US government wants farmers to use coal waste on fields

Remember?- Obama administration refuses to disclose “high hazard” coal dump locations:A rift has opened between the Obama administration and some of its closest allies - Democratic leaders and environmental organisations - over its refusal to publicly disclose the location of 44 coal ash dumps that have been officially designated as a “high hazard” to local [...] continue reading world news

Jury decides that threat of global warming justifies breaking the law

The threat of global warming is so great that campaigners were justified in causing more than £35,000 worth of damage to a coal-fired power station, a jury decided yesterday. In a verdict that will have shocked ministers and energy companies the jury at Maidstone Crown Court cleared six Greenpeace activists of criminal damage.Jurors accepted defence [...] continue reading world news

USDA Cuts US Corn, Soy Estimates; Grain Mkts Up (2nd UPDATE)

(Updates with closing grain prices; additional analyst comments)CHICAGO -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. Department of Agriculture Friday cut its projections for 2008 U.S. corn and soybean production, keeping supplies of the commodities tight and helping lift grain prices.The reduction in crop size, which was the result of poor growing weather in August, could be the start [...] continue reading world news

After Powerful Hurricane, Rescuers Scour Ravaged Areas

HOUSTON - Emergency officials pursued their rescue efforts on Sunday after Hurricane Ike barreled across a wide swath of Texas, deluging the city of Galveston with a wall of water, flooding coastal towns and leaving extensive damage across metropolitan Houston.Across the Gulf Coast, rescue workers scoured waterlogged neighborhoods and struggled to race down streets that [...] continue reading world news

L.A. County sees an upward trend in West Nile infections

The year is shaping up to be the worst in Southern California since 2004.Jack Austin doesn’t remember a mosquito biting him. The 72-year-old Duarte resident also doesn’t remember the nine days he spent in the hospital in July or much of the 20 days he spent in rehab in August, recovering from West Nile neuroinvasive [...] continue reading world news

Chicago seeks aid after worst rain in at least 137 years

Chicago received more than 6 inches of rain Saturday, breaking a 1987 record.CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) — Chicago authorities asked Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to issue a disaster declaration after rainfall Saturday in the Windy City broke a single-day record that had stood for more than two decades.The deluge flooded streets and stranded residents in their [...] continue reading world news

Controlled drugs dumped uncontrolled into water

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - In a frustrating quirk in government policy, the most tightly controlled drugs - like painkilling narcotics prone to abuse - are the ones that most often elude environmental regulation when they become waste.Federal narcotics regulators impose strict rules meant to keep controlled pharmaceuticals out of the wrong hands. Yet those rules also [...] continue reading world news

FDA Criticized Over Plastic Chemical

Groups Raise Questions About the Safety of Bisphenol AReviewed by Louise Chang, MDSept. 16, 2008 — Researchers and environmental groups attacked the FDA for concluding that a widely used plastic ingredient is safe for humans, saying the agency ignored critical studies showing potential ill health effects.The comments came at a hearing called by the FDA [...] continue reading world news

Video shows shocking farm cruelty to pigs

UNDERCOVER animal activists have filmed horrific scenes of cruelty to farm pigs.The incidents include workers slamming piglets on floors and leaving them still wriggling to die, beating animals to death with metal rods and inserting rods into sows’ hindquarters.Activists from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) posed as workers between June and September [...] continue reading world news

FDA Considers Engineered Animals For Food

Agency Will Accept Industry Proposals To Sell The Public Animals With Mixed DNATwo featherless chickens peck around in some grass at the Hebrew University in Rehovot. Israeli scientists at the Agriculture department of the university have genetically engineered bare-skinned chickens as part of a research project to develop succulent, low fat poultry that is environmentally [...] continue reading world news

Estrogen Flooding Our Rivers

The Montreal water treatment plant dumps 90 times the critical amount of certain estrogen products into the river. It only takes one nanogram (ng) of steroids per liter of water to disrupt the endocrinal system of fish and decrease their fertility.These are the findings of Liza Viglino, postdoctoral student at the Universite de Montreal’s Department [...] continue reading world news

Who Killed The Electric Car?

Documentary about GM killing of the electric car. It has been here since ‘96 but they killed it off.The film features interviews with celebrities who drove the electric car, such as Mel Gibson, Tom Hanks, Alexandra Paul, Peter Horton, Ed Begley, Jr., a bi-partisan selection of prominent political figures including Ralph Nader, Frank Gaffney, Alan [...] continue reading world news

Catastrophic fall in numbers reveals bird populations in crisis throughout the world

Northern WheatearThe birds of the world are in serious trouble, and common species are in now decline all over the globe, a comprehensive new review suggests today.From the turtle doves of Europe to the vultures of India, from the bobwhite quails of the US to the yellow cardinals of Argentina, from [...] continue reading world news

