Lawsuit Challenges Trump EPA’s Approval of Radioactive Roads
WASHINGTON— Environmental, public health and union groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency today for approving the use of radioactive phosphogypsum in roads. The groups also petitioned the agency to reconsider its Oct. 20 approval.
The EPA has long prohibited use of phosphogypsum in roads because it contains uranium and radium that produce radionuclides linked to higher risks of cancer and...
COVID-19 could push the number of people living in extreme poverty to over 1 billion by 2030, says UNDP study
New York – Severe long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic could push an additional 207 million people into extreme poverty on top of the current pandemic trajectory, bringing the total to over 1 billion by 2030, according to findings released today by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). This is not a foregone conclusion: with a focused set of investments...
More than 700 Sea Lions to Be Killed, Despite Widespread Opposition
Washington, DC—In an ill-conceived attempt to save endangered salmon, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on Friday issued a permit for wildlife managers and local tribes to kill as many as 540 California sea lions and 176 Steller sea lions in the Columbia River basin over the next five years.
The permit spans three states—Washington, Idaho, and Oregon—and significantly expands...
Almost a third of lemurs and North Atlantic Right Whale now Critically Endangered – IUCN Red List
Gland, Switzerland, 9 July 2020 (IUCN) – Almost a third (31%) of all lemur species in Madagascar are now Critically Endangered – just one step away from extinction – with 98% of them threatened, according to today’s update of The IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. This update completes a revision of all African primate assessments, concluding that over...
Real-time counter tracks cost of air pollution during COVID-19
Jakarta, Indonesia – Air pollution is linked to the loss of an estimated 24,000 lives in Delhi, India in the first half of 2020 despite a strict COVID-related lockdown, according to a new tool that uses live air quality data to track the cost of air pollution in real time. The counter, developed by Greenpeace Southeast Asia and IQAir...
Earth Overshoot Day is August 22, more than three weeks later than last year
OAKLAND, CA, USA — Earth Overshoot Day 2020 lands on August 22, more than three weeks later than in 2019, according to Global Footprint Network. The date reflects the 9.3% reduction of humanity’s Ecological Footprint from January 1st to Earth Overshoot Day compared to the same period last year, which is a direct consequence of the coronavirus-induced lockdowns around the...
World Tuna Day: Protect fish stocks for economic and ocean health
Far from supermarket shelves, in coastal communities, tuna fisheries are extremely important for food security and are a pillar of local economies. In the Indian Ocean, for example, coastal tuna fisheries make up 36 percent of all the tuna caught, and they are caught almost exclusively by artisanal or very basic industrial fisheries.
GLAND, Switzerland – Tunas include dozens of...
List of Ships Scrapped Worldwide Reveals US Shipowners are Among the Worst Dumpers
Brussels, Belgium. According to new data released today by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform, 674 ocean-going commercial ships and offshore units were sold to the scrap yards in 2019. Of these vessels, 469 large tankers, bulkers, floating platforms, cargo- and passenger ships were broken down in primitive, substandard conditions on three beaches in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, amounting to near...
Southeast Alaska, home of the Tongass National Forest, the largest temperate rainforest on the planet, has a renewed threat to the old-growth trees
Alaska’s congressional delegation is pushing to dismantle Tongass protections by opening areas to harmful logging. Logging of old-growth trees in this region comes with impacts to the ecosystem health, and thus the health of the communities these ecosystems sustain. Additionally, the Tongass National Forest functions as a major carbon sink that removes excess carbon from the atmosphere – meaning...
UNDP and IRENA poised to support breakthroughs on renewables
Madrid – Nations around the world can make breakthroughs on the shift to renewable energy, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said today, adding that such a move would drastically cut emissions and help get the world get on track to meet the Paris climate goals and limit global warming to 1.5...
TIER weakens incentives for technology, innovation and emissions reductions
CALGARY — JAN GORSKI, analyst at the Pembina Institute, made the following statement in response to Tuesday’s announcement of the new TIER system:
“The government’s new industrial carbon pricing policy, the Technology, Innovation and Emissions Reduction system, is weaker than what is currently in place, and creates uncertainty at a time when we need the exact opposite. Investors are looking...
How Franchise Agreements Can Free Cities from Fracked Gas
In the summer of 2019, a handful of cities in California banned developers from adding natural gas installations to new buildings. Soon several more cities, including Seattle, may follow suit. Natural gas, as it turns out, might be even worse for the atmosphere than other fossil fuels like coal and oil, according to experts who study methane leakage along...
