Eco News Stories

California Votes In Democrats, Rejects Proposition 23

ecofactory — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 23:08:44 +0000

SACRAMENTO, California, November 3, 2010 (ENS) - In California, voters elected Democrat Jerry Brown as governor, a post he held in the 1970s. Brown has been serving as California's attorney general in the administration of the current governor, Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has promoted a clean energy agenda.

Elections Usher in Divided Congress, Environment, Energy Issues Remain

ecofactory — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 23:06:29 +0000

WASHINGTON, DC, November 3, 2010 (ENS) - Some environmental measures fared better than Democratic candidates in Tuesday's election. California voters defeated Proposition 23, deciding by a decisive margin of 61.3 percent to keep the state's greenhouse gas reduction law, the Global Warming Solutions Act, AB32, the strongest clean energy law in the nation.

Canada Rejects Gold-Copper Mine Over Environmental Concerns

ecofactory — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 01:23:05 +0000

OTTAWA, Ontario, Canada, November 2, 2010 (ENS) - The Canadian government today turned down a proposal for a gold-copper mine in central British Columbia due to environmental concerns, while authorizing a second gold-copper mine on B.C.'s northwest coast to proceed.

Taseko Mines' Prosperity mine project 125 kilometers from the city of Williams Lake was denied federal authorization because mine development would convert two natural fish-bearing lakes and a creek into a mine waste impoundment area.

Judge Voids Coal Mine Expansion Permit on Navajo Tribal Land

ecofactory — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 01:21:38 +0000

DENVER, Colorado, November 2, 2010 (ENS) - A federal judge has voided a permit for the expansion of one of two operating coal mines on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico and ordered the federal government to review potential effects of the proposed expansion on cultural resources and the environment.

23 States Get $2.4 Billion for High-Speed Rail, California Accountability in Doubt

ecofactory — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 01:19:49 +0000

WASHINGTON, DC, November 2, 2010 (ENS) - Fifty-four high-speed rail projects in 23 states will share in $2.4 billion to continue developing America's first nationwide program of high-speed intercity passenger rail service, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Thursday.

While $2.3 billion is a substantial chunk of cash, the demand for funding was even greater. The Federal Railroad Administration received 132 grant applications from 32 states totaling $8.8 billion, more than three times the amount available.

Parkinson's Disease Linked to Pollutants in Urban Areas

ecofactory — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 01:18:38 +0000

ST. LOUIS, Missouri, November 2, 2010 (ENS) - High levels of manganese and copper pollution in urban areas are linked to increased risk of Parkinson's disease, according to an analysis of 35,000 Parkinson's patients by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The research team found that people living in areas with higher levels of manganese pollution had a 78 percent greater risk of Parkinson's disease than those living in areas free of such pollution.

Landowners in Eight States Shelter Migrating Birds From Oil-Tainted Gulf

ecofactory — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 06:12:51 +0000

WASHINGTON, DC, October 29, 2010 (ENS) - A coordinated effort between landowners and the U.S. Agriculture Department to protect and feed birds migrating toward the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill zone in the Gulf of Mexico has more than tripled expectations, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday.

The Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative mobilized private landowners to help create alternative and additional habitats to provide healthy food and resting areas for shorebirds, waterfowl and other birds headed for the gulf.

U. North Carolina Dormitory Wins Biggest Energy Loser Title

ecofactory — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 06:10:59 +0000

WASHINGTON, DC, October 28, 2010 (ENS) - The Morrison Residence Hall at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has won first prize in the U.S. EPA's first-ever National Building Competition, reducing its energy use by 35.7 percent in one year.

The competition, launched on April 27, 2010, challenged teams from 14 buildings across the country to measure their building's energy use and reduce waste with help from the Energy Star program.

Halliburton May Have Pumped Unstable Cement Down BP Oil Well

ecofactory — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 06:09:35 +0000

WASHINGTON, DC, October 29, 2010 (ENS) - The cement mixture used by Halliburton to close off BP's Deepwater Horizon oil well was too "unstable" to stop the blowout and Halliburton knew it from tests conducted before the April 20 explosion, according to a report to the national commission investigating causes of the disastrous oil spill.

Biodiversity Pacts Signed on Genetic Resources, Global Conservation

ecofactory — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 06:07:36 +0000

NAGOYA, Aichi, Japan, October 29, 2010 (ENS) - Governments today agreed to a new treaty on how nations cooperate in commercializing genetic resources from living organisms, as for example, when a plant's genetic material is turned into a pharmaceutical product.

The deal that establishes an International Regime on Access and Benefit Sharing of Genetic Resources comes on the last day of the Convention on Biodiversity meeting in Nagoya, following intense all-night negotiations and 18 years of discussion and debate.