EDGI argues these changes signal the EPA’s new direction—one that prioritizes business interests over public health and science—under new Administrator Scott Pruitt, who has close ties to fossil-fuel companies. Pruitt didn’t mention public health once in his first speech to agency employees, instead focusing on improving the EPA’s relationship with private interests. This change is…
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has proposed revising limits on toxic chemicals that can be released into surface waters, something it’s supposed to do from time to time under the Clean Water Act but hasn’t since the early 1990s. The agency is updating human-health criteria for 43 dangerous chemical compounds it currently regulates and…
Tunya Nethithammakul, director general of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, told CNN Tuesday that the island had been closed to visitors “indefinitely,” due to the severe deterioration of its ecosystem. The problems included litter and food waste, gasoline from tour boats leaching into the water and damage to coral, he said,…
Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) introduces an amendment to an energy policy bill calling for $800 million in assistance to Flint, Michigan to address the lead contamination of the city’s drinking water. The Senate later voted 54-43 to block the energy bill from advancing. Source: US Senate Debate Flint Michigan Aid | Video | C-SPAN.org
In October, the city told residents to stick to filtered or bottled water because of unsafe levels of lead, a problem that developed after it temporarily switched to using water from the Flint River in order to cut costs. But residents had been trying for more than a year to get officials’ attention about the…
Del Toral was first alerted to Flint’s water problems last spring, when Lee Anne Walters called the EPA to complain about high levels of lead in her tap water and warn officials that her child had been diagnosed with lead poisoning. Del Toral followed up with Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality, asking about corrosion control…
TRP News with James Andre. This week – the Jade Helm military exercise brings out the crazies, Potential Reid successor Senator Schumer bucks White House on Iran deal, voting rights on the 50th anniversary of the voting rights amendment, an update on the HIV outbreak in Indiana, the EPA accident polluting a Colorado river with…
A judicial inquiry has been launched to find out how Rubis, a female lamb belonging to the French national institute for agricultural research (Inra) ended up on dinner plates. Destined for animal research only, the lamb was sold to an abattoir in November 2014 along with unmodified sheep and then onto an unsuspecting customer, who…
Five years after the Obama administration promised to move swiftly to permanently plug unused oil and gas wells in the Gulf of Mexico, even more shafts are lingering for longer periods with only temporary sealing, an Associated Press investigation shows. It is not clear how many incompletely sealed wells may have leaked — they generally…
TRP News with James Andre. This week South Carolina finally takes down the confederate flag from the capitol, BP reaches a settlement on the Gulf spill while Shell moves forward with Arctic drilling plans, Islamic State propaganda and activity around the world, and a deal with Iran on nuclear research is said to be imminent….
TRP News with James Andre. This week President Obama establishes a green energy program, TPA goes for another vote, more migrant news, Earth’s sixth mass extinction, Charleston church shooting. 0:17 Obama & green energy 2:11 TPA vote 5:37 Migrant crises 12:02 Mass extinction 18:33 Charleston For audio only, stream or download here : https://archive.org/details/TRPNews
One city neglected to inform its residents that its water supply was laced with cancerous chemicals. Another dissolved its public school district and replaced it with a charter school system, only to witness the for-profit management company it hired flee the scene after determining it couldn’t turn a profit. Numerous cities and school districts in…
TRP News with James Andre. This week an update on Iran nuclear deal legislation, the current state of fast track legislation for TPP and what really happened to those manufacturing jobs, another story about the wrongs being committed under civil asset forfeiture laws, the nature of the debate over GMOs, and an outbreak of STDs…
This week’s topics are Senator McConnell’s efforts to undermine EPA regulations about coal and the global treaty on climate change, Indiana’s religious freedom law and the disingenuousness of Governor Pence, the state of the Loretta Lynch confirmation, and an update on the Iran nuclear negotiations. View video on youtube for relevant supporting links in the…
By now, you’ve heard of the crater on the Yamal Peninsula. It’s the one that suddenly appeared, yawning nearly 100 feet in diameter, and made several rounds in the global viral media machine. The adjectives most often used to describe it: giant, mysterious, curious. Scientists were subsequently “baffled.” Locals were “mystified.” There were whispers that aliens were responsible….
London Mayor Boris Johnson’s ambitious plan to reshape how the city handles cyclist traffic got final approval Wednesday, clearing the way for the spread of segregated bike lanes and dedicated traffic signals. Johnson plans to create a network for cyclists that rivals the city’s transit system. “The board of Transport for London approved a plan…
Groups from around the world today joined together to denounce the US government for allowing the first genetically engineered tree, a loblolly pine, to be legalized with no government or public oversight, with no assessment of their risks to the public or the environment, and without regard to overwhelming public opposition to GE trees….
President Barack Obama is carving out a wide swath the Pacific Ocean for an expanded marine preserve, putting the waters off-limits to drilling and most fishing in a bid to protect fragile underwater life. The revamped expanded Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument will cover 490,000 square miles – an area roughly three times the…
Under her leadership, the State Department worked closely with energy companies to spread fracking around the globe—part of a broader push to fight climate change, boost global energy supply, and undercut the power of adversaries such as Russia that use their energy resources as a cudgel. But environmental groups fear that exporting fracking, which…
It hasn’t always been this way. When Nancy Pelosi D-Calif. took over as Speaker of the House, she launched the Green the Capital initiative, which directed House cafeterias to use compostable cutlery made with corn-based plastic substitutes and carryout containers made with plant fibers, and instituted a composting program. A 2010 report on the Green…