News
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Critical List: Obama to expedite portion of Keystone XL; World Water Day
It’s World Water Day: How much do you use? (The average American household uses 350 gallons. I KNOW.) Obama is set to expedite the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline. The Supreme Court decided that the couple who wants to fight the EPA over whether their property counts as a wetland can go ahead […]
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Critical List: Tariffs for imported Chinese solar panels; Obama to visit solar facility
The Department of Commerce announced that China was selling solar panels at unfairly low prices in the U.S. and that it would slap tariffs on them. Obama’s on an “all-of-the-above” energy tour today: He’ll stop at a solar facility and at oil and gas fields. The New York Times reported Sunday that the U.S. Department […]
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Critical List: Happy vernal equinox, Alec Baldwin calls Inhofe an ‘oil whore’
Happy spring! Check out the Google doodle celebrating the vernal equinox. A new survey shows that fewer Americans consider alternative energy development a bigger priority than oil, coal, and gas production. Air emissions from fracking contain pollutants that pose health risks to those living nearby, a new study confirms.
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Critical List: Chevron execs face ‘environmental crime’ charges; even small doses of BPA are dangerous
Everything about Frozen Planet is awesome, except Alec Baldwin’s narration. Chevron execs in Brazil must surrender their passports and face criminal charges for “environmental crimes” connected to oil spills off the country’s coast. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals like bisphenol A and the pesticide atrazine can have significant health effects even for people exposed to only small doses, […]
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Critical List: A new Chevron oil spill in Brazil; Vladimir Putin didn’t shoot a tiger
Chevron has suspended work at a drilling site off the coast of Brazil after finding an oil leak near the site of November’s spill. Vladimir Putin wants everyone to think he’s all manly, but there’s evidence that the “wild” tiger that he “tranquilized” was taken from a zoo to stage the stunt. Chinese, South Korean, […]
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New frog species found in Staten Island
Most folks assume Staten Island holds little more than Italian restaurants, mob wives, and a huge landfill. But another resident has just been discovered on New York City’s most disrespected borough: a new species of frog!
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Critical List: Gas prices could drop; Poland blocks E.U. carbon reforms
Gas prices could be heading down. Poland, which depends on coal-fired power, keeps vetoing European Union plans to crack down on carbon emissions. Climate scientists predicted the spread of mountain pine beetles, which due to warming temperatures are decimating tree populations in the American West. Andrew Steer, who was working at the World Bank as […]
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Critical List: Oil sands carbon footprint revised upwards; new frog discovered in NYC
Oil sands have an even higher carbon footprint than previously thought: No one was counting carbon released when the drilling operations destroy peatlands. In 2011, solar installers put in twice as many solar panels as they did in 2010. The transportation bill now includes a natural gas amendment that fulfills energy magnate T. Boone Pickens’ […]
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Critical List: How red meat will kill you; Bo Obama photobomb
Eating red meat is really, REALLY bad for you, according to a study conducted by cows. I mean researchers at Harvard Medical School. Twin Creeks Technologies can make thin, bendable layers of silicon just 20 microns thick. So what? So cheaper solar panels, that’s what. In northern states, the amount of land covered in forest […]