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Canadians are eating tar-sands pollution
Posted by Grist: John Upton on July 7th, 2014
Grist: Tar-sands extraction isn`t just turning swaths of Canadian land into postapocalyptic film sets. New research shows it`s also contaminating the wild animals that members of the Mikisew Cree and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations have traditionally relied on for food.
We already knew that the tar-sands operations have been dousing northern Alberta with mercury and other forms of pollution. Now university scientists have collaborated with the First Nations to test the pollution levels in hunted animals...
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Pennsylvania ordered its health workers to never discuss fracking
Posted by Grist: John Upton on June 20th, 2014
Grist: In the heavily fracked Keystone State, the economic interests of frackers trump the health concerns of residents.
That much is abundantly clear in the wake of an extraordinary story by StateImpact Pennsylvania, which interviewed two retired state health department workers. The former workers say they were ordered to not return the phone calls of residents who complained that nearby fracking was harming their health. Instead, they were told to pass messages on to their superiors, who apparently...
Yes, frackers can forcibly drill your land, even if you don’t want them to
Posted by Grist: John Upton on June 13th, 2014
Grist: Forced pooling isn’t some kind of college pool party that jocks compel nerds to attend, resulting in wacky hijinks. It’s a grim legal tool, dating back nearly a century in some states, that allows drillers to tap the fossil fuels beneath a reluctant landowner’s property — if enough of their neighbors sell their drilling rights. The philosophy of such laws is that subterranean pools of oil and natural gas pay no heed to property lines. As hydraulic fracturing takes grip across the nation, frackers...
What the U.N.’s new climate report says about North America
Posted by Grist: John Upton on March 31st, 2014
Grist: Global warming is a global crisis, but the effects of climate change are being felt differently in different corners of the globe. The latest report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns of a world wracked by hunger, violence, and extinctions. But the IPCC also dedicates chapters to impacts that are underway and anticipated in individual regions and continents.
For North America, the report states there is “high confidence” of links between climate change and rising temperatures,...
Frack-happy Colorado clamps down on methane pollution
Posted by Grist: John Upton on February 25th, 2014
Grist: Frackers and other companies that handle natural gas will have to start being at least a little bit neighborly in Colorado, where new rules will force them to clamp down on methane leaks from wells, tanks, and pipelines.
When methane (natural gas is pretty much just methane) escapes during drilling and transportation, it fuels ozone pollution and global warming. Methane concentrations in the atmosphere are rising, and methane leaks are a major problem in the U.S. By one recent estimate, the U.S....
New York, California move to ban beauty products containing microbeads
Posted by Grist: John Upton on February 14th, 2014
Grist: Scrubbing dead skin cells off your face and tartar off your teeth trashes the environment if it`s not done right. The right way to do it is with facial scrubs, shampoo, and toothpaste that do not contain microbeads. The microscopic balls of hard plastic flow down drains and pass through wastewater treatment plants, ending up in rivers, lakes, and oceans, where they enter the food chain.
Finding microbead-free products isn`t easy right now - you have to read ingredient lists and steer clear of...
Solar is keeping California’s lights on as hydro dries up
Posted by Grist: John Upton on February 14th, 2014
Grist: We told you recently that wind turbines kept the heaters working in Texas during a cold snap that shut down several natural-gas power plants. And now we have similar superhero news from that other great renewable energy source - the sun.
The San Jose Mercury News reports that solar energy is helping to meet California`s power needs amid a drought that has caused hydroelectric supplies to shrivel:
Despite last week`s showers, the lack of rain in California this winter is having a dire impact...
Another day, another big coal-industry spill ruins a river
Posted by Grist: John Upton on February 13th, 2014
Grist: The coal power industry has dumped a lot of toxic crap into yet another river. This latest incident is not to be confused with the spill of toxic coal-cleaning chemicals that poisoned a West Virginia river last month and left 300,000 people without drinking water. Nor is it to be confused with a huge coal-ash spill from a retired power plant in North Carolina earlier this month.
No, this is a whole new spill.
Patriot Coal accidentally let more than 100,000 gallons of coal slurry loose from...
Senate votes to keep subsidizing flood insurance in flood-prone areas
Posted by Grist: John Upton on February 3rd, 2014
Grist: Members of Congress have been clamoring for months to undo one of the most ambitious pieces of climate-related legislation they ever passed. The Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 would force coastal property owners to pay full market rates for their flood insurance. The law barely mentioned climate change, but it laid the groundwork for a more sane approach to building - and rebuilding - along increasingly disaster-prone coastlines and riverbanks.
Last Thursday, however, the Senate...
Which is more likely to drive people from their homes — floods or heat waves?
Posted by Grist: John Upton on February 3rd, 2014
Grist: Floods get a lot of attention in our warming world. They can kill people and livestock, inundate crops, destroy infrastructure and homes - and they make great photo ops. Less attention - and less international aid - is directed to victims of intense heat waves that are also linked to climate change.
But it is these heat waves that are most responsible when Pakistanis leave their villages, new research suggests.
Pakistan is a depressing climate case study because its residents are so vulnerable...