Author Archive

Obama Kills Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline

Environment News Service: TransCanada`s Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is dead, at least for the remainder of President Barack Obama`s term in office. Today, after six years of research and protest demonstrations, Obama denied the project the Presidential Permit it needed to cross the Canada-U.S. border. Speaking from the White House, the President said, "Several years ago, the State Department began a review process for the proposed construction of a pipeline that would carry Canadian crude oil through our heartland to...

Raging Amazon Forest Fire Menaces Uncontacted Tribe

Environment News Service: A stubborn forest fire in the Brazilian Amazon is threatening to consume the forest home of one of the last remaining uncontacted tribes on Earth – the awá-Awá. Despite the efforts of 200 volunteers from the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, IBAMA, the flames have devastated at least 35 percent of the 1,594 square mile area in Brazil’s northeastern state of Maranhao. About 12,000 ethnic indigenous Guajajara and some 80 awá-Awá, also known as Awá-Guaja, call...

Tree of Life With 2.3 Million Species Open for Changes

Environment News Service: The relationships among living things, as they diverged from one another from the beginning of life on Earth more than 3.5 billion years ago, are shown for the first time in a comprehensive Tree of Life. Tens of thousands of smaller trees of life have been published over the years for select branches of the tree, some containing more than 100,000 species, but this is the first time those results have been combined into a single tree that attempts to encompass all forms of life. This circular...

Fierce Wildfires Force Thousands of Californians to Flee

Environment News Service: One person is dead and up to 1,000 homes and buildings have burned down in a fast-moving northern California wildfire that exploded through dry brush and trees, fire officials said. Started Saturday, the Valley Fire had set 50,000 acres ablaze as of Sunday night, forcing thousands of people in Lake and Napa counties to flee their homes. The cause of the fire is under investigation. California Governor Jerry Brown Sunday issued an emergency proclamation for Lake and Napa counties due to the...

Evacuation Order Lifted on First Town Near Fukushima

Environment News Service: On Saturday, Naraha became the first town to allow evacuated residents to return after an earthquake and tsunami damaged the nearby Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant more than four years ago. The accident caused a meltdown in two of the plant`s six reactors that released radiation over a wide area. The entire area of Naraha falls within the 20 kilometer exclusion zone imposed by the Japanese government around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi power plant. About 100 people, including government...

Toxic Algae Invade Guatemala’s Treasured Lake Atitlan

Environment News Service: A thick bloom of algae known as cyanobacteria appeared in Lake Atitlan on August 3, the first such occurrence since 2009. But help appears to be on the way in the form of funds to upgrade the waste water treatment system and water supply in the Atitlán basin. Located in the Guatemalan Highlands of the Sierra Madre mountain range, Lake Atitlan is the deepest lake in Central America and one of the most beautiful. The surrounding area became a national park in 1955. An infestation of microalgae...

Three Firefighters Die as Wildfires Scorch the West

Environment News Service: Three U.S. Forest Service firefighters died Wednesday night when a wildfire near the small town of Twisp in southeastern Washington overtook their vehicle after it crashed. Four other firefighters in the same area were injured, one critically. Officials are investigating the exact cause of the deaths. At a news conference, Washington Governor Jay Inslee said the wildfires have "burned a big hole in our state`s heart." "These are three big heroes protecting small towns," Inslee said, urging...

Oil and Gas Methane Emissions Slashed by U.S. EPA

Environment News Service: New standards to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gas methane, volatile organic compounds and air toxics from the oil and gas industry were issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday. The proposal is a part of the administration's strategy under President Barack Obama's Climate Action Plan to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 40 to 45 percent from 2012 levels by 2025. But the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, says the new standards are...

Toxic Algae Contaminate Two of the Three U.S. Coasts

Environment News Service: A record-breaking algal bloom continues to spread across the North Pacific from as far north as the Aleutian Islands to as far south as southern California. At the same time, this year's Gulf of Mexico dead zone -- an area of low to no oxygen that can kill fish and marine life -- is above average in size and larger than forecast by government scientists in June. Coinciding with above average sea surface temperatures across the North Pacific and West Coast of North America, that bloom is laced...

Environment a Non-starter in Republican Debate

Environment News Service: Ten Republican presidential hopefuls lined up on the stage Thursday night for the first face-to-face debate of the 2016 election season. Environmental issues were not addressed, not even control of climate change, which many experts and other politicians have called the greatest challenge of of our lifetime. Positioned on the stage by how they stand in an average of five national polls, in the center of the stage was businessman Donald Trump. Then, in order of popularity: Former Florida Governor...