Arm yourself with knowledge...power up with GREEN news...to use in verbal or written battle with the Rethugs in our lives. Good for attempts at convincing your CongressCreatures, too.
Benched science. Three Supreme Court decisions in the 1990s have led to a radical transformation of the rules of scientific evidence used in court claims of injury. Science News.
Bush Plan Shows U.S. Is Not Ready for Deadly Flu. A plan developed by the Bush administration to deal with any possible outbreak of pandemic flu shows that the United States is woefully unprepared for what could become the worst disaster in the nation's history. New York Times.
EPA bill would create a new health hazard. Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and David Vitter (R-La.) are proposing legislation that would give the EPA administrator authority to waive or change any law under EPA's jurisdiction. Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Court rejects EPA air pollution revision. A federal appeals court Friday rejected what it called a Bush administration attempt to "pull a surprise switcheroo" by weakening the government's authority to monitor air pollution from power plants, refineries and factories.
Seattle PI
Soil failure, not overflow, cited in levee breaches. The levee breaches along two major canals that flooded New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina resulted from massive soil failures under concrete storm walls, not from hurricane surges that sent water over the tops of the walls. Los Angeles Times
America's U-turn as Bush starts to preach for energy conservation. To any rational person, the chaos left behind by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita spells real trouble for the United States and its free-wheeling, open-road way of life. London Independent
Water resources drying up. According to a recent report, the days of groundwater fueling Florida's explosive growth are trickling to an end. Melbourne Florida Today, Florida
Environmental investigation at Knoxville mine. With rain clouds on the horizon, an environmental disaster on an enormous scale may be in the offing in the Knoxville area. Lake County Record-Bee, California
EPA pushed to get tough on pollution. Pressure is growing on the Environmental Protection Agency to tighten standards for cleaning up TCE, a toxic chemical that can seep into the air in homes that sit above polluted groundwater. Poughkeepsie Journal, New York
Chemicals suspected in deformities. Four children with abnormalities, all of whose mothers were Immokalee farmworkers, have been born in the past 10 months. Fort Myers News-Press, Florida
Pesticide dangers hit home for residents. More than 60 people in a North Salinas neighborhood were exposed to a fumigant apparently improperly applied on a nearby strawberry field Wednesday and experienced allergy-like symptoms. Monterey County Herald, California
Dirty air, ozone linked to sperm troubles. Men might improve their fertility by reducing how much pollution they breathe in. The dirtier the air, the lower a man's sperm count and the more sperm with fragmented DNA he produces, two new studies suggest. Science News.
Defense funding due for cleanup of perchlorate. A $13 million windfall in the 2006 Department of Defense spending bill for perchlorate cleanup is a double blessing for some local communities. Not only will it mean safe drinking water in the area, but it also should prevent higher utility bills. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, California
Tracking how global pollution affects climate. Asian aerosols could be affecting visibility in the Tahoe Basin and over the rest of the Sierra. North Lake Tahoe Bonanza, California
A collapse of global proportions. Several science journals have called the break-up of the Larsen B ice shelf unprecedented, and most scientists point to human-induced global warming as the cause. Nashua Telegraph, New Hampshire
Organic food producers lose ground to imports. Advocates tout organic food as a salvation for small U.S. farms. But more and more, organic food isn't American at all. Des Moines Register, Iowa
U.S. urged to come up with plutonium plan. The absence of a government plan to consolidate weapons-grade plutonium is driving up storage and security costs and increasing the risks of accidental release of the highly hazardous material, experts said Friday. Seattle PI