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.
Russians Drill Into Ancient Lake Vostok Below Antarctic Glacier
Wash Post, 02/07/2012"Russian scientists have drilled into the vast, dark and never-
before-touched Lake Vostok 2.2 miles below the surface of Antarctica, the state-run Russian news agency RIA Novosti said Monday.""“Yesterday, our scientists stopped drilling at the depth of 3,768 meters and reached the surface of the subglacial lake,” the news agency quoted a source as saying. The team had “finally managed to pierce” the ice sheet into Vostok, the source said.
Diesel Exhaust Study Stalled by Industry And Congressional Objections
iWatch News, 02/07/2012"Publication of a landmark government study probing whether diesel engine exhaust causes lung cancer in miners -- already 20 years in the making — has been delayed by industry and congressional insistence on seeing study data and documents before the public does."
"Big Coal Attacks Penn State Climate Scientist (Again)"
Mother Jones, 02/06/2012Some coal-industyry front groups have begin a campaign to frighten Penn State into cancelling a speech by climate scientist Michael Mann -- who will be talking about coal industry efforts to silence climate scientists. Penn State has refused.
Texas Tech Scientist Sees Intimidation Effort Behind Hate Mail Barrage
Texas Climate News, 02/02/2012"Hate mail in the inbox has been an occupational hazard for climate scientists in the public eye for some time now. Something about their endorsement and explanation of the mainstream scientific view that humans are heating up the earth’s atmosphere elicits that sort of response from certain people who disagree very strongly. Lately, it has been Texas Tech University professor Katharine Hayhoe’s turn to be on the receiving end of an avalanche of venomous emails."
"Authors of Wall Street Journal Climate Piece Downplay Industry Ties"
Daily Climate, 02/02/2012"Half the authors of a controversial Wall Street Journal opinion piece denying the Earth's warming trend have ties to the oil and gas industry, a DailyClimate.org investigation finds."
"On Climate Change, Weathercasters May Be Misguiding Their Viewers"
Huffington Post, 01/31/2012TV weathercasters, who are not trained in climate science, are often misleading many members of the public into doubting the well-established science which indicates that human activities are warming the planet.
"The Making Of NASA's Super Hi-Res Blue Marble Earth Image"
LA Times, 01/27/2012"A new image of the Earth has been popping up all over the Internet, dazzling us with its high-def imagery of land masses, oceans and rippled clouds."
Email: White House Pressured Scientists to Underestimate BP Spill Size
Mother Jones, 01/25/2012Is the press office helping or hurting journalists' efforts to get science stories right? Newly released email shows that White House and agency "communications people" pressured agency scientists to underestimate the amount of oil flowing into the Gulf during the 2010 BP oil spill. The case offers more evidence that press officers insist on sitting in on journalist-scientist interviews in order to insure the science gets a spin favorable to the administration's political goals. Now a watchdog group has filed a scientific integrity complaint against a NOAA scientist in the incident.
"A Legal Defense Fund for Climate Scientists"
Dot Earth, 01/25/2012"For years, climate scientists have been assailed from many sides -- through e-mail hacking, death threats, politician’s demands for documents, Freedom of Information requests (many having the strong smell of a fishing expedition). A Climate Science Legal Defense Fund set up last fall has taken on a formal affiliation with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, an established nonprofit group offering aid and advice to government whistleblowers and scientists working on environmental issues."
"Solar Storm Sends Charged Particles Toward Earth"
LA Times, 01/24/2012"The bombardment is expected to reach us Tuesday morning, but the threat to satellites and power grids appears to be low."
"Scientists Call Moratorium on Study of Deadly Bird Flu"
LA Times, 01/23/2012"In an almost unheard-of move, scientists who study the deadly H5N1 bird flu announced a 60-day voluntary moratorium on studying the virus to allow time 'to clearly explain the benefits of this important research and the measures taken to minimize its possible risks.'"
"Climate Scientists Back Call for Sceptic Thinktank To Reveal Backers"
Guardian, 01/23/2012"Leading climate scientists have given their support to a Freedom of Information request seeking to disclose who is funding the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a London-based climate sceptic thinktank chaired by the former Conservative chancellor Lord Lawson."
"Non-Consenting Adults"
Slate, 01/23/2012"The Nuremberg Code, set up to protect the human subjects of research, is being routinely ignored."
Pa. Gov. Corbett Defunds Drilling-Related Science, Claims Science Base
NPR, 01/19/2012"Members of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration routinely insist their Marcellus Shale drilling policy is based on science. But documents obtained by StateImpact Pennsylvania, as well as interviews with more than a dozen people who work both inside and out of state government, highlight top-level decisions to diminish or defund drilling-related scientific research in the commonwealth."
"MIT Climate Scientist Receives Frenzy of Hate Mail"
Climate Desk, 01/18/2012"Prominent MIT researcher Kerry Emanuel has been receiving an unprecedented 'frenzy of hate' after a video featuring an interview with him was published recently by Climate Desk.
Emails contained 'veiled threats against my wife,' and other 'tangible threats,' Emanuel, a highly-regarded atmospheric scientist and director of MIT’s Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate program, said in an interview. 'They were vile, these emails. They were the kind of emails nobody would like to receive.'




