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Rocket-Fuel Chemical Found in Breast Milk
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Scientists on Tuesday reported that perchlorate, a toxic component of rocket fuel, was contaminating virtually all samples of women's breast milk and its levels were found to be, on average, five times greater than in cow's milk. The findings concern health experts because infants and fetuses are the most vulnerable to
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the thyroid-impairing effects of the chemical. full story
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Diesel Exhaust Shortens 20,000 American Lives a Year
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Diesel fumes cut short the lives of more than 20,000 Americans each year, according to a report released Tuesday. This figure includes almost 3,000 early deaths from lung cancer. Diesel engines widely used in buses, trucks, agricultural and construction equipment spew out particulate matter, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen
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oxide. full story
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Mutant Avian Flu Virus Could Touch off
Deadly Epidemic in Humans
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The Earth may be on the brink of a worldwide epidemic from a bird flu virus that may mutate to become as deadly and infectious as viruses that killed millions during 3 influenza pandemics of the 1900s. In Asia, there have already been a number of deaths among people who caught the flu from chickens or
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ducks. The mortality rate is about 72%. full story
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Great Salt Lake Mercury Worries Scientists
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Federal scientists studying the Great Salt Lake have found some of the highest levels of mercury ever measured anywhere, prompting concern about some of the migratory birds that feed on the lake's brine shrimp. Concentrations of methylmercury, the element's most poisonous form, exceeded 25 nanograms per liter of
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water. full story
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Brazil Vows Slowdown of Amazon Destruction
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Destruction of Brazil's Amazon rain forest will slow down in 2005 after the murder of a U.S. nun prompted the government to launch an unprecedented crackdown on illegal loggers and ranchers, the head of Brazil's environment agency said Monday. Brazil has now created vast environmental reserves and sent its army
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and federal police to fight deforestation full story
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Study Links Traffic, Student Ailments
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The first study in the nation to link children's respiratory problems with traffic pollution found a 7 percent higher rate of asthma and bronchitis in children attending schools near busy roads and freeways. The implications reach far beyond the 10 Alameda County schools studied. full story
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'Environmental Change May Spread Diseases'
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Deforestation, unplanned urban sprawl, poor waste management, pollution, building of roads and dams and rising temperatures are among the aggravating factors behind a resurgence of infectious diseases, a UN study says. A rise of diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, and the recent crossover to humans of the Nipah
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virus, are linked to a host of changes. full story
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Coastlines Already Damaged by Pollution Suffered More from Tsunami than Others, Says U.N. Official
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Coastlines already damaged by pollution and man's poor land management suffered more from the SE Asian tsunami than those with healthy coral reefs and other natural protection, the U.N. environment chief said. "Those coastlines with intact coral reefs, mangroves, vegetated dunes and robust coastal forests
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did better than those environmentally degraded. full story
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Third Largest Rainforest Illegally Felled for Flooring
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Corrupt Indonesian military officers and international criminal syndicates are looting the forests of Papua, New Guinea, turning the world's third largest rainforest into a multi-billion dollar stream of illicit timber between Indonesia and China, new undercover research has found. full story
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EPA Sued for Backroom Deals With Pesticide Makers
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The U.S. EPA is illegally negotiating and brokering regulatory agreements with pesticide manufacturers that are friendly to the industry, according a lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The suit targets private deals the agency allegedly made over the regulation of atrazine, a widely used weed killer,
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and the highly toxic insecticide DDVP. full story
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Pollution, Climate Change
Top List of Scientists' Woes
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Top NA scientists from a wide range of disciplines emerged from their labs and field work to offer grim predictions for the future at the annual meeting of the AAAS. Marine degradation, pollution, climate change, lack of research funding and political clout were among the warnings issued at the scientific meeting that
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concludes today in Washington, DC. full story
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Global Warming Could Worsen
US Pollution, Report Says
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Global warming could stifle cleansing summer winds across parts of the NE US over the next 50 years and worsen air pollution, U.S. researchers said Saturday. Further warming of the atmosphere, as is happening now, would block cold fronts bringing cooler, cleaner air from Canada and allow stagnant air and ozone
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pollution to build up over cities in the NE and midwest. full story
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Scientific Influence Wanes, Research Funding
Weakened in Bush Administration
|
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The voice of science is being stifled by Bush, with fewer scientists heard in policy discussions and money for research and advanced training being cut, panelists said at a national science meeting. Speakers expressed concern that some scientists in federal agencies are being ignored or pressured to change study conclusions
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that don't support policy positions. full story
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Cyanide, Toulene, Sulfuric Acid, Nitric Acids, Hydrochloric Acid Polluting Town of Wallkill NY
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Westwood Chemical went belly up nearly a month ago, but the company's impact on this town will be felt for decades. The company, which produced antiperspirant ingredients and chemicals used in water treatment, abandoned its Tower Road plant but left behind a toxic legacy. full story
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Mexico Suspends Permit for
Controversial U.S. Research Ship
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Mexico announced Friday it has suspended permits for a U.S. research vessel conducting sound-wave experiments in the Gulf after the ship ran aground on a coral reef and damaged it. Environmentalists welcomed the halt to the ship's activities. They argue that the technology could harm sea life, including whales, which
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use sound waves to communicate. full story
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Air Pollution 'Can Thicken Blood'
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A study may help explain why poor air is linked to an increased risk of heart attacks and stroke, as well as worsening respiratory problems. University of Edinburgh researchers focused on ultra-fine pollutants known as particulate matter, which they say may be able to alter cell function full story
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Debate over Pesticides, Exposure Growing Again
|
Farm groups and farm worker advocates are fighting over the first-year results of a study that found that one in five farm workers handling pesticides had suffered exposure to the chemicals and what role those results should play in future decisions about pesticide use.
