Thank goodness for Dr. James Talbot, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health. After 14 days of stonewalling by the Alberta Government, he released some of the water test results from the gigantic 1 billion litre coal slurry spill into the Athabasca River from the Obed Mountain coal mine near Hinton, Alberta. Paula Simons of the […]
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 […]
As the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) considers whether to approve the first genetically engineered (GE) forest tree for commercial use, Center for Food Safety released its new report, Genetically Engineered Trees: The New Frontier of Biotechnology. The report details the potential ecological and socioeconomic hazards of GE trees currently under commercial development. ‘Factory forests’ GE tree […]
Yesterday’s election results are shaping up to be a mixed bag of victories and defeats for environmentalists and concerned citizens across the country. In the Virginia gubernatorial race, Democrat Terry McAuliffe defeated Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a Tea Party favorite. McAuliffe’s victory comes after he became the first statewide candidate in the nation to hold his opponent accountable […]
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 […]
I’ve read most of Bill McKibben’s books and this one is the best. This book gives you an inside scoop on the last few years of McKibben’s life, both professionally and personally. The professional part of McKibben’s life is about fossil fuels and is wildly intriguing, covering the birth of his organization 350.org, all the way through the end […]
Environmental groups Sierra Club and ForestEthics targeted Coke and Pepsi in two full page USA Today print ads yesterday for their use of oil from tar sands in corporate car and truck fleets. The ads are part of a national campaign to eliminate the use of oil from Canadian tar sands by corporate car and […]
By Jesse Coleman North Dakota, long known for its cattle ranches and open spaces, has recently become one of the oil and gas industry’s most prized—and profitable—possessions, thanks to the advent of fracking. However, the price of oil and gas industry development is paid in destruction to the environment and strains to the regulatory framework […]