NewsRack: irge304/Environmental-Justice-Issues/Environmental-Justice

Q&A: Where Rubber Meets Road - NY Times: Science

By C. CLAIBORNE RAY — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Q&A: Where Rubber Meets Road

Vienna embraces the romance and culture of the bicycle - The Guardian -- World Latest

Tracy McVeigh — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Faced with increasingly congested streets, the Austrian capital is embracing cycling with a rental system, bike zones and special housing On the Praterstern, where cars, buses and trams converge from several busy streets on a road that loops around Vienna's central train station, a new digital counter stands under the eye of the Riesenrad Ferris wheel. It's about the size of a bus stop advertising hoarding and picks out passing bicycle wheels from a sensor in the pavement. With a rumpled grey overcoat over his suit and a cycling helmet covering his grey hair, Wolfgang Dvorak excitedly explains that the 2,072 figure on display marks the number of bicycles that have passed this point so far today. "This is great, great! Measuring cyclists is making cycling visible, making people notice," says Dvorak. "It's very important, especially at city crossings like this. Just 14 days ago it was done, and the marking of the cycle lane here and the cycle signing. This is showing people that Vienna is ...

Al Gore says Obama must veto 'atrocity' of Keystone XL tar sands pipeline - The Guardian -- World Latest

Suzanne Goldenberg — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Former vice-president says oil pipeline is 'really a losing proposition' and demands climate plan promised at inauguration Al Gore has called on Barack Obama to veto the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, describing it as "an atrocity". The former vice-president said in an interview on Friday that he hoped Obama would follow the example of British Columbia, which last week rejected a similar pipeline project, and shut down the Keystone XL. "I certainly hope that he will veto that now that the Canadians have publicly concluded that it is not safe to take a pipeline across British Columbia to ports on the Pacific," he told the Guardian. "I really can't imagine that our country would say: 'Oh well. Take it right over parts of the Ogallala aquifer', our largest and most important source of ground water in the US. It's really a losing proposition." Campaigners have cast Keystone XL as the most important decision of Obama' presidency. The State Department, which has say over the project because ...

Trash to cash: Norway leads the way in turning waste into energy - The Guardian -- World Latest

Helen Russell — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

UK cities pay to send rubbish to Norwegian incinerators, but green campaigners warn of dangers For a country blessed with bountiful oil supplies, it may appear incongruous. But Norway is importing as much rubbish as it can get its hands on, in an effort to generate more energy by burning waste in vast incinerators. The Eurotrash business may sound like an unpromising enterprise, but it's one that is increasingly profitable. The UK paid to send 45,000 tonnes of household waste from Bristol and Leeds to Norway between October 2012 and April this year. "Waste has become a commodity," says Pål Spillum, head of waste recovery at the Climate and Pollution Agency in Norway. "There is a big European market for this, so much so that the Norwegians are accepting rubbish from other countries to feed the incinerator." He refuses to divulge the sums involved, saying only that the market is growing. Spillum is "considering requests" to burn waste from other UK towns. "As a rule we generate about 50% of ...

Dot Earth Blog: Seeking Constructive Debate on Nuclear Energy - NYT > Environment

By ANDREW C. REVKIN — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Dot Earth Blog: Seeking Constructive Debate on Nuclear Energy

First human pollution dates back 8000 years - Hindustan Times: World

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

First human pollution dates back 8000 years

First human pollution dating back 8,000 yrs detected - New Kerala: World News

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Washington, June 12 : A new study has revealed that humans began contributing to environmental lead pollution as early as 8,000 years ago.

European coal pollution causes 22,300 premature deaths a year, study shows - Guardian: Environment

John Vidal — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Burning coal also costs companies and governments billions of pounds in disease treatment and lost working days Air pollution from Europe's 300 largest coal power stations causes 22,300 premature deaths a year and costs companies and governments billions of pounds in disease treatment and lost working days, says a major study of the health impacts of burning coal to generate electricity. The research, from Stuttgart University's Institute for energy economics and commissioned by Greenpeace International, suggests that a further 2,700 people can be expected to die prematurely each year if a new generation of 50 planned coal plants are built in Europe. "The coal-fired power plants in Europe cause a considerable amount of health impacts," the researchers concluded. Analysis of the emissions shows that air pollution from coal plants is now linked to more deaths than road traffic accidents in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. In Germany and the UK, coal-fired power stations are ...

