"While some dams in the United States and Europe are being decommissioned, a dam-building boom is underway in developing countries. It is a shift from the 1990s, when amid concerns about environmental impacts and displaced people, multilateral lenders like the World Bank backed away from large hydroelectric power projects."
The White House is threatening to veto three bills changing how EPA uses science in its regulatory decisions. The House has already passed two of them.
"The United States used only 34 percent of its total coal export capacity and does not need additional terminals, according to a new report that casts doubt on plans to develop new ports on the Columbia River."
"As Canadian lakes have become more acidic, they've become increasingly dominated by jelly-like plankton that are throwing things out of whack, new research suggests. And these gummy invaders aren't going anywhere. Soon, they could even disrupt the country's water supply."
"Washington state's attorney general said on Wednesday he intends to sue the U.S. government for not adequately protecting workers involved in the decades-long cleanup of a decommissioned nuclear site, saying dozens have been sickened by toxic vapors."
"U.S. farmers are about to reap a bumper harvest not just in corn and soybeans but also in new subsidies that could soar to $10 billion, blowing a hole in the government's promise that its new five-year farm bill would save taxpayers money."
"The world still isn't close to preventing what leaders call a dangerous level of man-made warming, a new United Nations report says. That's despite some nations' recent pledges to cut back on carbon dioxide emissions."
"Western New York state braced for a fresh wave of heavy snow on Wednesday after a freakish storm swept off the Great Lakes and deposited 5 feet (1.5 meters) of powder in parts of the region, killing at least six people and stranding motorists overnight."
It was news when a leak of methyl mercaptan killed four workers at a DuPont chemical plant in La Porte, Texas, November 15, 2014. Maps and data are available to any environmental journalists who want to know about similar hazards near them, thanks to Amanda Frank at the Center for Effective Government.
There is still hope (and perhaps time) for this Congress to pass a bill strengthening the Freedom of Information Act. The Senate Judiciary seems likely to mark up a revised FOIA reform bill Thursday, November 20, 2014. After that will come a push to bring it to the Senate floor and eventually reconcile with a FOIA bill already passed by the House.
Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/headlines/dam-revival-despite-risks
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/20/business/energy-environment/private-funding-brings-a-boom-in-hydropower-with-high-costs.html?mabReward=RI%3A5
[3] https://www.sej.org/headlines/white-house-threatens-veto-house-bills-limiting-epa-science
[4] http://scienceblogs.com/thepumphandle/2014/11/19/congress-and-science-white-house-threatens-veto-on-bills-that-would-change-epa-science-advisory-boards-and-limit-epa-use-of-science/
[5] https://www.sej.org/headlines/report-us-has-too-much-coal-export-capacity
[6] http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/sbo/2014/11/report-u-s-has-too-much-coal-export-capacity.html
[7] https://www.sej.org/headlines/industrial-pollution-turning-lakes-%E2%80%98jelly%E2%80%99
[8] http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2014/11/19/industrial-pollution-is-turning-lakes-into-jelly/
[9] https://www.sej.org/headlines/washington-state-sue-federal-government-over-nuclear-site-vapors
[10] http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/19/us-usa-washington-nuclear-idUSKCN0J32IR20141119?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
[11] https://www.sej.org/headlines/us-farmers-set-get-huge-government-payouts-despite-bumper-harvest
[12] http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/72507
[13] https://www.sej.org/headlines/world-not-close-avoiding-dangerous-warming-un-report-finds
[14] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/19/world-dangerous-warming_n_6185536.html?utm_hp_ref=green
[15] https://www.sej.org/headlines/deadly-western-new-york-snowstorm-get-second-wind
[16] http://planetark.org/enviro-news/item/72512
[17] https://www.sej.org/publications/watchdog-tipsheet/got-methyl-mercaptan-group-maps-chemical-risks-data
[18] https://www.sej.org/publications/watchdog-tipsheet/foia-bill-could-still-pass-lame-duck
[19] https://www.sej.org/search_results
[20] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=3205
[21] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=3202
[22] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=3203
[23] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=3204
[24] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=3207
[25] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=3208
[26] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=3209
[27] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=3210
[28] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=4953