police
Gov/Politics

Russian Police Seek Sochi Games Environmental Whistleblower

KRASNODAR, Russia, October 10, 2013 (ENS) – Police from Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs today attempted to arrest the coordinator of Environmental Watch on the North Caucasus, after tapping his office phone. The environmental watchdog has been critical of damage done to Sochi National Park ahead of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics to be held February 7-23. […]

Yasuni
Energy

Ecuadorean Voters May Decide Fate of Yasuni National Park

QUITO, Ecuador, October 9, 2013 (ENS) – Decisions in two branches of Ecuador’s government have set the stage for a final battle over oil extraction in Yasuni National Park, a mega-diverse rainforest reserve in that country’s portion of the Amazon Basin where President Rafael Correa has decided to drill for oil. […]

demonstration
Energy

Fracking-Harmed Residents Demand U.S. EPA Renew Investigations

WASHINGTON, DC, September 25, 2013 (ENS) – Residents of three states who say they were harmed by gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, held a news conference in front of the White House today to demand that the government reopen investigations into fracking-related drinking water pollution in Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming. […]

Bristol Bay watershed
Land Use/Forests

Anglo American Withdraws from Alaska’s Pebble Mine

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Canada, September 20, 2013 (ENS) – British multinational mining giant Anglo American withdrew on Monday from a partnership that would develop open-pit copper and gold mines in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, above the largest, most valuable sockeye salmon runs left on the planet. […]

ducks
Land Use/Forests

Groups Battle Pesticides, GE Crops on U.S. Wildlife Refuges

SAN FRANCISCO, California, September 3, 2013 (ENS) – The use of pesticides and the planting of genetically engineered crops on U.S. national wildlife refuges are illegal and damaging to the environment, say four advocacy groups who have filed a federal lawsuit to halt these practices on national wildlife refuges across the Midwest. […]

Kelly Swing
At Risk

Ecuador’s Yasuni-ITT Initiative Failed, What’s Next?

TIPUTINI BIODIVERSITY STATION, Ecuador, August 23, 2013 (ENS) – We’re all extremely disappointed by the decision of President Rafael Correa to approve oil drilling in the Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini area of Yasuni National Park and cancel the trust fund that would have compensated the country for leaving the oil underground, although it certainly did not come as a surprise. […]

algae
Land Use/Forests

Florida Waters Alive With Toxic Algae, Toxic Politics

STUART, Florida, August 21, 2013 (ENS) – Environmental groups rallied today ahead of a Florida State Senate Select Committee public meeting, demanding that government act to stop toxic algae slimes that are sickening people and killing dolphins, manatees, birds and fish in two areas of the state. […]

protest
Land Use/Forests

Chile Warned to Stop Treating Mapuche Natives as Terrorists

SANTIAGO, Chile, July 31, 2013 (ENS) – To avoid “widespread disorder and violence,” the Chilean government must stop applying an anti-terrorism law against its Mapuche indigenous people, who are fighting to recover their ancestral lands, warns a United Nations human rights and counter-terrorism expert. […]