skippy the bush kangaroo

for those pesky little environmental stories that, well, might not have been mentioned on the corporate talking head shows.

swirling dust is our destiny. - nobody has a handle on arizona's dust storms, known as haboobs. scientists who study "aeolian transport" say more research is needed but two things are clear: we have contributed to the problem, and it is going to get worse - tucson daily star

phoenix area’s bad air tied to storms. - maricopa county violated federal dust-pollution standards a record number of times this year, but local officials hope to convince federal regulators that this year’s particularly dry monsoon weather and a series of summer dust storms are to blame - tucson sun

the murky environmental price tag of grocery sacks. - last week, a maker of reusable bags settled a lawsuit filed by a plastic-bag manufacturer over competing numerical claims on bags' impact on the environment. the lawsuit laid bare how much remains unknown about bags' environmental impact. - wall street journal

everest's ice is retreating as climate change grips the himalayas. - climate change is altering the face of the himalayas but research seeking to confirm this is yet to catch up with the mountain communities sounding the alarm - london observer

professors: global warming is real. - gov. rick perry wasn't anywhere near texas on saturday, but that didn't stop climate scientists and politicians from poking a bit of fun at his position on global warming during an event on the subject at the pearl brewery. - san antonio express news

supersize salmon are the reel deal. - huge salmon are being caught in scottish rivers this year, leading angling experts to claim the king of fish are growing bigger than they have for decades. jon gibb, an angling expert, believes the changing temperature of the north sea, caused by climate change, is at the root of the situation - edinburgh scotsman

eating ethically -- it's complicated. - you're trying your best to choose the most ethical, environmentally-friendly apples and chickens, but here are some more factors to consider before you decide to eat local - marketplace

italian scientists on trial over deadly earthquake. - the trial of seven italian scientists began this week. they're charged with manslaughter, for failing to adequately warn the residents of l'aquila, italy about the risk of an earthquake in 2009 - weekend edition

mark ruffalo to present gov. cuomo with alternative energy plan. - the actor who stars as the hulk in the upcoming movie “the avengers,” is playing an even bigger role in his fight for clean energy: finding solutions to replace carbon fuels such as gas and oil with renewable energies such as solar, wind and geothermal power - middletown times herald

governor says jersey shore water quality is perfect. - there’s a strip of coastline in the united states where the quality of the water is better than good, according to the governor. "the water quality in the ocean is perfect," gov. chris christie said. some environmental experts disagree - newark star ledger

biking to go green for the planet. - local groups say central north carolina needs to fight pollution, after a forbes magazine article named the triangle the number one gas guzzling metro area in the country. about 200 triangle carpoolers and bicyclists joined in moving planet day saturday, a worldwide effort, in durham's central park - nbc 17

jennifer granholm on the challenges for green jobs. - as governor of michigan from 2003 to 2011, jennifer granholm was involved in a grand experiment for greenville, michigan, to reinvent itself through green technology

stop the train. - sometimes bipartisanship cloaks something else, as when a republican and a democrat share sponsorship of a bill to cripple the epa. if there is any goal americans should share, it is to expedite the path toward cleaner air and water. Stop this train, because our children are tied to the tracks - fredericksburg free lance star

keystone pipeline lobbyist works all the angles with former colleagues. - in lobbying for a presidential permit to construct a massive oil pipeline stretching from canada to the gulf coast, transcanada’s paul elliott — who served as secretary of state hillary rodham clinton’s national deputy campaign manager in 2008 — has tried nearly every angle. - wapo

from the world of amazon

the newspaper interviewed 20 people who worked in an amazon warehouse in the lehigh valley in pennsylvania. they described, and the newspaper verified, temperatures of more than 100 degrees fahrenheit, or 37 degrees celsius, in the warehouse, causing several employees to faint and fall ill and the company to maintain ambulances outside. Employees were hounded to “make rate,” meaning to pick or pack 120, 125, 150 pieces an hour, the rates rising with tenure. tenure, though, wasn’t long, because the work force was largely temps from an agency. permanent jobs were a mirage that seldom came. and so workers toiled even when injured to avoid being fired. a woman who left to have breast cancer surgery returned a week later to find that her job had been “terminated.” - nytimes referring to an article on mcall.com

why not give them crappy food...and of course michele bachmann doesn't even want you to know the food is crappy.