full story
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Scotland Looks to Reduce Its Ecological Footprint
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From energy efficiency to waste reduction, the Scottish Councils of Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, and North Lanarkshire will be reviewing policies and seeking ways to reduce the region's environmental impact on the planet, while at the same time helping residents make positive lifestyle changes which reduce their own
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personal 'footprints'. full story
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Oceans of Evidence for Global Warming
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The first evidence of human-produced global warming in the oceans has been found, thanks to computer analysis of seven million temperature readings taken over 40 years to depths of 2,300'. "The statistical significance of these results is far too strong to be merely dismissed and should wipe out much of the
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uncertainty about the reality of global warning," he said. full story
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New Global Warming Evidence Presented: Scientists
Say Their Observations Prove Industry Is to Blame
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Ice ages come and go over millennia, and for the past 8,000 years, the gradual end of the last ice age has seen a natural increase in worldwide temperatures. In the past 50 years, the warming trend has sped up due to the atmospheric burden of greenhouse gases produced by power plants burning fossil fuels, gas-
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guzzling cars, etc. and the effects are clear. full story
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'Unacceptable' Work Conditions on Farms
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Pesticide poisoning, lack of official hiring contracts, widespread child labour and denigrating treatment are the daily reality of hundreds of thousands of agricultural workers in Chile. Many of the agro-toxins involved have proven harmful health effects including a greater propensity for cancer, neurological damage and
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reproductive problems. full story
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Opponents of 'Clear Skies' Bill Examined
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Senator Inhofe (R-Okla.) chairman of a committee that oversees environmental issues has directed 2 national orgs that oppose Bush's major clean-air initiative to turn over their financial and tax records to the Senate. He asked for the documents 10 days after a rep of the two groups criticized Bush's 'Clear Skies' proposal
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before a Senate subcommittee. full story
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Lead 'Turning Children to Crime'
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Lead exposure even at low doses can cause aggression and behavioural problems in children, the scientist who first linked lead to lower IQ believes. Dr Needleman found youths arrested for delinquency had higher levels of lead in their bones than others. He said that lead affects the prefrontal lobes of the brain, which are
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important in the regulation of behaviour. full story
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Court Rejects Haze Control in National Parks
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A federal appeals court yesterday rejected a govt-approved program used by 5 Western states to improve their air quality and visibility in national parks and wilderness areas. Siding with an industry coalition, the court said the states' program was based on EPA's methods that the court, ruling in a case 3 years ago,
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had found to be "inconsistent with the Clean Air Act." full story
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Toxic Mercury Lurking in Great Salt Lake
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Federal scientists studying the Great Salt Lake have found alarmingly high levels of mercury in the water and in the eared grebe that feeds on the lake's brine shrimp. Concentrations of methylmercury, the element's organic and most poisonous form, exceeded 25 nanograms per liter of Great Salt Lake water. full story
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Group Seeks Protection for Polar Bears
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A conservation group filed a formal petition Wednesday seeking to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act, saying global warming could make it extinct by the end of the century. The Arctic sea ice habitat polar bears use for feeding, mating and
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maternity denning is breaking up earlier each spring and forming later in the autumn. full story
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Greenhouse Gases "Do Warm Oceans"
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Scientists say they have "compelling" evidence that ocean warming over the past 40 years can be linked to the industrial release of CO2. US researchers compared the rise in ocean temps with predictions from climate models and found human activity was the most likely cause. "In coming decades, the warming will have
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a dramatic impact on regional water supplies." full story
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Environmentalists Sue Bush Administration
over New Forest Rules
|
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Environmentalists have sued the Bush admin. over new rules for managing the 192 million acres of national forests. The rules enable managers to approve logging and other commercial projects without environmental reviews. The lawsuit claims the rules water down protection of wildlife and the environment "to the
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point where they are meaningless." full story
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California Elks Will Be Sent to Roam Free
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Dozens of tule elk will be sent to areas where they can roam freely, from the northern Coast Ranges to the southern Sierra Nevada, in an attempt to restore a native California species that has rebounded from the brink of extinction. Tule elk exist only in California, where they once roamed the San Joaquin Valley and
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the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. full story
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Brazil's President Creates Massive Forest Reserves after Killing of American Nun
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Brazil's president ordered the creation of two massive new rain forest reserves Thursday amid increasing pressure to protect a lawless Amazon region from violent loggers and ranchers after the killing last weekend of an American nun who fought to protect the jungle. full story
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Fishing Boats 'Kill 2,000 Dolphins a Year'
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British and French fishing boats could be killing more than 2,000 dolphins a year, environmental scientists have warned. Campaigners renewed calls for a halt to pair-trawling for bass yesterday after a report highlighted the growing number of dolphins caught in nets in the English Channel. They fear that the species
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could become extinct in the Channel. full story
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In Pictures: How the World is Changing
|
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While the effect of human activity on the global climate is hotly debated, physical signs of environmental change are all around us. Argentina's Upsala Glacier was once the biggest in S.A., but it is now disappearing at a rate of 200 metres per year. Some scientists predict that a warmer climate will trigger more violent storms, which
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will cause increased rates of coastal erosion full story
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Taser Concerns Grow As Death, Injuries Mount
|
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A 54-yr.-old died and a 14-yr-old was hospitalized after police stunned them with Tasers last week. The teenager went into cardiac arrest last Monday after police shocked him with the 50,000-volt weapon, and although he survived, another man died after police shocked him on Thursday. full story
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Whales May Not Survive Sakhalin
Oil Operations, Panel Finds
|
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Only 100 western gray whales remain in the Pacific Ocean after the ravages of commercial whaling off Russia, Korea, and Japan between the 1890s and 1960s. and these few survivors are now confronted with a large oil and gas operation in their only known foraging ground, in the Sea of Okhotsk off the
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northeast coast of Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East. full story
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Mexico Reports 75% Drop in the
Number of Monarch Butterflies
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The Mexican govt. said Tuesday that 75% fewer Monarch butterflies have appeared at wintering grounds here, largely blaming conditions in the US and Canada for the decline. The steep drop may have been due to cold weather and intensive farming practices, including genetically modified crops, in the US and
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Canada where the butterflies spend the summer and reproduce.
