Energy

Report Details How Extreme Energy Extraction Threatens the Great Lakes

Report Details How Extreme Energy Extraction Threatens the Great Lakes

As governments approve tar sands oil and fracking projects around the Great Lakes, the Council of Canadians is warning that these extreme energy projects are putting the Great Lakes in peril. Council of Canadians Chairperson Maude Barlow outlines the web of pipelines, refineries and oil shipments that threaten the Lakes in her new report released […]

Join our newsletter

The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

    Pipeline Approved to Bring Tar Sands to Montreal and New England’s Doorstep

    Pipeline Approved to Bring Tar Sands to Montreal and New England’s Doorstep

    The National Energy Board of Canada approved this week a proposal by pipeline giant Enbridge to reverse and increase the flow of crude oil, including tar sands oil, in its pipeline from Sarnia, Ontario to Montreal, Quebec—for the first time directly connecting Alberta’s tar sands to Montreal. This means that tar sands oil—or “diluted bitumen”—can […]

    No More Excuses: Duke Energy, Clean Up Your Toxic Ash Holes

    No More Excuses: Duke Energy, Clean Up Your Toxic Ash Holes

    For four years, Waterkeeper Alliance and our North Carolina Riverkeepers have been locked in a pitched battle with Duke Energy to force the irresponsible company to clean up its dangerous, illegally polluting ash ponds which we call toxic ash holes. In 2009, I traveled to Raleigh to meet with the Aquifer Protection Section of the North Carolina […]

    U.S. Judge Sides With Chevron in Case Against Ecuadorians, Allows Oil Giant to Evade Justice

    U.S. Judge Sides With Chevron in Case Against Ecuadorians, Allows Oil Giant to Evade Justice

    Amazon Watch stands with Ecuadorian communities in rejecting a misguided judgment delaying justice for some 30,000 indigenous people and farmers who continue to suffer from the company’s toxic legacy in the Amazon rainforest. The decision—handed down yesterday by New York District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan—also underscores the threat that well-financed corporations pose ​to​ justice and the rule […]

    Enbridge to Double Carrying Capacity of Line 3 Tar Sands Pipeline

    Enbridge to Double Carrying Capacity of Line 3 Tar Sands Pipeline

    By Heather Libby In its largest capital project in history, Enbridge plans to do what Transcanada so far can’t—ship more than half a million barrels of heavy oil across the U.S. border without President Barack Obama’s direct approval. Graphic courtesy of Enbridge Late Monday evening, Enbridge announced plans for its largest capital project in history— a $7 billion […]

    Study Shows Oil and Gas Industry Can Reduce Methane Emissions By 40 Percent

    Study Shows Oil and Gas Industry Can Reduce Methane Emissions By 40 Percent

    After analyzing data and commentary from producers, pipeline operators, equipment vendors, service providers and more, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and ICF International conclude that the onshore oil and gas industry could collectively reduce methane emissions by at least 40 percent below 2018 projections. According to a report released Monday, the organizations say that could be […]

    It’s Time to Move Beyond Dirty Coal

    It’s Time to Move Beyond Dirty Coal

    Post Carbon Institute, Sierra Club, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition and AlterNet have partnered to show what’s at stake in the fight against coal with a powerful slideshow of recent coal disasters including the Freedom Industries chemical spill, Duke Energy ash spill, West Virginia slurry spill, mountaintop removal mining and more. [slideshow_deploy id=’351627′] After viewing this slideshow, read essays from The […]

    DOT Issues Emergency Order for Stricter Standards to Transport Crude Oil by Rail

    DOT Issues Emergency Order for Stricter Standards to Transport Crude Oil by Rail

    The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) yesterday issued an Emergency Order requiring all shippers to test product from the Bakken region to ensure the proper classification of crude oil before it is transported by rail, while also prohibiting the transportation of crude oil in the lowest-strength packing group. The fireball that followed the derailment and explosion […]

    Barge Oil Spill Closes 65 Miles of Mississippi River

    Barge Oil Spill Closes 65 Miles of Mississippi River

    Saturday, an oil barge traveling down the Mississippi River near Vacherie, LA, crashed into another boat causing an oil spill and closing a 65-mile stretch of the river while officials assessed the damage, reported The Guardian. Approximately 31,500 gallons of light crude oil spilled into the Mississippi River as a result of the collision, according to the […]