Arkansas oil pipeline rupture foreshadows devastating environmental impact

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VIDEO: How Oil Drilling Threatens Theodore Roosevelt National Park

VIDEO: How Oil Drilling Threatens Theodore Roosevelt National Park: The Center for American Progress released a new video today revealing how North Dakota’s oil boom is threatening Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The park is located in the heart of the massive Bakken shale play, which has recently become one of the most productive oil fields in the United States thanks to improved technologies like hydraulic [...]/p

Exxon’s Duck-Killing Pipeline Doesn’t Pay Taxes To Oil Spill Cleanup Fund

Exxon’s Duck-Killing Pipeline Doesn’t Pay Taxes To Oil Spill Cleanup Fund: A technicality has spared Exxon from having to pay any money into the fund that will be covering most of the clean up costs of its Arkansas pipeline spill. The cleanup efforts themselves took a sobering turn as crews found injured and dead ducks covered in oil. The environmental impacts of an oil spill in central [...]/p

From Growing Profit to Growing Food: Challenging Corporate Rule | Common Dreams

From Growing Profit to Growing Food: Challenging Corporate Rule | Common Dreams
"The global movement for food justice and food sovereignty seeks to bust the corporate takeover of our food system, which has been accomplished with the complicity of our governments."

Fukushima Meltdown Driving Increased Abnormalities Among US Infants | Common Dreams

Fukushima Meltdown Driving Increased Abnormalities Among US Infants | Common Dreams
"Infants on the West Coast of the United States are showing increased incidents of thyroid abnormalities, which researchers are attributing to radiation released following the March 2011 meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant."

Alaska Lawmaker Tells Exxon Valdez Spill Not Its Fault As State Considers Giving Oil Industry Huge Tax Cut

Alaska Lawmaker Tells Exxon Valdez Spill Not Its Fault As State Considers Giving Oil Industry Huge Tax Cut: Alaska is set to give oil companies, including ExxonMobil, a massive tax cut. The bill, which passed the Senate 11-9 and is endorsed by Republican Gov. Sean Parnell, is being debated by the House of Representatives. The plan raises the base tax rate that companies pay no matter the price of oil, and also gives [...]/p

The Methane Beneath Our Feet | Common Dreams

The Methane Beneath Our Feet | Common Dreams
"nsouciant New Yorkers—here is another pending disaster to shrug off with characteristic brio! There is a huge, ongoing gas leak beneath your very feet. A team of natural gas experts recently commissioned to survey the New York system has found vastly elevated levels of methane in locations all over Manhattan, a clear indication that Con Ed’s 4,320-mile network of pipes, dating back to the 1800s, is corroded, full of holes, and spewing methane into the atmosphere. The main danger here is to planetary, not personal, safety: though it has received relatively little attention, methane, the primary component of natural gas, is second only to carbon dioxide on the list of greenhouse gases that are inducing climate change."

Study: Arctic 'Greening' Will Bring Global Ecological Consequences, More Warming | Common Dreams

Study: Arctic 'Greening' Will Bring Global Ecological Consequences, More Warming | Common Dreams
"Global warming will bring a "greening" explosion to the Arctic in the next few decades, bringing repercussions to ecosystems worldwide and creating feedback loops that will likely cause more global warming than predicted, according to a new study."

The Coming Crash: Our Addiction to Endless Growth on a Finite Planet [With Photo Slideshow] | Alternet

The Coming Crash: Our Addiction to Endless Growth on a Finite Planet [With Photo Slideshow] | Alternet
"Richard Heinberg talks about the new book "Energy: Overdevelopment and the Delusion of Endless Growth," a haunting look at our current energy path."

Exxon's Pegasus Tar Sands Pipeline Ruptures in Central Arkansas

Exxon's Pegasus Tar Sands Pipeline Ruptures in Central Arkansas
"An ExxonMobile underground pipeline ruptured in a Mayflower, Arkansas subdivision on Friday, forcing the evacuation of 40 homes."