full story
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Scientists Find Dramatic Changes in
Southern Ocean, Fear Climate Link
|
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Scientists have discovered dramatic changes in the temp. and salinity of deep waters in the Southern Ocean that they warned Thursday could have a major impact on global climate. Australian Steve Rintoul said his multinational team of researchers had found that waters at the bottom of the ocean were significantly
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cooler and less salty than they were 10 years ago. full story
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A Warmer Arizona and Southwest
Chill Scientists to the Bone
|
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Apocalyptic fires. Devastating insect outbreaks. Invasions by alien plants. Scientists' predictions for how Arizona's forests will respond to global warming seem straight out of the Bible or science fiction. A few researchers speaking at a conference in Sedona last week felt obligated to apologize after their talks since
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they were so pessimistic. full story
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Kyoto Protocol Takes Effect With Celebrations, Warnings
|
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The Kyoto treaty to combat global warming entered into force on Wednesday with celebrations in 40 countries. But the celebratory mood was tempered by stern warnings such as that from UN Environment chief Klaus Toepfer, who said recent scientific reports "make terrifying reading, a vision of a planet spinning
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out of control." full story
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Inhofe Delays Vote on Bush Air Plan
|
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Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James Inhofe canceled a scheduled vote Wednesday on the Bush administration's electric utility air pollution plan. The move came in response to concern by proponents of the "Clear Skies Act" that they do not have the votes to pass the controversial
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legislation out of the committee. full story
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Clandestine Oil Road Near Yasuni Park
Found By Satellite
|
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A new wave of oil exploration and development is now encroaching on one of the planet's great reservoirs of biodiversity, Yasuní National Park. An oil access road built by the Occidental Petroleum in the park's buffer zone has just been discovered by viewing satellite images. The road was built through primary rainforest,
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on the lands of an indigenous Quichua community. full story
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Four Plastics Companies Commit
to Biodegradable Plastics
|
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Four large plastics co.s have voluntarily committed themselves to using biodegradable and compostable polymers to packaging materials. A 10 year Environmental Agreement signed by the 4 companies and recognized by the EU includes a certification plan for ensuring quality control and a labeling plan to ensure
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ease of waste handling. full story
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Thousands Gather for Funeral of American Nun
as Battle over Amazon Intensifies
|
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Dorothy Stang, an elderly American nun killed in the struggle to protect the Amazon rain forest from loggers and ranchers, was buried in her adopted homeland after a funeral attended by thousands who remembered her courage and dedication. She was working at a settlement 30 miles from Anapu when 2 gunmen
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approached her. Her killers listened for a moment, took a few steps back and fired. She was shot six times at close range. full story
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Kenya Seizes Smuggled Baby Chimps
Crammed into Cage
|
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Kenya made its biggest seizure of primates in the battle to stop trade in endangered wildlife with the discovery of 6 baby chimps crammed into a crate at an airport, Kenya Wildlife Service said Tuesday. The chimps, with a black market value of $20,000 each, and four Guenons, a type of long-tailed African monkey, were
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discovered abandoned and hungry on1/31. full story
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Indians' Sovereignty Could Play Major Role
|
|
Between Utah's Cedar and Stansbury mountain ranges, there lies a lonely, arid valley marked by perhaps three paved roads and the homes of a few American Indian families. Skull Valley, a longtime dumping ground for hazardous waste, low-level radioactive debris and the byproducts of biological and chemical weapons testing
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is a wasteland. full story
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Iraq Occupation Ran On Policy
of Corruption, Witnesses Say
|
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Witnesses testifying at a special Congressional hearing yesterday told Democratic lawmakers about severe and rampant mishandling of American and Iraqi funds managed by the former US-run occupation government, as well as censorship and manipulation of Iraqi media in the service of pro-American
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propaganda. full story
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Study Finds Pollution May Affect Babies' Genes
|
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A study of NYC newborns suggests that prenatal exposure to combustion-related air pollutants may be linked to genetic changes associated with an increased risk of cancer, researchers said Tuesday. The study by Columbia University followed 60 newborns and their non-smoking mothers in low-income neighborhoods,
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primarily in Harlem and the Bronx. full story
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Pepsi TV Ad with Chimp Draws Boycott Threat
|
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Primate protection organizations around the world are calling for a boycott of Pepsi products over the use of a young chimpanzee in Pepsi's latest TV commercial. The ad, Monkey Taxi, features the four year old chimp driving a taxi. The primate advocacy organizations say that using chimps in ads creates welfare problems and
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dilutes conservation messages. full story
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Bushs' Budget Cuts Funding for Fisheries Programs
|
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5 months after a presidential commission recommended spending billions more to protect the nation's oceans, Bush has proposed a $727 mil. National Marine Fisheries Service budget cut that slices nearly $100 mil off the current year's spending.. It would cut spending in half on programs that protect marine mammals, such
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as whales, bottlenose dolphins and porpoises full story
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Widespread Pesticide Use Causing Illness
Among Immigrant Workers
|
|
Five-year-old children in Mexico who were exposed to pesticides suffer giant lags in development. They cannot catch a ball, draw pictures of people, or perform simple tasks involving memory and neuro-muscular skills, according to research. Other studies link pesticide exposure to infertility, birth defects
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and neurological disorders. full story
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Flame Retardants Building Up Within Us
|
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New Canadian research shows that household dust is the principal source of exposure to flame retardants, a class of chemicals that has sparked a heated debate among scientists, some of whom believe regular exposure may lead to serious learning and developmental problems. Toddlers in particular are
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ingesting significant amounts of PBDEs. full story
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Study Predicts City Flood Threat
Due to Global Warming
|
|
Global warming, which melts polar ice and has been raising the atmospheric temperature, could actually cause the sea level in the Boston area to rise as much as 3' in the next 100 years. The overall effects of climate change could cost the Boston metro area as much as $94 billion over the next 100 yrs. Coastal
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flooding would extend from Rockport to Duxbury. full story