Gas Shortage In the South Creates Panic, Long Lines

If Drivers Can Fill Up, They Get Sticker ShockPeople wait to fill their tanks at a Citgo station in Charlotte, where drivers have reported gas lines 60 cars long after 11 p.m. (By Davie Hinshaw — The Charlotte Observer) Gasoline shortages hit towns across the southeastern United States this week, sparking panic buying, long [...] continue reading world news

Brazilian Government Largest Illegal Logger in the Amazon

BRASILIA, Brazil, September 30, 2008 (ENS) - A Brazilian government agency that provides land to settlers is the largest illegal logger in the Amazon rainforest and could face criminal prosecution, Environment Minister Carlos Minc said Monday. Minc blamed Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform, or Incra, for occupying the top six places on a new [...] continue reading world news

Greening the Desert

Source: YouTube continue reading world news

Mexican Marijuana Cartels Sully US Forests, Parks

Mexican marijuana cartels use pesticides, herbicides that pollute US parks, forest landsA member of Kentucky’s state marijuana strike force cuts down marijuana in rural Breathitt County, Ky. (AP Photo)National forests and parks - long popular with Mexican marijuana-growing cartels - have become home to some of the most polluted pockets of wilderness in America because [...] continue reading world news

With Spotlight on Pirates, Somalis on Land Waste Away in the Shadows

Above, a severely malnourished baby lay unresponsive on Thursday as the mother and father sat nearby in a feeding center in Afgooye, Somalia.AFGOOYE, Somalia - Just step into a feeding center here, and the sense of hopelessness is overwhelming.Dozens of women sit with listless babies in their laps, snapping their fingers, trying to get a [...] continue reading world news

The Next Collapsing Industry: Fishing

Unsustainable practices cost the global fishing industry $50 billion every year, and have wasted some $2 trillion in the last three decades, says a joint report from the World Bank and United Nations.The numbers might not seem like much when compared to the ongoing economic crisis or the cost of deforestation — $1.5 trillion lost [...] continue reading world news

Longest, hottest drought on record, says Bureau of Meteorology

THE long drought affecting southern Australia is officially the worst on record.Bureau of Meteorology head of climate analysis David Jones said the 12-year drought that was devastating southwest Western Australia, southeast South Australia, Victoria and northern Tasmania was “very severe and without historical precedent”.Drought has gripped the Murray-Darling Basin since late 2001. It has worsened [...] continue reading world news

Eruption of 3 volcanoes has scientists asking questions

PUZZLE: Is there a common thread or were events just coincidence?How likely is it that three neighboring volcanoes would all erupt at the same time — as the Kasatochi, Okmok and Cleveland volcanoes in the Aleutians did this summer?About as likely as a storm that only appears once in a thousand years, says Anchorage volcanologist [...] continue reading world news

Jury decides that threat of global warming justifies breaking the law

The threat of global warming is so great that campaigners were justified in causing more than £35,000 worth of damage to a coal-fired power station, a jury decided yesterday. In a verdict that will have shocked ministers and energy companies the jury at Maidstone Crown Court cleared six Greenpeace activists of criminal damage.Jurors accepted defence [...] continue reading world news

USDA Cuts US Corn, Soy Estimates; Grain Mkts Up (2nd UPDATE)

(Updates with closing grain prices; additional analyst comments)CHICAGO -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. Department of Agriculture Friday cut its projections for 2008 U.S. corn and soybean production, keeping supplies of the commodities tight and helping lift grain prices.The reduction in crop size, which was the result of poor growing weather in August, could be the start [...] continue reading world news

After Powerful Hurricane, Rescuers Scour Ravaged Areas

HOUSTON - Emergency officials pursued their rescue efforts on Sunday after Hurricane Ike barreled across a wide swath of Texas, deluging the city of Galveston with a wall of water, flooding coastal towns and leaving extensive damage across metropolitan Houston.Across the Gulf Coast, rescue workers scoured waterlogged neighborhoods and struggled to race down streets that [...] continue reading world news

L.A. County sees an upward trend in West Nile infections

The year is shaping up to be the worst in Southern California since 2004.Jack Austin doesn’t remember a mosquito biting him. The 72-year-old Duarte resident also doesn’t remember the nine days he spent in the hospital in July or much of the 20 days he spent in rehab in August, recovering from West Nile neuroinvasive [...] continue reading world news

Controlled drugs dumped uncontrolled into water

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - In a frustrating quirk in government policy, the most tightly controlled drugs - like painkilling narcotics prone to abuse - are the ones that most often elude environmental regulation when they become waste.Federal narcotics regulators impose strict rules meant to keep controlled pharmaceuticals out of the wrong hands. Yet those rules also [...] continue reading world news

