Tag Archives: environment

FL Declares Emergency, Evacuates Area As Wastewater Reservoir With “Radioactive Material” Nears Collapse

Miami’s NBC News affiliate reports: Officials in Florida expanded a mandatory evacuation area near a large reservoir of wastewater Saturday because of a significant leak that authorities fear could lead to floods and a collapse of a system with radioactive material. The original evacuation zone around the breached Piney Point reservoir has expanded a half-mile west and one mile southwest …

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Study: Earth Is Heading Towards Six-Month Summers

Changing America reports: New research posits that the seasons changing ahead of time could be a result of climate change and the warming of average global temperatures, resulting in a prolonged summer. These balance shifts could have dangerous implications for agriculture and natural environments, as well as human health. Published in the journal of Geophysical Research and Letters, the study …

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Biden Invites 40 World Leaders To WH Climate Summit

Via press release from the White House: Today, President Biden invited 40 world leaders to the Leaders Summit on Climate he will host on April 22 and 23. The virtual Leaders Summit will be live streamed for public viewing. President Biden took action his first day in office to return the United States to the Paris Agreement. Days later, on …

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TODAY: US Officially Rejoins Paris Climate Accord

The Washington Post reports: The United States has officially rejoined the Paris climate accord. That was the easy part. Friday marks the first day the country is again part of the international agreement meant to stop the world from warming past a critical climate change threshold — a global average of 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. Now the Biden …

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Trump Rushes Out Mining And Drilling Projects

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration is rushing to approve a final wave of large-scale mining and energy projects on federal lands, encouraged by investors who want to try to ensure the projects move ahead even after President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. takes office. In Arizona, the Forest Service is preparing to sign off on the transfer of …

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Climate Change News: “Seaweed Feed” Wins $1M Prize

Australia’s ABC News outlet reports: A company commercialising seaweed feed product, which slashes the amount of greenhouse gases cattle burp and fart into the atmosphere, has won a $1 million international prize for its work reshaping the food system. According to the science agency, methane emissions from livestock make up around 15 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Future Feed …

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Feds Deny Permit For Alaska Gold Mining Project

Politico reports: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied a permit for the Pebble Mine in Alaska on Wednesday, effectively killing plans to build the massive copper and gold project that opponents had warned could wipe out the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery. The decision from the Trump administration, which had reversed course several times on the issue, comes just …

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Arctic Drilling Leases Rushed Ahead Of Biden Takeover

Yahoo News reports: The Trump administration is advancing plans to auction drilling rights in the U.S. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, who has vowed to block oil exploration in the rugged Alaska wilderness. The Interior Department is set to issue a formal “call for nominations” as soon as Monday, kick-starting a final effort to …

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Japan To Release 1M Tons Of Nuke Water Into Sea

The Guardian reports: Japan’s government has reportedly decided to release more than 1m tonnes of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea, setting it on a collision course with local fishermen who say the move will destroy their industry. Media reports said work to release the water, which is being stored in more than 1,000 …

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16 States Warn Of “Bomb Trains” In Lawsuit To Stop Proposed Shipping Of Liquefied Natural Gas By Rail

Courthouse News reports: Two weeks after the neglected storage of highly combustible ammonium nitrate caused a devastating explosion in Lebanon, six environmental groups urged the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday to stop the United States from ushering in a new era of so-called bomb trains. Federal law stipulates that liquefied natural gasses can only be safely transported in trucks and specific …

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Trump Admin Okays Plan To Drill In Alaskan Refuge

Reuters reports: The Trump administration on Monday finalized a plan to allow oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, putting it on track to issue decades-long leases in the pristine wilderness area before a potential change in U.S. leadership. The 19 million acre (7.7 million hectares) refuge is home to wildlife populations including Porcupine caribou and polar …

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Trump Admin To Drop Controls On Methane Emissions

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration is expected in the coming days to lift Obama-era controls on the release of methane, a powerful climate-warming gas that is emitted from leaks and flares in oil and gas wells. The new rule on methane pollution, issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, has been expected for months, and will be made …

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Brazilian Official Fired For New Report On Deforestation

The Guardian reports: Brazil’s government has fired an official at the national space agency Inpe whose department is responsible for satellite monitoring of the Amazon rainforest, just three days after June deforestation data reflected a continued increase in degradation. Lubia Vinhas was the general-coordinator of Brazilian space agency Inpe’s Earth Observation Institute, which is an umbrella for divisions that monitor …

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Fracking Pioneer Chesapeake Energy Goes Bankrupt

The Guardian reports: Chesapeake Energy, the shale gas drilling pioneer that helped to turn the United States into a global energy powerhouse, has filed for bankruptcy protection. The Oklahoma City-based company said on Sunday that it had been forced to enter chapter 11 protection because its debts of $9bn were unmanageable. It has entered a plan with lenders to cut …

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Trump Admin Plans Greatly Expanded Drilling In Alaska

The Hill reports: The Trump administration wants to open up 82 percent of an Alaska reserve for oil and gas leasing, it announced on Thursday. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) unveiled its plan for oil and gas leasing at the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. The plan would allow for 18.7 million acres of the approximately 23 million acre …

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Trump Admin To Allow Oil And Gas Drilling Off Florida Gulf Coast But Not Until After The November Election

Politico reports: The Trump administration is preparing to open the door to oil and gas drilling off Florida’s coast — but will wait until after the November election to avoid blowback in a swing state whose waters both parties have long considered sacrosanct, according to four people familiar with the plan. Drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico would fulfill …

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Billions Could Live In “Extreme Heat Zones” By 2070

The New York Times reports: As the climate continues to warm over the next half-century, up to one-third of the world’s population is likely to live in areas that are considered unsuitably hot for humans, scientists said Monday. Currently fewer than 25 million people live in the world’s hottest areas, which are mostly in the Sahara region in Africa with …

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Study Links Air Pollution To Higher COVID Death Rates

The New York Times reports: Coronavirus patients in areas that had high levels of air pollution before the pandemic are more likely to die from the infection than patients in cleaner parts of the country, according to a new nationwide study that offers the first clear link between long-term exposure to pollution and Covid-19 death rates. In an analysis of …

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EPA Suspends Enforcement Of Environmental Rules

Never let a national crisis go to waste. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a sweeping suspension of its enforcement of environmental laws Thursday, telling companies they would not need to meet environmental standards during the coronavirus outbreak. The temporary policy, for which EPA has set no end date, would allow any number of industries to skirt environmental laws, with …

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CA Utility Guilty Of Involuntary Manslaughter In Fire

The Daily Beast reports: Pacific Gas & Electric will plead guilty to felony involuntary manslaughter charges for its role in starting the deadly Camp Fire in California two years ago, The Wall Street Journal reports. The Camp Fire, which claimed the lives of 85 people, was the most destructive and deadly wildfire in state history. An indictment in Butte County …

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