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Earth's 'Lung,' the Amazon Forest, Breathes Uneasily
in a Time of Climate Change
|
|
The Amazon forest was burning, and it was more than a sign of human encroachment. It was also the sight and scent of a dangerous chemistry, of tons of CO2 transformed from wood and leaf rising into an atmosphere already loaded with it. "In the Amazon, the vegetation dies back because there won't be enough
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rain," explained climatologist Vicky Pope. full story
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Report Warns Great Barrier Reef
Could Die in 20 Years
|
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It could take less that 20 years for rising sea temperatures caused by global warming to kill Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest chain of living coral. Australia's last major coral bleaching episode occurred in 2002 and damaged about 55% of the coral systems in the Great Barrier Reef. full story
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Senators Introduce Ocean Trash Bill
|
|
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators from coastal states introduced legislation Thursday calling for removal of the thousands of tons of ocean debris that wash up on U.S. shores each year. Sen. Inouye, D-Hawaii, and Sen. Stevens, R-Alaska, said the bill is intended to protect marine ecosystems and human health from
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ocean-borne trash. full story
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Parents Fight ‘Demeaning’
Student Tracking Technology
|
|
A small single-school district in Sutter, California launched a program requiring students to wear radio frequency identification around their necks at all times, permitting school officials to track students’ attendance and whereabouts with handheld computers. The tracking program began last month, after school
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officials failed to gather input from parents before its launch. full story
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Class-Action Suits Reclassified
|
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As Washington plunges into the proposed budget for 2006, there's a quieter race to move a decade of controversial judicial reforms through the Congress and to the president's desk. Key Senate negotiators and their highly mobilized business allies want to move quickly toward their goal of changing the rules of the
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game in US courts over everything from class actions and medical malpractice to how workers are compensated for exposure to asbestos full story
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Council Votes to Restrict Bottom Trawling
in Aleutian Islands
|
|
A federal fishing council moved to ban bottom trawling on more than 370,000 square miles off Alaska's Aleutian Islands to try to protect coral beds and other sensitive fish habitat. The unanimous vote of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council on Thursday covers more than half the fishable water around the
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Aleutians and pockets in the Gulf of Alaska. full story
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Commentary: Congressional Challenges in 2005
|
|
Lifetime federal judges often decide the fate of the laws protecting clean water, clean air, endangered species, and special natural places. When agency officials illegally allow corps. to pollute the air we breathe, or when industry claims that clean water protections are unconstitutional, the American public relies on fair
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and independent judges to apply, enforce, and uphold the laws that protect our environment. Bush is trying to pack our nation's federal courts with extreme ideologues whose records demonstrate hostility to environmental protections full story
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Nun Assassinated Defending Amazon
|
|
73 year old American missionary Sister Dorothy Stang was assassinated on Saturday in the Amazon state of Para, Brazil. Sister Dorothy was travelling to a sustainable development project in Anapu with some colleagues when she was shot three times by two gunmen. "Like Chico Mendes, Sister Dorothy refused
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to be intimidated and she paid an enormous price." full story
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'This Is a Story We Know,' Foes of Gold Mine Declare
|
|
Jobs in Sipacapa, Guatemala, a mountainous farm town are scarce, illiteracy is rampant and poverty is relentless. But the town sits on a gold mine. But the news of underground treasure hasn't sparked the reaction that one might expect. Villagers say Glamis will take too much of the profits while offering few jobs and
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exposing locals to too many environmental risks. full story
related story: indigenous farmers killed for opposing Canada-US mining operations Guatemala
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In Search of Farm Equipment to Lessen Air Pollution
|
|
Struggling to comply with the new rules, San Joaquin Valley farmers are turning to innovative products and methods such as almond harvesters that kick up less dust, wood chippers as alternatives to burning orchard prunings and tractors steered by satellite- based global positioning systems to reduce the use of fuel, pesticides
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and fertilizers. full story
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Bush Team Tried to Suppress
Pre-9/11 Report Into al-Qa'ida
|
|
Federal officials were repeatedly warned in the months before the 9/11 terror attacks that Osama bin Laden and al-Qa'ida were planning aircraft hijackings and suicide attacks, according to a new report that the Bush administration has been suppressing. The new information undermines the government's claim
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that intelligence about al-Qa'ida's ambitions was "historical" in nature. full story
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Transgenic Mustard Sucks up Selenium
|
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Genetically modified Indian mustard plants have successfully cleaned up excessive selenium in a California field. This is the first field trial for a pollution-busting transgenic plant, and it proves that the technology can work outside the laboratory, say the researchers who carried out the test. full story
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Senate Approves Measure to Curb Big Class Actions
|
|
The Senate has overwhelmingly approved a measure that would sharply limit the ability of people to file class-action lawsuits against companies. The measure has been attacked by civil rights orgs, labor groups, consumer orgs, many state prosecutors and environmental groups, who say it would sharply
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curtail important cases and provide new protections for unscrupulous companies full story
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Groups Oppose Bid to Export Rare Species
|
|
Fifteen wildlife groups yesterday accused the Government of paying lip service to the conservation of wildlife. The Kenya Wildlife Working Group, a consortium of 15 wildlife groups, questioned the logic behind the planned translocation of several wildlife species to Thailand. full story
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Environmental Groups Slam Cities' Limits
on Door-to-Door Canvassing
|
|
Across Texas, and in some other states, local rules restricting solicitations are silencing environmentalists who walk the streets for donations to clean the air, land and water. But what once was just a hassle is nowadays a violation of the constitutional right to free speech, advocates and their attorneys argue.
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full story
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Natural Toxin Found to Accrue in Whales
|
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Marine chemists reported in 'Science' that they had discovered chemicals that were natural in origin but similar to industrial flame retardants that had contaminated people and wildlife worldwide. PBDEs are doubling in concentration in the breast milk of American women every few years, and have been
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shown to disrupt hormones and alter brain development of lab animals. full story
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Orchard Fall-Out: Fears of
Arsenic and Old Lead Surface
|
|
Decades of pesticide spraying in Crozet's orchards have left another legacy: lead and arsenic in the soil. While the EPA is downplaying the threat of contamination, some tests have already revealed elevated concentrations of these heavy metals on land that once grew trees but now grows subdivisions.
