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| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Salmon shutdown
One of the West Coast's most iconic species feeling the heat |
Miles Grant |
03 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| California's outdoors industry -- wildlife watching, hunting, and fishing -- is an $8.2 billion-a-year business. That's roughly equivalent to the GDP of Cambodia. So imagine the shock waves sent by the state's first salmon shutdown: Salmon fishing was banned along the West Coast for the first time in 160 years Thursday, a decision that is expected to have a devastating economic impact on fishermen, dozens of businesses, tourism and boating. Commerce Secretary ... |
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| Topics: endangered species, habitat loss, habitat protection, litigation, politics, salmon (all these topics) |
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Word of Bronner
Dr. Bronner's says competitors aren't really organic |
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29 Apr 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:53 PM on 29 Apr 2008 Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps has filed a lawsuit accusing competitors in the personal-care industry of falsely advertising products as organic. The word "organic" is not federally regulated for personal-care products. Dr. Bronner's, the soap company known for its basic ingredients and rambling messages, voluntarily follows the USDA organic standard for food, which requires 95 percent org ... |
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| Topics: business, green living, green products, litigation, news (all these topics) |
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May of Reckoning
Polar-bear listing decision must be made by May 15, says judge |
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29 Apr 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 9:55 AM on 29 Apr 2008 The last time we checked in with the laggardly Interior Department, it was saying it needed until June 30 to decide whether to place polar bears on the endangered-species list. But the department had better find its Decider Pants soon, as a federal judge has sided with green groups to impose a new deadline of May 15. "Other than the general complexity of finalizing the rule, def ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, Department of Interior, endangered species, litigation, news, polar bears, politics, wildlife (all these topics) |
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The Gray Area
Gray wolves under attack, groups want them re-listed |
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28 Apr 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 1:03 PM on 28 Apr 2008 Saying that their concerns about trigger-happy hunters have been validated, 12 conservation and animal-rights groups have sued to get the gray wolf re-listed as an endangered species. The 1,500 wolves that roam through Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho were delisted on Mar. 28 and can now be shot at will; a total of 37 have been killed in the last month. Conservation groups filed suit Monday, saying th ... |
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| Topics: animal welfare, endangered species, Idaho, litigation, Montana, news, wildlife, Wyoming (all these topics) |
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By a Whisker
Northwest sea lions granted stay of execution |
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24 Apr 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 3:03 PM on 24 Apr 2008 Sea lions all set to gobble their last salmon supper at a Northwest dam have been granted a stay of execution by a U.S. appeals court. Judges granted an injunction, requested by the Humane Society, that a lower court had denied last week. It's only a partial victory for the Humane Society, however, as the court did OK the transfer of the whiskery rascals to zoos and aquariums; state officials planned to ... |
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| Topics: animal welfare, dams, endangered species, litigation, news, Oregon, Washington (all these topics) |
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Bushies not wild about wild salmon
On the Bush administration's deal for Columbia and Snake River salmon and steelhead |
Guest author |
23 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This is a guest post by Joseph Bogaard, outreach director for Save Our Wild Salmon. ----- Recently news broke in Grist of an agreement brokered by the Bush administration and several Northwest tribes affecting endangered salmon, litigation, and dam operations on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Now that the dust has settled, here is one view of this deal's details and implications. First, it is worth highlighting that this deal came during the same week that ... |
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| Topics: dams, endangered species, habitat loss, habitat protection, litigation, politics, salmon (all these topics) |
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Lions' Humane
Judge denies Humane Society injunction, OKs sea-lion trapping |
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17 Apr 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 12:41 PM on 17 Apr 2008 Denying an injunction sought by the Humane Society, a federal judge has given the go-ahead to Oregon and Washington state officials to trap and kill salmon-gobbling sea lions near the Columbia River's Bonneville Dam. The animal-rights group sued after the National Marine Fisheries Service OK'd sea-lion culling last month. An official hearing on the Humane Society lawsuit could be held as ... |
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| Topics: animal welfare, dams, endangered species, litigation, National Marine Fisheries Service, news, Oregon, Washington (all these topics) |
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If loving the earth isn't enough, hating Chevron will do
Chevron runs ad attacking Goldman Prize winner |
Adam Browning |
15 Apr 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I attended the Goldman Prize presentation last night, and it was, per usual, a spectacular celebration of uncommonly dedicated individuals working to make this world a better place. The stories of their struggles and triumphs wetted every eye in the house, and they serve as a beacon of inspiration to all who care about the future of planet Earth. Unless you are Chevron. This morning, Chevron ran a full-page ad in the San Francisco Chronicle attacking one of the ... |
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| Topics: Big Oil, grassroots activism, heroes, jackassery, litigation, oil (all these topics) |
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Cries on the Prize
