Canada's Tar Sands surrounded by ring of mercury-contaminated land and water

Endangered Species Act Turns 40 Facing Environmental And Political Dangers

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/12/28/3106221/endangered-species-act-turns-40/
"Since then the ESA has been credited with saving a number of species from the brink of extinction, including the bald eagle, the American alligator, the grizzly bear and the prairie dog. The act has prevented the extinction of 99 percent of the more than 2,140 species it currently protects."

Earthquakes Rattle Fukushima Region Once More | Common Dreams

Earthquakes Rattle Fukushima Region Once More | Common Dreams
"Once again revealing its perilous geographic location, a pair of earthquakes shook the ground near the damaged nuclear power plant at Fukushima on Tuesday."

Burning cows: Extreme weather and America’s perilous food supply

Burning cows: Extreme weather and America’s perilous food supply
"The United States leads the world in staples like corn, beef and soybeans. Because the vast majority of these US foodstuffs are produced in the heartland, changes to climate here can affect dinner tables around the world."

New Greenhouse Gas Proves More Powerful Than CO2

New Greenhouse Gas Proves More Powerful Than CO2
"The newly discovered gas, perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA), has been in use by the electrical industry since the mid-20th century."

What The Hell Is Happening At Fukushima Reactor 3?

What The Hell Is Happening At Fukushima Reactor 3?
"We know that TEPCO has lied all along, and I don't think our own government is going to tell us even if something is going on (under the law, they have the authority to lie to us in order to prevent panic that would affect the food supply). So it's not unreasonable to assume that whatever's going on, it's usually a lot worse than what the Powers That Be will admit.
Because when corporate interests have become synonymous with those of a nation's government, the safety of the citizens is way down on the priority list."

Neurotoxic "Bull's-Eye" Surrounds Canadian Tar Sands: Scientists | Common Dreams

Neurotoxic "Bull's-Eye" Surrounds Canadian Tar Sands: Scientists | Common Dreams
"Levels of mercury in a vast area surrounding the controversial Alberta tar sands oil fields are on the rise and have reached levels up to 16 times higher than 'background' levels—a toxic side effect of the extraction process—according to a group of Canadian governmental scientists."

Climate change by the numbers: The worst is yet to come

Climate change by the numbers: The worst is yet to come
"Only in the future, looking back, will we be able to recognize the true significance of many of this year’s big numbers"

Booming Solar Energy Halted by Hawaii Utility Because Sun Produces Too Much Power!

Booming Solar Energy Halted by Hawaii Utility Because Sun Produces Too Much Power!
"Now, a nation that cannot invest in fixing its electrical grid -- if you believe the utility company excuse for basically shutting down solar expansion in Hawaii -- is a nation that is not the greatest on earth, but one doomed to failure while its energy policy is dictated by the profiteering, environmentally toxic fossil fuel industry and utility companies."

Coal Trains Run into Stiff Resistance in U.S. | Common Dreams

Coal Trains Run into Stiff Resistance in U.S. | Common Dreams
"Citizens and activists in the U.S. Pacific Northwest are fighting three different proposed coal terminals, including one in Oregon and two in Washington."

The National Memo » America’s Greediest: The Koch Brothers, The ‘Libertarians’ Who Hate The Free Market

The National Memo » America’s Greediest: The Koch Brothers, The ‘Libertarians’ Who Hate The Free Market
"While the Kochs insist that their goal is freedom, their agenda seems entirely based on policies that increase economic inequality and make it easy for carbon polluters like Koch Industries to continue their unfettered domination of energy markets.
Perhaps the best example of the Kochs’ hypocrisy comes in their war on solar power.
While the Kochs spent millions to try to put politicians in office who have vowed to never raise taxes on the rich or anyone, the billionaires are aiding efforts to “tax the sun” in an effort to squash the nascent solar industry."