FDA Criticized Over Plastic Chemical

Groups Raise Questions About the Safety of Bisphenol AReviewed by Louise Chang, MDSept. 16, 2008 — Researchers and environmental groups attacked the FDA for concluding that a widely used plastic ingredient is safe for humans, saying the agency ignored critical studies showing potential ill health effects.The comments came at a hearing called by the FDA [...] continue reading world news

Video shows shocking farm cruelty to pigs

UNDERCOVER animal activists have filmed horrific scenes of cruelty to farm pigs.The incidents include workers slamming piglets on floors and leaving them still wriggling to die, beating animals to death with metal rods and inserting rods into sows’ hindquarters.Activists from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) posed as workers between June and September [...] continue reading world news

FDA Considers Engineered Animals For Food

Agency Will Accept Industry Proposals To Sell The Public Animals With Mixed DNATwo featherless chickens peck around in some grass at the Hebrew University in Rehovot. Israeli scientists at the Agriculture department of the university have genetically engineered bare-skinned chickens as part of a research project to develop succulent, low fat poultry that is environmentally [...] continue reading world news

Estrogen Flooding Our Rivers

The Montreal water treatment plant dumps 90 times the critical amount of certain estrogen products into the river. It only takes one nanogram (ng) of steroids per liter of water to disrupt the endocrinal system of fish and decrease their fertility.These are the findings of Liza Viglino, postdoctoral student at the Universite de Montreal’s Department [...] continue reading world news

Who Killed The Electric Car?

Documentary about GM killing of the electric car. It has been here since ‘96 but they killed it off.The film features interviews with celebrities who drove the electric car, such as Mel Gibson, Tom Hanks, Alexandra Paul, Peter Horton, Ed Begley, Jr., a bi-partisan selection of prominent political figures including Ralph Nader, Frank Gaffney, Alan [...] continue reading world news

Catastrophic fall in numbers reveals bird populations in crisis throughout the world

Northern WheatearThe birds of the world are in serious trouble, and common species are in now decline all over the globe, a comprehensive new review suggests today.From the turtle doves of Europe to the vultures of India, from the bobwhite quails of the US to the yellow cardinals of Argentina, from [...] continue reading world news

Gas Shortage In the South Creates Panic, Long Lines

If Drivers Can Fill Up, They Get Sticker ShockPeople wait to fill their tanks at a Citgo station in Charlotte, where drivers have reported gas lines 60 cars long after 11 p.m. (By Davie Hinshaw — The Charlotte Observer) Gasoline shortages hit towns across the southeastern United States this week, sparking panic buying, long [...] continue reading world news

Brazilian Government Largest Illegal Logger in the Amazon

BRASILIA, Brazil, September 30, 2008 (ENS) - A Brazilian government agency that provides land to settlers is the largest illegal logger in the Amazon rainforest and could face criminal prosecution, Environment Minister Carlos Minc said Monday. Minc blamed Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform, or Incra, for occupying the top six places on a new [...] continue reading world news

Greening the Desert

Source: YouTube continue reading world news

Mexican Marijuana Cartels Sully US Forests, Parks

Mexican marijuana cartels use pesticides, herbicides that pollute US parks, forest landsA member of Kentucky’s state marijuana strike force cuts down marijuana in rural Breathitt County, Ky. (AP Photo)National forests and parks - long popular with Mexican marijuana-growing cartels - have become home to some of the most polluted pockets of wilderness in America because [...] continue reading world news

With Spotlight on Pirates, Somalis on Land Waste Away in the Shadows

Above, a severely malnourished baby lay unresponsive on Thursday as the mother and father sat nearby in a feeding center in Afgooye, Somalia.AFGOOYE, Somalia - Just step into a feeding center here, and the sense of hopelessness is overwhelming.Dozens of women sit with listless babies in their laps, snapping their fingers, trying to get a [...] continue reading world news

The Next Collapsing Industry: Fishing

Unsustainable practices cost the global fishing industry $50 billion every year, and have wasted some $2 trillion in the last three decades, says a joint report from the World Bank and United Nations.The numbers might not seem like much when compared to the ongoing economic crisis or the cost of deforestation — $1.5 trillion lost [...] continue reading world news

Longest, hottest drought on record, says Bureau of Meteorology

THE long drought affecting southern Australia is officially the worst on record.Bureau of Meteorology head of climate analysis David Jones said the 12-year drought that was devastating southwest Western Australia, southeast South Australia, Victoria and northern Tasmania was “very severe and without historical precedent”.Drought has gripped the Murray-Darling Basin since late 2001. It has worsened [...] continue reading world news

Eruption of 3 volcanoes has scientists asking questions

PUZZLE: Is there a common thread or were events just coincidence?How likely is it that three neighboring volcanoes would all erupt at the same time — as the Kasatochi, Okmok and Cleveland volcanoes in the Aleutians did this summer?About as likely as a storm that only appears once in a thousand years, says Anchorage volcanologist [...] continue reading world news