Chevron throws hissy fit that anti-Chevron activists received award |
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15 Apr 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:48 AM on 15 Apr 2008 Chevron is throwing a hissy fit over the Goldman Environmental Prize awarded to two Ecuadorian activists who want the oil company to clean up pollution in the Amazon rain forest. Texaco, which was acquired by Chevron in 2001, dumped 18.5 billion gallons of petrochemical waste in the Amazon between 1972 and 1992. Lawyer Pablo Fajardo and community organizer Luis Yanza won the G ... |
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| Topics: Amazon, Big Oil, Ecuador, energy, grassroots activism, heroes, litigation, news, oil, rainforests, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Roll On, Columbia
Tribes and Bushies reach Northwest salmon settlement |
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08 Apr 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 5:19 PM on 08 Apr 2008 In exchange for four Native tribes dropping lawsuits, the Bush administration will spend $900 million over the next decade to help out Northwest salmon. The settlement reached Monday ends, for the time being, a decades-long legal battle over the best balance of tribal and commercial fishing rights, protection for salmon, and regional power demands in the Columbia River basin. The new plan doe ... |
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| Topics: fishing, litigation, news (all these topics) |
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Haul From Grace
W.R. Grace will finally pay Montana asbestos victims |
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08 Apr 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 3:01 PM on 08 Apr 2008 W.R. Grace & Co. has agreed to pay some $3 billion in cash and equity to settle lawsuits filed on behalf of people injured or killed by asbestos in the company's products. Grace operated a vermiculite mine near Libby, Mont., from 1963 to 1990, infamously coating the town with asbestos fibers. The company went bankrupt in 2001 after more than 100,000 asbestos-related claims were filed agains ... |
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| Topics: business, litigation, mining, Montana, news, toxics (all these topics) |
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Johnson-Come-Lately
EPA sued over its procrastination |
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02 Apr 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 3:09 PM on 02 Apr 2008 Seventeen states and 11 green groups have sued the U.S. EPA for not yet having made a decision about whether it will regulate greenhouse gases. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday, exactly one year after the Supreme Court ruled that EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson should make that decision. sources: Associated Press, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Boston Globe From the Archives Don't ... |
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| Topics: climate, greenhouse-gas emissions, litigation, news, politics, regulation, US EPA (all these topics) |
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Twisted Mettle
Bush admin appeals ruling on mercury cap-and-trade plan |
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27 Mar 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:00 AM on 27 Mar 2008 The Bush administration has appealed a court ruling that struck down the U.S. EPA's controversial mercury cap-and-trade plan. The earlier ruling by a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals found the EPA violated the Clean Air Act when it enacted the mercury rule in 2005. The cap-and-trade system allowed dirtier power plants to buy the right to pollute from cleaner ones; 17 sta ... |
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| Topics: litigation, news, toxics, United States, US EPA (all these topics) |
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Law & Order: Species Victims Unit
Green group files lawsuit to protect 681 species |
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25 Mar 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 6:00 AM on 25 Mar 2008 Environmentalists filed suit last week against the U.S. Interior Department, seeking to force the agency to review and issue findings on the status of 681 species vulnerable to extinction. WildEarth Guardians, which filed the suit, contends that the Bush administration has deliberately stalled Endangered Species Act listing decisions to appease developers and other interests; ... |
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| Topics: biodiversity, Department of Interior, endangered species, litigation, news, United States (all these topics) |
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Nay, Cap'n
Ship pilot charged in San Francisco oil spill |
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17 Mar 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:58 PM on 17 Mar 2008 The pilot of the ship that spilled more than 50,000 gallons of oil into the San Francisco Bay in November has been charged with criminal negligence, harming federally protected birds, and violating the Clean Water Act. If found guilty, Capt. John Cota could face up to 18 months in jail and more than $100,000 in fines. source: Associated Press see also, in Grist: Group urges Congress to ban bunker fuel in ... |
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| Topics: endangered species, energy, litigation, news, oil, politics, San Francisco, water pollution (all these topics) |
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The audacity of ho
What does Spitzer's exit mean for environmentalism, and how is that funny? |
David Roberts |
12 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| So long, and thanks for all the dish. So how about this Spitzer business, huh? So much to say, so much humor to mine, so little of it related to the environment in any way ... days like these, I envy Wonkette. Ah well, here's an attempt at something reasonably serious. Spitzer was an environmental crusader as AG. Stealing Amanda's links and verbiage: As New York's attorney general, he's sued the Bush administration numerous times over environmental issue ... |
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| Topics: litigation, New York, politics, shenanigans, state politics (all these topics) |
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The Cost of Doltish Business
Company agrees to pay record $250 million in Superfund cleanup costs |
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12 Mar 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:26 AM on 12 Mar 2008 W.R. Grace & Co. agreed to pay $250 million to reimburse the U.S. EPA for ongoing cleanup of the asbestos-ridden mining town of Libby, Mont. A mine owned by Grace that operated from 1963 until 1990 contaminated much of the town with asbestos-tainted vermiculite. Over 200 area residents have died from related cancers, and over 1,200 more show signs of lung abnorm ... |
