June 13, 2012
OTTAWA — Budget cuts to a team of smokestack pollution specialists at Environment Canada could jeopardize the Harper government's efforts to crack down on pollution from industries such as the oilsands and coal-fired electricity generation, warns a University of Guelph professor, who worked with the special unit of federal scientists.
Environment Minister Peter Kent has suggested, through a spokesman, the government could replace his department's expertise by relying on outside sources such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
June 12, 2012
Bank of America Corp. announced Monday a commitment to invest $50 billion in green energy and other environmental projects over the next 10 years, after achieving a similar goal announced in 2007 years ahead of schedule.
The Charlotte bank joins a number of other large banks in making similar commitments amid complaints that the bank finances coal extraction and mountaintop removal.
“Environmental business delivers value to our clients, return for our shareholders, and helps strengthen the economy,” said CEO Brian Moynihan said in a statement. “We met our prior goal in about half the time we set for ourselves, so more than doubling our target is ambitious but achievable.”
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June 11, 2012
The modern-day oil boom in the western U.S. and Canada is fueling interest in shipping crude oil by rail across Maine to a refinery in the Maritimes.
But the prospect of long trains of oil-filled tanker cars rumbling through Maine also has state environmental officials concerned, particularly in the wake of a recent derailment that sent several tanker cars of nonhazardous materials tumbling into the Penobscot River. As a result, state officials are reviewing their spill response strategies and making other preparations.
June 11, 2012
Coast Guard personnel are coordinating with the Army Reserve, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Alaska Chadux Corporation and other stakeholders in response to the diesel fuel spill that occurred Friday night as a result of damage to the Army vessel Monterrey in Chiniak Bay near Kodiak.
Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment Kodiak personnel estimate the amount of fuel in the water from two reportedly breached fuel compartments at 15,291 gallons.
Two booms have been put in place around the beached 174-foot landing craft, and a third boom is being placed at the mouth of the Buskin River, an environmentally sensitive area. Response teams are exploring the possibility of skimming vessels to clear surface fuel.
June 8, 2012
Releases of drilling and fracking waste, which is often laced with carcinogenic chemicals, have wiped out aquatic life in streams and wetlands.
Oil drilling has sparked a frenzied prosperity in Jeff Keller's formerly quiet corner of western North Dakota in recent years, bringing an infusion of jobs and reviving moribund local businesses.
But Keller, a natural resource manager for the Army Corps of Engineers, has seen a more ominous effect of the boom, too: Oil companies are spilling and dumping drilling waste onto the region's land and into its waterways with increasing regularity.