Oil Spills

By Jonathan Bridge, Sheffield Hallam University | – (The Conversation) – On the morning of December 6 1917, a French cargo ship called SS Mont-Blanc collided with a Norwegian vessel in the harbour of Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada. The SS Mont-Blanc, which was laden with 3,000 tons of high explosives destined for the battlefields […]

Climate Crisis

Climate: Scientists Stunned to Find Atlantic Plankton 90% Gone; Marine Life, our Oxygen Imperiled

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – (Note: After publication, Jonathan Gitlin at Ars Technica took issue with the below on the grounds that it is based on a preprint and not a peer-reviewed academic journal article. He implies that Dryden’s study did not have enough data points to support his conclusions. I’ll let readers judge how […]

Climate Crisis

Phasing out Oil can offer a better Life for Many

The Conversation

By Jack Marley | – The EU could ban crude oil imports from Russia within six months if a new round of sanctions is approved. Excluding a handful of countries, refined Russian oil products like petrol and diesel could cease to flow into the EU by the end of 2022. The EU currently relies on […]

Climate Crisis

Is it possible to heal the damage we have already done to the Earth?

The Conversation

Scott Denning | – Sometimes it may seem that humans have altered the Earth beyond repair. But our planet is an incredible system in which energy, water, carbon and so much else flows and nurtures life. It is about 4.5 billion years old and has been through enormous changes. Is it possible to heal the […]

Climate Crisis

‘Huge Climate Victory’ as Judge Blocks Biden’s Oil Lease Sale in Gulf of Mexico

Common Dreams

By Jake Johnson | – A federal judge late Thursday blocked the Biden administration’s massive oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, a significant win for environmentalists as they work to prevent the Interior Department from handing public lands and waters over to the fossil fuel industry. In his 68-page decision (pdf), […]

Climate Crisis

California’s latest offshore oil spill could fuel pressure to end oil production statewide

The Conversation

By Charles Lester | – An oil spill first reported on Oct. 2, 2021, has released thousands of gallons of crude oil into southern California coastal waters. The source is believed to be a leak in an underwater pipeline connected to an oil drilling platform 17.5 miles offshore. Oil has washed ashore in Huntington Beach […]

CO2

Ecological Disaster at Huntington Beach as Oil Spill Threatens Marine Life, Wetlands, Tourism Industry

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Drilling for oil in the ocean off California’s pristine beaches is about the stupidest and most evil human activity you can think of. Oil is leaky and gets spilled into the ocean, harming the environment. But if it gets delivered without incident to the refinery and is made into gasoline […]