GoGreenNation.org » Pollution

BP Tries To Block Release Of Oil Spill Research

Trish Riley — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 20:15:40 +0000

Faced with hundreds of lawsuits and a deep need for experts, BP has been offering some Gulf Coast scientists lucrative consulting contracts that bar them from releasing their findings on the company’s massive oil spill for three years.

Some scientists say the contracts constrain academic freedom. A few signed the agreements, then changed their minds.

via Gulf Oil Spill: BP Tries To Block Release Of Oil Spill Research.

E.P.A. Weighs Risks of Hydraulic Fracturing for Natural Gas – NYTimes.com

Trish Riley — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:30:39 +0000

CANONSBURG, Pa. — The streams of people came to the public meeting here armed with stories of yellowed and foul-smelling well water, deformed livestock, poisoned fish and itchy skin. The culprit, these people argued, was hydraulic fracturing, a method of extracting natural gas that involves blasting underground rock with a cocktail of water, sand and chemicals.

via E.P.A. Weighs Risks of Hydraulic Fracturing for Natural Gas – NYTimes.com.

Product testing: Bill would require cosmetics to be tested for hidden hazards – chicagotribune.com

Trish Riley — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:35:44 +0000

U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., introduced legislation Tuesday that would toughen safety standards for cosmetics, including requiring regular government testing of products for hazardous ingredients.

via Product testing: Bill would require cosmetics to be tested for hidden hazards – chicagotribune.com.

Paying the Price of Coexistence with Big Oil – CBS News

Trish Riley — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:33:06 +0000

If you live on the Gulf Coast, welcome to the real world of oil — and just know that you’re not alone. In the Niger Delta and the Ecuadorian Amazon, among other places, your emerging hell has been the living hell of local populations for decades.

via Paying the Price of Coexistence with Big Oil – CBS News.

This year, we ought to apologize to the ocean

Trish Riley — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:30:39 +0000

“I was in and out of the water until sunset, not getting home until dusk,” Shindo recalled. “I walked (to the beach) at a very brisk clip every morning, but my pace was much slower going home, taking me twice as long as in the morning … . The seas were my childhood itself.” This must have been around the end of the Taisho Period (1912-1926).

The last thing we want is for future generations to reminisce one day, “The ocean was dead when we were children.”

via asahi.com（朝日新聞社）：VOX POPULI: This year, we ought to apologize to the ocean – English.

Scientists from St. Petersburg find high methane readings near oil disaster site – St. Petersburg Times

Trish Riley — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:27:28 +0000

“…levels of methane — a particularly potent greenhouse gas — are now 100 times higher than normal, SRI scientists said. They can’;t say for sure it’s from BP, said SRI director Larry Langebrake, but “it is a sign that says there are things going on here that need to be researched.”

via Scientists from St. Petersburg find high methane readings near oil disaster site – St. Petersburg Times.

Fantastic Video about Chemicals in Cosmetics

Trish Riley — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:17:52 +0000

Chemicals higher, thyroid hormone lower in pregnant women near e-waste recycling. — Environmental Health News

Trish Riley — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:37:40 +0000

Environmental Health News study synopsis by Heather Stapleton:

“Another study raises concerns about e-waste recycling and its health effects after researchers report that pregnant women in China who live nearer the facilities have higher levels of toxic chemicals and depressed levels of thyroid hormones.”

via Chemicals higher, thyroid hormone lower in pregnant women near e-waste recycling. — Environmental Health News.

BP’s oil spill caused by fed’s dangerous culture of permissiveness’

Trish Riley — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:35:24 +0000

“There has been a pervasive failure by the regulators to take the actions necessary to protect safety and the environment,” said Rep Bart Stupak, D-Mich., the chairman of the committee’s oversight and investigative subcommittee. “These failures to regulate happened at the same time as federal officials offered oil and gas companies new incentives to drill in deeper and riskier waters in the Gulf of Mexico.”

via BP’s oil spill caused by fed’s dangerous culture of permissiveness’ – Politics AP – MiamiHerald.com.

Dangers in the dust: Inside the global asbestos trade

Trish Riley — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:18:59 +0000

Banned or restricted in more than 50 countries, white asbestos continues to be widely used in China, India, Russia and Brazil, and many developing countries.

via BBC News – Dangers in the dust: Inside the global asbestos trade.