Record Radiation: Handling of Fukushima cleanup is 'comedy of errors'

Scientists Link Spike in Thyroid Disease to Fukushima Disaster

Millions in Dark Money Funding Climate Change Denial: Report | Common Dreams

Millions in Dark Money Funding Climate Change Denial: Report | Common Dreams
"The expansive misinformation campaign behind climate change denial is increasingly being funded in the dark, reveals a new report published Friday in the journal Climatic Change
According to the study titled "Institutionalizing Delay: foundation funding and the creation of U.S. climate change counter-movement organizations," while the largest and most consistent funders of climate change denial are a number of well-known conservative foundations and industry groups, the majority of donations come from "dark money," or concealed funding."

Harvey Wasserman Wants You to Know the Truth About Fukushima

Harvey Wasserman Wants You to Know the Truth About Fukushima
"At Fukushima Unit 4, the impending removal of hugely radioactive spent fuel rods from a pool 100 feet in the air presents unparalleled scientific and engineering challenges."

Study Shows Gulf Oil Spill Linked to Dolphin Disease and Death | Common Dreams

Study Shows Gulf Oil Spill Linked to Dolphin Disease and Death | Common Dreams
"In the year following the massive BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, dolphins in the area developed severe lung disease, hormonal abnormalities and other deadly health problems that are likely linked to the toxic oil contamination, according to a report published Wednesday."

Let the Sun Shine In: The Rightwing Attack on Our Solar Future | Common Dreams

Let the Sun Shine In: The Rightwing Attack on Our Solar Future | Common Dreams
"According to the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative network better known as ALEC, our solar panels make us “free riders.” What?
 Yes, according to ALEC, an organization that specializes in getting the right-wing agenda written into state laws, people like me who invest in energy-efficiency and shrinking our carbon footprints ought to be penalized.
 Why does ALEC want us punished? Since it’s bankrolled by, among others, the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, it’s hard not to surmise that they’re worried about a threat to fossil fuels businesses. Koch Industries’ operations include refineries, oil and natural gas pipelines, and petrochemicals"

'Face of Resistance in Northwest' Blockades Tar Sands 'Megaload' | Common Dreams

'Face of Resistance in Northwest' Blockades Tar Sands 'Megaload' | Common Dreams
""The face of tar sands resistance in the Northwest" appeared again on Monday when 16 people were arrested in Oregon after blockading a "megaload" of equipment on its way to the Athabasca oil fields in Alberta, Canada."

Study: Chemicals Linked to Cancer, Birth Defects in Water Near Fracking Hotspots | Common Dreams

Study: Chemicals Linked to Cancer, Birth Defects in Water Near Fracking Hotspots | Common Dreams
"The controversial oil and gas extraction process known as "fracking" employs dangerous chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects, and infertility that then contaminate ground and surface water and may expose populations near sites to direct health risks."

U.S. Will Top Germany In Solar Installation For The First Time In 15 Years

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/12/10/3042001/us-solar-record-installation/
"By the end of the year, more than 400,000 solar projects will be operating across the U.S. and installations will have grown 27 percent over 2012, with a 52 percent growth rate in the residential sector alone, according to GTM’s forecast."

The Koch Brothers Are Still Trying to Break Wind | Common Dreams

The Koch Brothers Are Still Trying to Break Wind | Common Dreams
"The Koch network is fighting the wind industry on a number of fronts."

Secretive Right-Wing Group Continues Its War On Clean Energy

www.thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/12/05/3022271/alec-solar-clean-energy-freeriders/
"The next day, the paper explained how ALEC “is mobilizing to penalize homeowners who install their own solar panels — casting them as “freeriders” — in a sweeping new offensive against renewable energy”."

Exposed: The Right Wing's National Plan To Crush Green Energy | Common Dreams

Exposed: The Right Wing's National Plan To Crush Green Energy | Common Dreams
"The American Legislative Exchange Council's war on green protections is poised to expand over the next year, taking aim at the Environmental Protection Agency, state regulations, and even solar panels installed in individual homes."

