Environmental Glance
Almost exactly nine months ago on May 22, 2012, I wrote an editorial in the Fort Collins Coloradoan newspaper, Fort Colllins Should Ban Fracking. And yesterday, on Feb. 19, a sharply divided Fort Collins City Council voted 5-2 to ban fracking in the City of Fort Collins.
Nine months ago the conversation around fracking was relatively new in Colorado and few people and environmental groups were directly addressing it. Now, nine months later, very much has changed—fracking is in the news constantly, many environmental groups are engaged in the fight to stop fracking and the issue is escalating wildly throughout the public across the state.
Fort Collins Bans Fracking as Democracy Comes Alive in Colorado
Frac sand mining awakens activism in southeastern Minnesota
Before a big energy corporation threatened to turn the bluff behind her house into a sand mine in early 2011, Amy Nelson’s idea of civic activism was to volunteer at the United Way.
A Ronald Reagan fan and former provost at Southeast Technical College in Red Wing, Nelson now stands on the front lines of an anti-frac sand movement that is spreading rapidly across southeastern Minnesota. She and her fellow “fractivists” plan to rally at the State Capitol Tuesday as the Legislature takes up a set of regulatory proposals in the effort to balance the economic benefits of the burgeoning industry against concerns about air, water and health.
35,000 Protesters Demand Immediate Climate Action At ‘Largest Climate Rally In U.S. History’
On Sunday, an estimated crowd of 35,000 people joined the Forward On Climate rally in Washington, DC, where protesters delivered a clear message to President Obama: Take immediate action on climate change by rejecting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
Organizers of the rally described as the “largest in U.S. history” also called on the president to issue overdue Clean Air Act standards to limit carbon pollution from power plants.
Hanford Nuclear Tank Leaking Radioactive Waste
The long-delayed cleanup of the nation's most contaminated nuclear site became the subject of more bad news Friday, when Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced that a radioactive waste tank there is leaking.
The news raises concerns about the integrity of similar tanks at south-central Washington's Hanford nuclear reservation and puts added pressure on the federal government to resolve construction problems with the plant being built to alleviate environmental and safety risks from the waste.
Watch RFK, Jr.’s Pre-Arrest Speech Calling People to Attend the Biggest Climate Rally in U.S. History
Waterkeeper Alliance President, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., joined a climate protest yesterday outside the White House calling on the Obama Administration to protect our oceans and waterways by rejecting the Keystone XL Pipeline. He was arrested yesterday with his son Conor and 46 others protesting the oil industry and sending a message to Washington that President Obama should stand up against the Keystone XL pipeline.
“It’s unfortunate that civil disobedience is the only recourse against a catastrophic and criminal enterprise that will enrich a few while impoverishing the rest of humanity and threatening the future of civilization,” said Kennedy..
NY town of 9/11 workers wages gas pipeline fight
After four months helping in ground zero recovery post-Sept. 11, New York City Police Officer Nick Russo sought respite by moving with his family to the rolling hills of Orange County, on the northern fringe of the metropolitan area.
The county has gotten a reputation as a haven for generations of retired or commuting police and firefighters from the city; the hamlet of Westtown wears the nickname "Guns & Hoses."
DEP opens investigation of methane in Dimock, PA water well
State environmental regulators are investigating high levels of methane in a Dimock Twp. water well in an area of the community still off-limits to some natural gas drilling operations because of a past methane incident.
The Department of Environmental Protection began the investigation last week after it received a complaint of turbid water in a private well and later found "high levels" of methane dissolved in the water and airborne gas accumulating in the well, spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said.
Tests at four other water wells did not show elevated levels of the gas, she said, but the state plans to continue monitoring.
More Articles...
Page 18 of 149
