Labeling Goes On in New Mexico | Common Dreams

Fight for GMO Labeling Goes On in New Mexico | Common Dreams
"The fight for mandatory labeling of GMO's in California may have suffered a difficult blow in California this November, but the fight goes on across the country, particularly this week in New Mexico, where one senator just filed an amendment that would require the labeling of all genetically engineered food and feed in the state."

Air Pollution Now Deadlier To The World Than High Cholesterol

Air Pollution Now Deadlier To The World Than High Cholesterol: More than 3 million people, a record number, suffered premature deaths from air pollution in 2010, according to a new report published in the Lancet. For the first time, air pollution has moved to the top 10 list of killers, making it a top public health concern surpassing even high cholesterol. For comparison, air pollution [...]/p

On-Bill Repayment: A Way To Eliminate The Upfront Costs For Energy Efficiency Projects

On-Bill Repayment: A Way To Eliminate The Upfront Costs For Energy Efficiency Projects: When a state is facing electric resource shortages, like Texas is, it’s just common sense to explore all the ways to make our electric use more efficient. We know efficiency makes sense – in terms of grid reliability, lower emissions, and reduced costs to ratepayers. But there is [...]/p

Recool: The Amazon.com Of The Green Building Sector?

Recool: The Amazon.com Of The Green Building Sector?: by Chris Potter, via the Institute for Market Transformation Christmas has arrived early for those seeking more transparency within the architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) marketplace. Roger Chang, a principal and the director of sustainability at Westlake Reed Leskosky (WRL), one of the country’s top green design firms, just launched recool.com, a new website that [...]/p

Local Solar: Minnesota Develops Its First Community Solar Project

Local Solar: Minnesota Develops Its First Community Solar Project:  As community solar grows in popularity, an innovative solar project by the Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association in Minnesota highlights the opportunity of merging local ownership with locally assembled solar panels. Earlier this fall, this cooperative serving communities just north and west of the Twin Cities metropolitan area announced Minnesota’s [...]/p

Frack Fights Heating Up Nationwide: NY and CA Issue New Regs, CO Ban on Fracking Under Assault

Frack Fights Heating Up Nationwide: NY and CA Issue New Regs, CO Ban on Fracking Under Assault
"Anti-fracking activists across the nation will have their work cut out for them as they confront a well-resourced industry with no respect for the results of a free and fair election or the will of the community."

13 Resolutions to Change the Food System in 2013 | Common Dreams

13 Resolutions to Change the Food System in 2013 | Common Dreams
"As we start 2013, many people will be thinking about plans and promises to improve their diets and health. We think a broader collection of farmers, policy-makers, and eaters need new, bigger resolutions for fixing the food system--real changes with long-term impacts in fields, boardrooms, and on plates all over the world. These are resolutions that the world can’t afford to break with nearly one billion still hungry and more than one billion suffering from the effects of being overweight and obese. We have the tools—let’s use them in 2013!"

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell": Concerned Citizen Uncovers Whole Foods' Policy on Selling Food Grown in Sewage Sludge

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell": Concerned Citizen Uncovers Whole Foods' Policy on Selling Food Grown in Sewage Sludge
"Tell Whole Foods to end its "don't ask, don't tell" policy about food potentially grown in sewage sludge. Click here to ask Whole Foods Market DO ask and DO tell customers about sewage sludge. Watch CMD's Food Rights Network's interview with Mario on YouTube here and share it with your friends."

Report: Ecosystems in Upheaval, Biodiversity in Collapse | Common Dreams

Report: Ecosystems in Upheaval, Biodiversity in Collapse | Common Dreams
"A new report documents how climate change is already causing rapid, massive changes with "cascading effects" on ecosystems and biodiversity."

Coal Exports Emerging As Major Climate Fight In The Pacific Northwest

Coal Exports Emerging As Major Climate Fight In The Pacific Northwest: In the Pacific Northwest, activists and their allies are ramping up for a full-throttle battle over a proposal to haul coal across the west for export to China. Big Coal’s latest master plan promises to generate a second epicenter of climate-change resistance—our very own Keystone XL pipeline showdown. With coal prices plummeting, thanks in [...]/p

Time to Face the Facts: Our Level of Consumption Is Pathological | Alternet

Time to Face the Facts: Our Level of Consumption Is Pathological | Alternet
"We're suffering from a world-consuming epidemic of collective madness, rendered so normal by advertising and the media that we scarcely notice what has happened to us."

Welcome to Canada Inc., A Subsidiary of the American Empire & Co. | Alternet

Welcome to Canada Inc., A Subsidiary of the American Empire & Co. | Alternet
"Should Canada cooperate with the US in the wholesale plundering of the world?"

Even While Crossing One Of World’s Largest Aquifers, Keystone XL Would Not Use Advanced Leak Detection

Even While Crossing One Of World’s Largest Aquifers, Keystone XL Would Not Use Advanced Leak Detection: Even after causing more than a dozen spills in 2011 from its newest tar sands pipeline — including a six story “geyser” of crude — Canadian energy developer TransCanada claimed its planned Keystone XL pipeline would “exceed” safety standards. But according to a new investigation of TransCanada’s development plans, the company does not plan to [...]/p

Halfway To Hell (And High Water): 333rd Month In A Row Global Temperatures Exceed Long-Term Average

Halfway To Hell (And High Water): 333rd Month In A Row Global Temperatures Exceed Long-Term Average: Okay, NOAA’s State of the Climate Report for November isn’t the Mayan meteorological forecast. And the Apocalypse isn’t quite “now.” But this part of the NOAA report is kind of ominous: Including this November, the 10 warmest Novembers have occurred in the past 12 years. The 10 coolest Novembers on record all occurred prior to 1920. [...]/p

Hastening Climate Change, Worldwide Coal Consumption to Increase Within 5 Years | Common Dreams

Hastening Climate Change, Worldwide Coal Consumption to Increase Within 5 Years | Common Dreams
"Only weeks after climate change talks in Doha produced no significant plan to address climate change, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday that coal will likely rival oil as the world's largest source of energy within five years, dramatically increasing global warming."

