"A Department of Interior study of potential new restrictions on surface coal mining outlines projected production shifts and job losses as well as estimated environmental benefits of tougher regulations, according to a draft report obtained under the Freedom of Information Act."
The federal government has released its draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for identifying and evaluating the best areas on public lands for building utility-scale solar plants. A 90-day public comment period ends March 17, 2011, preceded by 14 meetings in 6 Western states and Washington, D.C.
"EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson spent an hour listening to residents of El Paso, Vinton, Westway, Sunland Park and other locations who spoke of health problems they believe are related to pollution from a steel plant, a landfill, chemical plants, dairies and Asarco, the shuttered smelter."
After illegally high levels of antibiotics were routinely found in dairy cows headed for the slaughterhouse, the Food and Drug Administration decided to test milk from the farms those cows came from. Dairy farmers, worried more about profits than antibiotic resistance that could sicken their customers, have objected. Now the two sides may be looking for win-win solutions. Meanwhile, testing is on hold.
Permittees and lessees of public lands are a key part of covering issues that involve grazing, hunting, public lands access, utility corridors, and related topics. The public comment period on BLM's proposal to identify these people closes Feb. 7, 2011.
"Members are linked by the spiritual connections between their local desert landscapes and the parched sacred grounds that have nurtured some of the world's great religions."
Some time in the year 2011, the earth's human population is expected to reach 7 billion. By 2045 global population is projected to reach nine billion. Can the planet take the strain?
"Federal authorities are urging schools across the U.S. to replace the electrical components in older light fixtures to reduce the threat of contamination from potentially cancer-causing chemicals."
Alarm bells are being set off by a new study of the families of California farm workers exposed to pesticides. It finds much higher levels of pervasive developmental disorder among children of mothers exposed to higher levels of neurotoxicant organophosphate pesticides.
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