some 40,000 pounds of frozen ground beef that was intended to be served for lunch at six school districts in georgia is being recalled because it may be contaminated with e. coli O157:H7, the u.s. department of agriculture's food safety and inspection service (fsis) said late friday.

in a news release issued at 9:49 p.m. eastern time, the fsis said palo duro meat, of amarillo, tx, processed the frozen beef on sept. 9 and shipped it two warehouses in georgia for further distribution to institutions, including the six school districts in georgia associated with the national school lunch program.

on sept. 22, the company reviewed lab test results for the ground beef that confirmed a positive result for e. coli o157:H7, but the frozen beef had already been "inadvertently shipped into commerce," perhaps "as a result of a sample tracking error," the fsis said. - food safety news

"there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. nobody.
you built a factory out there—good for you! but i want to be clear.
you moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for.
you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate."

this woman has some spinal fortitude...

avast ye mateys...take note.

to mustang bobby over at bark bark woof woof!  #teamvirgo

yeah. more of those pesky little stories that probably weren't on the corporate media's agenda for the talking heads on the sunday shows...

irene's warning: expect more storms. - thousands of homeowners are in dire straits after hurricane irene expended so much of its energy far inland. even if projections for climate change stay at the low end of estimates, some insurers and weather experts warn that homeowners and communities need to prepare for more such events in the years to come. - asbury park press

arctic ice hits near-record low, threatening wildlife. - ice on the arctic ocean has melted to its second-lowest level on record, according to researchers in colorado who track this trend. the summertime melt coincides with a dramatic warming over the past decade, and it's already affecting wildlife in the arctic ocean. - morning edition

carmakers turn to green energy for assembly plants. - wind turbines and solar panels are fast becoming familiar sights at car assembly plants as automakers slash carbon emissions not only of the models they produce, but along the whole production chain. - afp

republicans stop at green. - not even the profit motive seems to have fired an interest in green energy for most of the republicans vying for the party's nomination to take on barack obama in 2012 - sydney morning herald

solar-panel leases surge as no upfront costs make sun power "available to everyone." - more and more colorado homeowners looking for solar-energy systems are making the decision to lease rather than purchase. leasing has gone from zero at the start of 2010 to a dominant part of the market. the reason: leasing simplifies the process, and there is no upfront cost - denver post

texas town reports 100 days at 100 degrees. - thas experienced the worst drought in its history. the impact of the drought has been felt in expected and unexpected ways. from sweeping wildfires to water main breaks and livestock starvation, this year has been brutal. the whole state has been praying for the rain that never came. and one texas town of 107,000 has felt the unwavering intensity of 100 days at 100 degrees, according to LiveScience. i's the story of one quiet texas town and how they endured this epic drought. - treehugger

birth of the green movement. - forty years ago in vancouver, a small band of activists cooked up a scheme to protest nuclear weapons, and greenpeace began - canadian press

herbicide kills a suburb's trees and gardens. - a spate of dying trees and vegetable gardens across girraween, near blacktown, has sparked an investigation into the possible leaching of herbicides from the nearby plant of the chemical production company dupont australia - sydney morning herald

new sites best set away from busy roads. - b.c.'s environment ministry is calling for metro vancouver to consider setting new developments 150 metres back from busy roads, truck routes and freeways, to prevent increased health risks for everything from asthma to heart disease. - vancouver sun

what did floodwater leave in farmers' fields? - in laymen's terms, tropical storm irene moved heaven and earth. university of vermont laboratory analyst joel tilley is concerned primarily with the latter. dozens of plastic bags containing soil from the state's flooded farm fields arrive at his jeffords hall office these days for free testing - burlington free press

pcbs continue to affect mohawk health. - chemicals used at the general gm powertrain plant decades ago continue to exist in high levels among st. regis mohawk reservation youths today, according to research completed at the university at albany. - watertown daily times

memphis teacher ordered to dismantle urban garden -  a memphis, tennessee math teacher, along with three students from his neighborhood, tend an urban garden, keep bees, make vermicompost, produce biofuel, and make soap with the byproducts of biofuel production. the teacher does this on his own time, on his own property, after spending all day teaching. this is the kind of teacher that wins awards, that students look back on years later as the one that made a difference.

but in memphis, tennessee, this teacher is a "public nuisance." and he's been ordered to dismantle his garden. - treehugger

Watch live streaming video from globalrevolution at livestream.com

on this whole ubs "scandal"...

