Mountaintop Removal Mining Kills Fish
February 23, 2010 by Suzanne Bopp · Leave a Comment
A biologist from Wake Forest University was scheduled to brief U.S. Senators today on yet another environmental problem caused by the practice of mountaintop removal coal mining: poisoned fish.
Dead and deformed fish in surrounding streams are a consequence of selenium pollution from mountaintop coal mining, which is causing permanent damage to the environment and [...]
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Asks Court to Block EPA from Regulating Emissions
February 17, 2010 by Suzanne Bopp · 1 Comment
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, no surprise, is asking a federal court of appeals to review the Environmental Protection Agency’s ruling that greenhouse gases pose a health risk that the agency could regulate under the Clean Air Act. The Chamber is leading the national campaign that includes the oil, natural gas, coal, and utility industry [...]
Texas Governor Gets a “Citizen Citation”
February 17, 2010 by Suzanne Bopp · Leave a Comment
Texas Governor Rick Perry is one of several politicians and business interests (including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a group of senators) trying to stop the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases, but after he filed his lawsuit against the EPA this week, Texas environmental groups made a filing of their own.
Texas’ Public Citizen and [...]
Largest Utility in Kansas Will Pay $500 Million for Clean Air Violations
January 28, 2010 by Suzanne Bopp · 2 Comments
Westar Energy has settled an air pollution lawsuit brought by the federal government; the company will spend at least $500 million on equipment to reduce emissions at the Jeffrey Energy Center, a coal-fired power plant near St. Marys, Kansas.
The violations came to light after an information request was submitted to Westar. The government followed up [...]
16 States and New York City Back the EPA’s Endangerment Finding on CO2
January 26, 2010 by Suzanne Bopp · 1 Comment
When the EPA issued guidelines on regulating large stationary sources of CO2 late last year through the authority of the Clean Air Act, industry groups voiced their displeasure while environmentalists celebrated.
Some of those industry groups, including Massey Energy and three other coal companies, the Industrial Miners Association and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, filed a [...]
Protesters Halt Mountaintop Blasting In West Virginia
January 21, 2010 by Suzanne Bopp · Leave a Comment
Armed with banners reading “Save Coal River Mountain” and EPA Stop the Blasting,” protestors halted blasting on Coal River Mountain today with a five-person tree-sit.
The protesters, associated with Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice, are on platforms approximately 60 feet up two tulip poplar trees and one oak tree next to where Massey Energy is [...]
Environmentalists Request Ethics Probe of Lobbyist Ties to EPA Amendment
January 16, 2010 by Suzanne Bopp · Leave a Comment
Greenpeace has asked the Senate’s Select Committee on Ethics to examine the “depth of the relationship” between Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-AK) staff and two energy industry lobbyists. The staffers consulted the lobbyists, both EPA officials under President Bush who now lobby on energy policy, about a proposed amendment that would prevent the EPA from regulating [...]
Massey Energy Threatened with Lawsuit
January 12, 2010 by Suzanne Bopp · 1 Comment
Environmental groups are threatening to sue coal giant Massey Energy, which operates coal mines in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.
Groups including the Sierra Club, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Coal River Mountain Watch and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy say Massey has committed 12,000 violations of pollution laws. They say those violations are detailed in [...]
Stop Mountaintop Removal Mining, Scientists Say
January 8, 2010 by Suzanne Bopp · Leave a Comment
A group of 12 eminent scientists have called for a halt to mountaintop mining. At a press conference, the hydrologists, ecologists and engineers (some of them National Academy of Sciences members) said they’d discovered extensive evidence of permanent damage to the environment and dangers to human health from the practice of blowing off [...]
COP 15 Kickoff: Climate Action Hotline, Dec. 11
December 11, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
December 11, 2009
Day five of the UN Climate Change Conference. American delegates are joined in Copenhagen by dozens of American NGO and hundreds of American climate activists, many of them students. The U.S. call for action is strong inside the Bella Center, where the conference is being held, and outside [...]







