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Environmental Policy
World Bank proposes to limit funding to coal plants
April 5, 2011 09:25 AM - Jeremy Hance, MONGABAY.COM
Following years of criticism from environmentalists and some governments the World Bank has proposed new rules regarding carbon-intensive coal plants, reports the Guardian. The new rules would allow lending for coal-fired plants only to the world's poorest nations and would only lend after other alternatives, such as renewable energy, had been ruled out.
Hundreds of whales face slaughter as Norway's killing season resumes
April 4, 2011 09:19 AM - Joanna Toole, Ecologist
[April 1] is the official start of the whaling season in Norway. Norway is one of just three countries defying the 1986 international ban on commercial whaling. This moratorium on whaling was implemented by a qualifying majority of member states of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in attempt to put a stop to a hunting practice which was leading to the near extinction of several whale species.
Court Gives Endangered Status Back to West Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel, Rules That Recovery Plans Must Be Followed
March 30, 2011 12:14 PM - Editor, Center for Biological Diversity
WASHINGTON— A federal judge reinstated endangered status for the West Virginia northern flying squirrel late Friday, holding that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had violated the Endangered Species Act by not following its own recovery plan for the species in its decision to remove protection for the rare animal. The ruling — made in response to a 2009 lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of Blackwater, the Wilderness Society, Heartwood, the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition and WildSouth — has broad implications for all threatened and endangered species.
Maine Town Passes Local Food and Community Self-Governance Ordinance Becomes First in US to Declare Food Sovereignty
March 28, 2011 02:39 PM - John Reinhardt, Grown in the City, Organic Consumers Association
The town of Sedgwick, Maine, population 1,012 (according to the 2000 census), has become the first town in the United States to pass a Food Sovereignty ordinance. In doing so, the town declared their right to produce and sell local foods of their choosing, without the oversight of State or federal regulation.
Expanding Forests in the Northern Latitudes
March 23, 2011 12:52 PM - David A Gabel, ENN
According to a recent United Nations report, forested areas in Europe, North America, the Caucasus, and Central Asia have grown steadily over the past two decades. While tropical areas have steadily lost their forests to excessive logging and increased agriculture, northern areas have seen increases caused by conservation efforts. However, the long-term health and stability of northern forest lands may be imperiled by the effects of climate change.
EPA and Boilers
March 22, 2011 11:29 AM - Andy Soos, ENN
On March 16, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed long-anticipated limits on power plant emissions of mercury and other hazardous air pollutants (“HAPs”) under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act (“CAA”). Along with recent emissions standards for industrial and commercial boilers and a new proposal for power plant GHG controls due out in July, EPA is undertaking a series of major CAA rule makings. EPA’s latest rule would establish the first nationwide standards for power plant emissions of mercury, arsenic and other HAPs, with numeric limits based upon maximum available control technology as required under the 1990 CAA Amendments. EPA’s new proposal would reduce mercury from approximately 525 coal and oil-fired power plants by 91 percent once fully implemented, and it covers a range of other pollutants that were not regulated under the Bush-era mercury rule.
"Hydro-diplomacy" needed to avert Arab water wars
March 21, 2011 08:57 AM - Alister Doyle, Reuters, Oslo
(Reuters) - The United Nations should promote "hydro-diplomacy" to defuse any tensions over water in regions like the Middle East and North Africa where scarce supplies have the potential to spark future conflicts, experts said Sunday. They said the U.N. Security Council should work out ways to bolster cooperation over water in shared lakes or rivers, from the Mekong to the Nile, that are likely to come under pressure from a rising world population and climate change.
The Spread of Lionfish in the Atlantic
March 17, 2011 12:16 PM - David A Gabel, ENN
Normally, the abundance of a wild species is hailed as a sign of a healthy ecosystem. However, that is not the case for the lionfish, an invasive species which is rapidly multiplying in the waters of the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and the US Eastern Seaboard. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), it is the first documented case of an invasive species establishing a self-sustaining population in the region. Once confined to the Indo-West Pacific Ocean, lionfish are now spreading throughout the West Atlantic.
Serengeti road project opposed by 'powerful' tour company lobby
March 17, 2011 09:17 AM - Jeremy Hance, MONGABAY.COM
Government plans to build a road through Serengeti National Park came up against more opposition this week as the Tanzanian Association of Tour Operators (Tato) came out against the project, reports The Citizen. Tato, described as powerful local lobby group by the Tanzanian media, stated that the road would hurt tourism and urged the government to select a proposed alternative route that would by-pass the park. Tato's opposition may signal a shift to more local criticism of the road as opposition against the project has come mostly from international environmentalists, scientists, and governments.
EPA's Latest Superfund Nominees Reflect Trend Toward More Complex Cleanups
March 16, 2011 08:51 AM - Ashley S. Miller, Sive Paget & Riesel, P.C.
On March 8, 2011 the EPA announced its latest round of potential Superfund sites — nominees to be listed on the National Priorities List (NPL) under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), commonly known as the Superfund statute. The proposed sites included the New Cassel/Hicksville groundwater contamination site (NCH Site), located in Nassau County, New York. According to EPA records the NCH Site includes approximately 10 million square feet of aquifer contaminated by chlorinated compounds, including perchloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethelyne (TCE).