An EPA report linking fracking to groundwater contamination in Wyoming was delayed after Governor Matt Mead persuaded EPA director Lisa Jackson to hold back the report, giving him time to coordinate an all out PR offensive for his oil and gas industry buddies. Well that’s really fracked up, Matt! According to an AP investigation, the data was held up for Mead by the EPA for a month before it was finally released this passed December, sending shockwaves through the oil and gas industry that’s already under fire from environmentalists. “When I talked to Lisa Jackson they were going to release the findings regardless. That...
Apr26
Botanicula
New Forest Saving Video Game!
Independent video game distributor Humble Bundle has been pretty progressive since its inception in 2010. The website has always used a pay-what-you-want model in selling 100% DRM free indie game packages and they’ve supported a number of different charities including Child’s Play,...
Apr24
Criminal Charges For BP Engineer
Kurt Mix Faces First Oil Spill Charges For Obstruction Of Justice
Federal officials are throwing out their first bone to blood thirsty environmentalists (like you and I) who seek justice for BP’s 2010 oil spill. Kurt Mix, a 50 year old BP engineer is being charged with obstruction of justice for deleting hundreds of text messages sent to his superiors describing the shit tons of oil leaking out of BP’s Horizon well. According to the Huffington Post, the criminal charges against Mix may “validate concerns raised by scientists, elected officials and environmental groups that BP officials deliberately misled the government and the public about how much oil was leaking from the ruptured...
Apr23
Genocide in the Making
Extinction of Indigenous Tribe Imminent?
Survival International, with support from the likes of Colin Firth, will this week launch a campaign to protect Brazil’s indigenous Awa tribe. With just 355 members, illegal logging in the Amazon is threatening this population with extinction, leading Brazilian judge Jose Carlos do Vale Medeira to proclaim the situation “a real genocide.” Demands for iron ore extraction have led to an influx of settlers into the area, causing both a destruction of Awa land and the introduction of numerous diseases to which the Awa have no immunity. The violence with which Awa resistance is met is the subject of huge concern, with reports of...
Apr20
BP’s Saga Continues
Deformed Seafood Found in Gulf
BP’s oil spill drama continues two years later as biologists keep gathering unsettling news about wildlife in the gulf. Mutated and deformed species, fish populations diminishing, and the possibility of harm to children and pregnant women that consume contaminated seafood are just few of...
Apr19
Chevron Calls Ecuadoran Natives “Irrelevant”...
Chevron Loses Appeal To Block $18 Billion Fine For Environmental Damages
Chevron is apparently trying to get out of paying an $18 billion judgment to 30,000 Ecuadoran rainforest residents, for creating “one of the world’s largest oil-related environmental disasters,” aka Chevron’s Chernobyl in the Amazon. Yes, this is bigger than the BP f*@k up, only it happened 19-years ago and they’ve been trying to keep it on the down-low ever since. Chevron attorney, Doak Bishop of King & Spalding, said, “The plaintiffs are really irrelevant. They always were irrelevant. There were never any real parties in interest in this case… There will be no prejudice to [the rainforest...
Apr16
Counting Penguins From Space
Seven New Colonies of Emperor Penguins Discovered
Not only has the population of emperor penguins in Antartica nearly doubled since 1992, but this finding was also made possible via satellite imagery. New technology in satellite imagery called “pansharpening” has allowed scientists to use a focusing technique to actually count the population of penguins from space. Tracking these four foot tall penguins is difficult due to their remote habitats found only in Antarctica. The last time an emperor penguin census was conducted was in 1992, and at that time the population was close to 300,000. With the new satellite census, tracking the population has become more accurate, allowing...
Apr14
Slime Saves The Day
Nasa Seeks Energy From Algae
As sources of renewable and clean energy become more and more crucial to the survival of our way of life, researchers are looking in unexpected places to find it. This time the new source of power has manifested itself in the form of algae. That’s right…algae. No longer is algae...
