Mardi Gras: Beads, Bands…And BP Oil
More than one million tourists have flocked to the South for Mardi Gras, and hundreds of thousands of those revelers have settled in for a few days along the Gulf Coast. Those who decided to enjoy the festivities along the Gulf of Mexico might be in for something they didn’t expect: oil tar mats. On Thursday […]
Los Angeles Becomes Largest City to Approve Fracking Moratorium
Fracking for oil and gas will not be happening in Los Angeles any time soon after City Council members unanimously voted to ban the practice within city limits today. The vote passes the motion to the City Attorney’s office where it will be rewritten as a zoning ordinance before returning to City Council for a final […]
Denton, Texas Citizens Group Fights For Fracking Ban
Maile Bush’s three-bedroom home is sandwiched between two EagleRidge Energy fracking sites in Denton, Texas. Towering temporary walls block her view of the frack sites, but nothing can stop the noise, lights and fumes from infiltrating her property. Bush’s formerly safe, quiet suburban neighborhood is now a dangerous industrial zone. Last October, when she learned […]
New Global Study Finds Canada Lagging Behind China on Climate Change Legislation
A frequently used talking point from Prime Minister Stephen Harper is that Canada will only tackle the issue of climate change if countries like China agree to take action as well. Looks like that time has come. A new study released this week that examines nearly 500 pieces of legislation in 66 countries finds Canada lags behind […]
Bureaucrat Ducks Vital Question on Flawed DOT-111 Tank Cars at Oil By Rail Safety Hearing
On Wednesday February 26th, the long-awaited congressional hearing on oil-by-rail safety finally occurred. The main portion of the hearing featured representatives from the relevant government agencies as well as industry, such as the American Petroleum Institute’s President and CEO, Jack Gerard. For those following crude-by-rail safety, there are several pressing issues, but the one question […]
WHITEWASH: State Dept Keystone XL Inspector General Report Clears Botched Handling of Environmental Resources Management Conflicts
The State Department’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has finally weighed in on potential conflicts of interest in the environmental assessments of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Sort of. The office just released its long-anticipated report, capping off an investigation on whether Environmental Resources Management, the contractor hired by TransCanada to conduct the environmental impact […]
Keystone PipeLIES Exposed: New Film from Center for Media and Democracy
On Tuesday, the Center for Media and Democracy released a new short film that sets out to debunk the many false claims — the films calls them “pipeLIES” — used by promoters of the Keystone XL pipeline. These industry talking points, many of which are repeated without verification by mainstream media sources, have corrupted any […]
Top 5 Reasons Why Geothermal Power is Nowhere in Canada
Canada has no commercial geothermal power plants, despite having abundant potential and, ironically, Canadian energy companies running geothermal power plants around the world. Canada’s west coast forms part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a giant horseshoe of active volcanoes and earthquake zones stretching from New Zealand all the way around Alaska to the bottom of […]
Triple Divide: Interview with Mark Ruffalo on Fracking Documentary
“Triple Divide” is a timely cautionary documentary about the fracking industry in Pennsylvania. Clean water is the star of this film. The toxic impact of the fracking industry is the villain. The film is a PublicHerald.org production, co-directed by journalists Joshua Pribanic and Melissa Troutman, and it features actor Mark Ruffalo as one of the narrators. Mark Ruffalo […]
Past Time to Close Loophole That Exempts Oil by Rail Companies from Spill Response Planning
In 2013, with the rapid expansion in the use of rail to transport crude oil, we learned that there was a huge increase in the the amount of oil spilled as a result of rail incidents. Just two weeks ago, a train derailed near Pittsburg and spilled 4,000 gallons. More than 1.15 million gallons […]