Today, Phil Ball from Oxford, England, became the second to last detainee of the Arctic 30 to be released from detention in St. Petersburg, according to Greenpeace. Colin Russell is the lone activist remaining in jail, where his lawyers are lodging appeals against his continued detention. They expect a hearing this week. All but one member of […]
As Alberta Premier Alison Redford heads to Washington D.C. this week to push U.S. officials on the Keystone XL project, a coalition of Canadian environmental groups wrote a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry asking him to consider the impacts of tar sands production on human health and the environment, as well as the failures by […]
By Andy Rowell Yesterday was the eighteen anniversary of the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa. The charismatic, pipe-smoking activist was murdered by the brutal military junta for his campaign against Shell in the Niger Delta. Although Shell has always vehemently denied any collusion in Saro-Wisa’s death, the company cannot escape the fact that it directly and indirectly […]
By Denise Robbins CNN aired the pro-nuclear power film Pandora’s Promise last night, which propagated three common myths about nuclear power: it suggested the environmental movement’s “scare tactics” are what has inhibited nuclear power, claimed nuclear power is cheaper than renewables and downplayed complications from nuclear waste. This led to a generally one-sided story, which has led to criticism from […]
A scary thing happened on Halloween near Hinton, Alberta. Canada had what may be the largest coal slurry spill in its history when a dam failed at the Obed Mountain coal mine and 264 million gallons (1 billion litres) of waste water contaminated at least 25 kilometers of the Athabasca river. Ten municipalities located downstream […]
By Dale Bryk Four distinguished atmospheric scientists, including Dr. James Hansen, have written an open letter encouraging those “opposed to nuclear power” to rethink their position in light of the urgent need to fight dangerous climate change. Hansen and his coauthors are right to underscore the dangers of climate disruption from the global addiction to fossil […]
By Daniel J. Weiss and Tiffany Germain Once again, it’s been a good quarter for Big Oil. The big five oil companies—BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell—reported $23 billion in combined profits for their third quarter of 2013. That’s $175,000 per minute. Together, these five companies earn more in one minute than 95 percent of Americans earn in […]
By Athena Ballesteros U.S. public financing for overseas coal-fired power is likely coming to an end. That’s the clear signal from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s announcement on Tuesday. The Treasury Department provided new guidance for multi-lateral development banks’ (MDBs) financing of coal-fired power. These investments will now need to meet the same greenhouse gas requirements […]
A September oil pipeline spill is calling into question North Dakota’s lack of disclosure laws, which have allowed nearly 300 spills in the last few years to go unreported in the burgeoning oil state. In 2012 and 2013, roughly 300 pipeline spills in the state went unreported, according to an Associated Press (AP) report that […]