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full story
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Political Meddling Hampers
Fish and Wildlife Service Scientists
|
|
Wildlife species federally listed as endangered or threatened are not being protected because of political pressure to alter scientific results, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists revealed in their responses to a survey. UCS and PEER distributed a 42 question survey to more than 1,400 biologists, ecologists,
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botanists and others working at USFWS to obtain their perceptions of scientific integrity within the Service. full story
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Indigenous Declaration Seeks to Enshrine
Environmental Rights
|
|
The right to environmental protection is at the core of negotiations this week as indigenous and governmental delegates from across the Western Hemisphere draft an "Inter-American Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples," in talks at the OAS headquarters. The issues in the current negotiations include lands, justice,
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sovereignty and self-determination full story
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Wyoming to Study Declining Moose Population
|
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Moose populations in western Wyoming have fallen so low that the Game and Fish Department is considering closing the hunting season in parts of the region. Now, the Game and Fish and the Wyoming Department of Transportation are teaming up to study why populations are falling, and what can be done
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about it. full story
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Chemical Poisons Found in South African River
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High levels of chemical poisons have been found in the Mvoti River near KwaDukuza/Stanger, which has led to an immediate ban on fishing, swimming or drinking water near the Sappi paper mill. The multinational pulp and paper co. has also advised fishermen not to eat any marine creatures from the immediate vicinity of the
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Mvoti River mouth. full story
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Region's Drinking Water at Risk
from Petroleum Spills
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An aquifer that supplies drinking water to 400,000 people in two states is threatened by millions of gallons of stored petroleum products and leaks from car motors, experts say. A leak in December at a Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co. refueling depot near Hauser, Idaho, raised awareness
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of the Rathdrum Prairie-Spokane Valley Aquifer. full story
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Clash over Policies on Energy, Pollution
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The tension between the desire to find more energy sources and the need to deal with the pollution they produce is creating a political dust-up that may define Bush's environmental policy during his 2nd term. Buoyed by his reelection and a larger Republican majority in Congress, Mr. Bush is pushing for more
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oil, gas, and coal development on public lands full story
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Effects of Mercury Decision May Drift North
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Coal-fired power plants south of the border are the largest unregulated source of airborne mercury pollution in the U.S., and some of it inevitably drifts into Canada. "It's clear that the U.S. is using cheaper, dirtier energy sources, and the result of that is mercury pollution that is having adverse effects on the lives of
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Canadians," said Ledford of 'Clear the Air.' full story
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China Enforcing Green Laws, Suddenly
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As many as 22 major dams and power stations under construction in China, including a key power facility at the Three Gorges Dam, have slowed or stopped work pending an environmental review. In the first instance of its kind, top Chinese leaders are throwing their clout behind laws requiring environmental impact statements
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for energy-related projects. full story
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A Million Flamingos Could Lose Home
as Kenyan Lake Dries Up
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Kenya's Lake Nakuru, home to more than a million flamingos, is in imminent danger of drying up. The lake is dying because of deforestation around the national park and water levels are dropping dramatically. Nakuru has shrunk by roughly 4 sq. miles since the '70s. As water levels decrease, levels of toxics - zinc,
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mercury, copper from industrial run-off have all increased. full story
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Department of Environmental Protection Memo
Details Cost of Cuts
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A key environmental agency under Governor Mitt Romney says severe budget cuts have forced the agency to curtail its search for hazardous waste sites, cut back monitoring of water quality and air pollution, and close a regional office in Massachusetts, according to an internal document obtained yesterday. The DEP
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has seen a 28% budget cut since 2001 full story
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Bush Plan Could Drain Effort to Clean Up Waters
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For the 2nd straight year Bush is proposing to slash federal assistance to modernize aging sewer plants and prevent polluted runoff from tainting rivers and beaches, despite the EPA's own estimate that billions of dollars are needed to clean up the nation's waters. These are by no means the only environmental funding
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reductions in the Bush spending plan. full story
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Environmentalists Push for a 'Greener' iPod
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New EU laws ban hazardous materials in all consumer electronics and require companies to take full responsibility for recycling them. Soon, US companies will be forced to comply, or risk losing a large and powerful market. Also, US universities, govt agencies, and others have started applying pressure to
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manufacturers to produce more earth friendly wares full story
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How Polychlorinated Biphenyls Open Brain Cells
to Parkinson's Assault
|
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University of Rochester scientists investigating the link between PCBs, pesticides and Parkinson's disease demonstrated intricate reactions that occur in certain brain cells, making them more vulnerable to injury after exposures. Environmental contaminants might make dopamine cells more vulnerable to damage from
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normal aging, infection, or exposure to pollutants. full story
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Iraqi Elites May Award Oil Contracts
Before New Assembly Sits
|
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In what looks like a pre-arranged fire sale, Iraq’s outgoing, unelected interim govt may hand out lucrative petroleum deals to Western corps. Oil interests are already jockeying for position to exploit Iraq’s massive petroleum reserves, and the country’s interim government appears poised to begin handing out
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major contracts even before the new assembly sits. full story
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WWF Expands Conservation Efforts to North Korea
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Following a recent WWF expedition to North Korea’s forested areas along the Chinese and Russian border, WWF Russia signed a protocol with the North Korean Public Committee for the Free Trade and Economic Zone outlining possible directions for future cooperation, including tiger and leopard
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conservation. full story
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The Rat Pack: When Rat Poison Manufacturers Complained about Regulations, the EPA Rolled Over
|
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Between 2001 and 2003, the AAPCC reported nearly 60,000 cases nationwide of poisonings by rodenticides. The deaths were horrific: Rat poisons kill by anticoagulation. They disrupt normal clotting until blood vessels in effect explode. Many of these incidents involve children because the poisons often come in the
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form of pellets that are placed on the floor full story
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'91 Memo Warned of Mercury in Shots
|
