A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 538
By: Cristen Hemingway Jaynes Bees are better for strawberries. About ten to fifteen percent of flowering plants are mostly self-pollinating, and strawberries are one of them. However, when the plump and delicious berries are pollinated by bees, they are not only redder and heavier, they also have a more pleasing ratio of sugar to acid and a longer shelf life, according to a study published in the journal Nature. Pollination by the bees increases the hormonal growth regulators that enhance the berries’ quality. Pesticides have been shown to i...
By Linnea Harris. Pollinators are crucial for growing the food we eat and supporting the diverse plant life that sustains our ecosystems. When feeding on pollen or nectar for energy, pollinators carry pollen from the stamen of the flower to the stigma, which fertilizes the plant so it can produce fruit and seeds. While honeybees and bumblebees might come immediately to mind as pollinators, they actually aren’t native to the U.S. There are 20,000 different species of bees in the world, and 4,000 in the U.S. and Canada alone, many of which look d...
Bees need a balanced diet of nectar, which gives them carbohydrates in the form of sugars, and pollen, which provides fat and protein, from a wide variety of plant sources. Different bee species have their own nutritional needs, but no healthy bee diet includes pesticides. According to new findings by scientists from Trinity College Dublin and Dublin City University (DCU), pesticides have been found in the nectar and pollen of flowers that were not targeted with the toxins, and this could be an extra, underestimated hazard for pollinators....
On March 20, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments for Arizona v. Navajo Nation, in which the Navajo Nation argues that the U.S. has a treaty-based duty to plan for and protect its water interests. The justices’ decision — due this summer — is likely to have far-reaching implications, whether it’s a narrow ruling that applies solely to the Navajo Nation or a much broader one that could affect tribal water rights across the U.S. Given the case’s significance, tribal nations, water organizations and nonprofits — as well as one anti...
By Raul Garcia, Blaine Miller-Mcfeeley, and Stephen Schima. Earth Justice. At a time when communities across the country are experiencing the long-term impacts of climate change and generations of environmental injustice, House Republicans are refusing to act on the realities in front of our eyes. Instead of moving forward to tackle these problems, House Republicans remain intent on taking us back to the past. They want to send us back to a time when corporate polluters acted with impunity and communities had few options to hold them...
By: Olivia Rosane. U.S. grocery shoppers take note, it’s that time of year again. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) released on Wednesday its 2023 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce, with its annual Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists of the conventional fruits and vegetables most and least likely to be contaminated with pesticides, and this year’s lists have important new additions. In particular, blueberries and green beans were both added to the Dirty Dozen, with green beans even testing positive for a neurotoxic insecticide calle...
Washington, DC – The Biden administration approved the ConocoPhillip’s Willow Project earlier this week, a 30-year oil and gas development proposal on public lands in Alaska. This is the second time the Bureau of Land Management has approved the Willow project. The Trump administration first approved the project in 2020. Conservation and Alaska Native groups challenged the approval, and the court threw it out as unlawful in 2021. It instructed BLM to reassess the project’s full climate impacts and consider alternatives that would lessen its o...
By Jackson Chiappinelli. Earth Justice. ANCHORAGE, AK – The Biden administration today announced its approval of ConocoPhillips’s Willow project, ignoring pleas from millions who called for the Alaska oil-drilling plan to be halted due to concerns about climate change. The Interior Department released a record of decision (ROD) that largely reflects ConocoPhillips’s desired project blueprint and ignores its dire climate and biodiversity impacts. Approval of the Willow project stands in stark contrast to President Biden’s climate goals and com...
WASHINGTON – A new map created by the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters on Friday shows 224 fires, explosions, and releases of toxic chemicals have happened in the past year. The map is periodically updated to reflect ongoing incidents. Since April 2020, more than 475 chemical incidents have occurred. This includes incidents like the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio that caused carcinogenic and toxic contaminations of soil, air, and a river that's used by millions of people. The c...
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As a public health and environmental disaster unfolds following the derailment and explosion of a toxic-chemical cargo train in East Palestine, Ohio, advocacy groups renewed their challenge to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) 2018 repeal of a regulation requiring electronic brake systems for trains carrying hazardous and flammable material. In 2018, under former president Donald Trump, the federal agencies charged with regulating hazardous materials on trains actually removed safety rules requiring modern bra...
By Geoffrey Nolan, Earthjustice. WASHINGTON - Fifty environmental, Indigenous, and justice organizations sent a letter to House Natural Resources Committee Chair Bruce Westerman, Ranking Member Raúl Grijalva, and the members of the committee urging for strong mining reforms to protect people and special places from the environmental and health impacts of poorly regulated mining. This comes as the committee holds its first legislative hearing, “Unleashing America’s Energy and Mineral Potential,” on a series of proposals to streamline the permitt...
WAIMEA, KAUAʻI — Today, kalo farmers and subsistence fishers from West Kauaʻi filed suit against the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) for failing to require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the major hydro project being proposed for the Waimea River. The project’s environmental assessment (EA) and “finding of no significant impact” was approved by outgoing DLNR Chairperson Suzanne Case during her last week in the position, right before the Christmas holidays, and without any public hearings. “DLNR cannot issue...
