Latest News
The EPA accidentally spilled a million gallons of wastewater into a Colorado river. -
The agency triggered the spill, which contains heavy metals, while investigating pollutants at an abandoned mine. The Animas River turned bright orange, farmers have been told to shut off their water intakes, and residents are being asked to cut back on water use. Oops. Denver Post
We cannot take action on climate change until everyone in the world agrees gay-marriage vaccines won't cause our children to marry goats, who are going to come for our guns.
—Jon Stewart calls out climate deniers—among others—one last time in his "Bullshit Is Everywhere" speech on his final (sniff) episode of The Daily Show.
Idaho will not reinstate a controversial wolf kill this year. -
The state had authorized killing up to 60 percent of the predator's population in a national wilderness area—all to keep elk numbers artificially high and local sportsmen happy. In response to a lawsuit brought by environmental groups, the hunt has been called off for the 2015–16 season. Reuters
Over half of the U.S. Forest Service's 2015 budget will go to fighting fires. -
That expense has jumped from just 16 percent in 1996—and could grow to 67 percent or more by 2025. As climate change ignites longer, fiercer fire seasons, the Forest Service says the amount of resources needed is threatening its mission. The report comes as California continues to battle several major blazes. Washington Post
Is Williston, North Dakota, the infamous fracking boomtown, going bust? -
It turns out that measuring sewage is a quick and reliable method for counting residents, and Williston's wastewater suggests its population has dropped about 6 percent since last summer. Plummeting crude oil prices and subsequent canceled projects and layoffs are to blame. Reuters
Russia stakes another claim for the North Pole. -
As anthropogenic climate change continues to thaw the Arctic, nations are chomping at the bit to get to previously inaccessible fossil-fuel deposits beneath the northernmost seas. Humans seem to be missing a crucial lesson in here somewhere. New York Times