News Editor | Environment News Service (ENS)

U.S. Congress Blocks World Bank Move to Slash Safeguards

January 9, 2015 News Editor Comments Off

WASHINGTON, DC, January 8, 2015 (ENS) – Environmental and social justice groups in the United States and around the world are applauding a provision of the 2015 Omnibus Appropriations Act, passed by the U.S. Congress just before the Christmas recess. It requires the U.S. Treasury Department to oppose any World Bank policy that provides less protection for the environment or for human rights than the bank’s current safeguards. […]

Toyota Opens Hydrogen Fuel Cell Patents Royalty Free

January 6, 2015 News Editor Comments Off

LAS VEGAS, Nevada, January 6, 2015 (ENS) – Toyota is “opening the door to the hydrogen future,” offering to share nearly 6,000 hydrogen fuel cell patents with other automakers – royalty free. Bob Carter, senior vice president of Automotive Operations at Toyota Motor Sales, USA Inc. announced the offer Monday at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. […]

From Finland: Green Winter Tires for Electric Cars

January 5, 2015 News Editor Comments Off

NOKIA, Finland, January 5, 2015 (ENS) – A winter tire designed for BMW’s i3 electric car goes on sale this month, designed and manufactured by Finnish tiremaker Nokian. Known for its winter tires, Nokian operates the world’s only permanent winter tire testing facility. […]

Ship Collision Spills Tonnes of Oil in Singapore Strait

January 3, 2015 News Editor Comments Off

SINGAPORE, January 3, 2015 (ENS) – A collision Friday between an oil tanker and a bulk carrier at the eastern end of the Strait of Singapore, where it meets the South China Sea, has spilled thousands of tons of crude oil, threatening white sand beaches and endangered sea turtles in Indonesia. […]

Single Hull Oil Tankers Barred From U.S. Waters

January 2, 2015 News Editor Comments Off

WASHINGTON, DC, January 2, 2015 (ENS) – As of January 1, 2015 single-hull oil tankers are no longer allowed in U.S. waters. The single-hull tankers are forbidden under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, passed after the disastrous 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska. […]

Flashpoint Issue 2015: Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline

December 29, 2014 News Editor Comments Off

WASHINGTON, DC, December 29, 2014 (ENS) – A renewed battle over the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is shaping up for the new year. The Republicans, who favor the Alberta-Gulf Coast pipeline for jobs and energy security, will have a majority in both houses of Congress. Environmentalists say stopping the pipeline is key to fighting climate change. […]

Ebola Takes No Holiday

December 24, 2014 News Editor Comments Off

MONROVIA, Liberia, December 24, 2014 (ENS) – Christmas will be “like any other working day” for UN humanitarian worker Chris Huddart, who, like thousands across West Africa, is spending the holiday responding to the Ebola outbreak. […]

AmeriScan: December 22, 2014

December 22, 2014 News Editor Comments Off

XTO Energy Must Restore Areas Damaged by Fracking … Savannah River Site Nuclear Waste Tanks to Be Closed … Kentucky Approves Big Solar Project … Protections Reinstated for Western Great Lakes Gray Wolves … Wind Farms Utility Sentenced for Golden Eagle Deaths … Corals Show Link Between Pacific Winds, Global Climate […]

First U.S. Coal Ash Rule Disappoints Environmental Groups

December 20, 2014 News Editor Comments Off

WASHINGTON, DC, December 20, 2104 (ENS) – The first national regulations to provide for the safe disposal of the ash left after burning coal to produce electricity were announced Friday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. […]

EU Traffic Noise Causes 10,000 Premature Deaths a Year

December 19, 2014 News Editor Comments Off

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, December 19, 2014 (ENS) – More than 125 million Europeans could be exposed to levels of road traffic noise above legal guidelines, causing up to 10,000 premature deaths each year, finds a new assessment published today by the European Environment Agency. […]

New York State to Ban Fracking: ‘Reckless to Proceed’

