Corporate lobby groups? Yeah, they can read it. Big campaign donors? They can read it, too. But can the news media and U.S. public read it? — No way! That would be un-American. Welcome to the secretly negotiated trade treaty known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Reporters scrambling to inform the 300,000 citizens of Charleston, West Virginia, about why they could not drink their tap water, what health threats it presented, and who was responsible faced a stone wall from most of the responsible government agencies in the early days of the crisis.
"The Perry nuclear power plant is leaking tritium, a radioactive form of water with a half-life of more than 12 years. The radioactive water has been found in groundwater at concentrations more than twice the
federal drinking water limit outside of a building where the leak was discovered Monday. No other, more dangerous radioactive isotopes were found." John Funk reports for the Cleveland Plain Dealer January 21,
2014.
Caroline Kennedy, the US ambassador to Japan, tweeted that she was "deeply concerned" about the killing of dolphins in the notorious Taiji cove in that country.
"A propane shortage in the Midwest is raising concerns about residents who rely on the fuel for heating. The propane shortage has prompted a state of emergency in Ohio, as bitterly cold weather descends on the Midwest."
"A group of business leaders, energy experts and former government leaders believes that the Obama administration could tackle climate change by taking measures that do not require congressional approval, according to a report released on Tuesday."
"The average temperature of Earth maintained its warming trend in 2013, despite seasonal and regional variations that included a shrinking ice cap in the Arctic and a massively growing one in the southern hemisphere, U.S. scientists said on Tuesday."
"Yellowstone National Park managers have rejected a plan to use air rifles to shoot the nation's last herd of purebred bison with so-called biobullets containing a vaccine against a cattle disease, in a decision that has riled the U.S. livestock industry."
"There are more than a thousand species of sharks and rays in the world, and nearly a quarter of them are threatened with extinction, according to a new study. That means these ancient types of fish are among the most endangered animals in the world."
