"China, the world’s largest carbon emitter, has been dramatically underreporting the amount of coal it consumes each year, it has been claimed ahead of key climate talks in Paris."
"For years, the company operating oil wells in New Mexico’s Aztec National Monument was exempt from being regulated by the National Park Service, which manages the site to protect ancient Pueblo structures. As a result, a dirt access road to one of the wells runs directly over buried ruins. A park archeologist once watched as a grader resurfacing the deeply rutted road exposed archeological remnants."
"Shell has failed to fulfill its legal obligations to clear up oil spills that it has caused in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region, Amnesty International said on Tuesday."
"Aid flights rushed food and tents to the Yemeni island of Socotra, local officials said on Wednesday, after it was hit by a rare cyclone the United Nations said has displaced 40,000 people there and on the mainland."
"The Senate voted Tuesday to advance a measure to block the Obama administration’s new regulation asserting federal authority over small waterways." But if the measure ever reaches President Obama's desk, he is likely to veto it, and the Senate seems unable to override a veto.
"President Obama [Tuesday] ordered five federal agencies to streamline regulations for offsetting environmental harm and to promote independent mitigation efforts."
EPA's conclusion that glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup (and the most widely used herbicide in the world) was not an endocrine disruptor was based largely on studies conducted by Monsanto. Independent studies found more health-related problems with glyphosate. Most pesticide registrations rely primarily on health studies paid for by companies.
"The White House on Tuesday said President Obama had no intention of bowing to a request from the company behind the Keystone XL oil pipeline to delay a decision on the project, saying he wanted to take action before his tenure ends."
SEJ member Francis Koster offers a slide show illustrating how most reporters are not using up-to-date information on leaking methane and its impact on climate change. Image: Phillips, N.G., et al., Mapping urban pipeline leaks: Methane leaks across Boston, Environmental Pollution Journal (2012).
"A stubborn forest fire in the Brazilian Amazon is threatening to consume the forest home of one of the last remaining uncontacted tribes on Earth – the awá-Awá."
