Activism

Jennifer Taggart, a southern California lawyer/engineer who blogs as The Smart Mama, pointed her hand-held X-ray flourescence analyzer at some kids' Shrek glasses from McDonalds coveted by her 7-year old -- and within days sparked a recall of 12 million glasses because they contained cadmium.

"Japan's whaling fleet has been scaled back and today departed late for the Southern Ocean aiming to catch hundreds of minke whales and 50 fin whales." They will be met and harassed by a three-ship flotilla from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which includes a new high-speed trimaran interceptor and video crews from Animal Planet.

"Contractors working for Dow Chemical and Sasol North America, a chemical manufacturer, hired private investigators to conduct a two-year corporate espionage campaign against the environmental group Greenpeace, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday in federal district court in Washington."

Low-income residents of small towns in California's San Joaquin Valley, often Latinos, suffer from unhealthful drinking water caused by the valley's booming agriculture. Now some activists are fighting back.

A farm lobby coalition has received federal money to attack the Environmental Working Group's list of the most pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables.

The billionaire Koch brothers, who are estimated to have given as much as $50 million to anti-environemental groups, meet twice yearly with major industries to coordinate right-wing efforts to eliminate 90 percent of all laws. Those in on the planning include the Wall St. Journal's Stephen Moore and Fox News' Glenn Beck.

Hoaxers are using Chevron's new green-sounding ad campaign to urge the company to live up to its vows.

When the Gulf oil spill came to Grand Isle State Park, Louisiana ranger Leanne Sarco knew her job running a summer program for children would be cancelled. So she used Facebook to recruit and organize volunteers in a project to clean oiled hermit crabs.

"Environmental campaigners planted trees, collected rubbish and rallied against pollution on Sunday for what organisers aimed to make the world's biggest day of climate-change activism."

"The University of Virginia and an embattled climate scientist said Monday that it would continue to fight state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II's efforts to obtain documents related to a climate scientist's work, just hours after Cuccinelli reissued a civil subpoena for the papers."