Environment

The latest domestic energy boom is sweeping through some of the nation's driest pockets, drawing millions of gallons of water to unlock oil and gas reserves from beneath the Earth's surface.

Documents recently obtained by Bold Nebraska show that TransCanada - owner of the hotly-contested Keystone XL (KXL) tar sands pipeline - has colluded with an FBI/DHS Fusion Center in Nebraska, labeling non-violent activists as possible candidates for "terrorism" charges and other serious criminal charges.

The first outreach effort from the Brewers for Clean Water campaign calls on America’s most visible home brewer—President Obama—to move forward long-delayed safeguards under the Clean Water Act. The campaign is a partnership between the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and some of the nation’s most respected craft brewers aimed at protecting and bolstering America’s bedrock water protection law.

The latest example of how even health-conscious eaters are not immune from foodborne illness outbreaks came last week with a recall of organic frozen berries contaminated with Hepatitis A. The products were sold under the brand name of Townsend Farms at two large chains: Costco stores in the west and Harris Teeter stores.

The climate denier set was delighted a month or so ago when a report surfaced in The Economist about a study conducted by a team of Norwegians. They breathlessly declared that the article had concluded that global temperatures had remained flat for 15 years, proof positive of what they've just simply known all along — that global warming is phony. The article, of course, made no such claim.

The vote "sent a real message that you're getting beyond just the die-hard environmentalists," said Seth Heald, a lawyer and a member of the activist network. "You're getting to real investors who are seriously concerned for business reasons about the risk [of climate change]."

Climate change is worsening wildfires, lengthening the wildfire season and increasing their size, the head of the nation's forest service warned Congress on Tuesday. "The largest issue we now face is how to adapt our management to anticipate climate change impacts and to mitigate their potential effects," Tidwell told the committee.

Google, the search giant with the famous motto: “Don’t be evil,” is boasting about its involvement in a 2012 coal industry lobbying effort to block the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ability to protect the public from dangerous and potentially lethal coal plant emissions, according to a recently discovered Google case study.

If an ecologically hazardous accident happens to TransCanada's Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, we can't say we weren't forewarned. Of course, the warning would be more clear and concise if the State Department would honor even one of numerous Freedom of Information Act requests about the project.

Dozens of leading scientists in the fields of climate change, public health and ecology have told the State Department that the findings of its draft assessment of the impacts of the Keystone XL pipeline are "without merit in many critical areas."