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A memo from Merck & Co. shows that, nearly a decade before the first public disclosure, senior execs were concerned that infants were getting an elevated dose of mercury in vaccinations containing a widely used sterilizing agent. The 3/91 memo, said that 6-month-olds who received their shots on schedule
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would get a mercury dose up to 87 times higher than guidelines for the maximum daily consumption of mercury from fish full story
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Bush Budget Would Inflate Corporate Welfare,
Slash Social Programs
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Bush's $2.5 trillion budget proposal increases military and national security spending, which in turn benefits defense and other contractors Among the programs lined up for the chopping block are: Medicaid, the Centers for Disease Control, Amtrak, Even Start, farm subsidies, and housing programs for Native
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Americans, people with AIDS, and the disabled. full story
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Bush Seeks Nearly Six Percent Cut
in Environment Funding
|
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Bush proposed cutting the EPA budget by nearly 6% to $7.57 billion in fiscal 2006 by targeting a program that helps cities replace aging sewage systems. Environmental groups say cities need the loans and grants to replace and upgrade aging sewage systems, some of which are over a century old. "This year's
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cuts are really bad for clean water" said NRDC Rob Perks. full story
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Prosperity Turned to Poison in Mining Town
|
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The Skramstad family is one of scores in Libby that have had to deal with diagnoses of asbestos-related disease. This town of fewer than 3,000 amounts to the biggest environmental disaster site in terms of human health that the EPA has ever faced, government officials said. full story
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Md. Firm Accused Of Asbestos Coverup
|
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Federal prosecutors yesterday charged W.R. Grace & Co. with exposing mine workers and residents in a small mountain community in Montana to deadly asbestos and covering up the danger. The company allegedly buried a paper trail dating back to '76 that traced how asbestos dust from its mine had
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permeated the lungs of workers and their family members full story
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Canada Adds 73 Animals, Plants
to the Species at Risk List
|
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Both the Atlantic and the Pacific populations of the blue whale - the largest of all whales - were listed in the new group of 73 species along with the North Atlantic right whale and the Pacific population of sei whales. The North Pacific population of humpback whales joined the threatened list. full story
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EPA Official: Mercury Rule
Written to Favor Industry
|
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The Bush administration manipulated the development of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to cut mercury emissions from coal fired power plants in order to ease the impact of the rule on the industry, the agency’s inspector general said Thursday. EPA Inspector General Tinsley said "it
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failed to fully assess the rule’s impact on children’s health." full story
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Timber Companies in Cameroon Commit
to Responsible Forestry
|
|
Three of Cameroon's largest timber companies are leading the way in changing the country's forest industry. The change will see economic benefits for both the country and local communities, while helping to conserve the Congo Basin forests, the world's second largest tract of rainforests after the Amazon.
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full story
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Medicines, Household Chemicals Flow Into Creeks
|
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Despite improved water quality, the fish population in Cuyahoga River has not improved in the last 20 years. Now the Ohio EPA is looking at whether the culprit is a new water-pollution threat: caffeine, cotinine (from tobacco products), antibiotics, contraceptives, painkillers, antidepressants, hormones, steroids,
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chemotherapy drugs, insect repellents, veterinary medicines, soaps, perfumes, plasticizers and fire retardants. full story
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Time Ticking on Nuclear Waste Decision
|
|
As the U.S. extends the life of its nuclear plants far into the future, a potentially critical question remains: Where will the reactors' intensely radioactive waste be stored for thousands of years to come? Erratic planning for nuclear waste has left no place for permanent disposal until perhaps 2015, when the Yucca Mountain
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underground repository may open. full story
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Accumulating River Sludge Threatens Bay
|
|
Piled up for miles along the Susquehanna River bottom, is 200 million tons of environmental conundrum. It's muck: dirt, coal dust and particles of manure brought down by the Susquehanna and trapped behind the massive Conowingo Dam. The muck has been building up here for more than 75 years, stopped just at the
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doorstep of the Chesapeake Bay. full story
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Hazardous Cargo Raises Safety Concerns
|
|
Almost 1/2 the people in Tarrant County live close enough to railroad tracks to be at risk if a derailment spilled hazardous cargo, yet there is no way for residents to know what trains carry through their neighborhoods. Soon, even less info could be available. Worried about terrorism, federal officials are
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considering stripping the toxic-chemical warning labels from cargo trains, the only indicator available to the general public. full story
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Leaders Sign Forest Treaty
|
|
Leaders of 7 Central African countries signed a landmark treaty to help save the world's 2nd largest rain forest. The Congo Basin forests stretch through 10 countries and are home to more than 1/2 Africa's animal species, including the world's entire population of lowland gorillas. Nearly 20 million people depend
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on the forests for food and shelter. Illegal logging, poaching, ivory trafficking and a rampant bushmeat trade have been decimating the forests at an alarming rate. full story
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Apocalypse Now: How Mankind
Is Sleepwalking to the End of the Earth
|
|
Floods, storms and droughts. Melting Arctic ice, shrinking glaciers, oceans turning to acid. The world's top scientists warned last week that dangerous climate change is taking place today Next week the Kyoto Protocol, the treaty that tries to control global warming, comes into force after a 7-year delay. But it is clear
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that the protocol does not go nearly far enough. full story
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Nesting Begins for Endangered Parrots
|
|
Researchers estimate only 30 to 35 Puerto Rican parrots remain in the wild, making it one of the world's 10 most endangered birds. Parrots across the Caribbean are similarly vulnerable after centuries of deforestation and trapping for the pet trade. From the Cayman Islands to the Dominican Republic, many
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species are rare, threatened or dwindling in numbers full story
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Arid Arizona Points to Global Warming as Culprit
|
|
Dramatic weather changes in the West whether it's Ariz'.s 10 year drought or this winter's torrential rains in Calif. have pushed some former skeptics to reevaluate their views on climate change. Many scientists, and some Westerners, are now convinced that global warming is the best explanation for the higher temps,
|
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rapid precipitation shifts, and accelerated blooming and breeding patterns that are changing the Southwest. full story
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The Greening of Evangelicals:
"The Republicans should not take us for granted"
|
|
There is growing evidence in polling and in public statements of church leaders that evangelicals are beginning to go for the green. Despite wariness toward mainstream environmental groups, a growing number of evangelicals view stewardship of the environment as a responsibility mandated by God in the Bible. "As
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creation care spreads, evangelicals will demand different behavior from politicians." full story
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Bush Budget to Call for Spending Cuts
