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Pickens Choose
Texas oilman unveils Pickens Plan to avert U.S. energy crisis |
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08 Jul 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 12:48 PM on 08 Jul 2008 America has a problem, and T. Boone Pickens has a solution. "U.S. dependency on foreign oil has reached an economic crisis point," says the infamous Texas oilman, who in response has unveiled The Pickens Plan. The 80-year-old billionaire proposes that private investors fund the construction of thousands of wind turbines from Texas north to the Canadian border, as well as trans ... |
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| Topics: energy, innovation, natural gas, news, renewable energy, United States, wind power (all these topics) |
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I'm Restricted to You, Don't You Know That You're Toxic?
Cheap materials, lax government standards at fault in toxic FEMA trailers |
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03 Jul 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 12:25 PM on 03 Jul 2008 The toxic trailers used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to house thousands of homeless Gulf Coast residents after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were found to be troublesome to occupants' health due to cheap building materials and lax government standards for RVs, scientists said Wednesday. "Manufacturers of travel trail ... |
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| Topics: environmental justice, health, news, politics, United States (all these topics) |
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The Electric Slide
BLM reverses stance on solar-project moratorium |
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03 Jul 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:12 AM on 03 Jul 2008 The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has reversed its recent moratorium on new applications for solar-energy projects on public land, allowing companies to keep submitting proposals for new solar projects. The solar-project freeze had been instituted in late May while the BLM began conducting a two-year study on the potential environmental impacts of solar projects on public lands; the agency said ... |
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| Topics: Bureau of Land Management, news, public lands, solar thermal power, solar voltaic power, United States (all these topics) |
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Whale, You Were Out!
Makah tribe members sentenced for illegal whale hunt |
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01 Jul 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:09 AM on 01 Jul 2008 The five members of the Makah tribe who participated in an unsanctioned hunt of a gray whale last year were sentenced earlier this week. The Makah tribe, whose reservation is located in northwestern Washington state, is the only tribe in the country with treaty rights to hunt whales. However, the long, arduous process of obtaining a waiver to actually conduct a legal hunt has fueled the pr ... |
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| Topics: animal welfare, news, politics, United States, whaling, wildlife (all these topics) |
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To Clean Up or Not to Clean Up ... We're Still on Defense
U.S. Defense Department fighting EPA orders to clean up Superfund sites |
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30 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 8:17 AM on 30 Jun 2008 Defying environmental law, the U.S. Defense Department has resisted repeated orders lately from the U.S. EPA to clean up some of the nation's most contaminated places. The DoD/EPA standoff has turned into a bureaucratic pissing match wherein the EPA has asserted its authority to order and oversee cleanup of ultra-polluted Superfund si ... |
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| Topics: Department of Defense, news, politics, toxics, United States, US EPA (all these topics) |
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Check Out Our Ray-Bans!
Feds freeze new solar projects on public land, pending review |
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27 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 8:27 AM on 27 Jun 2008 The Bush administration has put a moratorium on new solar projects on public land pending large-scale study of their environmental impacts, a process which could take about two years. Since 2005, over 130 solar-plant proposals have been filed for large-scale solar projects that together would cover some 1 million acres of BLM land, if approved. Officials at the Interior Departm ... |
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| Topics: energy, news, public lands, solar thermal power, solar voltaic power, United States (all these topics) |
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Dally Affirmation
Appeals court won't force EPA to speed up CO2 decision |
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27 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:08 AM on 27 Jun 2008 A federal appeals court has decided not to force the Bush administration to speed up its decision on whether carbon dioxide emissions endanger public health or welfare. The administration's decision on CO2 is a necessary step in the process of regulating U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions from vehicles and industrial sources. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that carbon dioxide is a pollu ... |
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| Topics: climate, litigation, news, politics, United States, US EPA (all these topics) |
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It Was Asbestos Times, It Was the Worst of Times
U.S. Supreme Court rejects asbestos company's appeal, clearing way for trial |