...in other words, "rogue traders" are treated like bad accidents and condemned everywhere from the front pages to ewan mcgregor films. but rogue companies are protected at every level of the regulatory structure and continually empowered by dergulatory legislation giving them access to our bank accounts.

there is a movement in the uk for a thing called “ringfencing” that would separate investment bankers from commercial bankers. some people think this ubs incident will aid that movement, even though ubs can apparently absorb the loss without necessitating a bailout or endangering client accounts.
The u.s. missed its own chance for ringfencing when a proposal for a full repeal of gramm-leach-bliley was routed during the dodd-frank negotiations.

that means we’re probably stuck here in the states with companies like bank of america, jp morgan chase and citigroup, giant commercial banks in charge of stewarding trillions in client bank accounts and consumer credit accounts who also behave like turbocharged gamblers via their investment banking arms.

sooner or later, this is going to blow up in our faces, and it won't be one lower-level guy with a $2 billion loss we'll be swallowing. it'll be the ceo of another rogue firm like lehman brothers, and it'll cost us trillions, not billions. - rolling stone

to get behind them these days...really, dudes. the false slate mailers weren't enough of a red flag for you?

...one question emerging in the scandal is why so many elected officials stuck with durkee despite several red flags about her performance.

in fact, durkee remained one of california's top treasurers despite racking up more than $185,000 in fines for campaign finance violations over the last decade and being the subject of criminal investigations by the los angeles county district attorney's office in 2008 and 2009.

at the time of her arrest, durkee had control of more than 400 bank accounts, many of them campaign accounts.

some experts said durkee was able to survive for so long because she had so many prominent clients.

"politics in both parties is an old boys and old girls club, and most of the candidates ... figure if everyone else is using durkee, she must be all right," said dan schnur, director of the jesse m. unruh institute of politics at the university of southern california. "if you were the only campaign thinking about hiring a person with this record, you might think twice about it, but there's safety in numbers."

in lieu's case, an audit by the state franchise tax board found that $186,190 in credit card contributions to his unsuccessful 2010 race for attorney general had not been deposited in the campaign bank account, in some cases for well over a year. an additional $161,964 that was reported as having been transferred from lieu's assembly committee to his attorney general campaign in december 2008 was not deposited until two years later. - sac bee

they are deadly serious.

...as it turns out, paul was not speaking purely in hypotheticals. back in 2008, kent snyder — paul's former campaign chairman — died of complications from pneumonia. like the man in blitzer's example, the 49-year-old snyder...was relatively young and seemingly healthy when the illness struck. he was also uninsured. [the kansas city star quoted his sister at the time as saying that a "a pre-existing condition made the premiums too expensive."] when he died on june 26, 2008, two weeks after paul withdrew his first bid for the presidency, his hospital costs amounted to $400,000. - alternet

Between the official Republican logo...

And, uh... this guy?

I'm not saying the two are directly linked or anything, but when you consider how the last two and a half years have played out, you can't help but wonder, can you?

(For the record: I've been here before. Very little has changed since then...)

the 9/11 edition.

in manhattan, children still battle 9/11-related illnesses. - the day the twin towers crumbled, more than 25,000 kids inhaled toxic substances. ten years later, many of them are suffering from health problems that still haven't gone away. - the atlantic

9/11 illness, memories haunt broward man. - howard rudolph struggles to breathe. he was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which may be a direct result of inhaling the toxic debris of burned fuel, glass, plastic, and metal during the month he spent in 2001 at ground zero as a mental health counselor to firefighters and police officers - miami herald

5 reasons the dust of 9/11 was a killer. - it coated the bodies of those running from the collapsing towers and infiltrated their lungs. as it burned their eyes and skin, the dust billowing from the world trade center attack also poisoned its victims - gatehouse news services

nyc 9/11 rescuers experience lingering health problems. - ten years after the terrorist attacks on the world trade center, medical researchers say many of these people are suffering higher-than-normal rates of serious disease and psychological problems - voice of america

congress hasn't done right thing for 9/11 responders. - any concerns about the effects of the dust and debris were alleviated. christine todd whitman, president bush’s director of the environmental protection agency, stood at ground zero a few days after the attacks and assured the workers and the country that there were no medical concerns to be worried about. how wrong she was. how wrong everybody was - sevierville mountain press

new docs detail how feds downplayed ground zero health risks. - in the dark days after sept. 11, 2001, the sight of thousands of new yorkers returning to their homes, offices and schools seemed to signal a larger return to normalcy. now new documents have emerged showing that federal officials went further than was previously known to downplay concerns about health risks - propublica

whistleblower petitions for expanded first-responder protection. - a former u.s. epa scientist and longtime agency whistleblower today filed a petition calling for strengthened federal corrosivity standards to protect first responders like those who were exposed to dangerous dust particles after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks - greenwire

wtc environmental health center works to help families affected by 9/11-related illnesses. thousands of families have been impacted by dust from the world trade center, but relatively few have enrolled in health programs that could help them - ny1tv