|
|
President Bush's budget will propose slashing grants to local law enforcement agencies and cutting spending for environmental protection, American Indian schools and home-heating aid for the poor. Bush molded the roughly $2.5 trillion spending plan for 2006 as a response to a string of record federal deficits and sends
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it to Congress on Monday. full story
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Ancient Beasts Raise Questions About Climate Change
|
|
Each year between Oct. and Feb., hundreds of loggerhead turtles and gigantic leatherbacks, come to South Africa's northeast shores to build primitive nests in the sand and deposit their eggs. Turtles are one of the oldest reptilian orders, stretching back 200 million years, and their resilience raises questions about the
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impact of climate and sea level change on biodiversity. full story
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Hotter Earth Faces Widespread Misery
|
|
Global warming will boost outbreaks of infectious disease, worsen shortages of water and food in vulnerable countries and create an army of climate refugees fleeing uninhabitable regions. by 2050 as many as 150 million "environmental refugees" may have fled coastlines vulnerable to rising sea levels, storms or
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floods, or agricultural land too arid to cultivate. full story
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Guards, Governments Seek to Save African Forests
|
|
Stretching across 190 million hectares and six states, the Congo Basin forests are home to half the continent's wild animals including gorillas, chimpanzees and forest elephants as well as more than 10,000 plant species. But if deforestation goes on at its present pace, about 70% of the forests may be gone by 2040,
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global conservation group WWF says. full story
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Fight Resumes Over Drilling in Alaskan Reserve
|
|
Noting that a prominent Republican senator harbors plans to use "sneaky" backdoor politics to end the prohibition on drilling for oil and gas in the pristine North Slope region of Alaska, Democratic lawmakers went on the offensive this week, introducing a preemptive bill that would designate the remaining
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areas of the contested wildlife refuge officially off-limits to oil drilling.
full story
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Greenhouse Gas 'Threatens Marine Life'
|
|
Gigantic changes to the oceans, leading to the extinction of marine life from cod to coral reefs, are likely because of the main greenhouse gas causing global warming, British scientists warned. They warn, it is also rapidly turning the world's oceans acid as it is dissolved in seawater, and putting an enormous array
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of marine life at risk. full story
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Food Scarcity Predicted with
Rising Temperatures, Falling Water Tables
|
|
A global warming trend will reduce farm yields and make food supplies scarcer over the next century, an environmental group said Thursday, citing data from the UN and the National Academy of Sciences and trends in the world rice market. "The combination of rising temperatures and falling water tables is likely to lead to
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a tightening of world grain supplies," full story
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Scientists Worry About Red Tide, Manatees
|
|
An unseasonable outbreak of red tide has scientists worried that migrating manatees may swim into the potentially deadly algae. Red tide normally occurs from August through September. A winter bloom spells peril for manatees, which start moving out of warm water in rivers and estuaries in late February and early March
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full story
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Bush Seeks $867 Million Budget for Forest Thinning
|
|
The Bush administration will ask Congress to increase funding to $867 million in fiscal year 2006 for a plan to help reduce the risk of wildfires in federal forests, a senior administration official said Thursday. Environmentalists have criticized the program as a way to give logging companies more access to timber
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under the guise of forest protection. full story
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Africa at Climate's Mercy
|
|
Africa and South Asia are likely to be the regions worst-hit by climate change a few decades from now, according to projections unveiled here on Wednesday at an international conference on global change. No part of the world will be spared from climate shift if fossil-fuel gases continues to be emitted at the present
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rate or at levels close to it, they said. full story
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EPA Overlooked Health Impact, Based Mercury Rule on Industry Plan, Internal Audit Finds
|
|
The Bush administration overlooked health effects and sided with the electric industry in developing rules for cutting toxic mercury pollution, the EPA's inspector general said. The report said the EPA based its mercury pollution limits on an analysis submitted by Western Energy Supply and Transmission, a research
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and advocacy group representing 17 coal-fired utilities. full story
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Refugees, Disease, Water and Food Shortages
to Result from Global Warming
|
|
Global warming will boost outbreaks of infectious disease, worsen shortages of water and food in vulnerable countries and create an army of climate refugees fleeing uninhabitable regions, a conference here was told Wednesday. The scale of these impacts varies according to how quickly fossil fuel pollution is
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tackled, how fast the world's population grows and how well countries can adapt to climate shift. full story
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Climate Warming Spells Species Wipeout, Experts Say
|
|
Whole species of animals from frogs to leopards, living in vulnerable areas and with nowhere else to go, face extinction due to global warming, scientists say. And the faster the temperature rises the worse it gets. Steve Schneider from Stanford University said there was clear proof that species were reacting to the 0.7
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degrees centigrade warming of the atmosphere that had already taken place over the past century. full story
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Going to Jail for Clean Air?
|
|
In June 2004, protestors climbed a 700-foot smokestack in Pennsylvania to bring attention to the dangers of a dirty coal power plant and US President Bush's polluting energy plan. They took this bold, peaceful action to help keep communities that live in the shadow of dirty power plants safe, but now they need
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your help. In 6 weeks they may face long jail terms. full story
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Global Warming: Scientists Reveal Timetable
|
|
A detailed timetable of the destruction and distress that global warming is likely to cause the world was unveiled yesterday. It pulls together for the first time the projected impacts on ecosystems and wildlife, food production, water resources and economies across the earth, for given rises in global temperature expected
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during the next hundred years. full story
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Protection Maintained for Wolf Species
|
|
American conservation groups have succeeded in maintaining the grey wolf’s endangered species protection status this week, following a court case in which Bush attempted to de-list the species to the mere ‘threatened’ category. Such a move would have dramatically weakened the regulatory protection
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afforded to the animal, and jeopardised its recovery. full story
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Archbishop Tells Church to Help Save
the Planet with Green Policies
|
|
The Church of England is embarking on a green revolution, rolling out an eco-friendly policy under which organic bread and wine will be served for Holy Communion. The Church warns: "The sudden changes that would occur in weather systems, the fertility of the soil, the water and the world of living creatures if this
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point were reached could be devastating." full story
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Air Quality Agency a No-Show
|
|
The state agency in charge of protecting the public from the harmful effects of toxic air pollution failed to attend a town hall meeting Wednesday night to address the high levels of carcinogenic chemicals it found in some East Harris County neighborhoods, angering the many residents and elected officials ready with questions.