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24 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:25 AM on 24 Jun 2008 The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from asbestos company W.R. Grace, clearing the way for a long-awaited criminal trial to begin. The company and six of its executives were indicted in 2005 on charges of violating the Clean Air Act by allegedly releasing asbestos-contaminated vermiculite from a mine in Libby, Mont., between ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, business, health, Montana, news, United States (all these topics) |
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The Art of ELF Defense
Convicted eco-vandal sentenced to six years in prison |
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20 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 11:28 AM on 20 Jun 2008 Convicted eco-vandal Briana Waters has been sentenced to six years in federal prison and was ordered to pay $6 million in restitution for her role in the 2001 blaze that destroyed a University of Washington horticulture center. Waters was a student at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., at the time and allegedly acted as a lookout for members of the Earth Liberation Front who ... |
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| Topics: eco-terrorism, environmental movement, news, United States (all these topics) |
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The Weather Aboveground
U.S. federal report details climate change's impact on weather extremes |
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20 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 6:41 AM on 20 Jun 2008 North America will continue to experience more heat waves, intense rains, increased drought, and stronger hurricanes due to the worsening effects of climate change, says a new report from the U.S. federal government. The report by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program is being billed as the first comprehensive federal review of climate change's effects on weather ex ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate science, news, scientific research, United States (all these topics) |
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Glow and Behold
McCain calls for 45 new nuclear reactors in U.S. by 2030 |
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19 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:51 AM on 19 Jun 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain, at a campaign event Wednesday in Missouri, called for 45 new nuclear reactors to be built in the United States by 2030, with a longer-term goal of 100 new reactors. Existing nuke plants currently provide some 20 percent of U.S. electricity, but no new nuke plants have been built in the U.S. since the 1970s due to the enormous costs of nuclear-p ... |
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| Topics: John McCain, news, nuclear power, politics, United States (all these topics) |
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Putting Lipstick on a Rig
Backing up McCain, Bush calls for ending offshore drilling moratorium |
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18 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 6:36 AM on 18 Jun 2008 President Bush has joined John McCain in calling for an end to the offshore drilling moratorium that's been in effect for most U.S. waters since the early 1980s. Bush's reversal on the offshore-drilling issue follows on the heels of McCain's big energy speech in Houston on Tuesday, where he advocated offshore drilling as a way to lower energy prices. Industry analysts ... |
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| Topics: gas prices, George Bush, John McCain, news, oceans, oil, oil and gas drilling, politics, United States (all these topics) |
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Pump Up the Volume
China's carbon emissions highest in the world last year, study says |
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16 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 6:35 AM on 16 Jun 2008 China's carbon emissions were the highest in the world in 2007, exceeding those of its closest rival, the United States, by 14 percent, according to a new study from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. The NEAA also found in a study last year that China was the world's top polluter in 2006, a finding some other energy agencies disputed. However, the emissions incr ... |
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| Topics: China, climate, energy, news, United States (all these topics) |
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Witnessing Bear
Green groups sue feds to protect polar bears from oil-drilling effects |
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10 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 8:29 AM on 10 Jun 2008 Two green groups are suing the Interior Department over its refusal to limit the impacts of drilling on polar bears, which were listed as threatened last month. The Bush administration has tried its darnedest to ensure that listing the bears wouldn't limit oil and gas exploration in their Alaskan habitat, but Pacific Environment and the Center for Biological Diversity maintain ... |
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| Topics: litigation, news, polar bears, United States, wildlife (all these topics) |
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This Land Is Badlands, This Land Is Your Land
NPS considers returning half of Badlands National Park to Oglala Sioux |
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09 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 8:44 AM on 09 Jun 2008 The National Park Service is considering returning the southern half of Badlands National Park in South Dakota to the Oglala Sioux tribe. Under the proposal, the northern half would remain a national park, but the 133,000-acre southern half would be returned to the tribe. The land was seized from the Oglala Sioux by the military in World War II fo ... |
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| Topics: National Park Service, news, public lands, United States (all these topics) |
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Are You High?
