Australia developer withdraws from coal port expansion that threatens Great Barrier Reef

By Elisabeth Behrmann  25 February 2014 (Bloomberg News) – Lend Lease Group, Australia’s biggest listed property developer, won’t take part in a planned coal terminal expansion close to the Great Barrier Reef after a mandate for the project lapsed. Lend Lease is no longer part of the AP-X expansion at the port of Abbot Point, […]

North Carolina ash spill shows how watchdog was defanged

By TRIP GABRIEL28 February 2014 RALEIGH, N.C. (The New York Times) – Last June, state employees in charge of stopping water pollution were given updated marching orders on behalf of North Carolina’s new Republican governor and conservative lawmakers. “The General Assembly doesn’t like you,” an official in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources told […]

Another day, another river ruined by a big coal-industry spill – ‘When this much coal slurry goes into the stream, it wipes the stream out’

By John Upton13 Februry 2014 (Grist) – The coal power industry has dumped a lot of toxic crap into yet another river. This latest incident is not to be confused with the spill of toxic coal-cleaning chemicals that poisoned a West Virginia river last month and left 300,000 people without drinking water. Nor is it […]

Great Barrier Reef park directors face conflict of interest questions – Dumping of dredging spoil was approved before end of inquiry into links with mining companies

By Bridie Jabour    3 February 2014 (theguardian.com) – Two of the board members of the authority that approved the dumping of 3 million cubic metres of dredging spoil in the Great Barrier Reef waters are still involved in an investigation for potential conflicts of interest, including links to mining companies. The environment minister, Greg Hunt, […]

Big Coal’s war on water

By Peter Sinclair13 January 2014 (Climate Crocks) – They need the water. Your baby will have to look elsewhere. STFU. LATimes: “I believe we’re at a point where we see light at the end of the tunnel,” Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said. Water samples had shown positive signs that traces of a coal-cleaning chemical were […]

Toxic mercury pollution rising with Arctic meltdown

16 January 2014By Christa Marshall (Scientific American) – Cracks in sea ice are funneling additional mercury to the Arctic surface, raising concerns about the toxic element seeping into the food chain of the delicate ecosystem, according to a new study. The research, published yesterday in Nature, finds that channels of open water in Arctic ice, […]

Unfazed by environmental challenges, coal industry mounts PR assault, claims social benefits of carbon outweigh costs by at least 50 times

By Ken Silverstein27 January 2014 (Christian Science Monitor) – Instead of pushing into the future, the embattled US coal industry has reached into the past with a new public relations assault, emphasizing how its product powered the Industrial Revolution and can do the same for today’s emerging nations. The pitch: The economic and social benefits […]

U.S. business groups form multi-million dollar campaign to fight President Obama’s climate plan

By Juliet Eilperin    30 January 2014 (Washington Post) – A coalition of business, energy and farm groups are spending millions of dollars to fight the Obama administration’s effort to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and other sources. The Partnership for a Better Energy Future, which includes the National Association of Manufacturers and the […]

Australia Great Barrier Reef dredge dumping plan approved – ‘This go-ahead for dumping is one more body blow for the reef, which further threatens marine life’

31 January 2014 (BBC News) – Australian authorities have approved a project to dump dredged sediment in the Great Barrier Reef marine park as part of a project to create one of the world’s biggest coal ports. The decision was made by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). Scientists had urged it not […]

Australia protesters lock themselves to bulldozers to fight coalmine development

13 January 2014 (AAP) – Protesters have locked themselves on to bulldozers as they fight the development of the controversial Maules Creek coalmine in north-west New South Wales. About 30 activists, including local Indigenous community members, on Monday blockaded heavy vehicles which are at the Boggabri site to build roads and a rail line, Georgina […]

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