EJToday is SEJ's selection of new and outstanding stories on environmental topics in print and on the air, updated every weekday. SEJ also offers a free e-mailed digest of the day's EJToday postings, called SEJ-beat. SEJ members are subscribed automatically, but may opt out here. Non-members may subscribe here. EJToday is also available via RSS feed. Please see Editorial Guidelines for EJToday content.
"F.T.C. Issues Guidelines for 'Eco-Friendly' Labels"
NY Times, 10/02/2012"WASHINGTON -- Companies wishing to market their products as 'eco-friendly' or good for the environment had better have data to back up the claims, the Federal Trade Commission warned Monday, laying out guidelines for so-called green marketing."
"Environmentalists Get Vocal on Obama, Romney Silence on Climate Change"
Hill/E2 Wire, 09/28/2012"A handful of environmental groups are amplifying calls Thursday for President Obama and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney to speak up on climate change after a summer of devastating drought, fires, storms and heat."
"Carson's 'Silent Spring' Spurred Environmental Movement"
USA TODAY, 09/28/2012"Rachel Carson wasn't someone you'd expect to spark a movement. She was a quiet, petite woman who grew up poor, lived most of her life with her mother and relished solitary walks along the beach, watching birds and fish. Yet 50 years ago Thursday, this marine biologist published Silent Spring, widely credited with spurring the modern environmental movement."
"Hydraulic Fracturing: Two-Thirds of Frack Disclosures Omit 'Secrets'"
EnergyWire, 09/27/2012"Two out of every three times oil and gas companies have publicly disclosed the chemicals in their hydraulic fracturing fluid, they've left something out."
Inside A Disease Lab You Have to Be Careful Photographing
Discover, 09/27/2012The biosafety level 3 facility on Plum Island in Long Island Sound has been converted from biowarfare to studying animal diseases, harmless to humans, that could come into the U.S. from abroad. Some of those diseases could devastate U.S. flocks or herds. The secrecy and message-control surrounding the facility is intense. But is the secrecy meant to protect the U.S. public or to protect the financial interests of the agriculture industry?
Security: Is Exposing Refinery Pollution "Suspicious Activity"?
State Impact Texas, 09/25/2012"As part of his work as a community organizer for environmental causes, Juan Parras takes photos of refineries and petrochemical plants near the Houston Ship Channel. Sometimes, he says he’s made to feel like a criminal for doing it."
Dave Fehling reports for State Impact Texas/NPR September 24, 2012.
"News Corp Misleads Audience on Climate Change"
Mother Jones, 09/24/2012"Brace yourself for some shocking news: a new study on Friday found that the two major publications of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation greatly mislead their audiences about climate change. The Union of Concerned Scientists combed six months of Fox News broadcasting and a year's worth of Wall Street Journal editorial pages for mentions of the science of 'climate change' and 'global warming,' then compared each claim to 'mainstream scientific understanding' of the topic at hand." They found 93% of the statements on Fox News were misleading and 81% of the statements on the Wall St. Journal's opionion pages were misleading.
"Via YouTube, a New Conservation Genre"
Green/NYT, 09/21/2012"The drought of 2012, which continues to spread westward, is making its mark on the national consciousness in many ways. Rising food prices. Interrupted livelihoods. Fields of stunted, desiccated crops. All of this dryness has resonance in our video culture. Just go to YouTube and look at the proliferation of public service announcements on water conservation."
Another Murder on Resource Frontier: This Time a Cambodian Journalist
Dot Earth, 09/20/2012"Speaking truth to power is never easy. In some places, particularly where valuable resources are pursued in places with limited governance, it can be deadly."
"Environmental Group Sues NY Over Drilling Records"
AP, 09/20/2012"ALBANY, N.Y. — An environmental group is suing the Cuomo administration over public records pertaining to the state's communications with energy industry interests hoping to drill for shale gas in New York using hydraulic fracturing."
Coal Exec Dresses Up Like Miner for House Candidate's Campaign
Mother Jones, 09/20/2012Appearance trumps reality in campaign ads as the GOP's war on the "war on coal" heats up.
"PBS NewsHour's Climate Change Report Raises Eyebrows (VIDEO)"
Huffington Post, 09/19/2012"A recent report from 'PBS NewsHour' on climate change has drawn sharp criticism from climate groups that feel it provides a false sense of debate around the facts of climate change."
"The segment, which aired on September 16, features interviews with 'converted skeptic' and University of California, Berkeley professor Richard Muller, along with climate skeptic Anthony Watts, a retired meteorologist.
Critics Question Claims of Spray Success Against West Nile Mosquitoes
Huffington Post, 09/19/2012Federal and state health officials say that pesticide spraying for adult mosquitoes has reduced risk of West Nile virus by killing specific percentages of mosquitoes. When confronted with Freedom of Information Act requests for the data to back up those claims, they do not seem to be able to find any.
Flood Threat To Plants Covered Up By Regulators: NRC Whistleblower
Huffington Post, 09/17/2012"In a letter submitted Friday afternoon to internal investigators at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a whistleblower engineer within the agency accused regulators of deliberately covering up information relating to the vulnerability of U.S. nuclear power facilities that sit downstream from large dams and reservoirs."
"The letter also accuses the agency of failing to act to correct these vulnerabilities despite being aware of the risks for years.
"When Heat Kills: Global Warming As Public Health Threat"
NPR, 09/11/2012"The current poster child for global warming is a polar bear, sitting on a melting iceberg. Some health officials argue the symbol should, instead, be a child."

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