Environment

US judge: BP’s reckless conduct led to 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill
A federal judge on Thursday said oil giant BP acted with gross negligence ahead of the catastrophic 2010 spill in the Gulf of Mexico, paving the way for the corporation to pay perhaps billions of dollars in fines. “BP’s conduct was reckless,” United States District Judge Carl Barbier wrote in a decision handed down early Thursday from a federal courthouse in Louisiana. [...]
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Fukushima: TEPCO sued for $868,000 in unpaid “danger money”
Four subcontractors, working to decommission the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, are suing the Tokyo Electric Power Company, in the first-ever such case, saying they were never compensated for working in the radioactive area. According to Japanese media, the lawsuit is demanding the utility company pay a total of ¥91.4 million ($868,000) in “dangerous-work” benefits. [...]
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Congress Lets Western States Burn, Fails to Find Funding to Combat Wildfires
Recess begins without lawmakers acting on legislation to fund firefighting efforts in Oregon, Washington and California. President Obama had requested $615 million in emergency funding to help the U.S. Forest Service and Interior Department pay for firefighting efforts, and the Democratic-controlled Senate proposed a $2.7 billion spending bill to deal with both the wildfires and the influx of u [...]
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Yellowstone supervolcano ‘turned the asphalt into soup’ shutting down Natl. Park’s roads
Extreme heat from a massive supervolcano underneath Yellowstone National Park is melting a major roadway at the popular summertime tourist attraction. Park officials have closed the area to visitors. Firehole Lake Drive, a 3-mile-plus offshoot of the park’s Grand Loop that connects the Old Faithful geyser and the Madison Junction, is currently off limits. [...]
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Hundreds rally in DC against fracked gas exports
Hundreds marched through Washington DC and rallied at the Capitol on Sunday to protest plans for a new liquid natural gas (LNG) export facility in Maryland. Local residents fear possible environmental risks. The plan is to build a new terminal at the Cove Point, Maryland LNG facility, which could be used for exporting fuel to Asia. It’s proposed by a Virginia-based company, Dominion Resources, a [...]
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Solar has won. Even if coal were free to burn, power stations couldn’t compete
Giles Parkinson: As early as 2018, solar could be economically viable to power big cities. By 2040 over half of all electricity may be generated in the same place it's used. Centralised, coal-fired power is over. Last week, for the first time in memory, the wholesale price of electricity in Queensland fell into negative territory – in the middle of the day. [...]
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Apocalypse, Man: Michael C. Ruppert on World’s End
"Apocalypse, Man" is an intimate portrait of a man convinced of the imminent collapse of the world, but with answers to how the human spirit can survive the impending apocalypse. Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Given his tragic death, Michael was an extremely rare person - far beyond what most [...]
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Global anti-GMO action: People unite against Monsanto dominance
Over 400 cities worldwide will see millions marching against the US chemical and agricultural company Monsanto in an effort to boycott the use of Genetically Modified Organisms in food production. Marches are planned in 52 countries in addition to some 47 US states that are jointing in the protest. [...]
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Record Balkan floods: At least 20 killed, tens of thousands forced to flee (PHOTOS)
At least 20 people were killed, tens of thousands evacuated, over 250,000 households left without power in what has been branded the 'worst flooding' on record across the Balkans. Officials in Bosnia say 12 people have died and more bodies could emerge as the water recedes from dozens of cities flooded in the past three days. Serbia has seen eight deaths, AP reported. [...]
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Melting of Antarctic ice sheet and 3-meter sea level rise inevitable – study
Massive regions of the ice sheet that makes up West Antarctica have begun collapsing in a process that scientists have worried about for decades and fear is likely unstoppable. Researchers warned that the accelerated pace of disintegration is expected to remain relatively slow over the next 100 years, [...]
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Breaking: Fukushima Employee Files Lawsuit over Radiation Exposure
A worker at Fukushima filed a historic lawsuit over radiation exposure, saying TEPCO exposed him to dangerous levels of radiation without his knowledge. Shinichi is asking TEPCO for 11 million yen in compensation for the company’s negligence. That translates to only about $110,000 in US dollars – a small price for a big company to pay after exposing millions of people, animals, soil, and water [...]
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Fracking’€™s unexpected side-effect: Traffic deaths on the rise
Fracking requires twice or three times as many truck trips per well as older oil and gas extraction techniques. That could be reason for drilling areas in US witnessing a significant spike in traffic fatalities, new analysis suggests. [...]
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Out of control: Fukushima manager admits to “€˜embarrassing failure”€™
The manager of the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant has admitted not having full control of the facility. Contrary to the statements of the Japanese PM, TEPCO's Akira Ono said attempts to plug the leaks of radioactive water had failed. [...]
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North Dakota struggling to deal with radioactive fracking waste
Environmental regulators and North Dakota state officials have expressed concern that the state has failed to adequately adjust to the state'€™s sudden influx of crude oil output, a worry highlighted by the recent discovery of abandoned radioactive waste. Last month, the North Dakota Health Department announced that a large pile of oil filter socks [...]
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€‹Brazil looks to ban Monsanto’€™s Roundup, other toxicity risks
Brazil'€™s public prosecutor wants to suspend use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s pervasive herbicide Roundup. A recent study suggested glyphosate may be linked to a fatal kidney disease that has affected poor farming regions worldwide. [...]
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Solar energy now same price as conventional power in Germany, Italy, Spain – report
Solar energy now costs the same as conventionally generated electricity in Germany, Italy and Spain, a report has revealed. The research has warned, however, that high installation costs are impeding other countries from achieving grid parity. [...]
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Fukushima water decontamination suspended indefinitely
Treatment of radioactive water at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant might be indefinitely suspended after malfunctions crippled the water purification process and recontaminated thousands of tons of partially purified water, Japanese media report. [...]
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Nasa-funded study: industrial civilisation headed for “irreversible collapse”?
Nafeez Ahmed: Natural and social scientists develop new model of how "perfect storm" of crises could unravel global system. A new study sponsored by Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center has highlighted the prospect that global industrial civilisation could collapse in coming decades due to unsustainable resource exploitation and increasingly unequal wealth distribution. [...]
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“World’€™s first”€™ farmer trial over GM crop contamination begins in Australia
A landmark legal battle between two farmers over alleged GM contamination has started in the Western Australian Supreme Court. The case is expected to determine GM farmers’ liability if their crops affect neighboring territories. [...]
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