Apr13
High Tech Solar
Pay-As-You-Go Solar Power?
As most of the world looks for newer, greener technologies to create electricity, more than one billion people around the world are still unable to get reliable access to electricity, green or not. Eight19, a company in Cambrigde, U.K., hopes to change that with IndiGo, its pay-as-you-go...
Apr07
Plastic Eating Bacteria Might Help
But We Could Also Just Stop Dumping Shit Into The Ocean
A new discovery in the bacteria world may solve the problem of the increasing amount of plastic found in the oceans. Yet, it may not all be good news. After studying some of the plastic debris from the Sargasso Sea, an area in the North Atlantic, researchers found that the tiny organisms burrow into the plastic and “live in pits.” They appear to be feeding on the plastic items as well. “They look like you took a hot barbecue briquette and threw it into the snow,” said Tracy Mincer, a marine microbiologist of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. “You see this melting bit all around the...
Apr07
Corporate Bully
Vermont Caves To Monsanto
Agricultural giant Monsanto has another bug up its ass, and this time it’s picking on a whole state. The bully corporation has threatened to sue the State of Vermont if it passes a bill requiring all manufacturers to label their products if they contain GMOs. In an attempt to allow...
Apr05
Sustainable Seafood
Whole Foods' Earth Day Action
Environment – Whole Foods Market is taking its contribution to Earth Day to a new level by doing away with unsustainable seafood. As of April 22nd, the grocer will no longer carry wild-caught seafood that may be considered over-fished or caught in a way that harms other species. The...
Apr03
Dolphin Un-Safe
BP Continues to Harm Marine Life
Environment – New studies into the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill suggest that the damage done to dolphins and other marine life may be higher than initially predicted. The report, commissioned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) studied 32 dolphins,...
Apr03
Pulling The Plug
GM Drops Heartland Inst.
Environment – General Motors Foundation (GM) has announced that it will be ending its support of the Heartland Institute, which is known for its skepticism toward global warming. GM has supported the thinktank for 20 years, and the move to cut ties with it has been cheered by groups...
Mar30
Cut The Power
World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour
Environment – Got plans for Saturday, March 31, yet? Didn’t think so. Start planning in advance, because once again, the World Wildlife Fund is hosting its annual Earth Hour campaign. What started as a one-city event has turned into a worldwide phenomenon with more than 18 billion...
Mar30
Denmark Going Green
100% Renewable Energy by 2050
Environment – As gas prices continue to skyrocket globally, many countries are turning to greener options for their energy needs, and Denmark, it seems, is paving the way. The Danish government recently announced that by 2020 half of its energy will be obtained through renewable, green resources. Denmark’s announcement seems like a wise decision; one that will ensure that it does not have to rely on destructive fossil fuels for its citizens. Yet, they aren’t stopping there. In addition to its admirable goal of using resources such as offshore wind farms for half of its energy needs, it plans to produce all – yup,...
Mar30
Can of Approval
Tuna Sustainability Rankings
Environmental Issues – Greenpeace Canada approved several brands of Canadian canned tuna this week that carry out sustainable fishing procedures. This is only the second year the tuna industry was ranked according to sustainability in Canada, and while only two producers were approved...
![Van Gogh-cean [Video]](http://www.thedailyactivist.com/wordpress/wp-content/themes/TheStyle/timthumb.php?src=http://www.thedailyactivist.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Van-Gogh-2.jpg&h=180&w=222&zc=1&q=90)
Mar28
Van Gogh-cean [Video]
Beauty in Ocean's Currents
Environment – Thanks to a visualization from NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio (maybe shortened to GSFCSVS) we are now privy to something that Van Gogh might have created, were he an animator. The visualization, which displays the currents of the...
Mar22
Thai Pest Problem
Pest Threatens Thai Rice Crop
Environment – Since 2009, rice production in countries throughout Asia has been affected by the brown planthopper (BPH), a pest which can transmit two viruses which damage rice yields, as well as eat away at the rice plants. In 2010, BPH caused the loss of 30 percent of Thai rice crop....
