environment

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Feds Indict Pilot in SF Oil Spill
Feds Indict
Pilot in SF
Oil Spill
Mar 17, 2008 6:17 PM CDT

Feds Indict Pilot in SF Oil Spill

Attorney vows to battle misdemeanors, calling them premature

(Newser) - The pilot of a ship that dumped 53,000 gallons of oil in San Francisco Bay last year was indicted today, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. John Cota faces two federal misdemeanor charges, for releasing a pollutant and killing migratory birds; at least 2,000 birds died in the spill....

Glacial Melt Hit Record in '06
 Glacial Melt Hit Record in '06 
Mar 17, 2008 8:33 AM CDT

Glacial Melt Hit Record in '06

Study finds glaciers lost an average of 4.9 feet of ice

(Newser) - Glaciers shrank an alarming average of 4.9 feet in 2006, the UN Environment Program says—a dramatic difference from ice loss numbers in the ‘80s and ‘90s, when glaciers lost an average 11.8 inches a year. UNEP’s director pointed to "many canaries in the...

Plastic Bags Getting the Sack Across US

San Francisco ban in effect; taxes, prohibition likely elsewhere

(Newser) - The party's over for plastic bags, USA Today reports. A San Francisco ban on petroleum-based bags already has imitators from coast to coast. Massachusetts is eyeing a bill that would "nudge" consumers with a 2-cent tax on each bag; Connecticut could slap retailers with a $1,000 fine for...

Bush Stepped In to Weaken Ozone Rules
Bush Stepped
In to Weaken Ozone Rules
Mar 14, 2008 11:22 AM CDT

Bush Stepped In to Weaken Ozone Rules

President overruled EPA scientists on pollution guidelines

(Newser) - President Bush personally intervened this week to loosen the EPA's new guidelines on pollution-causing ozone, the Washington Post reports. By law, separate ozone standards are mandated for protecting the "public health" and the "public welfare," which includes wildlife, parks, and farmland. According to EPA documents, Bush overruled...

Green Homes Gain Heat in Cool Housing Market

Buyers willing to pay for eco-upgrades, survey says

(Newser) - Eco-friendly homebuilders are faring well despite the plunging US housing market, Newsweek reports. With home sales at a 15-year low, a national survey showed that buyers last year were ready to spend an extra $8,964 on a home that cuts utility bills. "It's taken almost as a fait ...

Japanese 'Frankenwhale' Experiments Slammed

Scientists say whale research is bizarre, useless

(Newser) - Scientists have reviewed the research Japan uses to justify hunting whales, and they've concluded that it is mostly useless—and very weird, Sydney's Daily Telegraph reports.   Researchers tried to fertilize cow and pig eggs with whale sperm, and to create test-tube whales from frozen sperm.  "It's totally...

EU Steels for Global Warming Conflict With Russians

Climate change will multiply trouble: report

(Newser) - The already-fraught relationship between Europe and Russia is bound to get worse in the next few decades. That's the sobering conclusion of a new European Union report on global warming and international politics, which concludes that climate change will act as a "threat multiplier," exacerbating today's problems and...

Feds Flood Grand Canyon
Feds Flood Grand Canyon
Mar 5, 2008 6:27 PM CST

Feds Flood Grand Canyon

Controlled deluge may help rebuild vanishing sandbars

(Newser) - Government officials sent a flood of water surging through the Grand Canyon today in a bid to mimic Mother Nature and rebuild sandbars and other natural habitat for endangered fish. The deluge will continue for three days, increasing by about four or five times the usual flow from the Grand...

Texas Tops US in CO2 Emissions
Texas Tops US
in CO2 Emissions
Feb 29, 2008 3:35 PM CST

Texas Tops US in CO2 Emissions

Activists fight to clean things up

(Newser) - Texas—the land of big oil, big agriculture, pickup trucks, wide-open spaces, and little mass transit—not only is the biggest emitter of CO2 among states, it ranks eighth in the world, a new study says. It’s also one of the few states without any climate plan in the...

Zoos Leap Into Year of Frog
Zoos Leap Into Year of Frog
Feb 29, 2008 9:23 AM CST

Zoos Leap Into Year of Frog

Activists bring attention to decline of amphibians

(Newser) - How could any zoo resist? Leap Day, in the Year of the Frog, is being celebrated by zoos and conservationists everywhere as the perfect time to draw attention to the plight of amphibians. "We want to get people talking about frogs and thinking about them," said one zookeeper....