9/11 health crisis lingers: 1,500 first responders now living in florida blame dust, debris for illnesses. - where a gun and police gear once dangled from former nypd detective john pesce's belt, a utility bag filled with an emergency dose of epinephrine and an inhaler now hangs. since 9/11, pesce's lungs have never been the same, nor have his legs. - palm beach post

plea for help for 9/11 cancer victims. - politicians, firefighters and police chiefs gathered at ground zero ahead of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks to call for an end to the "inhumane" rules under which rescue workers who worked amid the toxic rubble and who have developed cancer are ineligible for help with their medical bills - london guardian

political battle over 9/11 medical bills. - "never forget!" was the motto of the first responders who rushed to the burning world trade centre on 9/11, but 10 years on some say they have been abandoned by their country to fight cancer and mounting medical bills - afp

for 9/11 first responders, inadequate medical assistance is an insult to heroism. - since the dust settled a decade ago, thousands of first responders have been diagnosed with pulmonary, respiratory, skin and blood disorders, and cancer. many of the sick and dying have endured years of financial instability due to job and benefits losses. and for many, relief isn’t coming - newark star ledger

workers from ground zero face multitude of illnesses. - more than 30,000 police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians who toiled in the smoldering wreckage at ground zero suffer physical or mental health problems today, health officials say - bergen country record

from jeff jarvis...telling his story of being at the towers on this day ten years ago.

and, uh...yeah...it's kinda important.  'us electrical grid has suffered from a chronic and dangerous lack of investment"

starting in 1995, the amortization and depreciation rate has exceeded utility construction expenditures. In other words, for the past 15 years, utilities have harvested more than they have planted. the result is an increasingly stressed grid. indeed, grid operators should be praised for keeping the lights on, while managing a system with diminished shock absorbers.

....he laissez-faire attitude of these bodies (wapa, ferc, etc.) in not truly regulating and engaging in furthering the public good needs to be addressed yesterday. our energy infrastructure got a d+ grade from the american society of civil engineers. hardly anything to cheer about.- not quite baja not quite alta daily kos diary

senator bernie sanders....
star trek....
one of our favorite blogger buddies, fallenmonk

and...

me.

for those pesky little stories that were probably not discussed on the sunday talking head shows...but should be.

 a matter of risk: radiation, drinking water, and deception. - for the past year the khou 11 news i-team has been investigating the quality of the tap water in texas. what they found was surprising: many of the state's communities have a real problem with radioactive contamination in their local drinking water

how two accidental virginia activists have (almost) closed genon coal plant. - when elizabeth chimento and poul hertel began their inquiry into the chalky dust that seemed to cover everything in their north alexandria neighborhood, they had only three questions: what is it, where does it come from and what are the health effects? - wapo

the military's new campaign: cutting its energy costs. - the two previous presidential administrations have tasked the pentagon with a new mission: reduce energy use, seek cleaner alternatives, conserve water, curb wastes, construct energy-efficient buildings. in short: go green, soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines. and do so now. - hampton roads virginia pilot

hundreds arrested protesting keystone xl oil pipeline. - more than 200 people were arrested outside the white house saturday following two weeks of protests directed at president obama in an effort to persuade him to deny final permitting of a controversial 1,661-mile pipeline that would carry oil from alberta, canada, to port arthur, texas - christian science monitor

hope and change: meet the ex-obama staffers getting arrested in front of the white house. - each morning for the past two weeks, scores of respectable-looking protestors ushered themselves into single file lines, walked determinedly through washington’s lafayette park, sat down on the sidewalk in front of the white house, arranged themselves in rows as if for a class photo, and waited patiently to be arrested. - new republic

high amounts of arsenic found in region's wells. - a study by columbia university scientists estimates that 31 percent of private wells around greater augusta, maine have arsenic levels that exceed federal standards, some by more than 100 times. arsenic exposure has been linked to increased risk of skin, lung and bladder cancer; developmental problems in children; diabetes; and undesirable effects on the immune system - augusta kennebec journal

