The Green Economy, Boon or Menace?

The development of the green economy is the subject of pitched debate among specialists. While some believe it will deepen social inequalities and increase corporate control over natural and biological resources, others highlight its potential role in protecting the environment and creating employment. “The green economy does not challenge current systems of production, such as […]

Study Finds that Childhood Leukemia Rates Double Near Nuclear Power Stations

In a report certain to cause fear and loathing in the global nuclear industry, an eminent French research institute published a study in the International Journal of Cancer, which notes increased rates of leukemia in children living close to French nuclear power plants (NPPs.)How much greater?The study by the Institut National de la Sante et […]

Global Warming: The Evidence is Endless

f I believed the Earth was slowly turning into cheddar cheese, I could invoke this theory to explain a lot of things. Why is the rat population in our major cities growing so quickly? Earth cheesification is providing more rat food. Why have there been so many earthquakes lately? The cheesification of the tectonic plates […]

Our human footprint

IN June this year, the ‘world’ will meet in Brazil for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development or Rio+20 – 20 years after the Earth Summit in Rio where countries adopted Agenda 21, a blueprint to rethink economic growth, advance social equity and ensure environment protection. It will be one of the most important […]

Human side of population control

When the reverend Thomas Robert Malthus observed a couple of centuries ago that population finds its level based on fertility rates, famine and diseases, he could not have imagined that the last two factors, namely famine and diseases, could be eradicated in such a spectacular manner as has been realized in recent times. In such […]

The return of “The Limits to Growth”

  The main results of the “base case” scenario of “The Limits to Growth” study, from a recent article on the New Scientist by Debora McKenzie (available upon registration) The return of interest in “The Limits to Growth” continues. After decades of ridicule and insults, the value of the 1972 study and of its sequels […]

The Elephant In The Room Is Unsustainable Population Growth

“In the last 200 years the population of our planet has grown exponentially, at a rate of 1.9% per year. If it continued at this rate, with the population doubling every 40 years, by 2600 we would all be standing literally shoulder to shoulder.” says Professor Stephen Hawking as reported by Edward Morgan in Looking […]

Drilling Critics Face a Divide Over the Goal of Their Fight

With a deadline looming this week for the public to weigh in on gas drilling in New York State, the antifracking movement itself has become divided over what its goal should be: securing the nation’s toughest regulations, or winning an outright ban? The question is pitting brand-name organizations like the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources […]

Global Warming and Water Shortages

Climate change promises to have a very big impact on water supplies in the United States as well as around the world. A recent study commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a leading environmental group, and carried out by the consulting firm Tetra Tech found that one out of three counties across the […]

EPA may retest PA. water near fracking

Federal regulators are considering retesting water supplies at a small town in Pennsylvania that residents say have been contaminated by natural gas drilling. Just a month after declaring water in Dimock safe, officials from the Environmental Protection Agency are taking another look after new evidence suggested that drinking water could be polluted worse than originally […]

Details Emerge About Failures at Fukushima

Japan’s response to the crisis at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant was flawed by poor communication and delays in releasing data on dangerous radiation leaks at the facility, a government-appointed investigative committee has found. A 507-page interim report released 12/26/11 attaches blame for the March 2011 nuclear accident and its consequences to Japan’s central government […]

Should We Talk About Climate Change?

David Roberts, a blogger at Grist, is challenging what he says is an evolving consensus among American “climate hawks” who say there’s “nothing to be gained from talking about climate change”. These types, according to Roberts, argue that political effort aimed at climate mitigation needs to conceal itself inside debate focused on “innovation, energy security, […]

Disposal Halted at Well After New Quake in Ohio

An official in Ohio said on Sunday that the underground disposal of wastewater from natural-gas drilling operations would remain halted in the Youngstown area until scientists could analyze data from the most recent of a string of earthquakes there. The latest quake, the 11th since mid-March, occurred Saturday afternoon and with a magnitude of 4.0 […]

Plummeting Population in 2050?

With a world population higher than 7 billion, it’s only a matter of time before the decrease, in the increase, is fully realized. Then population “maximum” can be calculated. Even the United Nation population increases are beginning to fall slowly, but faster as time proceeds. Unfortunately, mankind will realize too late the population freefall bound […]

Global maps show human impact on Earth

On the last day of October 2011, the U.N. says the world population will hit seven billion people — an increase of one billion since 1999. To show some of the impacts of this vast human upheaval, Canadian anthropologist Felix Pharand has created a series of visualizations mapping the presence of technology onto a selection […]

Satellite Studies Reveal Groundwater Depletion around the World

Access to freshwater resources has always been a critical need for human and all forms of life on Earth. With a world population estimated at just shy of 7 billion and growing, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization says agricultural production will need to increase 70% by 2050. As agriculture takes up most of human […]

Dispelling The Clean Coal Fairy Tale

It’s hard to think about coal without feeling a bit dirty. After all, the image of the conventional American coal miner, emerging from the depths of an Appalachian anthracite mine, caked in a foundation of jet-black, coal-based makeup, does not exactly scream out Mr. Clean. But what coal lacks in hygiene, it makes up for […]

