coal ash
AmeriScan

AmeriScan: Jan. 31, 2014

EPA Must Finalize Coal Ash Rule in 2014 … Feds Will Cut CO2 Emissions From Apartment Buildings … House Approves Farm Bill, Debate Rages On … Congressman Henry Waxman, Environmental Champion, to Retire … Shell Drops Arctic Drilling Plans for This Year … New Jersey Abbatoir Shuttered for Abuse of Downed Calves … Birders’ Threat to Sue Halts Camp Perry Wind Farm […]

monarch
At Risk

Monarch Butterfly 2013 Migration Smallest on Record

MEXICO CITY, Mexico, January 31, 2014 (ENS) – Monarch butterflies are vanishing from the Monarch Reserve in Mexico’s temperate forest where they spend November through March hibernating after migrating more than 2,500 miles from Canada and the United States. Conservationists are urging all three countries to agree on a joint plan to keep the annual migration from fading into history. […]

fire
At Risk

Tesoro Disaster Prompts Official Call for Refinery Safety Reform

SEATTLE, Washington, January 30, 2014 (ENS) – The April 2010 fatal explosion and fire at the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, Washington was caused by damage to the heat exchanger; the severely cracked and weakened carbon steel tubing then ruptured, killing seven workers, finds a draft report released Wednesday by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. […]

Obama
Gov/Politics

Enviros Criticize Obama’s State of the Union Address

WASHINGTON, DC, January 28, 2014 (ENS) – In his State of the Union Address tonight, President Barack Obama focused on jobs and economic growth. Even his support for cleaner sources of energy to combat climate change was presented as expanding the American economy. But environmentalists were critical of Obama for including fossil fuels in his “all-of-the-above” energy policy. […]

Smart ForTwo
Latest News

Smart ForTwo Electric Rules New “Greenest” Vehicles List

WASHINGTON, DC, January 29, 2014 (ENS) – The nonprofit American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy Tuesday released its 17th annual environmental ratings for vehicles at: greenercars.org. This year, the Smart ForTwo Electric Drive tops the “Greenest” list with a highest-ever score of 59 out of 100, just in time for its U.S. rollout. […]

Jim Yong Kim
Air/Climate

World Bank Head Calls for Carbon Pricing to Rescue Climate

DAVOS, Switzerland, January 27, 2014 (ENS) – At the World Economic Forum in Davos, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim called for a price on carbon, requiring companies to disclose their climate risk exposure, and greater investment in green bonds in the fight against climate change. […]

explosion
At Risk

TransCanada Natural Gas Pipeline Explodes in Manitoba

ST. PIERRE-JOLYS, Manitoba, Canada, January 27, 2014 (ENS) – A TransCanada natural gas pipeline ruptured and exploded early Saturday morning in an isolated area near the town of Otterburne, 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Winnipeg. The pre-dawn pipeline break and resulting explosion sent a massive fireball into the night sky. […]

Etowah River Terminal
AmeriScan

AmeriScan: Jan. 27, 2014

West Virginia Governor Orders Chemical Leak Tank Removed … Court Rejects Chukchi Sea Oil and Gas Lease Sale … U.S. Mayors Plan Energy-Efficient Investments … Keystone XL Contractor, ERM Group, Also OK’d Alaska’s Pebble Mine … $35 Million Helps Conserve Vanishing Coastal Wetlands … Half U.S. Wolf Population Killed in Two Years […]

Steiner, Slewa
Land Use/Forests

UN to Help Iraq With Environmental Restoration

BAGHDAD, Iraq, January 26, 2014 (ENS) – To restore Iraq’s deteriorating environment, the Government of Iraq has signed a landmark cooperation agreement with the UN Environment Programme to speed environmental recovery and support peace-building. […]

Croatia
Land Use/Forests

Crops Eating Into World’s Natural Land Base

DAVOS, Switzerland, January 24, 2014 (ENS) – Lands covering an area the size of Brazil could be degraded by 2050 if conversion of natural lands to crop lands continues, warns a report by the UN Environment Programme, presented at the ongoing World Economic Conference in Davos. […]

confiscated ivory
Latest News

Hong Kong to Incinerate Huge Ivory Stockpile

HONG KONG, China, January 24, 2014 (ENS) – Acting against a centuries-old tradition of carving ivory into religious objects, the Hong Kong government Thursday decided to destroy one of the world’s largest ivory stockpiles as a deterrent to poachers who kill up to 96 elephants a day across Africa. […]

Moniz
Latest News

Sustainable Mobility Wins Big at Washington Auto Show

WASHINGTON, DC, January 24, 2014 (ENS) – Thursday, opening day at the Washington Auto Show, was a feast for friends of sustainable mobility. For starters, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced $50 million in federal government funding for fuel-efficient vehicles. […]

home burning
Land Use/Forests

Kenya Burns Indigenous People Out of Ancestral Lands

NAIROBI, Kenya, January 22, 2014 (ENS) – The Kenyan government has sent Kenya Forest Service guards, with police support, to Embobut Forest in the Cherangany Hills to forcibly and illegally evict thousands of Sengwer indigenous people from their ancestral forest lands and burn their homes and belongings. […]