By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — A federal judge here ruled against the state of Alabama and for the Gulf Restoration Network on Tuesday and blocked the use of early BP restoration funds for the construction of a lodge and conference center on the Gulf State Park beach in Gulf Shores. U.S. District Judge…
ENVIRONMENT
Earth’s Climate May Benefit From Justice Scalia’s Death
By Glynn Wilson – The death of conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, 79, may be the best thing to happen for the future of the planet than anything since the national Sierra Club and 350.org convinced President Obama to take on climate change due to global warming from the burning of fossil fuels…
President Obama Proposes Boost in Funding for National Parks on 100th Anniversary
WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Barack Obama released his proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2017 on Tuesday, calling for significant increases in funding for the National Park Service as the agency celebrates its centennial year. “The president’s proposed budget, which significantly increases funding for national parks, further shows the president’s commitment to protecting and restoring…
Climate Scientists Issue Dramatic Statement on What Earth Will Look Like in 10,000 Years
By Glynn Wilson – A significant group of climate scientists issued a dramatic editorial statement in the journal Nature Climate Change this week on the effects of human induced global warming from the burning of fossil fuels. They make the argument that we are making a mistake to only think about the effects of global…
Zika Outbreak Highlights America’s Vulnerabilities
By Edgar Wilson – America has another chance to learn from developing regions threatened by a dangerous virus. The mosquito-borne Zika virus, normally found across central Africa and Southeast Asia, has been turning up in more and more countries throughout the Americas, with its biggest footprint in Brazil. In roughly three-quarters of all cases, Zika…
Judge Grills Alabama Lawyers on Lack of Alternatives to Spending BP Environmental Restoration Money for Gulf Shores Hotel
By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — A federal judge grilled lawyers here Tuesday about the questionable legality of a plan put forward by the administration of Alabama Governor Robert Bentley to use BP oil spill environmental restoration money for economic development to build a hotel and convention center on the state park beach in…
Obama Administration Files Formal Complaint Against Volkswagen in Federal Court for Blatant Clean Air Act Violations
WASHINGTON (NAJ) – The Obama administration filed its civil case in federal court against Volkswagen and its subsidiaries on Monday documenting multiple, willful violations of the Clean Air Act due to the company blatantly faking clean emissions tests and high gas mileage in its diesel automobiles sold to the public as clean and fuel efficient…
Bentley Administration Stalls Federal Court in Gulf State Park Convention Center Lawsuit
Environmental Group Pushes for Expedited Oral Arguments – By Glynn Wilson – The Bentley administration is stalling in federal court by opposing expedited oral arguments in a lawsuit filed against the proposed use of $58 million in BP oil settlement money — designated to restore the Gulf eco-system — to build a hotel and convention…
Scrooge Stuffs Your Stocking — Alabama Governor Gives a Wad of Glop
By David Underhill – MOBILE, Ala. â You must have been naughty children. Although you didn’t get a lump of coal in your stocking, you got a wad of glop. It’s your present from Alabama governor Robert Bentley, often confused with creepy Mr Burns in The Simpsons show. But that’s only because of their eerily…
Paris Climate Agreement Deals a Crushing Blow to Coal
By Paul Brown – LONDON — After a decade of aggressive growth in demand, the market for coal has stalled and is unlikely to recover, according to the International Energy Agency. Its report on the medium-term coal market says that demand in China — which uses 50 percent of the world’s coal — has begun…
The Republican Clown Car Threatens to Pollute the Paris Climate Deal
Nearly 200 countries agreed to save the planet, but the Republicans have a different idea. By Ben Adler – Republicans didn’t even wait for a global climate change deal to be struck in Paris to start trying to undermine it. Last month, congressional Republicans were loudly discouraging other nations from signing onto any agreement, arguing…
Forty Years Later, Vietnam War Continues for Victims of Agent Orange
By Marjorie Cohn – The war in Vietnam resulted in the deaths of more than 58,000 Americans and more than 3 million Vietnamese. Twenty years ago, the United States and Vietnam normalized diplomatic relations in an effort to put the terrible legacy of the war behind them. But for the survivors—both Vietnamese and American—the war…
Anticlimax at Climate Conference: Paris Glitters and Leaves the Work to the Gritty
By David Underhill – MOBILE, Ala. – If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, the Paris climate conference just built an eight-lane freeway to Hades. Leaders and nerds from 195 countries sifted through separate plans for saving the species from itself and tried to meld them into an agreed text about shrinking…
Apocalyptic Capitalism: Why the Paris Climate Summit Will Fail
By Chris Hedges – The charade of the 21st United Nations climate summit will end, as past climate summits have ended, with lofty rhetoric and ineffectual cosmetic reforms. Since the first summit more than 20 years ago, carbon dioxide emissions have soared. Placing faith in our political and economic elites, who have mastered the arts…
The World’s Rich Produce Half of All Carbon Emissions
While the Poorest Half Only Produce Ten Percent – LONDON (Reuters) – The richest tenth of the world’s people produce half of all carbon emissions, while the poorest half – most threatened by droughts and super storms linked to climate change – produce only one tenth, according to Oxfam, an international confederation of 17 organizations…
New Study Proves Coal is King Among Pollution that Causes Heart Disease
By Darryl Fears and Glynn Wilson – Exposure to emissions from coal-fired power plants over a long period of time is significantly more harmful to the heart than other forms of carbon pollution, according to a new study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, released early Wednesday to coincide with the world climate talks…
Media Controversy Rages in Mobile Alabama Over Oil Storage Tanks
By Glynn Wilson – MOBIlE, Ala. – While the national news is rife with stories about the death of the Keystone XL Pipeline out west, the ongoing climate talks in Paris and the low price of oil internationally, a local petroleum industry front group and the politicians and media they are trying to buy seem…
Earth Doesn’t Have Be Doomed Like Atlantis: We Can Change Course
A cheat sheet on how epic floods have shaped civilization – By Andrew Lawler – When it comes to confronting global climate change, we don’t have much experience to draw on. As world leaders prepare to meet in Paris starting on November 30 to hash out a binding international agreement to limit greenhouse gases, it…
My Year as a Volunteer VIP Campground Host Comes to an End
Solar Power Set for Record Year, in Spite of Critics on the Right
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – In spite of the naysayers on the political right, solar power continues to grow as a significant source of energy in the economy of the United States, setting records every year, according to a new report out from the Solar Energy Industries Association. Out of all new electricity…