Bombshell IMF Study: United States Is World’s Number One Fossil Fuel Subsidizer

Bombshell IMF Study: United States Is World’s Number One Fossil Fuel Subsidizer: Between directly lowered prices, tax breaks, and the failure to properly price carbon, the world subsidized fossil fuel use by over $1.9 trillion in 2011 — or eight percent of global government revenues — according to a study released this week by the International Monetary Fund. The biggest offender was by far the United States, [...]/p

So Your Groundwater's Poison and Your Tap Water's On Fire. Not to Worry: Fracking Chemicals Are Trade Secrets You Don't Need To Know About | Common Dreams

So Your Groundwater's Poison and Your Tap Water's On Fire. Not to Worry: Fracking Chemicals Are Trade Secrets You Don't Need To Know About | Common Dreams
"A judge in Wyoming has denied a lawsuit by environmental groups against the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission demanding that the list of chemicals in fracking fluids be made public, ruling such lists are trade secrets that may be withheld under Wyoming’s open records law. Soooo: Never mind that fracking wastewater, shown to conain benzene, xylene, methane, radioactive materials and other deadly toxins, has already appeared in Wyoming water"

What You Need to Know About the Terrifying Monsanto Protection Act - Truthdig

What You Need to Know About the Terrifying Monsanto Protection Act - Truthdig
"In case you haven’t yet heard of the so-called Monsanto Protection Act—which was buried deep in the spending bill recently passed by Congress to avert a government shutdown and signed into law by President Obama on Tuesday—it’s a horrific piece of legislation that is tantamount to a huge corporate giveaway to the agricultural biotech giant Monsanto."

Noam Chomsky: If Nuclear War Doesn't Get Us, Climate Change Will

Are Exploding Manhole Covers In Washington DC Caused By Shocking Levels Of Leaking Natural Gas?

Are Exploding Manhole Covers In Washington DC Caused By Shocking Levels Of Leaking Natural Gas?: Residents of Washington, DC are used to jokes about metaphorical hot air, humidity, and the swampy history of their city. But there’s something they may not know about the District: it’s overrun with methane, which sometimes makes manhole covers explode. Natural gas is mostly methane, and it is carried through underground pipes to heat buildings [...]/p

Despite 'Enormous Risk' White House Reaffirms Commitment to Arctic Drilling | Common Dreams

Despite 'Enormous Risk' White House Reaffirms Commitment to Arctic Drilling | Common Dreams
"A White House official reaffirmed Wednesday the Obama administration's commitment to the Arctic offshore drilling program despite the "dangerous risk" of catastrophic consequences for the pristine marine ecosystem."

As Scientists Predicted, Global Warming Continues

As Scientists Predicted, Global Warming Continues: Most of manmade global warming is ending up in the ocean, just as scientists had predicted (see “Global Warming Has Accelerated In Past 15 Years“). And while recent “observations support predictions of extreme warming” this century, even sophisticated media outlets, like “The Economist,” get the story wrong (see “Memo To Media: ‘Climate Sensitivity’ Is NOT [...]/p

Republican Mayor Leads City To First-Ever Solar Energy Mandate

Republican Mayor Leads City To First-Ever Solar Energy Mandate: On Tuesday, the City Council of Lancaster, California approved a mandate that most new homes must produce solar energy. This is the first such mandate in the nation. Lancaster is a suburb in northeast Los Angeles county, and this new rule had no bigger advocate that Mayor Rex Parris, who is a Republican. He has [...]/p

New Research Shows Global Warming Speeding Up | Common Dreams

New Research Shows Global Warming Speeding Up | Common Dreams
"The rate of global warming is speeding up, say scientists, despite the apparent stagnation in the rise of global surface air temperatures that may have prevented people from recognizing "the danger of the climate problem we face."
A new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters says that in the past 15 years we've undergone "the most sustained warming trend"."

How a New Study Seriously Challenges the Claim That Natural Gas Is a Clean Fossil Fuel | Alternet

How a New Study Seriously Challenges the Claim That Natural Gas Is a Clean Fossil Fuel | Alternet
"Last week, investigators studying methane leakage levels in Manhattan reportedalarming preliminary findings. The gas industry and Con Edison estimate 2.2% leakage in its distribution systems, and at leakage above 3.2%, according to the Environmental Defense Fund, natural gas ceases to have any climate advantage over other fossil fuels. But the study found an average cumulative leakage of over 5% in natural gas production and delivery. At these levels, natural gas—93% of which is methane—has a far more potent greenhouse gas impact than burned coal or oil"