Bugs may be resistant to genetically modified corn

One of the nation’s most widely planted crops — a genetically engineered corn plant that makes its own insecticide — may be losing its effectiveness because a major pest appears to be developing resistance more quickly than scientists expected. The U.S. food supply is not in any immediate danger because the problem remains isolated. But […]

Announcement of “Cold Shutdown” of Fukushima Reactors Is Based On a Political Decision

If The Reactors Are “Cold”, It May Be Because Most of the Hot Radioactive Fuel Has Leaked Out The Japanese Government and Tepco say that they have achieved a “cold shutdown” of Fukushima nuclear reactors. Specifically, they claim that the water inside the reactors is now below the boiling point. In reality, no one knows […]

Fuke Nuke’s Spooks and Kooks

In January 1976, at a meeting at the Washington Sheraton, Ralph Nader introduced us to a spy who had come in from the cold. His name was David Comey and during the Second World War he had worked in OSS, trying to head fake the Third Reich about where the landings would come for the […]

‘Secret’ Environment Canada study warns of oil sands’ impact on habitat

Contamination of a major western Canadian river basin from oil sands operations is a “high-profile concern” for downstream communities and wildlife, says a newly-released “secret” presentation prepared last spring by Environment Canada that highlighted numerous warnings about the industry’s growing footprint on land, air, water and the climate. The warnings from the department contrast with […]

Monsanto: U.S. Farmers are Ready to Feed the World with GMO

More than seven billion people inhabit planet Earth, and about two billion more will join within 40 years, according to the United Nations Population Division. While many decision makers express concern about sustaining the population, often they forget to ask an important question: Are U.S. farmers ready to produce the food needed to feed the […]

Study Connects U.S. Deaths to Fukushima, Contradicts EPA Reports

A new study set for publication tomorrow in the International Journal of Health Services found there may be a connection between an estimated excess of 14,000 deaths in the U.S. and the radioactive fallout from explosions at Fukushima nuclear reactors in Japan, an argument in direct conflict with reports from the Environmental Protection Agency. In the 14 […]

Warming-Driven Drought and Extreme Weather Emerge as Key Threat to Global Food Security

This year has seen a great many important climate stories.  Obviously, the continued self-destructive failure of the nation and the world to reverse greenhouse gas emission trends always deserve to be the top story in some sense: Biggest Jump Ever in Global Warming Pollution in 2010, Chinese CO2 Emissions Now Exceed U.S.’s By 50% IEA’s […]

14,000 US dead in 14 weeks after Fukushima meltdown

A peer-reviewed study published in the International Journal of Health Services estimates 14,000 excess deaths in the United States are linked to the radioactive fallout from the Fukushima nuclear reactors.   The article by Joseph Mangano and Janette Sherman is the first published in a medical journal.   “This study of Fukushima health hazards is […]

Japan Says Nuclear Power Cost May Be 50% Higher Than Estimated

Nuclear power generation in Japan is about 50 percent more expensive than estimated after factoring in the cost of paying for an accident like the Fukushima disaster, a government panel said. Nuclear energy costs at least 8.9 yen (11 cents) per kilowatt hour, compared with a government estimate of 5.9 yen in 2004, the panel […]

Real wealth: Howard T. Odum’s energy economics

Money and market values cannot be used to evaluate real wealth from the environment. – Howard T. Odum In the 1970s, Howard T. Odum explained human economics using ecology and energy fundamentals. His work remains essential for ecologists, who imagine achieving “sustainability.” His 1974 “Energy, Ecology, & Economics” provides a good summary of his concerns […]

permafrost thaw could compound global warming

A recent estimate suggests that the perennially frozen ground known as permafrost, which underlies nearly a quarter of the Northern Hemisphere, contains twice as much carbon as the entire atmosphere A bubble rose through a hole in the surface of a frozen lake. It popped, followed by another, and another, as if a pot were […]

Japan’s Prime Minister declares Fukushima nuclear site “stable”, marking the worst stretching of the truth by a head of state since “Mission Accomplished”

The crippled nuclear reactors at Japan’s Fukushima power plant have finally been stabilised, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has announced. An earthquake and tsunami in March knocked out vital cooling systems, triggering radiation leaks and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people. Mr Noda’s declaration of a “cold shutdown” condition marked the stabilisation of the plant. […]

In Brazil, Oil Boom Brings Environmental Worries

In Brazil, the discovery of huge oil deposits has prompted a patriotic outpouring as Brazilians celebrate the country’s rise as an oil power. Currently the world’s ninth largest oil producer, Brazil believes it may become one of the top four or five oil producers in a few years. But a recent spill 200 miles off […]

« Previous Page — Next Page »

LATEST NEWS HEADLINES

• Why the IEA is Wrong About Peak Oil Demand
• Did we inadvertently speed global warming?  
• Venezuela’s Oil Monopoly Eases
• Why Germany is Choosing Natural Gas Over Nuclear Power
• U.S. coal-fired electricity generation decreased in 2022 and 2023

• America Cracks Down on Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas Facilities
• Meet America’s Newest Oil Trader Extraordinaire: Joe Biden
• Is It Time To Refill America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
• Oil prices set to end year 10% lower as demand concerns snap winning streak
• What’s Driving America’s New Oil and Gas Boom?
• China’s peak oil demand bombshell eviscerates Danielle Smith’s energy strategy