By Amee Vanderpool. In the summer of 2021, the US House of Representatives passed the PFAS Action Act of 2021, which was a bipartisan piece of legislation that would have regulated toxic chemicals found in drinking water, as well as classifying those toxic chemicals as “hazardous substances,” in order to spark federal cleanup standards. Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are also known as “forever chemicals,” a group of chemicals used to make fluoropolymer coatings and products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. PFAS co...
By Jonathan Levy Cooks love their gadgets, from countertop slow cookers to instant-read thermometers. Now, there's increasing interest in magnetic induction cooktops – surfaces that cook much faster than conventional stoves, without igniting a flame or heating an electric coil. Some of this attention is overdue: Induction has long been popular in Europe and Asia, and it is more energy-efficient than standard stoves. But recent studies have also raised concerns about indoor air emissions from g...
The world now has eight billion people, according to the United Nations. The milestone, reached late this year, comes at a time when climate change is increasingly disrupting life on Earth as we know it. Wildfires and droughts continue to rage in the American West. Floods are destroying towns. Heatwaves are making summers deadly. And the greenhouse gas emissions that worsen these disasters are increasing. Looking at the past year, hope springs eternal. We hope. Scientists are creating new ways for us to coexist with nature, from hacking the...
By: Linnea Harris. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and your calendar is probably filling up with holiday parties and festive gatherings. While a time for enjoying food and sharing gifts with loved ones, the holidays are also a disproportionately wasteful time; between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, it’s estimated that Americans produce 25% more waste than any other time of the year. No matter what the occasion, here’s how to throw a holiday party that’s both festive and better for the planet. Get Cooking Instead of buying a plasticiz...
Earlier this week, Canada’s auditor general reported that Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), the federal department responsible for coordinating emergency management services to First Nations, failed to provide Indigenous communities with adequate resources to deal with climate disasters. According to the report, it’s likely that ISC is incurring “significant costs” to respond to climate emergencies that could have been mitigated or avoided. The report details how various shortcomings in the department have led to underfunding and underst...
By Chris Aadland. Underscore News and ICT Tribal nations and Native people are celebrating a decision made Thursday by federal regulators approving a plan for the largest dam removal plan in the country’s history. The move is considered a crucial step in saving dwindling salmon populations but also as a sign the federal government is serious about respecting treaty rights and Indigenous culture. “It’s a historic change and it’s really exciting,” said Amy Bowers Cordalis, a Yurok tribal citizen, attorney for the tribe and co-founder of a nonp...
US President Biden spoke at the 27th U.N. Climate Conference (COP27) where he affirmed his commitment to tackling the climate emergency through investments in clean energy investments, climate adaptation, and nature based solutions. President Biden reiterated the need to urgently transition away from fossil fuels and committed to meeting 2030 emissions targets, which must be realized through immediate and equitable administrative actions at home. In response, Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen issued the following statement: “We applaud t...
By Timothy Preso. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Pikuni Traditionalist Association (PTA), representing the cultural and religious interests of members of the Blackfeet Nation, appealed a recent court ruling that reinstated a federal oil and gas lease in the Blackfeet spiritual homeland — the Badger-Two Medicine region. The appeal, filed in Washington, D.C., seeks to protect the Badger-Two Medicine from the threat posed by an oil and gas lease that was illegally issued in the 1980s to a Louisiana-based company. The company, Solenex LLC, see...
By: Paige Bennett. A tense presidential election runoff in Brazil has led to a victory for left-wing candidate and former president Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva against the far-right incumbent, President Jair Bolsonaro. But as of Monday, October 31, Bolsonaro has not conceded. Lula is scheduled to be inaugurated on January 1, 2023. In the initial election, Lula earned 48.4% of votes, and Bolsonaro received 43.2%. With neither party taking more than 50%, the election went into a runoff scheduled for October 30. In the runoff election, Lula won...
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Monday, October 3, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments for the case Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, deliberating what waterways and wetlands are protected under the Clean Water Act. The Supreme Court’s decision to hear Sackett v. EPA is another troubling sign that the new supermajority in the nation’s highest court is pursuing a deregulatory path. Based on an extraordinarily narrow reading of the law, the Sacketts and their industry allies asked the Court to strip protections from 45 milli...
By Avi Asher-Schapiro. LOS ANGELES, Sept 23 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The carbon footprint of the U.S. bitcoin industry is rising at breakneck speed, a report from environmental groups found on Friday, now rivaling the emissions of 6 million cars each year. The groups urged U.S. states to consider bans on new mining operations to help protect the planet. Emissions from the energy-hungry sector could undermine goals to tackle climate change, said Jeremy Fisher, an energy analyst with the non-profit Sierra Club and a co-author of the...
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On September 20th, Earthjustice, on behalf of environmental and health advocacy groups, sent a 60-day Notice of Intent to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the agency’s inaction to regulate harmful carcinogenic air emissions from ethylene oxide facilities as the law required. The Clean Air Act directs the EPA to review its ethylene oxide standards every eight years but the agency has repeatedly missed this deadline; first in 2014 and again in April 2022. The EPA admits the chemical is 60 times more tox...
More than 500 square miles large and ringed by Rocky Mountains, the decommissioned nuclear sit among production site is considered one of the most contaminated places in North America. Here, wildlife, vision quest sites and burial grounds lie side-by-side with signs reading “warning hazardous area” and towering nuclear reactors, some of which date back to the second world war. From Gable Mountain where young men would fast and pray to Locke Island, where an Indigenous village once stood. Then there’s the towering White Bluffs, where the Yakim...