Tar Sands Battle Takes Distinct Turns in Vermont, Montana | Common Dreams

Tar Sands Battle Takes Distinct Turns in Vermont, Montana | Common Dreams
"As the battle over transporting tar sands out of Alberta continues, two distinct paths emerged on Monday, one chosen by Burlington, Vermont and the other by Montana, and show how decisions made at the local level can have serious impacts for ongoing battles over fossil fuel infrastructure projects.

Acknowledging that the pipeline that goes from Montreal to Portland, Maine and passes through Vermont is being eyed for the transportation of tar sands crude, the message out of a Burlington City Council vote on Monday was a resounding 'no' to tar sands. The Burlington Free Pressreports:"

5 Reasons Our Changing Climate Is More Dangerous Than You Think | Alternet

5 Reasons Our Changing Climate Is More Dangerous Than You Think | Alternet
"Here’s what we’re not so good at understanding: We are part of a slowly enfolding tragedy in which the end of the world as we know it may be getting closer and closer. It won’t happen on any particular day that we can pinpoint and there won’t be a giant explosion or a big flood that will wipe everything away. There will be many floods and fires over many years. One species, one crop dying off after another."

America's Most Dangerous Enemy | Alternet

America's Most Dangerous Enemy | Alternet
"At this moment, America is threatened by the greatest danger we may ever face. This danger lurks within our borders—a powerful network of organizations, which, while once vital to our country, now serves to weaken and ultimately ruin America.

This network is directed by dangerous radicals, on a path to fundamentally upset the balance of our world. They have infiltrated our highest levels of government and business. Their plan, if carried through to fruition, will result in the deaths of millions of Americans, and the suffering of millions more."

Fracking Comes To California

Fracking Comes To California
"California already has earthquake and environmental problems, so of course, it makes perfect sense to sell oil leases that can be permitted to use fracking."

Oil and Gas Industry Set to Attack Matt Damon's "Promised Land" | Alternet

Oil and Gas Industry Set to Attack Matt Damon's "Promised Land" | Alternet
"Next month Focus Features releases Matt Damon’s new movie and the oil and gas industry is worried sick about it."

How the Mighty (Mississippi) Has Fallen: Historic Drought Plagues US | Common Dreams

How the Mighty (Mississippi) Has Fallen: Historic Drought Plagues US | Common Dreams
"As the worst drought in decades continues to plague the US, the Mississippi River is withering towards historic lows with widespread impacts for commerce."

Body-Slamming Piglets To Death Is Humane, Big Food Lobby Claims

Body-Slamming Piglets To Death Is Humane, Big Food Lobby Claims: Secret video footage of a hog farm in Manitoba, Canada show workers body-slamming piglets into the floor, swinging them into metal posts and kicking them when they can’t stand up. The harrowing video was filmed by an investigator for animal rights group Mercy for Animals Canada, who went undercover at the Puratone farm for three [...]/p

At ALEC Meeting, Indiana Regulator Advises Coal Companies on Delaying EPA Climate Rules

At ALEC Meeting, Indiana Regulator Advises Coal Companies on Delaying EPA Climate Rules
"This is the case with the recent American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) meeting in Washington, DC.Leaked documents obtained by Greenpeace reveal that ALEC's anti-environmental jamboree was inundated with coal money and featured an Indiana regulator advising coal utilities on delaying US Environmental Protection Agency rules to control greenhouse gas emissions and hazardous air pollution."

Revealed: What the Beef Industry Pumps into Your Dinner | Alternet

Revealed: What the Beef Industry Pumps into Your Dinner | Alternet
"A common industry practice puts consumers at higher risks for eating food contaminated by deadly pathogens -- but that's just the tip of the iceberg in this study."

Costly Oil Subsidies Drag Us Down; Clean Energy Investments Will Build a Healthier Economy | Common Dreams

Costly Oil Subsidies Drag Us Down; Clean Energy Investments Will Build a Healthier Economy | Common Dreams
"Congress should capitalize on this important opportunity to negotiate a clean route off the fiscal cliff. That means ending handouts to dirty energy and supporting clean energy policies that are helping to create jobs and protect the health of all Americans."

Study Identifies 15 Top Threats to Biodiversity | Common Dreams

Study Identifies 15 Top Threats to Biodiversity | Common Dreams
"Nineteen experts submitted 75 "little-known issues" that could positively or negatively affect biodiversity in the near future, and that list was culled to the following 15:"

A Growing Water Deficit in the West - Truthdig

A Growing Water Deficit in the West - Truthdig
"A three-year study by the Department of the Interior has concluded that a hotter, drier climate is threatening the water supply for 40 million people who depend on the Colorado River."

The High Return on Investment for Publicly Funded Research

The High Return on Investment for Publicly Funded Research
"At a time when economic success in the global market is determined more than ever by the pace of innovation, we cannot afford to reduce our investments in research. As the president said in his State of the Union speech last year, “In America, innovation doesn’t just change our lives, it’s how we make our living.” While innovation may be in our national DNA, we can’t take it for granted."

Rising Waters