Learning From The German Transition To Renewable Energy

Learning From The German Transition To Renewable Energy: by Julius Fischer Germany is moving forward to replace fossil fuels with renewables faster than most countries. But there is always pushback, most recently in the form of much media discourse about rising electricity prices spearheaded by the Federal Minister of Environment Peter Altmaier. Like many politicians, he is already preparing for national elections in September, [...]/p

Hunters, Anglers, and Climate Change

Sequestration Cuts Hit The National Parks Hard

Sequestration Cuts Hit The National Parks Hard: The effects of massive government budget cuts that took effect on March 1 are being felt across the country already, from the closure of air traffic control towers to cancellation of White House tours to hundreds of thousands of furloughs. Another agency that is beginning to make cuts — just as the spring and summer tourism [...]/p

More Than Half of U.S. Rivers in Trouble - Truthdig

More Than Half of U.S. Rivers in Trouble - Truthdig
"More than half of the country’s rivers and streams are unable to support healthy populations of aquatic insects and other creatures, a survey of nearly 2,000 locations by the Environmental Protection Agency reported Tuesday."

In Hot Water: Global Warming Has Accelerated In Past 15 Years, New Study Of Oceans Confirms

In Hot Water: Global Warming Has Accelerated In Past 15 Years, New Study Of Oceans Confirms: By Dana Nuccitelli via Skeptical Science. A new study of ocean warming has just been published in Geophysical Research Letters by Balmaseda, Trenberth, and Källén (2013). There are several important conclusions which can be drawn from this paper. Completely contrary to the popular contrarian myth, global warming has accelerated, with more overall global warming in the [...]/p

Heating Homes With Switchgrass Pellets Could Save Northeasterners Billions And Cut Their Carbon Emissions

Heating Homes With Switchgrass Pellets Could Save Northeasterners Billions And Cut Their Carbon Emissions: According to a new cost-benefit analysis by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), a switch from burning oil for heat to burning switchgrass biomass would cut down on both energy costs and carbon emissions for homes in the northeastern United States. What’s especially significant is that study’s accounting of carbon emissions considered the entire life cycle [...]/p

Vermont Energy Independence Day: A Film by the People of Vermont

You're Eating Wood, Ammonia & Arsenic

Wine: Global Warming's Latest Casualty | Common Dreams

Wine: Global Warming's Latest Casualty | Common Dreams
"Move over polar bears. Yet another of mankind's most beloved gifts of nature is now reportedly a casualty of human-caused global warming."

Thanks To Factory Farming, Backyard Eggs Are Still A Better Choice Than Store-Bought Ones

Thanks To Factory Farming, Backyard Eggs Are Still A Better Choice Than Store-Bought Ones: Backyard chickens raised for eggs and meat have been linked to an outbreak of salmonella, according to a recent story published by NPR. But though the outbreak was the largest ever to stem from contact with live poultry, it isn’t reason for people to abandon their outdoor flocks out of fear of illness. The story [...]/p

As Neoliberal Order Wreaks Havoc, World Social Forum Gathers in Tunisia | Common Dreams

As Neoliberal Order Wreaks Havoc, World Social Forum Gathers in Tunisia | Common Dreams
"In a world witnessing revolutions in mid-stride, flourishing climate crises, and the reign of austerity economics, tens of thousands of people from all over the globe are gathering in Tunisia for the 2013 World Social Forum to confront the contemporary situation with their consistent call: "another world is possible"."

Scientists Link Harsh Winters to Dramatic Decline in Arctic Ice | Common Dreams

Scientists Link Harsh Winters to Dramatic Decline in Arctic Ice | Common Dreams
"As the Eastern Seaboard of the United States bears the brunt of yet another late season snow storm, a growing body of research proves that the record decline in Arctic sea ice has played a "critical role" in the large and southerly snowfalls of recent years."

7 Deadly Amendments That Would’ve Protected Dirty Energy And Trashed The Climate

7 Deadly Amendments That Would’ve Protected Dirty Energy And Trashed The Climate: This weekend, Senate Democrats passed a federal budget for Fiscal Year 2014. In order to do so, Senate rules allow for consideration of any amendment that is brought to the floor. Senators introduced hundreds of amendments, which resulted in a “vote-o-rama.” Many conservatives offered amendments to undermine existing and potential public health safeguards, particularly those [...]/p

Victory at Hand for the Climate Movement? | Common Dreams

Victory at Hand for the Climate Movement? | Common Dreams
"To understand this incredible potential we first have to step back and understand the unique structure of this social change movement, which may rank among the most influential in history."