Humanity Wholly Unprepared for Abrupt Climate Impacts, Warns Report | Common Dreams

Humanity Wholly Unprepared for Abrupt Climate Impacts, Warns Report | Common Dreams
"Hang on. Get Ready.
Those are at least two of the takeaways from a new report released by scientists in the National Academy of Sciences on Tuesday which says the sudden impacts of climate change this century and beyond are inevitable but warn that far too little has been done to prepare for them."

Thanks for killing the planet, boomers!

Thanks for killing the planet, boomers!
"Unfortunately, the world as we know it is ending, and no one can reasonably hope to avoid the constellation of catastrophic, ecological and social disasters that are all but certain to manifest, exacerbating one another’s horrific, deadly consequences. And yet our politicians can’t be bothered to care, a substantial portion of Americans aren’t convinced that it’s even happening (despite overwhelming, unimpeachable evidence to the contrary), and the enormity of the issue is downplayed basically everywhere outside the bounds of the largely-ghettoized “environmental/green reporting,” uniformly marginalized and dismissed by the mainstream press."

TEPCO Downplays Huge Risks Involved in Removing Fukushima Fuel Rods

TEPCO Downplays Huge Risks Involved in Removing Fukushima Fuel Rods
"Arnie Gunderson: Agencies overseeing cleanup like the IAEA are biased towards defending and promoting nuclear power."

The Extraction Backlash — How Fossil Fuel Companies Are Aiding Their Own Demise | Common Dreams

The Extraction Backlash — How Fossil Fuel Companies Are Aiding Their Own Demise | Common Dreams
"Longview, which sits on the bank of the Columbia River, retains some of its original industrial feel. It might not be the first place you’d look for a thriving center of climate activism, but that’s just what it has become in recent years."

Where Are All the Butterflies? | Common Dreams

Where Are All the Butterflies? | Common Dreams
"The monarch butterfly is in trouble."

Report: Methane Emissions 50 Percent Higher Than EPA Estimates

Report: Methane Emissions 50 Percent Higher Than EPA Estimates
"Methane gas emission in the U.S. is millions of tons higher than the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) estimates, according to a new study conducted by scientists at Harvard University and seven other institutions, was published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science."

The 'Ticking Time Bomb' That Could Cause Such Rapid Global Warming We'd Be Unable to Prevent Extinction | Alternet

The 'Ticking Time Bomb' That Could Cause Such Rapid Global Warming We'd Be Unable to Prevent Extinction | Alternet
"Our planet has experienced five major extinctions over the past billion or so years -- do we really want to launch an irreversible 6th?"

Darwin's Frogs Are Dead or Dying | Common Dreams

Darwin's Frogs Are Dead or Dying | Common Dreams
"In sorrowful confirmation of his central tenet that "species are not immutable," a species of frog named after Charles Darwin is rapidly dying off, victims of a fungal disease and, yes, habitat destruction."

World's First Climate Refugee Rebuffed by New Zealand | Common Dreams

World's First Climate Refugee Rebuffed by New Zealand | Common Dreams
"A man from the Pacific island nation of Kiribati, 37-year-old Ioane Teitiota, has been refused his bid to attain legal asylum status as one of the world's first climate refugees after a judge in New Zealand on Tuesday rebuffed his appeal."

Naming Names: The 90 Companies Destroying Our Planet | Common Dreams

Naming Names: The 90 Companies Destroying Our Planet | Common Dreams
"Narrow it down to the real power-brokers and decision-makers—the CEO's of fossil fuel companies or the energy ministers from the largest petro-states—says climate researcher Richard Heede, and the actual individuals most responsible for the political world's continued refusal to address the planetary crisis of climate change "could all fit on a Greyhound bus or two"."

Dump It in the Ocean: TEPCO's Plan for Radioactive Fukushima Water | Common Dreams

Dump It in the Ocean: TEPCO's Plan for Radioactive Fukushima Water | Common Dreams
"A nuclear expert helping with the clean-up at the crisis-stricken Fukushima plant has joined a chorus of voices saying that all the accumulating radioactive waste water must eventually be dumped into the ocean.