Mar22
Social Media Flood
Ecorazzi's Water.org Campaign
Environment – Ecorazzi is holding its first ever #MicroistDay campaign benefiting Water.org. Unlike the usual Facebook status causes, Ecorazzi’s approach covers a variety of social media outlets. According to Ecorazzi, the point of Microist Day is “to spread the word about...
Mar21
Au Revoir, Monsanto
France Bans Modified Maize
Environment – French Agricultural Minister Bruno Le Maire has banned MON 810, a genetically modified maize also known as YieldGuard. Le Maire’s ministry calls it “a precautionary measure,” and the step has been taken to “protect the environment.” The American...
Mar20
Big Beach Clean-Up
Marks & Spencer for Marine Life
Environment – Just in time for swimsuit season, British retailer Marks & Spencer is partnering with the Marine Conservation Society to clean up polluted beaches and water. They plan to clean up 50 beaches in three days, from May 11 to 13. It will be the biggest initiative of...
Mar20
No to GMOs
Peru Bans Gen. Modified Foods
Environment – Proving that it is possible to stand up to seemingly insurmountable money and pressure, Peru has recently placed ban on genetically modified foods that cannot be revised for ten years. It goes in the face of significant lobbying by multinational food corporations and is a bold move toward environment and public health. The decision came after three years of congressional consideration, but the Pervuian Congress ultimately sided with its farmers, including the farming community, Parque de la Papa. The community’s argument rested largely on the threat that genetically modified foods held to native species unique to...
Mar14
Dried Up
Mexican Drought Impacts Millions
Environment – Mexico is facing its worst drought in 71 years, a drought so severe it is impacting 2.5 million Mexicans. The implications of this drought, including the possibility of years of food shortage, are terribly severe. The drought crosses over half of Mexico and has brought on...
Mar14
Sustania
Land of Green Design
Environment – The Sustania project, an initiative pushed forward by former California Governor (and muscled action star) Arnold Schwarzenegger and European climate chief Connie Hedegaard, is hoping to present, through clear, understandable design, what the future might be like using...
Mar12
Greening England
JWP to Plant 6 Million Trees
Environment – The Woodland Trust kicked off “The Jubilee Woods Project” in February in the hopes of planting 6 million trees across the UK to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Year Jubilee. As of the end of February, 1 million trees had already been planted and the Queen...
Mar11
Mega Quake
Where Will Disaster Strike Next?
Environment – A year ago today (Mar 11, 2011), Japan was rocked by both a massive earthquake and giant tsunami that claimed the lives of roughly 20,000 people. Some experts have called this tsunami a “mega-tsunami” and are now speculating on the whereabouts of the next big...
Mar09
Fuel Back Up Plan
Cross Country on 10 Gallons?
Environment – Cliff Ricketts, an agricultural education professor at Middle Tennessee State University, has a big trip ahead of him, and he’s only got a little bit of fuel. He plans to drive across the country on 10 gallons of gasoline, from Savannah, Georgia to Long Beach,...
Mar08
Hazy Sollutions
China's Air Quality Standards
Environmental Issues – The Chinese government announced it will phase in new air quality standards which its cities must adopt by 2016. Currently two-thirds of Chinese cities do not meet the new measures issued on Wednesday. Additional, unmonitored pollutants, such as fine particles 2.5...
Mar07
10,000 Maniacs Against Fracking
Natalie Merchant Benefit Concert
Environment – Natalie Merchant, well known singer of “These are the Days,” will be performing a benefit concert on March 10th to support a ban on hydrofracking in New York State. The event will benefit the New York Splash Concert Series and will be an informative evening to educate the public on the dangerous effects of shale gas fracking and the importance of clean water. “Hydrofracking poses the greatest threat to clean drinking water in New York and Pennsylvania right now,” said Natalie Merchant. “Our opposition to this threat is imperative. I hope people can come to the concert to show their...
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