Living and Breathing in the Shadow of Chevron

On World Water Day, A Reminder About What You’re Really Drinking

On World Water Day, A Reminder About What You’re Really Drinking: Friday is the 20th anniversary of World Water Day. Ten years from now, by 2030, the U.S. State Department expects the demand for fresh water to outrun supply by 40 percent. Around the world, over 780 million people lack access to clean drinking water. Water and sanitation could prevent 9.1 percent of diseases and 6.3 [...]/p

EPA Favors 'Bee-Toxic Pesticides' Over Future of Food, Groups Charge | Common Dreams

EPA Favors 'Bee-Toxic Pesticides' Over Future of Food, Groups Charge | Common Dreams
"Arguing that the Environmental Protection Agency has failed in its obligation to protect the nation's bee population—one of the Earth's most vital pollinators—from dangerous pesticides, a group of beekeepers and environmental groups have filed a lawsuit in federal court saying the EPA's inaction is causing great harm to biodiversity and the future of food in the U.S."

Obama Administration To Protect More Than 240,000 Acres Of American Treasures

Obama Administration To Protect More Than 240,000 Acres Of American Treasures: President Obama plans to use his executive authority to permanently protect five new national monuments next week.  This marks a significant step for the administration: It is now willing to step in and protect special places when Congress refuses to act. The new monuments will be: -  Rio Grande del Norte, in New Mexico -  [...]/p

A Growing Drought for Some, Flood Warnings for Others, says New Report | Common Dreams

A Growing Drought for Some, Flood Warnings for Others, says New Report | Common Dreams
"In a report released Thursday, the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) warned that the drought that plagued the U.S. in 2012 will continue this year and that extreme weather—a mix of continued dryness in some areas, flooding in others and the destructive interplay of a warming world in general—is what farmers and U.S. residents should expect as the main growing season arrives."

GOP Congressman: ‘The Best Thing About The Earth Is If You Poke Holes In It Oil And Gas Come Out’

GOP Congressman: ‘The Best Thing About The Earth Is If You Poke Holes In It Oil And Gas Come Out’: The planet we live on is valuable only as a repository for natural resources, according to Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX). Stockman, a lawmaker best known for bringing Ted Nugent to the State of the Union and opposing the Violence Against Women Act because it protected “change-gender” individuals, went on an extended Twitter rant Thursday afternoon [...]/p

Weather Extremes: Atmospheric Waves And Climate Change

Weather Extremes: Atmospheric Waves And Climate Change: The northern hemisphere has experienced a spate of extreme weather in recent times. In 2012 there were destructive heat waves in the U.S. and southern Europe, accompanied by floods in China. This followed a heat wave in the U.S. in 2011 and one in Russia in [...]/p

NOAA: ‘Robust, Unambiguous’ Independent Evidence Confirms The Recent Global Warming Measured By Thermometers

NOAA: ‘Robust, Unambiguous’ Independent Evidence Confirms The Recent Global Warming Measured By Thermometers: Yes, The Modern Instruments Are Right. Just Ask The Coral. Or The Caves. Or The Ice Cores. Or The…. Climate deniers claim you can’t trust thermometers because they change0 locations or are too close to warmer urban environments. They have tried and failed to disprove millions of temperature observations all over the world. But the [...]/p

Utah Schoolchildren Asked To Celebrate Fossil Fuels And Mining On Earth Day

Utah Schoolchildren Asked To Celebrate Fossil Fuels And Mining On Earth Day: Earth Day is April 22, and today is the last day children in Utah can send in their submissions for the state-sponsored Earth Day poster contest lauding fossil fuel production. This year’s theme is “Where Would WE Be Without Oil, Gas & Mining?” Last year’s theme was “How Do YOU Use Oil, Gas, and Mining?” [...]/p

Earthjustice: The Wild Future

Two Reasons Climate Change Is Not Like Other Environmental Problems | Common Dreams

Two Reasons Climate Change Is Not Like Other Environmental Problems | Common Dreams
"The damage we’re doing now is something the next 40 to 50 generations will have to cope with, even if we stop emitting CO2 tomorrow. And the CO2 we’ve already released has locked in another 50 or 100 years of damage (because of the slow draining). There is no “reversing” climate change. There is only reducing the amount we change the climate."

