Tag Archives: ecology

NYC Council Approves Nickel Fee On Shopping Bags

Gothamist reports: New York City will impose a five cent fee on plastic and paper shopping bags starting October 1, following a contentious City Council vote Thursday afternoon. The Council voted 28-20 in favor of the legislation, which also has the support of Mayor de Blasio. The bill won’t be actively enforced until April 2017. “There is going to be …

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TRAILER: Deepwater Horizon

The A.V. Club recaps: The Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 was the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, and an ecological disaster. BP was ultimately held responsible by the U.S. justice system (well, as much as a huge corporation can be these days) but the first trailer for Peter Berg’s Deepwater Horizon offers …

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FLORIDA: Senate Advances Bill To Void Anti-Fracking Measures, Everglades & Water Supply At Risk

Environmentalists are rallying in Tallahassee today after the Florida Senate advanced GOP Sen. Garrett Richter’s bill that would override any local laws against fracking and oil exploration. Under Garrett’s proposed bill, all energy-related regulations would be placed in the hands of a Republican-run state agency. From the Guardian: Opponents fear that removing the rights of cities and counties to prohibit …

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Activist To Swim NYC’s Gowanus Canal

Via Brooklyn Paper: He’s going up s—’s creek! A clean-water activist plans to take the ultimate plunge on Earth Day, swimming 1.8 miles through Brooklyn’s nautical purgatory — the Gowanus Canal. Serial activist Christopher Swain will don a drysuit and traverse the canal from its “source” near Butler Street between Bond and Nevins streets to New York Harbor to call …

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California Imposes “Unprecedented” Mandatory Statewide Water Restrictions

Speaking from a water-parched perch in the Sierra Nevadas that would normally be covered with five feet or more of snow, today California Gov. Jerry Brown announced unprecedented mandatory water use restrictions. ABC News reports: For the first time in the state’s history, the governor has directed the State Water Resources Control Board to implement mandatory water reductions across California, …

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ASAP Science: What If The Bees Die?

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BRAZIL: Sao Paulo Water Crisis Worsens

The world’s third-most populous city may soon only have water for two days a week. The worst drought to hit São Paulo, Brazil’s biggest city, in decades may leave many residents with water service only two days a week. São Paulo’s water utility company, Sabesp, says a five-days-off, two-days-on system would be a last-ditch effort to prevent the collapse of …

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Sao Paulo Is Almost Out Of Water

The world’s third-most populous city may be out of water in just a couple of weeks. São Paulo, a Brazilian megacity of 20 million people, is suffering its worst drought in at least 80 years, with key reservoirs that supply the city dried up after an unusually dry year. One of the causes of the crisis may be more than …

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NEW YORK CITY: 300,000 March Ahead Of United Nations Climate Change Summit

Via USA Today: More than 300,000 people marched through the streets of New York City on Sunday in what organizers called the largest climate-change demonstration in history. With banners, flags, floats and drums, protesters at the “People’s Climate March” overwhelmed midtown Manhattan in flocks of vivid color, demanding action ahead of the United Nations Climate Summit this week. “I’m totally …

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Breitbart Headline Of The Day

This is how Breitbart is reporting on today’s anti-climate change marches.

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Federal Judge Rules BP Was “Grossly Negligent” In 2010 Gulf Oil Spill

Bloomberg News reports: BP acted with gross negligence in setting off the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, a federal judge ruled, handing down a long-awaited decision that may force the energy company to pay billions of dollars more for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier held a trial without a jury over who …

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Google Honors Environmentalist Rachel Carson, Teabagistan Flips Out

Google marked the birthday of late environmentalist Rachel Carson today and the teabaggers are pulling their hair out in rage. Via Twitchy: Of all the people in the world to commemorate today, people who have done truly great things, this is who Google chose? Today would have been marine biologist and “Silent Spring” author Rachel Carson’s 107th birthday. Unfortunately, thanks …

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Put On Your Shocked Face

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NYC’s Plastic Bag Bill Is Back

Five years ago the NYC Council rejected Mayor Bloomberg’s bill that would tax consumers six cents every time a store gave them a plastic bag. Tomorrow a new version of the bill will be introduced, this time by Council members themselves. The bill has seven co-sponsors but has yet to earn the support of Christine Quinn, who as Council speaker …

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Sweden Runs Out Of Garbage

An interesting report notes that Sweden’s national recycling program is so successful, they’ve actually run out of garbage. Sweden’s waste management and recycling programs are second to none as only four percent of the nation’s waste ends up in landfills. By contrast, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, over half of the waste produced by U.S. households ends up …

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Wal-Mart Socked With Huge Eco-Fine

Wal-Mart has agreed to pay an $82M fine for improper disposal of hazardous wastes such as fertilizer and bleach. The cases were filed by the DOJ in California and Missouri. As part of the California plea agreement, Wal-Mart is set to pay a $40 million criminal fine and to pay $20 million to fund community service projects including helping U.S. …

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35K Rally In DC Against Climate Change

Teabaggers have poured into the YouTube comments.

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Bloomberg Calls For Styrofoam Ban

During his final State Of The City address, today NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg will call for a ban on the usage of styrofoam containers by restaurants, food carts, vending machines, or any business that holds a city license to sell beverages or meals. Via Consumerist: “One product that is virtually impossible to recycle and never bio-degrades is styrofoam,” Bloomberg is …

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Drought Shrinks Mississippi River Traffic

The level of the Mississippi River has gotten so low that cargo ships and barges have had to severely restrict the weight of what they can safely carry. If the country’s largest river system continues to rapidly shrink, all river traffic could get shut down and cost the US $300 million a day. The Mississippi, which has become thin and …

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The Ecology Of Disease

The New York Times has published an interesting look at how humankind’s treatment of the environment has unleashed dozens of new diseases in the last century. Diseases have always come out of the woods and wildlife and found their way into human populations — the plague and malaria are two examples. But emerging diseases have quadrupled in the last half-century, …

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