From Climate Central’s Michael D. Lemonick Nearly a quarter of the Northern Hemisphere’s land surface is covered in permanently frozen soil, or permafrost, which is filled with carbon-rich plant debris — enough to double the amount of heat-trapping carbon in the atmosphere if the permafrost all melted and the organic matter decomposed. According
BP’s Deepwater Horizon Trial Is Coming Up, And The Oil Giant Is Ready For Battle
AP/Huffington Post LONDON (AP) — BP says it has failed to reach a settlement in advance of next week’s civil trial on the Deepwater Horizon accident and is ready to defend itself vigorously against allegations of gross negligence in the U.S.’s biggest environmental disaster. Rupert Bondy, the group’s general counsel, said in a statement
Washington is right: Canada must confront its climate neglect
TZERPORAH BERMAN Globe and Mail This article is signed by Tzeporah Berman, an environmental author and co-founder of ForestEthics; Sarah Winterton, acting Executive Director of Evironmental Defence; Steven Guilbeault, deputy director of Equiterre, and Ben West, oil-sands campaign director of ForestEthics Advocacy. U.S. President Barack Obama, through his ambassador to Canada, has every
Oilsands tailings leaking into groundwater, Joe Oliver told in memo
BY MIKE DE SOUZA, POSTMEDIA NEWS OTTAWA — Tailings ponds from oilsands production are leaking and contaminating Alberta’s groundwater, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver was told in an internal memo obtained by Postmedia News. The memo, released through access to information legislation, said that federal government scientists, including Quebec City-based research geoscientist Martine Savard, had
Apache natural gas well has leak beneath floor of U.S. Gulf
Feb 16 (Reuters) - Natural gas from a well being drilled by Apache Corporation in the U.S. Gulf ofMexico has flowed underground, leading U.S. regulators to order the company to prepare to drill a relief well to control the flow if necessary, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said. Apache shut in the well on
Court: Polar bear habitat that interferes with oil drilling has to go
By Philip Bump Grist.org Through a bit of evolutionary serendipity, polar bears are cute. They are big and fuzzy and have thick, dopey heads. This is helpful to the polar bears, because it’s given the animals a powerful tool in their fight for existence. “Do you want polar bears to go away?” fundraising pleas ask
The high seas are too precious to be left to plunderers and polluters
Only now with the launch of the Global Ocean Commission are we finally addressing the ravages of the oceans Callum Roberts The Observer, The oceans are changing faster today and in more ways than at any time in human history. We are the cause. Which is why I welcome the launch of theGlobal Ocean
Canada’s Environmental Commissioner Confirms Our Analysis of Offshore Oil Spill Liability
By William Amos, Director of the Ecojustice Clinic at the University of Ottawa “Canadian taxpayers’ exposure to the proven financial risks of ecological catastrophe demands a comprehensive and independent review of these industry-friendly rules.” – William Amos This morning, Canada’s Environmental Commissioner warned of major shortcomings in the federal government’s regulation of offshore oil exploration,
Tankers? No thanks.
BY KIMBERLY SHEARON ecojustice.ca More than five months into technical hearings on the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, the National Energy Board panel tasked with reviewing the project will finally hear evidence on the risk the pipeline poses to British Columbia’s coastline. And this week, and into the spring, Ecojustice lawyers will be in Prince Rupert, B.C.,
Asia Pulp & Paper Company Pledges To Stop Deforestation In Indonesia Through Work With Greenpeace
Huffington Post JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — One of the world’s largest paper companies, Asia Pulp & Paper Group, has pledged to stop its suppliers from cutting down natural forests in Indonesia, a move it hopes will help preserve the threatened habitats of rare animals such as orangutans and Sumatran tigers while helping
Nurses Oppose Keystone XL Pipeline, Cite Adverse Effects of Increased Air Pollution, Climate Change
National Nurses United Press Release, 2/5/13 Citing serious adverse health concerns, National Nurses United announced today that it is joining with environmentalists, unions and other organizations from across the country to oppose the Keystone XL Pipeline – the 1,700 mile of tar sands oil pipeline from Canada to refineries in Texas. With
Shale Industry Moves to Ship Fracking Waste via Barge, Threatening Drinking Water Supplies
One of the purposes of the Ecocide Act is to force principal actors in corporations and government to think before they engaged in dangerous, potentially disasterous adventures. Instead, with existing laws and regulations, we are often playing catch-up to try to head off potential disasters. DeSmogBlog.com It was meant to go unnoticed. A small
Idle No More: Round Dance for the Mother Earth
BY JACK EIDT WilderUtopia.com Idle No More has awakened indigenous voices from all over North America, blockading highways and border crossings, flash-mobbing in shopping malls, facing arrest and imprisonment. At issue are sovereignty and treaty rights, dancing and demonstrating for Mother Earth: for the protection of the air, the water, and the land, motivating native
Queensland is a state of extreme weather, and there will be more on the horizon
Brian Williams The Courier-Mail BARELY a week ago all the talk was of fires, cattle dying in the thousands and Queensland slipping into the deadly grip of drought. Wouldn’t you know it, days later large slabs of the nation’s east coast were in flood, some record-breaking. Since the Millennium Drought that took
Shell acquitted of Nigeria pollution charges
The case involved five allegations of oil spills in Nigeria, four of which were quashed by the court Fiona Harvey Guardian.co.uk Shell was acquitted in a Dutch court on Wednesday morning of most of the charges against it for pollution in Nigeria, where disputed oil spills have been a long-running source
