Environment

High Court Won't Hear Environmentalists' Challenge to Border Fence Waivers

In a blow to environmentalists, the Supreme Court on Monday refused (without comment) to hear a legal challenge against the Bush administration for ignoring numerous environmental, public health and cultural heritage laws in order to hasten construction of the U.S.-Mexico border fence. The decision leaves administration critics clinging to hopes that a similar case, now pending in Texas, will prove more successful. Though a congressional fix is also possible, it's not likely to happen in an election year when Democrats are wary that opposition to the fence could brand them soft on national security.

Homey Seh Whah?

As Suemedha points out, the EPA's recent epiphany that global warming is a threat to human health comes as a surprise only to lobotomites and those still holding faith in the Bush administration. Speaking of whom …

No Push From Bush on Conservation

With gas prices eating deeper into family budgets, most experts agree that reducing demand through individual conservation would prove a much more immediate solution than increasing supply through increased drilling. Hell, even President George W. Bush said yesterday that conservation would remedy the current "imbalance" in energy supply and demand.

But if you think that means the president would call on Americans to be wise about their personal energy use, you'd be perfectly, 100-percent wrong. From the transcript of yesterday's White House press conference:
 

Not to Beat This Stephen Johnson Resignation Push to Death…

…but the questions of potential perjury are not the only charges being leveled at the controversial EPA administrator. Yesterday, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) delivered a lengthy tirade on the chamber floor outlining nine separate reasons he says Johnson is unfit for the job. The entire speech is worth reading, but here's a quick summary of the charged ineptitude (which Matt has cataloged diligently):

Offshore Drilling and the Hurricane Threat

Facts? Who needs 'em?

Earlier this week, The Washington Post ran an offshore drilling story that finds Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) making a curious claim about the power of new technologies to prevent spills:

Republicans Stay in Washington, Push for Offshore Drilling

The House on Friday adjourned for the month-long August recess, but some Republicans have opted to stick around town to score political points in the absence of any Democrats. Continuing their strategy begun last Friday, a small group of GOPers took to the chamber floor again Monday to stage a one-sided debate on the virtues of expanding offshore drilling. It's a scene you can't watch on C-Span, which is turned off because the House is in recess. But the Republicans hope the rare spectacle will stir the public to pressure House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.) to bring the drilling expansion up for a vote.

Senate Kills Climate Change Bill

The Senate this morning brought an early if expected end to the chamber's global warming debate, falling 12 votes shy of the 60 needed to kill a GOP filibuster. Sixteen senators were absent during the vote, including likely presidential nominees John McCain, who opposes the bill for what he considers a dearth of nuclear power provisions, and Barack Obama, who supports the proposal, which boasts a 66 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.

Supreme Court: Not Exactly on a Tear for the Environment

We mentioned here yesterday that the Supreme Court this week refused to hear a case brought by environmentalists against the Bush administration for waiving environmental laws to build the U.S.-Mexico border fence. What they did decide to consider, however, is an appeal from the U.S. Navy protesting a ban on high-powered sonar near coastal California. Today's Los Angeles Times lays out the conflict:

The intense sound waves from the sonar are believed to frighten, injure and possibly kill whales. But the two sides differ greatly on the extent of the effects.

Who Benefits from Offshore Drilling?

By Mike Lillis 06/19/2008

With President George W. Bush calling yesterday for Congress to scrap a 27-year-old ban on most offshore drilling, congressional debate has raged over what effect the move would have on the rising cost of fuel. Republicans have a simple economic argument (increase supply and prices will drop), while Democrats counter that there are millions of acres of land currently open for drilling but going unused.

"Lo Que Tú Hagas Cuenta"

By Suemedha Sood 04/22/2008

It means "What you do matters," and it's a campaign by National Geographic to spread awareness about global warming in Latin America. This is the first year Latin America is recognizing  Earth Day, according to Treehugger. As part of this week's festivities, National Geo has launched a TV campaign in collaboration with some of the region's biggest musicians, actors and performers. In televised public service announcements, the celebrities give advice on how to save energy and water, how to cut down on waste and how to offset climate change in simple ways.