Beijing Opens Giant Air Terminal
Beijing Opens Giant Air Terminal
Feb 27, 2008 11:25 AM CST

Beijing Opens Giant Air Terminal

World's largest building transforms Chinese capital's airport

(Newser) - Ahead of this August's Olympics, Beijing is set to open a new airport terminal that has been billed as the world's largest building. Designed by Norman Foster, who also designed Hong Kong's airport, the new Terminal 3 was built in only 4 years and, unlike many buildings in China, incorporates...

South Africa to Lift Ban on Killing Elephants

Government says culling is a 'last resort' population control option

(Newser) - South Africa will lift its 1994 ban on elephant culling, sparking outrage among animal rights activists, the Guardian reports. Killing animals will remain "the option of last resort, acceptable only under strict conditions," said the environment minister. He added that managing the elephant population, which has grown to...

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Case Bound for Supreme Court

Exxon has paid $3.5 billion over years, but claimants want 'closure'

(Newser) - Almost two decades after the Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil off the Alaskan coast, legal clashes continue—and will reach the Supreme Court this week, the Washington Post reports. At issue is whether Exxon's $3.5 billion payout is enough or should increase to $5 billion, as...

Alaska Against Polar Bear's Protection

State could lose $26 billion gas pipeline if species is called threatened

(Newser) - Alaska is opposing calls to save its polar bear population, fearing the state would have to protect dwindling sea ice and give up a multibillion-dollar gas project, the AP reports. Calls to save the bears have been "subverted by the lawyers for the extreme environmental organizations and the liberal...

Great Lakes Study Mired in Politics: Author

Scientist says feds didn't like pollution report, reassigned him

(Newser) - A report suggesting industrial contamination in the Great Lakes poses health threats to residents is being suppressed by the feds, says study author Chris De Rosa, who also claims he was demoted because of his findings. The study found 230,000 "vulnerable" people are living in polluted areas, but...

EcoMoms Talk and Shop for Green Cause

9,000-strong alliance boosts 'local lifestyle activism'

(Newser) - A gathering of women may look like a book club, sewing circle, or Tupperware party these days—but is just as likely to be part of the 9,000-strong EcoMom Alliance, where mothers talk fluorescent lightbulbs, waste-free school lunches, and local produce. Long essential to America's green movement, young women...

Biofuels Will Add to Heating Climate, Studies Say

Land likely to be used for production is already helping absorb carbon

(Newser) - Biofuels could hurt Earth more than help it, two new studies conclude. Over 30 years, argues one, corn-based ethanol would spout twice the greenhouse gas of regular gasoline; the other notes environmental damage likely to be wreaked by chopping rainforests and other areas for production, the Washington Post reports. The...

New Worry: Global Soil Change
New Worry: Global Soil Change
Feb 8, 2008 6:20 PM CST

New Worry: Global Soil Change

Scientists propose calling current geological era 'Anthropocene'—human-made

(Newser) - Earth's changing soils appear less able to support farming and plant and animal diversity because of human activity, a study shows. "Global soil change," which is occurring most severely in Africa and Asia, has a heavier hand in climate change than previously thought, National Geographic reports. Degraded soils...

Rainforests Still Fall at Shocking Rates

Summit proposes financial rewards for conservation efforts

(Newser) - Rainforests continue to vanish at "alarming" rates worldwide despite decades of scientific warnings, experts say. Tropical trees are falling at 60 acres per minute—up 10 from a generation ago—accounting for roughly 20% of Earth's carbon emissions. Environmental leaders plan to preserve forests with a carbon trading system,...

Sunscreen Hurts Coral Reefs
Sunscreen Hurts Coral Reefs
Jan 30, 2008 8:42 PM CST

Sunscreen Hurts Coral Reefs

Common ingredients can activate viruses that fatally bleach reef builders

(Newser) - Sunscreen might prevent a bad burn, but it might also be burning coral reefs, National Geographic reports. Four chemicals found in common lotions awaken viruses in algae living in coral, a new study finds; the algae then explode and can leave the reef without its food supply—causing it to...

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