Environment

America is Tired
The major takeaway from the US Presidential election, and from the events which have shaped the first two weeks of Donald Trump’s Presidency - both his actions and the reactions of his opponents - is that America is tired. It is not difficult to see why since the US has for decades been behaving in a way that was guaranteed eventually to exhaust it. [...]
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Louisiana Climate-Deniers Who Refused Sandy Victims, Now Want Federal Flood Relief
As residents of Louisiana this week struggle to recover from "one of the worst floods in modern history," there is a chance that federal aid may not be so forthcoming thanks to a trio of Bayou State Republicans, who back in 2013 voted against helping victims of another storm: Sandy. House majority whip Rep. Steve Scalise, Rep. John Fleming, and Sen. Bill Cassidy all cast their votes against the [...]
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Humans are Poisoning the Ocean – and It’s Poisoning Us Back
It's no secret that we have trashed, poisoned, and warmed oceans at an unprecedented rate via human-caused climate change and pollution.It seems that oceans may be paying us back in kind, according to a new study that found levels of bacteria responsible for life-threatening illnesses spiking in the North Atlantic region. [...]
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Raimond de Hullu’s vision for Oas1s green buildings
Tarzan would feel right at home in these conceptual houses that blend into the forest. If you live or work in a city, chances are your view doesn’t contain much green. There may be a few trees lining the streets, but it’s nothing like architect Raimond de Hullu’s vision for urban development. In his mind, buildings and streets should look like something out of Life After People — only w [...]
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World’s Banks Driving Climate Chaos with Hundreds of Billions in Extreme Energy Financing
Turning their backs on climate science and the consensus of governments and civil society across the globe, the world's biggest banks are dangerously advancing the climate crisis by pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into the world's most polluting fossil fuel industries, according to a new report published Tuesday. [...]
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Renewable Windfall as Germany’s Green Energy Meets 90 Percent of Demand
Germany, the fourth-largest economy in the world and a leader in renewable energy, produced so much energy this weekend from its solar, wind, hydro, and biomass plants that power prices went into negative territory for several hours. Consumers were being paid to use energy. [...]
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Extra $1.44 trillion needed to rectify US infrastructure problems
Small things can make all the difference, but so can $3.32 trillion – the amount required by the American Society of Civil Engineers to rectify the US’ major infrastructure weaknesses. Even worse, ignoring the problem will only make it more expensive. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has released a study and an estimate revealing how expensive and expansive the crumbling infr [...]
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In This Passionate Anti-Fracking Town, Civil Disobedience Just Became Protected Civic Duty
Order sanctioning citizen direct action called "one of the boldest moves to stop the natural gas industry's attacks on our communities, climate and democracy." For one community attempting to stop fracking wastewater injection wells, civil disobedience just became a sanctioned civic right. [...]
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New study shows leaked fracking wastewater in West Virginia has fertility-threatening chemicals
Fracking is causing more disruptions than just earthquakes in West Virginia, according to a new study. The chemicals in leaked wastewater created from hydraulic fracturing is causing negative health effects there ‒ specifically when it comes to fertility. [...]
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“No Safe Pipelines”: TransCanada Admits Keystone Spill Bigger than First Claimed
The oil spill that shut down a portion of the Keystone 1 pipeline in South Dakota last weekend is much bigger than initially estimated, TransCanada admitted on Thursday—almost 100 times bigger, in fact.The fossil fuel company said the "potential volume" of the spill in Freeman, discovered by a passerby on Saturday, was about 18,600 gallons, or 400 barrels. [...]
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Russia grappling with new economic realities
As the world's media attention is currently fixed on the conflict in Syria, and to a lesser extent Ukraine, there has been an ongoing economic conflict occurring against Russia. Economic sanctions against Russia have turned out to be a double edged sword, hurting European exporters and manufacturers as much as Russian importers and consumers. [...]
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Another Green Victory: Copenhagen Set to Divest from All Fossil Fuels
The Copenhagen City Council on Tuesday is expected to approve a vote to divest the city's investment fund, worth 6.9 billion kroner, or roughly $1 billion USD, from all its fossil fuels holdings. If the vote passes, the Danish capital will sell off its stocks and bonds in coal, oil, and gas in its continued effort to become "the world’s first CO2-neutral capital by 2025," Mayor Frank Jensen told [...]
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Rapid, Affordable Energy Revolution is Possible, Says New Report
While the dangers of a power system based on the burning of fossil fuels are increasingly apparent, a new report on Monday argues that a rapid, affordable energy transformation is, in fact, within our grasp. Within 15 years, the United States could slash greenhouse gas emissions from power production by nearly 80 percent below 1990 levels without increasing cost and, at the same time, meeting i [...]
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2015 Officially the Hottest Year on Record
The final tally is in: 2015 was the hottest year in recorded history—by a record-breaking margin. On Wednesday, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the official record for last year's runaway temperatures, which by NOAA's calculation hit an average of 58.62 degrees Fahrenheit (14.79 degrees Celsius). [...]
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Look What We’ve Done: Human-Made Epoch of Nightmares Is Here
There's no question about it. A new epoch—the Anthropocene—has begun.  So says an international group of geoscientists, in a paper published Friday in the journal Science. They point to waste disposal, fossil fuel combustion, increased fertilizer use, the testing and dropping of nuclear weapons, deforestation, and more as evidence that human activity has pushed the Earth into the new age that [...]
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Ecological Meltdown And Nuclear Conflict: The Relevance Of Gandhi In The Modern World
A few months ago, entrepreneur Charles Devenish contacted me to tell me about his plans to develop various mining enterprises across India. He spoke about the massive amounts of untapped mineral resources lying beneath India that is just lying there and has been for a long time. [...]
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Apocalyptic Capitalism
The charade of the 21st United Nations climate summit will end, as past climate summits have ended, with lofty rhetoric and ineffectual cosmetic reforms. Since the first summit more than 20 years ago, carbon dioxide emissions have soared. Placing faith in our political and economic elites, who have mastered the arts of duplicity and propaganda on behalf of corporate power, is the triumph of h [...]
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Historic Climate Deal Reached, But Campaigners say the Work is Just Beginning
The global talks known as COP21 ended Saturday with nearly 200 countries agreeing to a carbon emissions-slashing deal (pdf).  But climate campaigners are saying that the agreement doesn't go far enough, and that the real work is just beginning. [...]
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The DuPont and Dow Chemical Merger: Bad Deal for People and the Planet
Watchdog groups are sounding the alarm after two of the oldest and largest corporations in the United States—DuPont and Dow Chemical—announced Friday plans to merge into a $130 billion giant, thereby establishing the world's biggest seed and pesticide conglomerate. The new behemoth, named DowDuPont, would then be split into "three independent, publicly traded companies through tax-free spin [...]
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