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full story
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Government Keeping More Secrets
in Name of National Security
|
|
Federal agencies are using secrecy rules developed after the 9/11 attacks to hide embarrassing or controversial reports and data that the federal govt. once routinely made public. Environmental groups, scientific organizations and animal-rights advocates are complaining about increasing difficulties in
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obtaining info on what govt. inspectors are finding. full story
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Federal Judge Rules Wolves Still Endangered
|
|
The Bush administration's move to ease federal protection for the gray wolf was illegal and a violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a federal judge ruled Tuesday. The decision restores most wolves in the lower 48 states to their endangered status under the federal law and is a blow to the administration's effort
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to ultimately delist the species. full story
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Dramatic Change in West Antarctic Ice
Could Produce 16 Foot Rise in Sea Levels
|
|
Scientists have discovered a new threat to the world which may be a result of global warming. Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey have discovered that a massive Antarctic ice sheet previously assumed to be stable may be starting to disintegrate, a conference on climate change heard yesterday. Its collapse would
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raise sea levels around the earth by more than 16 feet. full story
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Threatened Species Concentrated
in Fraction of Earth's Surface
|
|
75% per cent of the most threatened mammals, birds and amphibians live in an area covering just 2.3% of the Earth's surface, and roughly half of all flowering plant species and 42% of land-based vertebrates exist in 34 "hotspots", a 4-year study by 400 scientists has found. 72% of all mammals, 86% of all birds and 92%
|
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of all amphibians are crammed into just 2.3% of the landmass."
full story
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Critics Charge Animal Farms
Are Feeding Pollution into Air
|
|
LeCompte sped in a golf cart alongside a windowless steel building nearly twice the length of a football field, packed with 28,000 chickens and monitored by computers that calibrate their food, water, heat, lighting and air. At the end of the immense, hangar-like structure, he pointed to a vent framing a fan, whose
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whirling blades breathed a warm, moist plume of fetid gas into the night sky over Maryland's Eastern Shore. "Smells like money to me," he said as the reek washed over him. full story
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Report Alleges Hazardous Waste
Used in Dutch Animal Feed
|
|
The Netherlands' animal feed industry is at the centre of a new scandal, with a police report alleging that hazardous waste products are being used on a large scale in the production of animal fodder. The report claims that illegal, dangerous and poisonous waste products such as medicines are being mixed with
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fodder on a systematic basis, posing a potential hazard to public health. full story
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Hotter World May Freeze Britain
|
|
The chance of the Gulf Stream, which brings warm waters around the British Isles, being halted, sending temperatures plummeting by more than 5C, is now more than 50%, a scientific conference on climate change was told yesterday. The conference, called by Tony Blair to inform world leaders about the urgency
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of reducing CO2 emissions, was told of a series of new research findings which showed that climate change was speeding up and would be worse than hitherto expected. full story
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Blair Must Do Better
|
|
Tony Blair must do more to cut the UK's greenhouse gas emissions if he wants to show world leadership in tackling the problem, a leading environmental campaign group has said. Friends of the Earth said CO2 levels have not fallen in the UK since Labour came to power in 1997. full story
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Wildlife Climate Threat 'Looming'
|
|
Thousands of species could be lost if action is not taken to halt global warming, a conservation charity warns. John Lanchbery, of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, says wildlife is already being affected. It will take very little further climate change to "catastrophically" affect other species, he will tell an
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Exeter scientific conference. full story
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California Jails Serve as Warehouses
for Mentally Ill Kids
|
|
A new congressional report has found that in California, the state agencies charged to protect mentally ill children frequently shatter their vulnerable health by failing to provide timely care. Every day, due to a lack of community resources, more than 250 young people suffering from illnesses such as
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depression and schizophrenia sit in jail waiting for mental health services. full story
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EU Reports Thinning Ozone Layer over Arctic
Possible Threat to Human Health
|
|
Record low temperatures over the North Pole are thinning the protective ozone layer, a condition which could affect human health in northern countries and even central European nations, the EU warned Monday. The ozone layer keeps out ultraviolet radiation, which is dangerous to humans and animals.
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Less protection could increase risks of skin cancer and affect biodiversity, scientists say. full story
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Gangs Trap 2,000 Finches a Year
As Bird Trade Booms
|
|
European bird-keeping trade has become a bigger problem than they thought. Operations by wildlife officers and police in Scotland over the past year have fuelled concerns among conservationists that what was once believed a minority crime is increasing sharply. Several cases are to go before the courts in the next
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few weeks. full story
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Farmers Looking at Methane Digesters to Create Energy from Cow Manure
|
|
Frederick County farmers are assessing the viability of methane digesters on their farms to save money, better utilize their resources and help the environment. Digesters capture gases from cattle manure to turn into energy. Manure is readily available on farms to turn into two end products, electricity or natural gas, while the
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nutritive value is still available to farmers for growing crops. full story
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India Way Down on World Green Index
|
|
India is all set to be the next economic superpower, but it is still bottom of the class in conserving natural resources and providing clean drinking water. A new environment sustainability index ranks India as one of the worst polluters, rating it 101 of 146 countries when assessed on parameters like air pollution, biodiversity
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and water quality. full story
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Conservation Deal Takes Unusual Tack
|
|
A string of privately owned islands on the Columbia River near Longview, Wash., has been set aside for wildlife conservation, adding to a growing corridor of marshes, forests and flood plains managed by Columbia Land Trust.In an unusual twist it has signed a 50-year lease to conserve and restore the land for a
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fee of $1 a year paid to the property owner. full story
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