"Thousands of residents living atop the gas-rich Marcellus Shale ... signed lowball leases in the years leading up to the boom in Pennsylvania. In those early days a half-decade ago, virtually no layperson had even heard of the rock formation, let alone knew that drillers had found a way to access the huge reservoir of natural gas locked inside it."
"According to a new report released yesterday, efforts to protect children's health have been fatally blocked by American industry's refusal to submit information on the commercial use of chemicals."
One U.S. journalist will be selected to travel to San Diego in March 2019 to attend the annual Kyoto Prize presentation ceremony, laureate lectures and workshops. The fellow will have opportunities to interview the latest Kyoto Prize laureates to further their knowledge and depth of reporting in technology, science and the arts. Application deadline is February 28.
"The CIA organised a fake vaccination programme in the town where it believed Osama bin Laden was hiding in an elaborate attempt to obtain DNA from the fugitive al-Qaida leader's family, a Guardian investigation has found." The ploy may have damaged the confidence of the Pakistani public in vaccine programs -- at a time when vaccinations against diseases like polio are needed.
"The rivers that run into New York Harbor will be unfit for recreational activities at least through Sunday because of a catastrophic fire that shut down one of the city’s largest sewage treatment plants, the city’s health department said Thursday."
"For aid donors and humanitarian agencies, it is a Faustian bargain: reach and save tens of thousands of people on the verge of starving to death. The price: come to an 'understanding' with one of the most active affiliates of al Qaeda, and perhaps help it retain control of large swathes of Somalia."
"Despite decades of efforts to restore and protect the Great Lakes, dozens of old power plants still are allowed to kill hundreds of millions of fish each year by sucking in massive amounts of water to cool their equipment."
"In an unusual show of bipartisanship, nine Gulf Coast senators joined forces Thursday to introduce a bill that would require at least 80 percent of penalties from last year's BP oil spill paid under the Clean Water Act to be directed to restoration projects in the five Gulf states: Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and Texas."
"New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined with the Sierra Club on Thursday in a $50 million, four-year plan to campaign for replacing one-third of aging U.S. coal-fired power plants with clean energy."
"Federal regulators laid down principles on Thursday for planning and paying for new power lines, part of a long-term policy effort to help the nation's electricity grid grow enough to meet the demands of renewable energy and a competitive electricity market."
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