'It’s the New Wild West': Alaskans Leery As B.C. Pushes For 10 Mines in Transboundary Salmon Watersheds
Long-held perceptions of Canada as a country with strict environmental standards and B.C. as a province that values natural beauty are taking a near-fatal beating in Southeast Alaska, where many now regard Canadians as bad neighbours who are unilaterally making decisions that could threaten the region’s two major economic drivers. Fishing and tourism — each billion-dollar […]
Shell’s Renewed Arctic Drilling Campaign Faces Yet Another Setback As Key Ship Forced Back To Port
Is Shell finally “Arctic Ready” after its doomed 2012 campaign? The company is set to begin drilling in the Arctic within the week, and it’s already not looking good. The MSV Fennica, an icebreaker vessel bound for the Chukchi Sea, had barely left its berth in Dutch Harbor, Alaska last Friday when it had to […]
Are the Koch Brothers Trying to Influence TTIP Negotiations?
The latest release of lobbying data on the European Commission’s Transparency Register has raised concerns that the fossil-fuelled Kochs are trying to influence the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. Digging through the data, DeSmog UK found that the European arm of Koch Industry’s legal, lobbying and public affairs branch – known as Koch Companies […]
Minority, Low-Income Communities Bear Disproportionate Share Of Risk From Oil Trains In California
People of color and low-income communities are bearing a disproportionate burden of risk from dangerous oil trains rolling through California, according to a new report by ForestEthics and Communities for a Better Environment. Called “Crude Injustice On The Rails,” the report found that 80 percent of the 5.5 million Californians with homes in the oil […]
Which Advanced Country Has the Most Climate Sceptics? Hint: It's Not the United States
It’s not necessarily a competition you should be particularly keen to win, but which country in the world has the most climate change “sceptics”? Most people would probably hazard a guess at the United States, what with its preponderance of climate science denialist think tanks, conservative television and radio hosts and politicians who think it’s all […]
That Time When Lord Lawson Talked Climate Change in a US Senate Committee Hearing
This DeSmog UK epic history post follows climate denier Lord Lawson as he travels to the United States to brief a senate committee on the economics of climate change. In his sunset years, Lord Nigel Lawson had managed to clamber back onto the world’s political stage. Two months before the House of Lords’ Economic Affairs Committee inquiry […]
Beer Brawl Ensues Over Threat to Shut Down Colorado Coal Mine
Bars, liquor stores and restaurants in the small northwest coal mining town of Craig, Colorado have started boycotting craft beers made by Colorado microbreweries that have donated even tiny amounts of cash or in-kind gifts to environmental and sustainability causes. The boycott started after a Craig bar owner found out that New Belgium Ales, […]
Blocking the Bomb Trains: Nationwide Protests On Lac-Megantic Anniversary
“It’s corporate greed versus the common good, whether it’s rail safety or climate change.” Those were the words of Lowen Berman, a Portland activist involved in a blockade of oil train tracks to mark the second anniversary of the Lac-Megantic oil train disaster. Berman and 60 other activists protested in Portland today as part of a national […]
The Yes Men Are Revolting, How About You?
In the third movie from the prankster activists, The Yes Men, made up of Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum, they set their sights on what they see as the biggest issue facing the world today — climate change. However, unlike their first two films, they also turn the cameras on themselves and one of the main […]
Enbridge Stuffs Provision into Wisconsin Budget to Expedite Controversial Piece of "Keystone XL Clone"
On Thursday, July 3 on the eve of a long Fourth of July holiday weekend, Canadian pipeline company giant Enbridge landed a sweetheart deal: a provision in the 2015 Wisconsin Budget that will serve to expedite permitting for its controversial proposed Line 61 tar sands pipeline expansion project. Line 61 cuts diagonally across Wisconsin and goes […]