Environmental Politics

"Clashes in northern Peru between police and demonstrators opposing a multi-million dollar gold mining project have left at least three people dead."

"Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government has been weakening Canada’s environmental regulations and slashing funds for oversight and research — all while promoting aggressive resource development. Critics warn these unprecedented actions pose a major threat to the nation’s vast natural heritage."

"Lawmakers in North Carolina, which has a long Atlantic Ocean coastline and vast areas of low-lying land, voted on Tuesday to ignore studies predicting a rapid rise in sea level due to climate change and postpone planning for the consequences."

"Bets Thorkelson's opposition to 3M Co.'s hazardous waste incinerator began in the mid-1990s, when she learned that four moms of boys on her sons' hockey team had breast cancer."

"A U.S. Navy oiler slipped away from a fuel depot on the Puget Sound in Washington state one recent day, headed toward the central Pacific and into the storm over the Pentagon's controversial green fuels initiative."

"Republicans successfully overrode [NC] Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto of a fracking bill during a dramatic vote taken just after 11 p.m. Monday."

"Now that he survived his recall election, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is lending his support to an upcoming fundraiser for the Heartland Institute, a climate-denying think-tank."

"The State University of New York at Buffalo has rebuffed calls for an investigation of the work of a new institute it founded that is devoted to the study of shale gas drilling, saying it is defending the freedom of faculty members to conduct research."

"The Obama administration's Bureau of Land Management auctioned a major tract of Wyoming coal to Peabody Energy at a bargain-basement price of $1.10 per ton yesterday."

"Congress passed a transportation bill Friday worth over $100 billion, sending the bill to the president’s desk after months of brinksmanship."

"The massive majorities by which the package passed — 373-52 in the House and 74-19 in the Senate – do not capture the weeks of wrangling ahead of the votes.

The bill was in doubt until the last minute, with current transportation policy set to expire. The bill also capped federal student loan interest rates, which were expected to jump on Sunday. And it extended federal flood insurance programs."