Rail Project At Los Angeles Port Draws Environmentalists' Ire - NPR: Morning Edition

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

In California, activists and environmentalists are seeking to halt construction of a new $500 million rail yard next to the Port of Los Angeles. Activists say the massive project would mean even more pollution for nearby neighborhoods that already have some of the worst air in the country.

Should we purge plastic from our lives? - Guardian: Environment

Kira Cochrane — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

A growing number of people are giving up plastic, for health or environmental reasons. So how easy is it to become a plasticarian? And what would you struggle to give up? Last weekend, while visiting her aunt, Juliette Scarfe conducted an impromptu "purity audit", sweeping through the house and discarding plastic products. She's done the same for others over the past two years, since deciding to purge all plastic from her own life. Scarfe, 34, founder of organic cosmetics company Bare Skin Beauty, began her quest after reading about the health concerns associated with compounds commonly found in plastics, including Bisphenol A and phthalates, which have been linked to fertility and other problems. She replaced plastic kitchen products with ceramic and stainless steel, swapped disposable water bottles for Aquapax – durable paper cartons – and threw away her plastic pet bowls. Her health has noticeably improved, she says. The number of people giving up plastic, either for health or ...

Stop-gap action urged on climate - BBC News - Science & Environment

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

The International Energy Agency offers short-term solutions to keep climate change below a "danger threshold".

Rail Project At L.A. Port Draws Environmental Group Ire - NPR News

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

In California, a high-profile lawsuit is seeking to halt construction of a new $500 million rail yard next to the Port of Los Angeles. Activists say the massive project would mean even more pollution for nearby neighborhoods that already have some of the worst air in the country.

Pollutionwatch: Enjoy the sunshine – but not too strenuously - Guardian: Environment

Gary Fuller — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

The coldest May since 1996 ended the coldest spring for over 50 years . In spite of the lower than average temperatures, last month's sunshine, when it did appear, was as strong as ever. Sunshine in May can be as strong as that in August and can be a powerful driver to create ground-level ozone , an important component of summertime smog. Polluted continental air drifted over the UK on the 7th and 8th. Ground-level ozone reached moderate, according to the UK daily air quality index, and exceeded World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines over much of England, Scotland and Wales. London also experienced particle pollution problems. At the end of the month, the sunny bank holiday led to moderate ground-level ozone over the southern parts of the UK on the 26th and 27th. This spread north over Scotland on the 28th and to Northern Ireland on the 29th. Our pollution dose is a combination of the pollution in the air around us and how hard we are breathing. During summertime smog, strong sunlight ...

Fracturing in California - Wall St. Journal: Opinion

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Democrats revolt against a ban on oil and gas 'fracking.'

I like smoking – but I don't want big tobacco to recruit me | Amanda Bancroft - Guardian: Comment is Free

Amanda Bancroft — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

The warning labels and smoking ban don't bother me, but I do object to Philip Morris asking me to nag my MP about my 'rights' I have a confession: I'm a smoker – one of those dreadful pariahs who stands outside polluting your air. I know it is filthy , I know what I am doing to my health and I know all the arguments against smoking. Yet to me, it still feels like my last act of rebellion, and you know what? I actually like smoking. And until I feel differently, I am unlikely to stop. I have become inured to the messages on the outside of cigarette packages. I know smoking may kill me, I know not to do it while pregnant and I certainly know not to do it around children. The graphic images on packs no longer faze me – in fact, I am not sure they ever did. Being oblivious to anti-smoking messages, I nearly crumpled up the card I found inside my most recent pack of Marlboros, but an image caught my eye. Having now had four different ones, they, in summary, tell me that I am overtaxed; that ...

How To Clean Up Fish Farms And Raise More Seafood At The Same Time - NPR Health Science

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Coastal fish farms are a major source of the seafood we eat, but all the fish waste they generate takes a toll on the environment. So a researcher in Canada is trying to clean up fish farms by creating an ecosystem where fish waste gets taken up by other valuable seafood commodities, like shellfish and kelp.

