"As the United States seeks to strengthen sanctions on Moscow for its occupation of Crimea, energy experts say the powerful Russian oil industry would make a robust target. But any penalties on energy investments, technology transfers and financial transactions would most likely also punish Western oil companies like Exxon Mobil that are investing heavily in Russia."
"Peabody Energy Corp., the world's largest private-sector coal company, launched a public relations and advertising campaign last month extolling the virtues of coal energy for poor people."
"When the World Trade Organization ruled this week that China must again start exporting rare earth elements key to manufacturing high tech and defense products, traders and the markets that need the materials rejoiced. But less happy were the Chinese who claim complying will hurt the environment."
"The number of U.S. children with autism has surged to one in 68, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday, a 30 percent increase since the agency estimated just two years ago that one child in 88 suffered from the disorder."
"WASHINGTON — The federal government on Thursday designated the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species, a long-anticipated announcement that politicians warned could set off a possible battle over states’ rights."
"Less than a week after an oil spill in the Houston Ship Channel, environmentalists say there has been limited damage to nearby bird sanctuaries, but it is too soon to know whether there will be long-term problems to wildlife."
"Pacific Gas and Electric Co. expects to face criminal charges from the federal government over the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion that killed eight people and leveled a neighborhood, the company reported Thursday."
"DAKOPE, Bangladesh — When a powerful storm destroyed her riverside home in 2009, Jahanara Khatun lost more than the modest roof over her head. In the aftermath, her husband died and she became so destitute that she sold her son and daughter into bonded servitude. And she may lose yet more."
The Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources' Shale Country Institute will take place in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York from June 24-28, 2014. Shale Country will be all about fracking. We’ll talk economics, ecology, and environmental toxicology. We’ll hear about human health, water and air quality, and citizen science. And we’ll meet with scientists, industry representatives, concerned citizens, and many others in the forests, fields and neighborhoods where these important stories are taking place. Apply by May 2nd.
Got an idea for an environment-related story or a book proposal? SEJ and Capital Public Radio offer you the opportunity (Apr 11, 2014, 5-7 p.m., in Sacramento) to get some feedback on your ideas and meet up with fellow SEJ members. You’ll have two minutes to pitch stories to a panel of news and magazine editors and three minutes to pitch book ideas to a publisher’s representative. Open to all.
