"Indonesia's forest fires, which this year sent vast plumes of smoke across the region described by climate officials as a 'crime against humanity', could return as early as February, the forestry minister said on Friday, but on not such a large scale."
"Waterkeeper Alliance surveyed 250 bridges used by trains carrying volatile crude oil; there are more than 100K in the US".
Reporters trying to get information from federal agencies find press offices stonewalling and running out the clock on their interview requests. "The public information model," one agency flak said, "is dead." The result: the public is uninformed, the government is unaccountable, and people's health is endangered.
SEJ Members: Most of you have been aware of our efforts to lodge your complaints about agency press office interference with news media access to scientists and officials. With over 50 other journalism groups, SEJ and its WatchDog Project have complained about it to the White House of President Obama, who promised his would be the "most transparent" administration ever. Now journalism groups have landed a December 15 meeting with Press Secretary Josh Earnest to discuss these issues. Here is a communication from the coalition's leaders.
"With the help of 20 years’ worth of research and thousands of prehistoric shards of pottery, a large group of scientists have presented evidence that the deep relationship between humans and honeybees is far older than we thought — giving us just one more reason to care about the conservation of a species that we’ve relied on for thousands of years."
"Mexican copper miner, smelter, and refiner ASARCO must pay more than $163 million to settle U.S. government charges that the company broken the law by releasing hazardous air pollutants, including lead and arsenic, from its primary copper smelter in Hayden, Arizona."
"The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on Thursday said glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto weedkiller Roundup, was unlikely to cause cancer in humans, but it proposed new controls on any residues in food."
"SALMON, Idaho -- Native American tribes on Wednesday called for the U.S. government to halt plans to strip grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone of Endangered Species Act protection because it would open the way for trophy hunting in Idaho and two other states bordering the national park."
"The City of Montreal says the controversial process of dumping eight billion litres of raw sewage into the St. Lawrence River went off without a hitch as it got under way on Wednesday."
"PARIS -- Any global climate change deal reached in Paris next month will be legally binding and have a concrete impact, France's foreign minister said on Thursday, reacting to U.S. comments that questioned the status of the accord."
