Month: October 2020

“The worst-case scenarios are very worrisome, and the best-case scenario is pretty bad even without a landfall because of the rain threat.” #Joaquin Tweets Even as storm-trackers and meteorologist struggle to predict if and how Hurricane Joaquin will make U.S. landfall in the coming days, that comment is what  Marshall Shepherd, a University of Georgia meteorology professor and host of the TV show Weather Geeks, told the Associated Press overnight. Meanwhile, NOAA called the storm…

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Yet another European nation has banned genetically modified (GM or GMO) crops, with Northern Ireland’s Minister for the Environment Mark Durkan declaring Monday: “I remain unconvinced of the advantages of GM crops and I consider it prudent to prohibit their cultivation here for the foreseeable future.” “We are perceived internationally to have a clean and green image,” Durkan told the BBC. “I am concerned that the growing of GM crops, which I acknowledge is controversial,…

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As reporting on Friday suggested that some of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies are trying to shed their “bad guy image” ahead of upcoming UN climate talks, a number of environmental and climate campaigners are issuing a quick retort: Do not trust them for a Parisian minute. “The first step towards getting a meaningful climate agreement is to kick oil companies and other corporate polluters out of the process.” —Ben Schreiber, Friends of the…

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A broad coalition of community groups along with prominent leaders from the nation’s top civil rights, environmental, and indigeneous people’s movements on Friday sent a joint letter to the U.S. Department of Justice demanding a federal investigation into allegations that oil giant ExxonMobil knew about the role fossil fuels played in driving climate change since the 1970s but concealed that information—and later sought to discredit those issuing warnings—in order to protect its own financial interests.…

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As Thursday marked the 16th anniversary of the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, which erected a firewall between investment and commercial banking, some are assessing if new measures to break up large banks will become a litmus test in the 2016 presidential race. Because Glass-Steagall is seen as a challenge to Wall Street, many experts say Hillary Clinton’s opposition to reinstating that provision makes it clear where she stands in the fight against the industry’s…

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The oil spill that shut down a portion of the Keystone 1 pipeline in South Dakota last weekend is much bigger than initially estimated, TransCanada admitted on Thursday—almost 100 times bigger, in fact. The fossil fuel company said the “potential volume” of the spill in Freeman, discovered by a passerby on Saturday, was about 18,600 gallons, or 400 barrels. That estimate comes just days after TransCanada initially claimed the spill totaled about 187 gallons, or…

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Sustainability focused start-up Coral Eyewear has become the first UK-based company to launch a collection of glasses and sunglasses made with Econyl regenerated nylon. The Endangered collection features six unisex designs available in four colours that can be tailored with prescription lenses. Each frame comes accompanied with a recycled plastic case and the frames are shipped in recyclable tubes. The frames are all made using Econyl regenerated nylon, which is produced by Italian manufacturer Aquafil,…

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Georgia’s special election has set a new record spending record for a House race, Politico reported Saturday. The battle between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen HandelKaren Christine HandelJon Ossoff to challenge David Perdue after winning Georgia Democratic primary The Hill’s Campaign Report: Bad polling data is piling up for Trump Ossoff within reach of Democratic Senate nomination in Georgia, but counting continues MORE has drawn national attention in recent weeks, as both parties fight…

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Just days before a London anti-war march is expected to draw thousands, Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle united with artists, writers, and trade unionists on Thursday in an open letter denouncing the “dangerous” British rush to bomb Syria. “Far from tackling terrorism, the last fourteen years of war have seen massively increased Jihadi terrorist organisation around the world,” states the missive, whose 23 signatories also include Roxy Music star Brian Eno and writer, journalist, and filmmaker Tariq…

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The global talks known as COP21 ended Saturday with nearly 200 countries agreeing to a carbon emissions-slashing deal (pdf).  But climate campaigners are saying that the agreement doesn’t go far enough, and that the real work is just beginning. While Reuters described the deal’s adoption as “setting the course for a ‘historic’ transformation of the world’s fossil fuel-driven economy within decades in a bid to arrest global warming,” commentator George Monbiot writes Saturday of the…

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