Supreme Court Will Not Reopen Case That Closed Air Pollution Loophole

Supreme Court Will Not Reopen Case That Closed Air Pollution Loophole

WASHINGTON, DC, March 9, 2010 (ENS) - The Supreme Court today sided with environmental advocates by declining to review a lower court ruling that forbid the U.S. EPA to exempt industrial polluters from regular emissions standards during "startup, shutdown and malfunction" events.

Congress Proposes to Suspend EPA's Greenhouse Gas Regulatory Power

Congress Proposes to Suspend EPA's Greenhouse Gas Regulatory Power

WASHINGTON, DC, March 8, 2010 (ENS) - Senator Jay Rockefeller has introduced legislation to impose a two-year moratorium on the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate greenhouse gases from power plants and other stationary emitters.

The bill is the latest salvo in the battle over which branch of government will control greenhouse gases - the legislative branch through a clean energy and climate bill, or the executive branch by EPA regulation.

New Study Asserts Gender-Bending Effect of Popular Pesticide

New Study Asserts Gender-Bending Effect of Popular Pesticide

A new study shows that astrazine, a common pesticide, could be desrupting hormone levels in animals -- and possibly humans.
Frogs in the midwest were found to be feminized by groundwater contamination

Atrazine, a weed killer commonly used in the Midwest to combat broadleaf pest plants that ail crops, has been found to cause severe hormone imbalances in laboratory animals. The pesticide, which is a known endocrine disruptor, is the most activley detected pesticide in USGS ground and surface water studies. While the chemical is banned in the European Union, its use in the United States makes it one of the most commonly used pesticides in the world.

Obama's Homestar Plan Would Pay for Home Energy Efficiency Retrofits

Obama's Homestar Plan Would Pay for Home Energy Efficiency Retrofits

SAVANNAH, Georgia, March 3, 2010 (ENS) - President Barack Obama has outlined the details of a new "Homestar" program that would help create jobs by encouraging American families to invest in energy saving home improvements. The President spoke of the new program Tuesday while touring a training facility at Savannah Technical College.

The Obama administration expects the Homestar program to create tens of thousands of jobs while saving the equivalent of the entire output of three coal-fired power plants each year.

British Hearing Leaves Climategate Professor Shaking

British Hearing Leaves Climategate Professor Shaking

Phil Jones, the climate scientist at the epicenter of "Climategate," was shaken by the first public inquiry by British lawmakers and investigators.
House of Commons

British officials and lawmakers carried out the first hearing against climate scientist Phil Jones yesterday over uncertainties in his research results made public by leaked emails now known as "Climategate." Simon Hoggart of The Guardian described Jones as "taut, nervous, often miserable. Often his hands shook." Investigators say they avoided some of the most piercing, some say most critical, questions intentionally due to Jones' frail mental state. Since the scandal erupted last November, Jones has become the subject of scrutiny, scorn, and death threats.

It's Official: U.S. Senators Abandon Cap and Trade

It's Official: U.S. Senators Abandon Cap and Trade

Senators working on the latest revision of the Senate Climate Change Bill unveiled that they would be abandoning cap and trade and focusing on more widely accepted pollutants.

"Cap and Trade is dead," said Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) last weekend. Graham, working in a bipartisan effort with Senator John Kerry (D-Mass) and Joe Lieberman (I-Con) confirmed that the group would be abandoning cap and trade in their last effort to pass a climate bill before the midterm election. The new bill will not put a price on carbon emissions with a carbon market or a carbon tax. Rather, the new legislation will ratchet down caps on widely accepted pollutants from power plants and factories, and possibly increase taxes on gasoline.

Pennsylvania's Starts Green Energy Revolving Loan Fund With $48 Million

Pennsylvania's Starts Green Energy Revolving Loan Fund With $48 Million

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, February 26, 2010 (ENS) - Pennsylvania's new $48 million Green Energy Revolving Loan Fund will supply capital for developing cost effective, energy-saving and renewable energy projects in existing, non-residential buildings throughout the state.

Made possible through economic stimulus funding, these projects must cut an entire facility's energy consumption by at least 25 percent or develop and install technologies that produce electricity from renewable resources.

Three Major US Corporations Quit Pro-Climate Lobby

Three Major US Corporations Quit Pro-Climate Lobby

Three major US corporations quit one of the most influential climate lobbies due to dissatisfaction with the anticipated effect of pending climate legislation.
Capitol Hill

Three major groups in America's pro-climate bill lobby announced their exit due to their opposition to the current direction of the Congressional plan to cap greenhouse gasses. BP America, Caterpillar, and ConocoPhillips announced their defection from the climate lobby simultaneously; a move that may undermine Obama's attempts to portray cap-and-trade as a pro-business plan that creates jobs.

Antarctic Whaling Conflict Leads to Injuries, Arrests

Antarctic Whaling Conflict Leads to Injuries, Arrests

Confrontations continue as Sea Shepherd hounds the Japanese whaling fleet in the Antarctic Ocean.
A Sea Shepherd activist makes a rude gesture at Japanese whalers

The Japanese government reported that three crewmen were injured when members of the anti-whaling activist group Sea Shepherd struck them in the face or head with butyric acid stink bombs. Sea Shepherd stated that the aggression originated from the Japanese vessel when they turned their water cannons on the activists as they tried to lay propeller-snarling cables in the path of the whaling ship. Sea Shepherd activist Locky Maclean said that the acid in the stink bombs is "a harmless liquid. You can handle it, it's not corrosive." Sea Shepherd later denied that they caused any injuries.

Top US Scientist: Farming Must Embrace GMO

Top US Scientist: Farming Must Embrace GMO

The top scientist to the Secretary of State released findings from a special research group that point to genetically modified crops as a key tool to fight hunger.
Soybeans

Nina Fedoroff, the chief scientist of Secretary of State Clinton, has come forward with new research advocating the expansion of genetically modified organisms in farming.