Colorado Oil and Gas Operations Emitting Far More Benzene, Methane Than Expected
Scientists affiliated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have determined that oil and gas operations on Colorado’s front range are pumping almost three times more methane and seven times more benzene into the air than previously estimated. Benzene is a regulated air toxin that causes cancer and methane is 20 to 25 times more potent than carbon […]
American Sands Energy Corp. To Become Third Company to Mine Tar Sands in Utah
U.S. Oil Sands and MCW Enterprises, move over. Yet another company is poised to start grinding up and spitting out eastern Utah’s wilderness for its tar sands. Until now, the biggest threat to eastern Utah’s wilderness has been the Canadian company U.S. Oil Sands, which amid protests in 2013 succeeded in starting a strip […]
Republican Senator Inhofe Dismisses Top US Military Strategists on Climate Change Concerns
Republican Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), is dismissing a report out yesterday on the human security threats of climate change, authored by 11 three and four-star US Admirals and Generals, saying the group is desperate for “publicity.” The report, National Security and the Threat of Climate Change, issued by the non-profit group CNA Corporation, concludes that: ~ Projected […]
Marco Rubio Wants To Let The Planet Burn
Republican Senator Marco Rubio isn’t convinced that human beings are responsible for climate change. But don’t get him wrong. Marco Rubio firmly believes that climate change is happening. In fact, as he said in two separate interviews this past week, the climate “is always changing.” Rubio, who represents the climate change-imperiled state of Florida in […]
Pressure Grows on EPA to Regulate Toxic Air Pollution from Oil and Gas Industry
On Tuesday, 64 environmental groups, representing over 1 million members and supporters, submitted a legal petition to the Environmental Protection Agency, calling on the federal government to more closely regulate toxic air pollution from oil and gas drilling sites. “Continued, uncontrolled toxic pollution from oil and gas production creates serious health threats in metropolitan areas across […]
Is Hector the Lump of Coal The World's Most Inappropriate Mascot For Kids?
With his thumbs pointing almost permanently skywards, the copyrighted mascot Hector the Lump of Coal wants to talk to kids about the arts, dental hygiene, bullying, sun safety and pretty much anything else the PR people at one of the world’s biggest coal export facilities can think of. In one segment of his own mini-TV series, […]
Scientists Fear Massive Sea Level Rise from "Unstoppable" Melt of West Antarctica Ice Sheet
Two new academic studies released Monday reveal that the crucial West Antarctic ice sheet is now melting, a seemingly unstoppable disaster that could eventually trigger sea levels to rise by more than 14 feet (4.3 metres). The studies could finally make politicians rethink how climate change is affecting humankind and how society is going to deal […]
"No Turning Back:" Mexico's Looming Fracking and Offshore Oil and Gas Bonanza
After generations of state control, Mexico’s vast oil and gas reserves will soon open for business to the international market. In December 2013, Mexico’s Congress voted to break up the longstanding monopoly held by the state-owned oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos — commonly called Pemex — and to open the nation’s oil and gas reserves to foreign companies. The constitutional […]
Seismologists Warn Fracking Boom Can Lead to More Earthquakes
Seismologists are warning that disposing of fracking wastewater by injecting it into underground rock formations may pose a far greater risk of setting off dangerous earthquakes than formerly believed. At the 2014 annual meeting of the Seismological Society of America in Anchorage, Alaska, scientists presented new evidence indicating wastewater injection wells can affect earthquake faults located miles away […]
New Study Links California Drought to Climate Change and Burning of Fossil Fuels
California, widely considered the U.S. state that most promoted the American Dream, may turn into a nightmare this summer as a result of the worst drought in at least 15 years. And a new academic study suggests there may be a direct connection between the persistent drought and climate change caused by burning fossil fuels. The study […]