 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
A U.S. Department of Agriculture research branch published reports on the consequence to farm income of eliminating direct payments and on trends in nitrogen used for corn. One of the debate points for the farm bill is whether to reduce “direct” payments — cash given to farmers based on fixed per-acre rates. The federal government [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
The Bureau of Land Management will open some 274,000 hectares (677,000 acres) of public land in three Western states for oil shale and tar sands research, development and demonstration leases, according to a broad federal environmental review. Companies must submit an application to explore on these lands, which, unlike for oil and gas leases, will [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
State and federal regulators need to consider the cost of remediation, program success and public health.
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
The primary role of the Army Corps of Engineers, a key agency in the nation’s water management system, is shifting from the construction of new works to the repair and maintenance of existing ones, yet it does not have the funding to ensure its dams, levees, and river channels function properly, according to a report [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
Floods A recent spate of flooding in Thailand has raised concerns that the country is still not adequately protected against heavy rains and overflowing rivers, Reuters reported. Floods last year killed more than 800 people and shut down major industries. The largest weather field research project in European history aims to improve flash flood monitoring [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
State Department Budget The State Department released the second volume of its fiscal year 2013 budget justification, a document that serves as a “blueprint” for the coming year. This volume explains foreign operations, including water, which the department calls a “cross-cutting” issue. Water is an essential part of presidential initiatives on health, on food, and [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
Arsenic Arsenic is tainting freshwater supplies in Mexico’s Laguna region, the country’s biggest milk producer, as dairy operations, upstream dams and climate change deplete aquifers, AlertNet reported. In Chile, people exposed to high levels of arsenic in their drinking water during the 1950s have a higher risk of cancer despite subsequent contamination control, according to [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
Chevron has filed an appeal with Ecuador’s Supreme Court to review a judgment that ordered the U.S. oil company to pay $18 billion in damages for polluting the Amazon, Reuters reported. Water Pollution The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will test the water at about 60 homes in a small town in northern Pennsylvania where residents [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
Biofuel Reality Check In 2007, Congress enacted revised standards for national biofuel production, setting annual volume mandates for transportation fuels up to 2022. To assess the benefits and barriers to achieving the standards, Congress asked the National Research Council to investigate. As with any prognostication, the major findings in the 447-page report are peppered with [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
When the EPA lowered the arsenic standard for drinking water from 50 parts per billion to 10 in 2001, there were 3,000 water systems in violation. Today, nearly a thousand still are.
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — What seemed like a light on Florida’s ecological horizon has dimmed significantly. After years of equivocation, the state’s plan to purchase land in the Everglades from US Sugar will likely produce no change for yet another decade.
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
| About | | Staff | | In the News | | Ethics & Sponsorship | | Internships | | Board Members | | Contact | | Log In |