889 out of 1,586 EPA Employees Agree

By Suemedha Sood 05/27/2008

With Art's piece today, that is. That's how many EPA scientists said they personally experienced at least one incident of political interference in the last five years, in a survey conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists. At last week's ozone hearing -- you know, the one where administrator Stephen Johnson was served up on a platter to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee -- the UCS's Dr. Francesca Grifo talked about that survey in her testimony. Many of those 889 called out the White House's Office of Management and Budget for interfering with the EPA's scientific process.

A Stomach Ache for Mother Nature

By Suemedha Sood 04/02/2008 | 3 Comments

Australia launched a project today to bury CO2 underground. A plant in southern Victoria plans to capture and compress 110,231 tons of CO2 emissions and bury it 6,500 feet down into the Earth, according to the AP. The technology is called geosequestration, and the goal is, of course, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

It sounds like a terrible idea.

Activists to Protest Coal Plant

By Suemedha Sood 04/24/2008 | 3 Comments

Friday morning the Indigenous Environmental Network plans to protest environmental racism outside the headquarters of Sithe Global Power in New York. You may remember Sithe Global from a story we did a couple months back about the Desert Rock project, a proposed coal plant on the Navajo Nation that's been met with hostility from locals. Sithe, in collaboration with the Navajo Nation's government, is planning to build Desert Rock within a 15-mile radius of two other massive coal plants, Four Corners Power Plant and San Juan Generating Station. The Navajo government says a new energy project could pull a lot of money into the local economy. But Navajo residents say they are not likely to see much of that money. Many residents fear another power plant could endanger the local health and environment.
 

Affordable Housing Goes Green

By Suemedha Sood 08/05/2008 | 1 Comment

New "green" amenities like solar power panels and sensor-controlled lights aren't just for celebrities anymore.

An Appetizing, and Inedible, Option

By Suemedha Sood 05/06/2008 | 3 Comments

Scouting for biofuel alternatives, scientists point to crops like switchgrass that won't drive up the price of food.

And They're Really Not That Good for The Environment Either!

By Suemedha Sood 04/23/2008 | 3 Comments

Mary Kane has a piece today on the rise of food prices and its devastating effects on the developing world. Many experts blame biofuels for the food shortage. Leaders in Peru and Bolivia, for example, have told the U.N. that biofuels are starving their people.

Until recently we've been told that biofuels hold the promise of curbing global warming and reducing our dependence on foreign oil. But given the amount of energy it takes to produce biofuels, and the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere by burning those fuels, some are rethinking jumping on the biofuel bandwagon.

Two scientific studies released in February said that biofuels are actually worse for the environment than gasoline.

ANP: Sex-Changing Fish Linked To River Pollution

By Suemedha Sood 05/23/2008

The smart new site American News Project (Full Disclosure: TWI will be collaborating with them on pieces) has another video up about environmental regulations. This one looks at pollution in our waterways.

Bad News, Beer Lovers

By Suemedha Sood 04/10/2008

Bad news for beer lovers and brewers. Climate change is likely to drive beer prices up even further over the next 30 years, according to New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. Climate scientist Jim Salinger said today that shifting climates will likely cause a decline in the production of malting barley, especially in New Zealand and Australia. This means beer production could take a serious hit as land gets drier and water supplies decrease. Breweries can adapt by switching to different malt varieties.

Beijing Wins 'Gold' For Green Building

By Suemedha Sood 08/19/2008

Here's some interesting green news coming out of Beijing: the city's Olympic Village has become the first to win a green building certification.

The non-profit, non-partisan U.S. Green Building Council gave the Olympic housing a gold rating for environmental design, according to a press release (pdf here). The environmentally friendly village, home to 17,000 athletes from around the world, is contributing to improved air quality in the city.

Big Oil Defends Profits

By Mike Lillis 04/02/2008 | 11 Comments

Gas prices and profits are largely out of their control, oil executives tell Congress.