New or expanded mountaintop removal permits would be blocked until the federal government concludes the mining technique is not contributing to increased risks of cancer, birth defects and other health problems among coalfield residents, under legislation proposed in Congress this week.
The bill aims to examine more closely the findings of a series of West Virginia University studies that found residents living near mountaintop removal sites face greater health risks than those who don't.
Bill would require federal mountaintop removal health study
Lutherans Call for Fracking Moratorium
Less than a week after Pennsylvania farmers called for a moratorium on unconventional gas extraction, a large gathering of Pennsylvania Lutherans has also formally passed a resolution calling for a statewide halt on shale gas drilling.
While the tri-state Susquehanna River Basin Commission has taken no action to slow, stop, or even significantly regulate high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing, this Lutheran Synod, based entirely in the heavily fracked Susquehanna River Basin, now stands for a moratorium.
Study finds fracking can cause earthquakes
Certain oil and gas operations that involve injecting wastewater underground can cause earthquakes, but the risk from hydraulic fracturing is generally low, said a US scientific report Friday.
The report by the National Research Council found that the most significant risk of earthquakes is linked to secondary injection of wastewater below ground to help capture remaining hydrocarbons from a petroleum reservoir.
Japan's debris clean up may last for years to come
Docks, boats and other debris from Japan's tsunami drifting onto West Coast beaches represent a trash cleanup challenge that may last for years to come.
Biologists are equally worried about the threat from invasive species attached to the debris. How big a threat remains to be seen. They fear that foreign species that arrive on our shores — crabs, barnacles, starfish, snails and plants — could establish a foothold and crowd out native creatures and plants.
Study fingers humans for ocean heat rise: ‘No matter how you look at it, we did it’
A study published last weekend on Nature Climate Change claims to give the lie to the notion that if the world is warming, it’s not our fault.
With the kind of certainty that will send the Heartland Institute reaching for Plan C (“the world should focus on mitigation”), the study, The study, Human-induced global ocean warming on multidecadal timescales, ends with the bald factual statement: “We have identified a human-induced fingerprint in observed estimates of upper-ocean warming on multidecadal timescales”.
Climate change will boost number of West's wildfires
Climate change will make wildfires in the West, like those now raging in parts of Colorado and New Mexico, more frequent over the next 30 years, researchers reported on Tuesday.
More broadly, almost all of North America and most of Europe will see an increase in wildfires by the year 2100, the scientists wrote in the journal Ecosphere, a publication of the Ecological Society of America.
Institute’s Gas Drilling Report Leads to Claims of Bias and Concern for a University’s Image
A report from a new institute at the State University at Buffalo asserting that state oversight has made natural gas drilling safer is causing tumult on campus and beyond, with critics arguing that the institute is biased toward industry and could undercut the university’s reputation.
The study, issued on May 15, said that state regulation in Pennsylvania had made drilling there far safer and that New York rules were even more likely to ensure safety once drilling gets under way in the state.
‘Shaking Booms’ Snapped Trees in Half Days Before Indiana Radiation Incident
It was recently reported that a rather significant, concerning, and mysterious spike in radiation occurred in the north Indiana / south Michigan area, causing widespread alarm throughout the nation. Not only are the reports of the radiation spike concerning in of itself, but the appearance of military helicopters, aircraft, and Department of Homeland Security hazmat fleets is also generating some raised eyebrows. Reports are continuously coming out updating on the event occurring throughout June 6-7, with locals reporting on a series of explosions, house-shaking rumbles, and even large trees being completely snapped in half on a clear day just days before.
1.5 million tons of tsunami debris heading towards US, some fear environmental disaster
More than a year after a tsunami devastated Japan, killing thousands of people and washing millions of tons of debris into the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. government and West Coast states don’t have a cohesive plan for cleaning up the rubble that floats to American shores. There is also no firm handle yet on just what to expect.
The Japanese government estimates that 1.5 million tons of debris is floating in the ocean from the catastrophe. Some experts in the United States think the bulk of that trash will never reach shore, while others fear a massive, slowly-unfolding environmental disaster.
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