Activists fight green projects, seeing U.N. plot. Across the country, activists with ties to the Tea Party are railing against all sorts of local and state efforts to control sprawl and conserve energy. They brand government action for things like expanding public transportation routes and preserving open space as part of a United Nations-led conspiracy to deny property rights and herd citizens toward cities. New York Times 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
Scientists win historic battle over oilsands monitoring. While the Canadian and provincial governments at first proposed that a plan to implement monitoring of oilsands extraction be controlled by the government and conducted, in part, by an industry-financed operation, a group of scientists insisted that the monitoring be independent and include aboriginal participation. The scientists prevailed. Montreal Gazette 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
Nuclear waste fracas that just won't go away. Like a science fiction fantasy, the Yucca Mountain repository was intended as a permanent store for a small mountain of lethal waste accumulated in more than half a century of American nuclear activity, civilian and military. Sydney Morning Herald 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
Keystone pipeline lobbied on by nearly everyone. It’s no surprise that oil companies, labor unions, environmental groups and an association of pipe manufacturers would want to lobby Congress about the Keystone XL pipeline. But Quakers? The American Jewish Committee? The makers of John Deere tractors? Politico 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
Volunteers gathering mussels to gauge health of shoreline waters. The tiny black bivalves dislodged on a frigid afternoon were too puny for any self-respecting chef to serve up on a steaming plate. No, these mussels were headed for an eventual trip to a Texas lab where scientists plan to sample their tissues for more than 100 contaminants. Everett Herald 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
Scientists say contamination of ocean fish minimal so far. The massive radioactive fallout from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has sparked fear in seafood lovers and commercial fishermen both at home and abroad, and some worry the contamination could pass through and even become more concentrated in the ocean food chain. Japan Times 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
Clean air measure faces uncertain future. The future air quality in Allegheny County may be determined by pending federal standards concerning air pollution that crosses state lines. Aspinwall Herald 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
Nuclear crisis bolsters Japan push for utilities reform. Debate on utility reform will formally kick off at an expert panel – one key strand of a potentially sweeping remake of Japan's energy policy intended to reduce the role of nuclear power, promote renewables, spur energy conservation and address the problem of greenhouse gas emissions. Reuters 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
Agencies urge Interior to reject mining near national park. Two key federal agencies have recommended that the Interior Department reject a controversial coal lease proposed for an area near Bryce Canyon National Park, arguing it could impair visibility at the park and harm imperiled animals in the region. Washington Post 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
How Steven Chu lost his battle with Washington. Steven Chu arrived in town as one of Obama’s most celebrated appointees, with an ambitious mission: Use a backwater Cabinet position to reinvent America’s energy system. Now Chu may have no choice but to preside over a similarly dramatic retreat. New Republic 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
Texas drought forces a town to sip from a truck. Spicewood Beach is one of the first four subdivisions, made up of about 1,100 people, in drought-stricken Burnet County to run so low on water that it had to be hauled in by truck. New York Times 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
Famine ends in Somalia, as drought looms in West Africa. As famine eases in East Africa, there are signs that a severe drought is beginning to take hold in West Africa, placing strains on a global aid system that is still struggling to recover from the Horn of Africa drought of 2011. Christian Science Monitor 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
N.Y. town still baffled by teens' mysterious tics. In the tiny New York town of LeRoy, one thing is for sure; since October, 16 people suddenly have developed uncontrollable twitching and verbal tics. Three months later, they -- and the rest of the town -- are still wondering why. CNN 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
Idaho mine understates impact on fish deformities: US. Selenium contamination from a phosphate mine in southeastern Idaho is linked to fish deformities such as two-headed trout, and the problem would worsen if discharge limits were eased, a new government report found. Reuters 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
The world's largest environmental cleanup has problems. The Hanford nuclear facility in Washington state is the largest, most complex and most expensive environmental cleanup effort in the world. USA Today’s investigative reporter, Peter Eisler, says the project is over-due, over-budget and still quite dangerous. Living On Earth 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
D-Day looms for illegal dump. For once, the sound of construction trucks is music to the ears of Lake Barrington residents who have complained for decades about a sprawling, illegal dump that is now undergoing a final cleanup by the Illinois EPA. Chicago Tribune 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
South Dakota to debate product ban. A state House panel is considering a bipartisan measure that would ban the sale of baby products that contain bisphenol A, an organic chemical that has been linked to reproductive problems in laboratory animals. Sioux Falls Argus Leader 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
Coachella Valley to get $53M for air quality improvements. The board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District voted unanimously on Friday to direct the so-called mitigation funds from a power plant being built near Desert Hot Springs plant to the valley. But the windfall may set off a contest between east and west valley communities. Palm Springs Desert Sun 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
More toxic pollution detected in brook at DuPont's Pompton Lakes site. Tests reveal parts of the Acid Brook, which run through the former site of the DuPont explosives factory, have been recontaminated with toxic metals and chemicals – more than 15 years after the company and the federal government said the tributary was entirely cleaned. Bergen County Record 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
Malaria death toll disputed. Researchers are questioning results from a high-profile paper suggesting that malaria may kill twice as many people worldwide as previously estimated. The statistical analysis, published yesterday in The Lancet nearly doubles the World Health Organization estimate of global malaria deaths in 2010, revising the figure upwards from 655,000 to 1.24 million. Nature 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
Malaria kills twice as many as thought, study suggests. Malaria kills more than 1.2 million people worldwide a year, nearly twice as many as previously thought, according to new research published on Friday that questions years of assumptions about the mosquito-borne disease. Reuters 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
More than 220 dead as Europe freezes. Temperatures have plunged to new lows in Europe, where a week-long cold snap has now claimed more than 220 lives as forecasters warned that the big freeze would tighten its grip over the weekend. Agence France-Presse 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
We can’t arrest typhoid on our own: Harare. Council has failed to address the social determinants leading to diarrheal diseases – typhoid included – and is appealing for Government's intervention to holistically arrest the crisis, a senior official admitted yesterday. Harare Herald 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00
Famine in Somalia is over, says UN. The famine is over in Somalia thanks to good rains, a bumper harvest and donor aid, but the next 90 days will be critical to ensure the country does not slip back into extreme hunger, United Nations officials have said. The Guardian 2012-02-04T09:00-05:00