"You Need Phosphorus to Live—and We're Running Out"
"Industrial farming has played a part in sucking this critical element out of our soil."
Source: Mother Jones, 05/27/2013
Natural Resources
"Arctic Council Prioritizes Sustainable Development, Climate Action"
"KIRUNA, Sweden -- Ministers from the eight Arctic states and representatives of the Arctic Indigenous Peoples Wednesday adopted a shared vision statement for the future development of the region as a 'zone of peace and stability.'"
Source: ENS, 05/17/2013
"China Granted Observer Seat on Arctic Governing Council"
"The Arctic Council agreed on Wednesday to admit emerging powers China and India as observers, reflecting growing global interest in the trade and energy potential of the planet's Far North."
Source: Reuters, 05/16/2013
"Alaska Mine Would Damage Streams and Wetlands: EPA Report"
"Digging a large mine in southwest Alaska would inflict widespread ecological damage, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a report on Friday that could hurt the chances of a proposed project in that region winning regulatory approval."
Source: Reuters, 04/29/2013
"Demand For Metals Likely To Increase Tenfold, Study Says"
"Demand for metals is likely to increase tenfold as developing economies surge ahead, putting severe stress on the natural environment, a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has warned."
Source: Guardian, 04/25/2013
Toolbox: Database Helps Track Broken Promises on Parkland Conservation
Seattle-based InvestigateWest published a feature package last summer documenting illegal parkland conversions in Michigan, New York City, and Oklahoma. They could not cover all the other states — that was left for you to do, with the assistance of their database of some 40,000 federal grants under the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
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Coal: Appeals Court OKs EPA Retroactive Veto of Clean Water Act Permit
"A federal appeals court ruled today that U.S. EPA's 2011 retroactive veto of a major West Virginia mountaintop-removal mining project was legal."
Source: Greenwire, 04/24/2013
Broken Promise: Database Helps Track Illegal Parkland Conversions
InvestigateWest's Robert McClure and Jason Alcorn explain how to spin the local angle about how parks built or improved with money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund are increasingly being illegally privatized or converted to something other than parks — including sharing their searchable database of almost 40,000 park grants.
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SEJournal Spring 2013, Vol. 23 No. 1
In this issue: Special report on energy and climate change; first installment of new column 'Freelance Files' on goal setting; database helps track illegal parkland conversions; members cover sprawl, science and chickens; annual Sundance Film Festival report; and six book reviews.
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"More Strip-Mine Dust Controls Needed, Researchers Say"
"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Coal operators can and should take more aggressive steps to reduce dust emissions from blasting and heavy equipment at mountaintop removal mines, according to new studies released this week as part of a controversial industry-funded research project."
Source: Charleston Gazette, 04/19/2013
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