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  • Will Richard Daley, Chicago’s outgoing ‘green’ mayor, help quash coal pollution?

    Will Richard Daley’s last month in office be marred by two old coal plants?Photo: Kate GardinerCross-posted from Midwest Energy News. A long-stalled Chicago ordinance that could force the city’s two aging coal-burning power plants to greatly reduce emissions or shut down now has enough backing to pass at the city council’s next meeting. But proponents […]

    Kari Lydersen Health

  • Barton denies any ‘medical negative’ from mercury, smog, or soot pollution

    Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. At a congressional hearing on Friday designed to lay the groundwork for an effort to delay critical EPA toxic pollution standards, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) claimed that reducing emissions of toxic mercury, sulfur dioxide, and soot would not bring health benefits. Though conceding he is “not a medical doctor,” Barton offered […]

    Brad Johnson Health

  • One year after the BP oil spill, dangers remain

    A year ago, the American public, government regulators, and Gulf of Mexico families had been lulled into a false sense of security over the safety of offshore drilling and the ability of the oil industry to respond in the event of a severe spill. After years of systemic complacency and mismanagement by the U.S. government […]

    Ed Markey Health

  • Why the Supreme Court should let states sue the country’s biggest carbon polluters

    This post was coauthored by Matt Pawa. He and I represent the land conservation trusts in American Electric Power vs. Connecticut. Today, the Supreme Court hears oral argument in American Electric Power vs. Connecticut — a case in which six states and other plaintiffs are trying to put emissions limits on America’s five largest greenhouse-gas […]

    David Doniger Health

  • This is what a Power Shift looks like [SLIDESHOW]

    Thousands of young climate activists descended on Washington, D.C., over the weekend for the third biennial Power Shift conference. Then on Monday they took their message to the streets and the president’s doorstep. Check out these photos by Jay Mallin to get a sense of what went down. Photo: Jay Mallin The Power Shift crowd […]

    Grist staff Health

  • House Republicans attack life-saving mercury and air toxics standards

    It would be irresponsible to deny clean air to the American people.Photo: BronxCross-posted from the Natural Resources Defense Council. And so it begins. Long a rumored dirty secret, Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) confirmed today that House Republicans plan to introduce legislation to delay mercury and air toxics standards that will save up to 26,000 lives […]

    John Walke Health

  • Should kids be exposed to more or less toxic pollution?

    For some representatives, the health of schoolkids just doesn’t seem to be the priority.Cross-posted from the Natural Resources Defense Council. Some questions should be easy to answer. But, with Congress, some things are never easy. Fresh off the House vote to let polluters dump unlimited amounts of carbon pollution into the air, a House subcommittee under […]

    Peter Altman Health

  • Surprise! Times Square air cleaner now that cars are gone

    Refreshing, isn’t it?Photo: Ed Yourdon Despite positive reviews from local business owners, area workers, tourists, and other human beings, New York Post columnist Steve Cuozzo won’t stop frothing at the mouth about the pedestrian plazas in New York’s Times Square, lamenting that the once car-clogged streets have become “asphalt loitering grounds,” and that the redesign […]

    Sarah Goodyear Health

  • Is this the natural gas industry’s fib-filled high pressure sales strategy?

    As reported by Brian Merchant at Treehugger, a tipster has offered up an internal oil and natural gas company document called "Talking Points for Selling Oil and Gas Lease Rights." If this is genuine, it’s basically a “How To Lie To Get Drilling Rights For Fun and Profit” guide. One thing the document tells us […]

    Christopher Mims Health

  • Goldman Environmental Prize winners give the rest of us a kick in the pants

    It’s like the Oscars for the Patagonia set. Every April, just before Earth Day, San Francisco’s environmental community comes together at the city’s Opera House to laud six grassroots activists from around the globe, whose stories enrage and inspire. The prize offers recipients $150,000 to use as they see fit and international recognition that confers […]

    Erica Gies Health