European Activists Protest First Major Tar Sands Shipment from Canada, Threaten Escalating Actions
Protests erupted in Spain last week at the site of the first major delivery of tar sands crude imported from Canada via the United States. According to a news report by EurActiv.com, an online news service focused on EU affairs, 600,000 barrels of Western Canada Select (WCS) crude were due to arrive at the port of Bilbao, […]
Climate Sceptic Roger Helmer Hopes to Be First MP From UK Independence Party
This is a guest post by Andy Rowell, originally published at Oil Change International. The three main British political parties are still reeling from the success of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) at the recent local European elections. For the first time ever, the anti-EU party, UKIP topped the British poll, recording 27.5% of […]
Days Before Obama Announced CO2 Rule, Exxon Awarded Gulf of Mexico Oil Leases
On Friday May 30, just a few days before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced details of its carbon rule proposal, the Obama Administration awarded offshore oil leases to ExxonMobil in an area of the Gulf of Mexico potentially containing over 172 million barrels of oil. The U.S. Department of Interior‘s (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) proclaimed in […]
Breaking: TransCanada Shuts Down Southern Leg of Keystone XL Pipeline, Raising “Suspicions”
TransCanada shut down the southern leg of the Keystone XL (now called the Gulf Coast Pipeline Project) on June 2 for “routine work,” according to Reuters. “Pipelines aren’t normally shut down for maintenance shortly after being started up. They may have planned it but something is wrong,” an industry insider told DeSmogBlog. “A two day shutdown on a […]
Obama’s New Climate Plan Leaves Canada in the Dust
In the ongoing battle to win approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, Canada has repeatedly justified its climate inaction by pointing to the fact that it shares similar emission reductions targets to the U.S. In August of last year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper even wrote a letter to President Barack Obama inviting “joint action to […]
Questions Raised About Integrity of Keystone XL's Southern Route After Conditions Added for Northern Leg
The Keystone XL pipeline’s southern route passes under Eleanor Fairchild’s Texas property, so she got angry when she learned that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has added two new conditions to the 57 already required for construction of the pipeline’s northern route. “My fears were confirmed,” Fairchild told DeSmogBlog. “The regulators knew the […]
Americans More Worried About Global Warming Than Climate Change: Yale Study
Scientists, politicians, environmentalists and journalists have long been stymied by the difficult task of engaging people so that they will agree to begin curbing toxic greenhouse gas emissions. Some people deny — out of fear or vested interests — that there are increased levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, some say if there is a […]
Earthjustice to Defend Right of Dryden, NY, to Ban Fracking Within Town Limits
On June 3rd, lawyers from Earthjustice will argue to New York’s highest court that the town board of Dryden, NY, has the right to ban fracking within its borders. Gas company Norse Energy has sued the Town of Dryden to try to negate its town council’s 2011 unanimous vote to ban fracking. Dryden’s decision has […]
Loopholes Enable Industry to Evade Rules on Dumping Radioactive Fracking Waste
As the drilling rush proceeds at a fast pace in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale, nearby states have confronted a steady flow of toxic waste produced by the industry. One of Pennsylvania’s most active drilling companies, Range Resources, attempted on Tuesday to quietly ship tons of radioactive sludge, rejected by a local landfill, to one in nearby […]
How Your Town Can Ban Fracking: A Q&A with Goldman Prize Winner Helen Slottje
Helen Slottje has redrawn the map of fracking in upstate New York. Since 2010, Slottje and her husband David, both attorneys, have battled to keep fracking out of New York communities using local zoning laws. Since pioneering this novel legal strategy in the town of Ulysses, near their home town of Ithaca, the Slottjes have […]