Plastic pollution has been found in practically every environment on the planet, with especially severe effects on ocean life. Plastic waste harms marine life in many ways – most notably, when animals become entangled in it or consume it. Deceased post-hatchling loggerhead sea turtle next to plastic pieces found in its stomach and intestines. Gumbo […]
Gold is everywhere in modern life, from jewelry to electronics to smartphones. The global electronics industry alone uses 280 tons annually. And that demand keeps growing. But most people know little about the environmental impacts of gold mining. About 15% of world gold production is from artisanal and small-scale mining in over 70 countries throughout […]
Misconceptions about the ocean can lead people to the wrong conclusions about conservation, climate change, and marine life. There are quite a few widely accepted ideas about the ocean that are not accurate. Here are the facts behind some common ocean myths. How many do you know? By NOAA Garbage patches are floating islands […]
California environmentalists today, the final day of the legislative session, have been tweeting, emailing and calling legislators in a last minute attempt to stop the Assembly from approving Senate Bill SB 1012, an amended bill that they say could stop state government from holding oil companies accountable for paying to clean up their wells. By […]
Green groups responded with alarm to Sunday reporting by the New York Times and Unearthed that a U.S.-based trade group for major chemical and fossil fuel companies has lobbied the Trump administration during the Covid-19 pandemic to use a forthcoming trade agreement to flood the African continent with plastics. Faced with plunging profits and a #ClimateCrisis threatening fossil fuels […]
A coalition of 27 U.S. states, commonwealths, territories, counties, and cities filed a federal lawsuit on Friday challenging the Trump administration’s “unlawful, unjustified, and sweeping revisions” to a 50-year-old law that the president claimed would “streamline” infrastructure projects by limiting environmental reviews. By Jessica Corbett Common Dreams After revealing plans to alter the National Environmental Policy Act […]
With the full devastation caused by Hurricane Laura along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana still coming into view Friday, climate justice activists and other progressives are calling the destruction—credited with claiming at least 6 lives and potentially billions of dollars in damages—just the latest painful example of willful neglect by political leaders and […]
Hurricane Laura plowed through the heart of Louisiana’s oil and chemical industries as a powerful Category 4 storm, leaving a chlorine plant on fire and the potential for more hazardous damage in its wake. A chemical fire erupted at a manufacturing plant in Westlake, Louisiana, in the wake of #HurricaneLaura. Officials warned residents to stay […]
After Hurricane Laura tore through the area Thursday morning, a chemical leak broke out at a plant near Lake Charles, Louisiana, leading authorities to warn residents against traveling through the affected region as dark smoke flowed out of an industrial building and over Interstate 10. A chemical fire erupted at a manufacturing plant in Westlake, […]
If I dare to give the coronavirus credit for anything, I would say it has made people more conscious of the air they breathe. A friend texted me this week after going for a jog in the foothills near Boise, Idaho, writing: “My lungs are burning … explain what’s happening!!!” Luke Montrose, Boise State University The […]
This year, levels of methane, a powerful heat-trapping gas, hit an all-time high, driven in large part by pollution leaking from gas pipelines and drilling sites. Plugging these leaks is cheap, has enormous upsides for the climate, and is widely supported by major players in the industry, which is why it’s striking that the EPA has decided to weaken […]
The US has some of the most lax restrictions in terms of pesticide safety regulations; in fact, several of the pesticides used in the US are banned in the EU…. By Emily Folk (Excerpted from a longer piece at Earth.org.) More pests is only one symptom of a changing climate that’s making many crops around […]
Through the southern reaches of Texas, communities are scattered across a flat landscape of dry brush lands, ranches and agricultural fields. This large rural region near the U.S.-Mexico border is known for its persistent poverty. Over 25% of the families here live in poverty, and many lack access to basic services like water, sewer and […]
Air pollution contributes to as many as 9 million premature deaths worldwide each year – twice as many as war, other violence, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. Fine particulate matter air pollution is especially dangerous: Microscopic particles readily enter the lungs, bloodstream and brain, with health effects that include infant death, reduced life expectancy for […]
If you’ve driven through an area where companies extract oil and gas from shale formations, you’ve probably seen flames dancing at the tops of vertical pipes. That’s flaring – the mostly uncontrolled practice of burning off a byproduct of oil and gas production. Over the past 10 years, the U.S. shale oil and gas boom […]