FDA Ready to Approve Frankenfish Despite Fishy Science

FDA Ready to Approve Frankenfish Despite Fishy Science
"Some day soon, you might tuck into a plate of salmon without knowing that the fish you are eating was genetically engineered. The so-called AquAdvantage salmon, a salmon genetically engineered to grow faster than normal salmon, just moved one step closer to legalization"

If An Oil And Gas Company Wants To Drill In A Forest, Can We Know Their Name?

If An Oil And Gas Company Wants To Drill In A Forest, Can We Know Their Name?: If an oil and gas company has proposed to drill on federal lands near you, shouldn’t you be able to find out the name of that company? Common sense says, “you bet.” But common sense is sometimes a stranger at the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which is fighting a legal battle [...]/p

NYT: E-Waste Epidemic Creating a Toxic 'Glass Tsunami' | Common Dreams

NYT: E-Waste Epidemic Creating a Toxic 'Glass Tsunami' | Common Dreams
"The proliferation of toxic electronic waste is creating a "glass tsunami," according to New York Times writer Ian Urbina, whose new piece highlights the surging epidemic of e-waste stockpiles and the disturbing lack of oversight that has all-but absolved the consumer electronics industry behind the mess."

All Things GMO

The Folly of Endless Growth on a Finite Planet | Common Dreams

The Folly of Endless Growth on a Finite Planet | Common Dreams
"Because the plain fact is, the economy can’t continuously grow in a finite world, and we are already bumping up against limits.

Right now, it takes 1.5 Earths worth of resources to maintain our current economy.  By 2050, assuming only moderate growth, we’ll consume nearly 3 Earths worth."

Ending the Silence on Climate Change

Sore Mussels? More Evidence Climate Change Is Dooming Ocean Bivalves

Sore Mussels? More Evidence Climate Change Is Dooming Ocean Bivalves: In 2010, researchers at the University of South Carolina found that the ranges of blue mussels had shifted 350 kilometers north as summer ocean temperatures rose. Along the southern portion of its range, intertidal populations of M. edulis have experienced catastrophic mortality directly associated with summer high temperatures. Over the past 50 years, a geographic [...]/p

The Brutal and Secretive Trade of American Horses Killed For Their Meat | Alternet

The Brutal and Secretive Trade of American Horses Killed For Their Meat | Alternet
"Few Americans are aware that our country's horses are being exported and slaughtered abroad to supply other nations' taste for a meat that's shunned at home."

Big Oil Attempts to End-Run Keystone XL with Congressional Approval | Common Dreams

Big Oil Attempts to End-Run Keystone XL with Congressional Approval | Common Dreams
"he oil industry is planning an end-run around the President and State Department as they linger over the impending decision on whether to authorize the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by pushing for Big Oil friendly Congressional approval of the project."

Interior Department: Shell 'Screwed Up' in the Arctic | Common Dreams

Interior Department: Shell 'Screwed Up' in the Arctic | Common Dreams
"Shell "screwed up in 2012," US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said of the company's blunder-filled year in Arctic waters, and said it was barred—for now—from drilling in the Arctic. His comments came after the release Thursday of a government review (pdf) which concluded that Shell was not prepared for the extreme conditions in the Arctic."

Fearing Radiation Poisoning from Fukushima, Lawsuit Against TEPCO Grows | Common Dreams

Fearing Radiation Poisoning from Fukushima, Lawsuit Against TEPCO Grows | Common Dreams
"Claiming that TEPCO, the Japanese energy company that owns the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactor, knowingly withheld vital information about the levels of radiation released following the plant's disaster in 2010, a growing number of US service members are joining a lawsuit seeking more than $2 billion in damages."

Monsanto: Patenting Death | Common Dreams

Monsanto: Patenting Death | Common Dreams
"Monsanto has yet another case pending in the court system, this time before the U.S. Supreme Court on the exclusivity of its genetically modified seed patents. Narrowly at issue is whether Monsanto retains patent rights on soybeans that have been replanted after showing up in generic stocks rather than being sold specifically as seeds, or whether those patent rights are “exhausted” after the initial planting. But more broadly the case also raises implications regarding control of the food supply"