illinois beekeepers try to winter-proof bees. - the honeybee colonies at chicago's morton arboretum are part of an experimental effort to develop hardier stocks of locally bred queen honeybees that are better adapted to northern illinois environments and more adaptable to the parasites, viruses and climate that kills off millions of bees yearly - chicago tribune

the power of conservation. - not only has texas had record-breaking temperatures, the state also had record-breaking energy consumption, leading to expensive energy bills. - denton record chronicle

boulder county program gives energy-efficiency contractors summertime boost. - a boulder county program that pairs "energy advisers" with home and business owners interested in upgrading their buildings has been a major boon for area contractors who specialize in increasing energy efficiency - boulder daily camera

penelope: the pint-sized politico. - what's the best way to ensure environmental issues are at the top of the provincial-election agenda? hire an eight-year-old, camera-mugging spokesperson - toronto star

china is eating our solar lunch. - the solar-panel manufacturer solyndra went bankrupt this week despite having received a $535 million federal loan. an embarrassment for president obama? no, a testament to america's incoherent energy policy - gainesville sun

after quake, it's time to review nuclear plant safety. - the virginia earthquake and the japan temblor have prompted a needed examination of safety at all u.s. nuclear plants, but especially at peach bottom, which has a design similar to that of the fukushima reactors in japan - baltimore sun

perc remains in dry-cleaned clothes, - researchers, led by a high school student, have found that perchloroethylene, a dry cleaning solvent that has been linked to cancer and neurological damage, stays in fabrics and that levels increased with repeat cleanings, particularly in wool - wapo

michelle bachmann and the race to the bottom. - it would appear that michelle bachman has lost sight of the reason that president richard nixon authorized the formation of the epa in 1970 in the first place - mt. pleasant morning sun

and then there is the top #fail story this week...president obama pulls the rug out from under those of us who care about the environment....care about healthcare. he falls for the republican talking point that the epa is bad for business.

rocky mountain doctors, conservation groups blast Obama for pulling back tougher smog standards. - a salt lake city doctor on friday expressed “deep distress” at the obama administration’s decision to pull back new national epa smog standards, saying residents of rocky mountain cities like Denver and Salt Lake will suffer the respiratory repercussions - vail realvail

ozone decision: the final green straw? - for green groups, president barack obama’s retreat on ozone standards is another reason to question how aggressively they want to support his reelection in 2012. Even more bruising: the realization that they may not have much choice - politico

obama ozone decision blindsides enviros - and his own epa. - leaders of environmental and public health groups arrived at the white house friday morning for what was supposed to be a look-ahead at the fall energy and environment agenda. what they got instead was a rude awakening - politico

obama's smog #rail. - earlier this week, president obama announced that the epa would drop efforts to bring ozone limits in line with what science says is safe. ground ozone is the key ingredient in smog. - sf chronicle

stung by the president on air quality, environmentalists weigh their options. - for environmental groups, it was the final slap that brought a long-troubled relationship to the brink: on friday the obama administration announced without warning that it was walking away from stricter ozone pollution standards it had been promising for three years - nytimes


smog most dangerous pollutant for health. - health experts lamented a move by u.s. president barack obama to halt rules on limiting smog pollution, saying the decision could endanger many people already susceptible to respiratory problems - reuters

epa smog rule rejection stirs anger at white house. - asurprise decision from the white house today to reject tighter controls on smog emissions infuriated environmentalists and heartened business groups who had fought against the stronger pollution controls - boston globe

obama drops smog plan: is it all about the presidential election? - environmentalists say president obama is dropping a plan to set new air-quality standards with one eye on on the presidential election. The administration says it is waiting for more research. - christian science monitor

utah advocates for clean air scold obama for ozone retreat. - holding off on tougher anti-smog regulations to boost the flagging economy, as president barack obama did friday, doesn’t sell in salt lake city, where leaders see air pollution as a big barrier to new business - salt lake tribune

epa assault advances. - the republicans' contention that easing epa rules will create jobs seems to be gaining traction. that it is getting white house support now, too, leaves advocates for the protection of human lives and the environment wondering what's next. - memphis commercial appeal

in a cloud over ozone. - republicans are trying to sell the false premise that protecting the environment inevitably means sacrificing jobs. president obama should denounce this snake oil for what it is — rather than appear to accept it. we don’t have to choose between jobs and health. history demonstrates we can have both. - wapo

labor day version.