Author Archive
State Department Releases Final Environmental Impact Statement Keystone XL Pipeline
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 31st, 2014
EcoWatch: The State Department today released the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline project.
The controversial project would carry as much as 830,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day from Alberta, Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The State Department’s Final Supplemental EIS concluded that the pipeline wouldn’t increase the rate of extraction of tar sands and thus isn’t likely to significantly increase carbon pollution.
“The idea that this...
Increase in Tar Sands-Derived Fuel Will Set States Back on Emission Standards and Climate Goals
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 24th, 2014
EcoWatch: Motorists from Maine to Maryland will soon be filling their tanks with gas increasingly derived from dirty Canadian tar sands oil, a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) says.
A flood of dirty fuel into these East Coast states would undercut their efforts to reduce carbon pollution. The NRDC report, What’s in Your Tank? Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States Need to Reject Tar Sands and Support Clean Fuels, found that under current plans, tar sands-derived gasoline supplies...
California’s Drought: The New Normal
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 18th, 2014
EcoWatch: Scientific projections regarding climate change suggest that these dry conditions could become the new normal. The drought proclamation formally recognizes that "extremely dry conditions ... may continue beyond this year and more regularly into the future." This calls for permanent and fundamental changes in our behavior.
Here are five ways to get started:
1. Reduce leaks: As a homeowner or renter, the best way to determine if you have a leak is to turn off all taps and see if the dials still...
Drought Emergency Declared in California as Residents Urge Halt to Fracking
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 18th, 2014
EcoWatch: The state of California formally declared a drought emergency today due to a lack of winter rainfall and water reserves at only 20 percent of normal levels. This is the third year of dry conditions across California, which poses a threat to the state’s economy and environment.
In addition to concerns about having an adequate water supply for food production, Californians are worried about Gov. Brown`s plan to increase fracking as oil companies are gearing up to frack large reservoirs of unconventional...
Groups Seek to Stop Illegal Swine Waste Pollution in North Carolina
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 16th, 2014
EcoWatch: The Neuse Riverkeeper Foundation and Waterkeeper Alliance issued a Notice of Intent to sue the current and former owners and operators of the Stilley swine feeding operation this week to stop illegal discharges of swine waste into groundwater, wetlands and streams that flow to the Trent River.
The Stilley Facility, which confines more than 11,000 swine near Trenton, NC facility for Murphy Brown, LLC--a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, Inc.--has a long history of illegal discharges and waste management...
Texas Supreme Court Favors Landowner Over TransCanada in Keystone XL Eminent Domain Case
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 9th, 2014
EcoWatch: The Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of landowner Julia Trigg Crawford, ordering TransCanada to submit information by Feb. 6 as the justices weigh arguments to hear the case regarding eminent domain abuse.
Texas’s highest court delivered a clear victory for pipeline opponents and landowners fighting TransCanada’s overreach on property rights. At the heart of Crawford’s case is the ability of TransCanada, a foreign corporation, to use eminent domain under the state’s “common carrier” clause since...
Major Victory for Clean Water in Coal Export Battle
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 3rd, 2014
EcoWatch: The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington denied a motion to dismiss, allowing the Clean Water Act case to proceed against BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) for coal contamination of U.S. waterways. The Sierra Club, Puget Soundkeeper, Columbia Riverkeeper, Spokane Riverkeeper, RE Sources for Sustainable Communities, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Friends of the Columbia Gorge filed the lawsuit on July 24, 2013, after finding substantial amounts of coal in and along several...
Solar Beats Natural Gas in Game-Changing Court Ruling
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 3rd, 2014
EcoWatch: Solar energy faced off against natural gas in a courtroom this week, and the greener of the two came out on top.
Minnesota administrative law judge Eric Lipman recommended a solar project to help Xcel Energy, one of the state`s largest utility, provide 550 megawatts (MW) of new electricity generation by 2020. Lipman could have selected one of five natural gas projects instead, but he realized Geronimo Energy’s Aurora Solar Project was the better deal.
“It’s the first time that solar’s gone...
70+ USS Ronald Reagan Crew Members, Half Suffering From Cancer, to Sue TEPCO For Fukushima
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on December 27th, 2013
EcoWatch: After U.S. Navy sailors on the USS Ronald Reagan responded to the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan for four days, many returned to the U.S. with thyroid cancer, Leukemia, brain tumors and more.
At least 71 sailors--many in their 20s--reported radiation sickness and will file a lawsuit against Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), which operates the Fukushima Daiichi energy plant.
The men and women accuse TEPCO of downplaying the danger of nuclear radiation on the site. The water contaminated the...
Inspector General Finds EPA Justified in Intervening to Protect Drinking Water from Fracking
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on December 24th, 2013
EcoWatch: Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Inspector General found EPA Region 6 was justified in legally intervening to protect Parker County, TX residents’ drinking water from drilling impacts. At Sen. Inhofe’s (R-OK) request, the Inspector General investigated to determine if Region 6’s intervention against Range Resources was due to political influence by the Obama administration.
Steve Lipsky, who lives near a fracking operation in Weatherford, TX with his flammable water. Photo...