Christine Milne: 20 people, 20 questions - The Guardian -- World Latest

Katharine Murphy — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

The leader of the Australian Greens answers 20 questions on a range of subjects including policy, environment and culture

Katharine Murphy

Inside China's 'cancer villages' - The Guardian -- World Latest

Jonathan Kaiman — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Death rates in communities near chemical, pharmaceutical or power plants exceed the national average, but residents face a wall of denial and intimidation Xie Zhengqiang is no stranger to death but he trembles every time he thinks about his nephew. When doctors diagnosed three-month-old Xie Yuling with a rare auto-immune disease in 2011, the baby's father was out sea crab fishing, so Xie was sent to the Shanghai hospital where his nephew was undergoing treatment. Three times a week he cycled alone past his fishing village's tucked-away tangle of concrete-hulled houseboats, past the miles of adjacent chemical, pharmaceutical and power plants, anddown along the burbling Yangtze river, where his family collects drinking water. Then one day, he got the call. "The doctor tried everything to make him better, but he didn't get better, and he died," said Xie, 24, gazing up at the paper mill which towers above his home. "It was definitely the pollution. What else could it have been?" Yanglingang ...

Battle Los Angeles: the fight to stop urban fracking - New Scientist: Sex and Cloning

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Battle Los Angeles: the fight to stop urban fracking

Well: Microsampling Air Pollution - New York Times Health

By PETER ANDREY SMITH and MAYETA CLARK — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Well: Microsampling Air Pollution

DWP archaeologists uncover grim chapter in Owens Valley history - LA Times: Science

By Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Researchers believe that bullets, musket balls, cavalry uniform buttons and Native American artifacts found in Owens Lake point to the massacre of 35 Paiute Indians by settlers and soldiers in 1863.

LONE PINE, Calif. — Oral histories of Native Americans and U.S. Cavalry records offer insights into a horrific massacre here in 1863: Thirty-five Paiute Indians were chased into Owens Lake by settlers and soldiers to drown or be gunned down.

Mayoral Candidates Wrestle Over Waste Removal - NY Times: NY Region

By KATE TAYLOR — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Mayoral Candidates Wrestle Over Waste Removal

Weatherwatch: Enigmas in the sky - Guardian: Science

Paul Brown — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Clouds remain one of the great puzzles of science. In a warmer world, with more cloud cover because of greater evaporation, will the climate be cooled by clouds reflecting larger amounts of sunlight back into space, or will clouds increase the warming by acting as a blanket for the earth's surface? Man-made industrial pollution adds complication by creating conditions for more clouds to form. Just spend an average week glancing at the clouds over the UK and it is possible to understand how difficult it is to find an answer to the warming or cooling question. Clouds come in all different shapes, sizes and heights, sometimes blocking out the sun all day. Looked at from above most of these clouds appear fluffy and white, reflecting back the sunlight. From below the same clouds appear in different densities and colours, from white to almost black. Thunderclouds – immensely tall and threatening – are generally the darkest because the light has furthest to travel through them and is almost all ...

New life in Iraq's 'Garden of Eden' - BBC: Front Page

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Restoring the wetlands drained by Saddam

Chimerica; Race – review - The Guardian -- World Latest

Susannah Clapp — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 18:30:00 GMT

Almeida; Hampstead, London Rupert Goold doesn't take over as artistic director until August, but already there is a glimmer of him at the Almeida in this joint production with his Headlong company. Seriousness and showmanship, giant themes and whirling projections, come together in Chimerica . Lucy Kirkwood's new play has eyes that are bigger than its stomach. Still, things are much better (and much rarer) that way round. Set in Beijing and Manhattan, sliding between the last US election and the moment when tanks rolled towards demonstrators in Tiananmen Square 24 years ago, it tackles the veracity of photojournalism, the attempted infiltration of China's market by western companies, the rise of air pollution and the suppression of news. Its most irritating feature is the tricksy title – from historian Niall Ferguson, who coined the word in The Ascent of Money . Its best things are its least pretentious features: narrative range and, far too unusual in the theatre, thriller drive. ...