December 18, 2014 News Editor Comments Off

ALBANY, New York, December 18, 2014 (ENS) – As of early next year, New York State will be permanently off-limits to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for oil and gas. The decision follows the release Wednesday of a long-awaited Department of Health report that details adverse health and environmental effects from exposure to the process. […]

Obama Bars Oil Industry From Alaska’s Bristol Bay

December 16, 2014 News Editor Comments Off

WASHINGTON, DC, December 16, 2014 (ENS) – President Barack Obama today designated the waters of Bristol Bay as off limits to oil and gas leasing for exploration, development or production. This action safeguards one of the nation’s most productive fisheries and preserves an ecologically rich area of the Bering Sea that is vital to the commercial fishing and tourism economy and to Alaska Native communities. […]

Lima Climate Talks Produce Weak Draft for Global Treaty

December 14, 2014 News Editor Comments Off

LIMA, Peru, December 14, 2014 (ENS) – A climate deal reached late today by world governments at a UN conference in Lima keeps negotiations on track for a universal global climate treaty in Paris in 2015, but the weak text points to a tough year of talks ahead. […]

AmeriScan: December 13, 2014

December 13, 2014 News Editor Comments Off

California Breathes Rainsoaked Sigh of Relief … Copper Mine at Apache Leap Passes Congress … Feds Formalize Nuclear Energy Tribal Working Group … Red Knot Shorebird Listed as Threatened … Historic Critical Habitat Planned for Alaska’s Ringed Seals … Anti-Fracking Groups Denounce Lift of Maryland Ban … … Chesapeake Bay Streams Heating Up […]

Green Investors Flunk Fracking Industry on Impact Management

December 11, 2014 News Editor Comments Off

BOSTON, Massachusetts, December 11, 2014 (ENS) – ExxonMobil, Chevron, and WPX Energy are ranked among the worst fracking companies in a new report by a coalition of green investment firms that scores major oil and gas firms on their efforts to reduce the negative impacts of their operations. […]

Crunch Time at UN Climate Talks; 20,000 March for Justice

December 11, 2014 News Editor Comments Off

LIMA, Peru, December 11, 2014 (ENS) – Urging “Climate Justice Now!” an estimated 20,000 people took over the streets of Lima Wednesday for the People’s Climate March. Their goal – to inject a sense of urgency into slow-moving government negotiations on a new universal, legally-binding climate change agreement to take effect in 2020. […]

Sunscreens, Cosmetics Found in Antarctic Waters

December 10, 2014 News Editor Comments Off

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, December 10, 2014 (ENS) – Polluting chemicals found in personal care products such as cosmetics, soaps and sunscreens has been discovered in waters off Antarctica at the same levels as many urban areas, according to new research from New Zealand. […]

World’s Mayors Adopt New Tool to Calculate Climate Emissions

December 9, 2014 News Editor Comments Off

LIMA, Peru, December 9, 2014 (ENS) – The first global standard to measure greenhouse gas emissions from cities was launched Monday in tandem with the ongoing UN climate summit in Lima. Now cities can develop an emissions baseline, set mitigation goals, create more targeted climate action plans and track their progress over time. […]

Manila Braces for Super Typhoon, One Million Evacuate

December 7, 2014 News Editor Comments Off

MANILA, Philippines, December 7, 2014 (ENS) – Super Typhoon Hagupit, known locally as Ruby, is expected to hit Metro Manila starting Monday evening.
Packing sustained winds of more than 200 kilometers per hour (124 mph), equal to a Category 3 hurricane, Rudy is forecast to peak in the nation’s capital at around 8 to 10 pm, according to PAGASA, the Philippine national weather agency. […]

EU Countries Granted the Right to Ban GMO Crops

December 4, 2014 News Editor Comments Off

BRUSSELS, Belgium, December 4, 2014 (ENS) – A political agreement on new legislation to allow EU member states to restrict, or ban, the cultivation of crops containing genetically modified organisms, GMOs, on their own territory, even if it is allowed at EU level, was reached by Parliament and Council delegations last night. […]