Rail CEOs to Investors: "Bomb Trains" Safe At Almost Any Speed
Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) recently said it would proceed with plans to increase speeds for oil-by-rail unit trains in Devil’s Lake, N.D. to 60 MPH from 30 MPH, despite opposition from local officials. BNSF’s announcement came merely a week after the Obama Administration announced its proposed regulations for trains carrying oil obtained via hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) from North […]
Oil Industry Study Claiming Bakken Crude Safe Contains Whopper of a Disclaimer
On December 30, 2013, a train carrying Bakken crude oil crashed in Casselton, North Dakota resulting in a massive explosion. In January of 2014, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) released their preliminary testing results stating that Bakken crude from North Dakota was more explosive than other crude oils. PHMSA is a part of the Department of […]
Camp Do Nuttin' Video by Mark Fiore Slams Lazy Congress
Mark Fiore perfectly sums up the summer recess plans of the 113th Congress in Camp Do Nuttin’. Watch below. Fiore explains on Daily Kos: House Republicans seem to have created an activist PR agency rather than a functioning legislative body. Why worry about funding the government past September 30th when you can sue the president? Border […]
Fossil Fuels Raising Mercury Levels in Oceans: Study
An alarming new study has found that human activities mostly associated with burning fossil fuels has resulted in a massive increase in the levels of toxic mercury in the world’s oceans. Published last week in the prestigious international journal Nature, the study, A global ocean inventory of anthropogenic mercury based on water column measurements, revealed that levels of […]
Evangeline Lilly: It’s My Job To Stand Up For Canadian Scientists
You may know the Canadian actress for her tough-girl roles in Lost or The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. But Evangeline Lilly has a battle – besides those with orcs and island smoke monsters – to fight: the battle for Canada’s scientists. Lilly first heard about the defunding and muzzling of Canada’s federal scientists when she […]
Regulators Ignore One Proven Way to Eliminate Bakken Bomb Trains: Oil Stabilization
On the same day that the Obama administration released long-awaited new safety regulations for the oil-by-rail industry, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) released another report with their testing results for Bakken crude oil. The conclusion reached by PHMSA is that Bakken crude oil “is more volatile than most other types of crude.” […]
Green Billionaires Club? David Vitter Owns Stock in Coal Utilities Fighting EPA Carbon Rules
On July 30, the Republican minority of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, headed by Sen. David Vitter, released a report titled “The Chain of Environmental Command: How a Club of Billionaires and Their Foundations Control the Environmental Movement and Obama’s EPA.” Critics of the report say it is propaganda designed to skewer the Obama EPA and […]
Four Years Later, Systemic Failures That Led To Gas Pipeline Explosion Revealed
Last Monday, the mayor of San Bruno stood on the steps of the California Public Utilities Commission offices in San Francisco and called for a complete overhaul of the state agency, including the firing of key CPUC officials. The next day, a federal grand jury indicted PG&E on charges related to its handling of the 2010 natural gas […]
NRDC Action Fund Working To Hold Climate Change Deniers Accountable
Before members of Congress departed Washington, D.C. for their month-long August recess, senators attempted one final vote on a resolution that did nothing more than state that the Senate accepts the science on climate change. Noted science-denying Republican James Inhofe blocked the resolution, which required a unanimous vote by Senators in order to pass. Thus, the […]
Michael Mann's Opponents In Hockey Stick Defamation Case Regurgitate Half-Truths In New Court Filing
Put up your hand if you’ve been a follower of news about climate change in recent years and haven’t heard of the “hockey stick” graph. Nobody? No, didn’t think so. These graphs get their name because of their shape. They are reconstructions of the temperatures on Earth over several centuries to several millennia and they all have a […]