Speaking with Australia's ABC, Dale Klein, former head of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and current head of the Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee hired by plant operator TEPCO, described the situation at the plant as "challenging"."

How Palm Oil in Everything From Food to Fuel Is Killing Orangutans and Exacerbating Climate Change | Alternet

How Palm Oil in Everything From Food to Fuel Is Killing Orangutans and Exacerbating Climate Change | Alternet
"Palm oil. It’s the ubiquitous additive in everything from soaps and lotions to cookies and diet foods. It’s found in junk food like Cheez-Its, Tootsie Rolls, and M&Ms, but it’s also found in the products of more ecologically conscious companies like Ben & Jerry’s, Nature’s Way, and Toms of Maine. According to Rainforest Action Network (RAN), palm oil can be found inalmost half of the products found in grocery stores. The US consumes most of its 1.2 million metric tons of palm oil per year through these products."

'This Is Nuts': Poland Announces 'Radical Acceleration' of Gas Fracking at UN Climate Summit | Common Dreams

'This Is Nuts': Poland Announces 'Radical Acceleration' of Gas Fracking at UN Climate Summit | Common Dreams
"Poland is turning out to be a host of ill-repute when it comes to seriously addressing the crisis of fossil fuel-driven global warming."

"Chernobyl Was Transparent Compared to Fukushima": Harvey Wasserman on Ongoing Crisis

"Chernobyl Was Transparent Compared to Fukushima": Harvey Wasserman on Ongoing Crisis
"The operators of Japan's devastated Fukushima nuclear plant have announced plans to remove 400 tons of highly irradiated spent fuel from the site, in an unprecedented operation that began Monday November 18. Nuclear researcher Harvey Wasserman believes that the highly risky procedure, in fact, the entire plant needs to be taken out of the hands of the operators- Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO)."

Women Lead the Way in Sustainable and Organic Agriculture

Women Lead the Way in Sustainable and Organic Agriculture
"According to the US Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, the number of women-operated farms more than doubled in the 25 years between 1982 and 2007. In fact, female farmers now make up the fastest-growing sector of the country's changing agricultural landscape and nearly 1 million women - approximately one-third of total domestic farmers - list farming as their primary occupation. The National Women in Agriculture Association calls it "breaking the grass ceiling." It's that and more."

Prozac, Arsenic and Beer in Your Turkey? 9 Creepy Things To Know About Your Holiday Meal | Alternet

Prozac, Arsenic and Beer in Your Turkey? 9 Creepy Things To Know About Your Holiday Meal | Alternet
"The extreme production methods used to deliver plump turkeys in time for Thanksgiving are enough to make you lose your appetite."

Watch the World's Forests Disappear on Google Earth

www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2013/11/watch-mapping-deforestation-google-earth
"The result, published today in Science, is a stunning series of time-lapse maps, along with aninteractive mapping tool, that reveal the Earth lost about 888,000 square miles of forest between 2000 and 2012, roughly the area of the US east of the Mississippi River."

Climate deniers can’t deny new record storms

Fears Confirmed: Offshore Fracking a Toxic Mess | Common Dreams

Fears Confirmed: Offshore Fracking a Toxic Mess | Common Dreams
"Offshore hydraulic fracturing operations off the coast of California use highly toxic chemicals that are often released directly into water along the state's coast, the Center for Biological Diversity revealed today, calling on the state's Coastal Commission to halt fracking for oil and gas in state waters."

CO2 Emissions Causing 'Unprecedented' Ocean Acidification | Common Dreams

CO2 Emissions Causing 'Unprecedented' Ocean Acidification | Common Dreams
"The rate at which the world's oceans are acidifying is "unprecedented," scientists warn in anew report."

