Environment

Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the air threaten to sap wheat, rice, and other staple grains of valuable nutrients

America, and the World, Cannot Afford Trump’s Dirty Coal Plan

By Daniel Fiorino | – Is climate change a problem? Consider the evidence: wildfires in California, Sweden and Siberia; flooding in coastal areas due to sea level rise; droughts in some places and extreme weather and rainfall in others; new and emerging patterns of disease; heat waves; and much more. Yet, looking at the policy […]

Climate Change

Trump unleashes Coal, boosting Greenhouse Gases and deadly Global Heating

Ivan Couronne

Washington (AFP) – President Donald Trump’s administration announced a plan Tuesday to weaken regulations on US coal plants, giving a boost to an industry that former leader Barack Obama had hoped to phase out to cut harmful emissions that drive global warming. The Environmental Protection Agency’s new Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule would allow states […]

Pollution

Devastating Dolphin Loss in Florida Red Tide Industrial Farming Pollution Crime

TeleSur

More than 100 tons of dead sea creatures have been shoveled up from smelly, deserted beaches in tourist areas along Florida’s southwest coast as a result of the harmful algal bloom this month alone. A state of emergency has been declared in Florida, United States, as the worst red tide in a decade blackens the […]

Green Transportation

Elon Musk says in Talks with Saudis on Taking Tesla Private

AFP

By Rob Lever | – Washington (AFP) – Tesla chief executive Elon Musk disclosed Monday that he was in talks with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and other investors to take the electric automaker private. The revelation came after Musk claimed in an August 7 Twitter post that financing for a deal to take Tesla […]

Afghanistan

Farmers in War-Torn Afghanistan Hit by Worst Drought in Decades

AFP

With Emal Haidary | – Mazar-i-Sharif (Afghanistan) (AFP) – After his wheat crop failed and wells dried up, Ghulam Abbas sold his animals and joined thousands of other farmers migrating to cities as Afghanistan’s worst drought in living memory ravages the war-torn country. A huge shortfall in snow and rain across much of the country […]

Pollution

France to set Penalties on Plastic Waste, Ban Straws

Julien Dury

Paris (AFP) – France plans to introduce a penalty system next year that would increase the costs of consumer goods with packaging made of non-recycled plastic, part of a pledge to use only recycled plastic nationwide by 2025, an environment ministry official said Sunday. Brune Poirson, secretary of state for ecological transition, said the move […]

Pollution

US jury orders Monsanto pay $290mn to cancer patient in weed killer trial

Glenn Chapman

San Francisco (AFP) – A California jury on Friday ordered chemical giant Monsanto to pay nearly $290 million for failing to warn a dying groundskeeper that its weed killer Roundup might cause cancer. Jurors unanimously found that Monsanto — which vowed to appeal — acted with “malice” and that its weed killers Roundup and the […]

Climate Change

Burning Fossil Fuels risks Tipping Earth into ‘Hothouse’ State: Study

Kerry Sheridan

Tampa (AFP) – The planet urgently needs to transition to a green economy because fossil fuel pollution risks pushing the Earth into a lasting and dangerous “hothouse” state, researchers warned on Monday. If polar ice continues to melt, forests are slashed and greenhouse gases rise to new highs — as they currently do each year […]