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| Topics: business, litigation, news, toxics, US EPA (all these topics) |
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White and NRDC
Inquiry made into delayed polar bear decision, green groups sue |
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10 Mar 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 10:02 AM on 10 Mar 2008 Let's check in on the latest polar bear shenanigans, shall we? Two months after deadline, the Interior Department still has made no decision on whether Ursus maritimus should be listed as a threatened species. Spurred by a critical letter from environmental groups, the agency's inspector general has begun preliminary inquiries into why the decision is taking so long. Greenpeace, the C ... |
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| Topics: Department of Interior, endangered species, Greenpeace, litigation, news, NRDC, politics, wildlife (all these topics) |
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Sand Boxed
Canadian federal court ruling could halt planned oil-sands project |
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06 Mar 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 11:02 AM on 06 Mar 2008 A Canadian federal court has ruled in favor of environmental groups that sued in opposition to a massive planned oil-sands mine in Alberta. The 120-square-mile strip mine had recently been approved by a joint federal-provincial panel that found the project's estimated annual greenhouse-gas emissions of 3.7 million tons to be insignificant. Yet no justification was given for the finding ... |
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| Topics: Canada, climate, litigation, news, oil, oil sands (all these topics) |
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Unfortunate Sonar
Appeals court rules against Navy in sonar case |
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03 Mar 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:39 AM on 03 Mar 2008 A federal appeals court on Friday upheld many restrictions on the Navy's use of mid-frequency sonar off the coast of Southern California, reinforcing a lower court ruling from last month. President Bush had tried to exempt the Navy from the relevant environmental laws in January, but the appeals court agreed with an earlier ruling that questioned the constitutionality of Bush's attempted exemption, ... |
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| Topics: litigation, news, oceans, United States, wildlife (all these topics) |
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The Roads to Know Where?
California sues Forest Service over road building, drilling plans |
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29 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 8:17 AM on 29 Feb 2008 California sued the U.S. Forest Service this week, claiming that it violated federal environmental laws and ignored state policies prohibiting road building in roadless areas of national forests. At stake are over 500,000 acres in four national forests in the state that the Bush administration plans to open up to road building, as well as 52,000 acres slated for oil drilli ... |
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| Topics: California, litigation, national forests, news, politics, US Forest Service (all these topics) |
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Hack Haynes heads for the hills
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David Roberts |
28 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| In a little-noticed story earlier this week, the Dept. of Defense announced that "General Counsel of the Department of Defense William J. Haynes II is returning to private life next month." Haynes is known for being one of the most hackish Bushistas in the DOD, author of one of the worst torture memos (PDF) of the bunch. It claimed that "In light of the President's complete authority over the conduct of war, without a clear statement otherwise, crimina ... |
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| Topics: endangered species, litigation, politics, wildlife (all these topics) |
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Ducking Donald
U.S. forest official will not be jailed over fish-killing flame retardant |
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28 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 3:09 PM on 28 Feb 2008 The U.S. Forest Service turned in a court-ordered environmental analysis of a fish-killing flame retardant 2 1/2 years late, and only after the agency's top official was threatened with incarceration for contempt of court. But the USFS did ultimately conduct the environmental review of ammonium phosphate -- which was dropped on an Oregon fire in 2002 and subsequently killed ... |
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| Topics: litigation, national forests, news, politics, toxics, US Forest Service (all these topics) |
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John McCain and Exxon Valdez
Mr. Straight Talk voted against requiring double-hulled tankers after the biggest oil spill |
David Roberts |
28 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| You're likely aware that the notorious Exxon Valdez case is back in court yet again. Yesterday, the Most Profitable Company of All Time argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that it shouldn't have to pay $2.5 billion in damages to Alaskans harmed by the spill. (That was reduced from the original $5 billion, but Exxon argues it shouldn't have to pay any damages. Yes, really.) It is, of course, morally repugnant almost beyond measure for the company to be fighting ... |
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| Topics: Alaska, business, energy, litigation, oil, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Permission Slipup
California must seek permission to implement ship-emissions rule, court says |
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28 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:22 AM on 28 Feb 2008 A federal appeals court on Wednesday struck down a California rule aimed at reducing smog-causing emissions from ships in the Los Angeles area. The state had argued that it had the authority to implement the rule without seeking permission from the U.S. EPA since it was simply regulating the fuel used in older, more-polluting auxiliary diesel engines that provide onboa ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, California, litigation, news (all these topics) |
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