ENVIRONMENT

Demonstrations Planned Against Offshore Oil Leases in New Orleans

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EDITOR’S NOTE – For info about a free roundtrip bus on Saturday from Mobile to this demonstration go to the Facebook event page for Gulf Coast Interdependence Day. You can sign up as a volunteer and RSVP to attend and find out details about the bus and other matters. The free bus will leave from…

Obama Administration Finalizes Fuel Efficiency Standards for Trucks

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By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Obama administration has finalized green house gas standards and fuel efficiency rules for trucks to cut carbon pollution in the U.S., all while bolstering energy security and spurring manufacturing innovation, according to an announcement just out from the Environmental Protection Agency. The product of four years of…

Cool Dispersed Camping at 10,000 Feet in Colorado

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By Bob Wells – STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Co. — After Randy and his group left Leadville for Salida, Colorado, I knew we had a record-setting heat wave coming so I liked the idea of staying up at high elevation. I decided to start working my way north so my next stop was Steamboat Springs, Colorado. I…

AmeriCares Deploys Relief Workers to Louisiana for Flood Assistance

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Parts of Louisiana received more than two feet of rain in recent days, causing massive flooding that overwhelmed rivers and engulfed homes and businesses. Emergency crews have rescued more than 20,000 survivors, and more than 11,000 survivors have signed up for disaster assistance. The federal government has issued a major disaster declaration for four parishes…

Studies Show Global Warming Could Be Much Greater Than Previously Thought

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Reconstruction of climate events long before the Ice Ages shows that failure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions could eventually lead to temperatures rising by up to 10 degrees. – By Tim Radford – LONDON, Eng. – If the distant past is anything to go by, then climate scientists may have under-estimated the hazards of greenhouse…

Volkswagen Admits Cheating on Emissions Tests, Agrees to Pay $15.3 Billion in Settlements for Deceiving Customers and Causing Air Pollution

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By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – The German automaker Volkswagen has admitted to cheating on emissions tests and agreed to pay more than $15.3 billion in a settlement with U.S. regulators for decieving customers and causing pollution from its diesel vehicles, according to a release just out from the Justice Department and the Environmental…

Is the U.S. Republican Party a Threat to Human Survival?

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Nuclear weapons, climate change, and the prospects for survival. – By Noam Chomsky – In January 2015, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists advanced its famous Doomsday Clock to three minutes before midnight, a threat level that had not been reached for 30 years. The Bulletin’s statement explaining this advance toward catastrophe invoked the two…

NASA Satellite Finds Unreported Sources of Toxic Air Pollution

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By Glynn Wilson – Scientists have located 39 new major sources of toxic sulfur dioxide emissions previously unreported by existing methods, according to a study published this week in the journal Nature Geosciences. A known health hazard and contributor to acid rain, sulfur dioxide (SO2) is one of six air pollutants regulated by the U.S.…

High Radiation Levels Trigger Emergency Alert at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant

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The Tennessee Valley Authority activated emergency prodecures Wednesday when high radiation levels in a main steamline were detected at Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in Athens, Alabama. TVA detected the high radiation condition Wenesday around 3:35 p.m., central daylight time, according to an enews alert. It appears the story was broken by the Chattanooga Times…

Rising Seas Could Inundate Coastal Cities Sooner Than Previously Thought

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By Christina Procopiou – Boston and other coastal cities may want to batten down the hatches. A new study from climate scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Pennsylvania State University warns estimates of future sea level rise may be significantly underestimated. The real picture 100 to 500 years from now, they claim, will…

Protesters Crash the Super Dome and Shut Down Gulf Oil Lease Sale

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Watch police clash with protesters in this original video. – By Glynn Wilson – NEW ORLEANS, La. — About 200 environmental activists from across the county marched from City Hall to the Super Dome here Wednesday and crashed an oil lease sale meeting trying to open up another 43 million acres to drilling in the…