High oil prices affecting consumer goods, nearly everything else too |
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09 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:50 AM on 09 Jun 2008 Oil prices surged $11 on Friday, hitting a new record high of $138.54 a barrel. Over the weekend the average price of regular unleaded gasoline around the U.S. also surged to new high of $4 a gallon. Unsurprisingly, folks in rural areas are taking the largest hit to their incomes from gas prices due to sparse or nonexistent public transit, longer distances to commute, and reliance ... |
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| Topics: cars, gas prices, news, oil, United States (all these topics) |
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Me Tar Sands, You Insane
U.S. emphasis on Canada's tar sands a bad idea, says report |
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04 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 2:43 PM on 04 Jun 2008 As the United States expands its oil-refining capabilities, more than two-thirds of planned capacity will be devoted to processing crude oil from Canada's tar sands, says a new report from the Environmental Integrity Project and Environmental Defense Canada. Tar-sands capacity is predicted to see a total increase of 1.9 million barrels per day, says the report, while conventiona ... |
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| Topics: Canada, energy, insanity, news, oil, oil sands, United States (all these topics) |
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Deep Space Excoriation
NASA internal investigation finds press-office climate distortion |
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03 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 6:21 AM on 03 Jun 2008 An investigation by NASA's inspector general has found that the agency's press office repeatedly distorted climate-change research findings and limited its scientists' access to the media between 2004 and 2006. NASA scientist James Hansen first spoke out about the press-office distortion to major news outlets two years ago, leading the agency to eventually alter its press po ... |
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| Topics: climate, James Hansen, news, politics, United States (all these topics) |
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Rough Ridership
U.S. public transit overwhelmed by increased ridership, higher fuel costs |
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30 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:37 AM on 30 May 2008 Public transit agencies across the United States are lately encountering a curious double-bind: ridership has increased quickly and dramatically, straining current capacity, and at the same time, significantly higher fuel costs have stretched many transit budgets too far. If the current ridership boom had taken hold when fuel prices were much lower, transit agencies would t ... |
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| Topics: energy, gas prices, news, public transportation, United States (all these topics) |
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'How Now?' Frowns Dow
Dow Chemical ordered to clean up dioxin downstream of headquarters |
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29 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 11:51 AM on 29 May 2008 Dow Chemical on Wednesday was ordered to clean up dioxin in homes and yards downstream of its Michigan headquarters, the result of dumping dioxin-laden chemicals in nearby rivers for decades. Test results revealed yesterday show dioxin levels in and around a number of houses some 20 miles downstream exceed by a few times the level considered reasonably safe by the U.S. EPA. ... |
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| Topics: business, news, toxics, United States (all these topics) |
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Metro Effectual
City residents emit less CO2, study says |
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29 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 6:58 AM on 29 May 2008 Residents of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the United States emit less carbon dioxide pollution per capita than the U.S. average, according to a new study. The Brookings Institution analyzed data on household and transportation energy use and found that the average U.S. resident was responsible for about 2.87 tons of carbon pollution a year, but that residents of the U.S.'s 100 largest metro areas ... |
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| Topics: green living, news, placemaking, United States, urban planning (all these topics) |
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Y2.1K
Ignoring climate change will cost U.S. big bucks, says group |
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23 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 11:34 AM on 23 May 2008 Doing nothing in the face of climate change would cost the U.S. $1.9 trillion a year (in today's dollars) by the turn of the next century, says a new report from green group NRDC. That includes big spending on severe-weather damage, real-estate losses, and energy and water costs. The NRDC report is aimed to counter claims that the Lieberman-Warner bill, set to hit the Senate floor in June, will s ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, economy, news, NRDC, United States (all these topics) |
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Weather or Not
U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions rising |
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20 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 2:00 PM on 20 May 2008 U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions increased 1.6 percent in 2007, according to the Energy Information Administration. Factors at fault, according to the EIA: wacky weather that increased the need for heating and cooling, and "a higher carbon intensity of electricity supply." (Our electricity supply is carbon-intensive? Who knew?) The agency was quick to point out that GDP grew 2.7 percent in 2007, so " ... |
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| Topics: climate, economy, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, news, severe weather, United States (all these topics) |
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The Tale That Dogs the Ag
Congress finally passes veto-proof farm bill |
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16 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 5:54 AM on 16 May 2008 Defying President Bush's veto threat, the Senate joined the House Thursday in voting "yay" on the $289 billion omnibus legislation that covers everything from farm subsidies to food stamps. In both chambers, support for the bill tallied strong enough to override Bush's threatened veto. The legislation has bitterly divided the sustainable-agriculture world. Supporters acknowledge the ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, food, legislation, news, politics, United States (all these topics) |
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Where in the World?
Brazilians and Indians are the greenest, says survey |
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08 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 12:29 PM on 08 May 2008 Brazilians and Indians are the most eco-friendly folks in the world, and Canadians and Americans are the least, according to a new survey done by the National Geographic Society. Consumers in 14 countries, representing more than half of the world's population and about three-quarters of its energy use, were ranked on their sustainability in the areas of housing, transportation, food, and co ... |
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| Topics: Brazil, Canada, China, consumerism, green living, India, news, United States (all these topics) |
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