Fossil Fuel Corporations Dominating the UN Climate Change Conference

Seventy-Seven Percent Of The Republicans At Today’s Climate Hearing Are Climate Deniers

Seventy-Seven Percent Of The Republicans At Today’s Climate Hearing Are Climate Deniers: Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy will testify before the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. 17 out of 22 Republican members of the committee are climate deniers and they plan on grilling McCarthy on the EPA's transparency and accountability.

Tesla Is Planning To Make An Electric Pickup Truck

Tesla Is Planning To Make An Electric Pickup Truck: CEO Elon Musk had tweeted about the idea of an electric pickup while on medication post-surgery.

Most People In Red States Are Not Climate Deniers, New Study Says

Most People In Red States Are Not Climate Deniers, New Study Says: Even Americans from the reddest of the red states overwhelmingly believe that climate change is happening, but sixteen states are doing absolutely nothing to prepare for it, according to two studies released this week.

The Climate Campaigner On The Senate Floor: Sheldon Whitehouse’s 50 Climate Speeches In 50 Weeks

The Climate Campaigner On The Senate Floor: Sheldon Whitehouse’s 50 Climate Speeches In 50 Weeks: Senator Whitehouse: "It’s one thing to be against science; it’s another to be the party against measurement. So the polluters and front groups don’t talk much about the oceans. But that doesn't change the fact. This is real. And it is past denying."

Following the Flow of Pollutants: Transport and Mixing in the Surf Zone

On Hotter Planet, Expect More Weather Extremes, say Reports | Common Dreams

On Hotter Planet, Expect More Weather Extremes, say Reports | Common Dreams
"While ice caps continue to melt and sea levels creep higher, low-lying coastal regions such as those devastated over the weekend by Super Typhoon Haiyan, are ever more susceptible to disaster"

World Scorns Australian Government For Abandoning Climate Agenda And Cutting Funds For Renewables

World Scorns Australian Government For Abandoning Climate Agenda And Cutting Funds For Renewables: The Conservative Australian Government has slashed renewable energy funding in its latest move to dismantle domestic climate change efforts. It also received negative international attention for lackluster action at the UN climate talks.

Climate Deniers Must Pay $90,000 For ‘Not Acting Reasonably,’ Court Rules

Climate Deniers Must Pay $90,000 For ‘Not Acting Reasonably,’ Court Rules: A New Zealand group dedicated to downplaying the existence of climate change has been ordered to pay $80,000 in costs for bringing a “faulty” lawsuit that had sought to invalidate data that proved the country’s temperatures were on the rise.

2013 On Track to Be One of the Hottest Years Ever | Alternet

2013 On Track to Be One of the Hottest Years Ever | Alternet
"This year is on track to be one of the hottest since record keeping began, according to a report released Wednesday by the World Meteorological Association (WMO)."

'Trust Us': World's Most Perilous Nuclear Operation Set To Begin | Common Dreams

'Trust Us': World's Most Perilous Nuclear Operation Set To Begin | Common Dreams
"the operation to remove the fuel rods from Reactor 4 has nuclear experts sounding every alarm bell they can find in order to draw attention to the potentially devastating results if something goes wrong with the effort."

Climate Change Is Messing With Rainfall Across The Entire Planet

Climate Change Is Messing With Rainfall Across The Entire Planet: A new study finds that climate change is pushing rainfall patterns towards the poles, making wet areas wetter and dry areas dryer, as predicted by climate models.

Pennsylvania Looks To Double Its Renewable Energy Standard, For Real This Time

Pennsylvania Looks To Double Its Renewable Energy Standard, For Real This Time: The state legislature will consider bills that would require electric companies to obtain 15 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2023. Currently, the standard requires just 8 percent by 2020.

Amidst Major Solar Battle, Arizona’s Largest Utility Quietly Renews ALEC Membership

Amidst Major Solar Battle, Arizona’s Largest Utility Quietly Renews ALEC Membership: As hearings begin to determine the fate of Arizona's booming solar industry, Arizona Public Service, the state's largest utility, quietly renewed its membership in the corporate anti-clean energy group.