The BP Gulf oil spill reminded us that spill-response technology had barely advanced for decades. But a new product tested during the spill may offer a leap forward in removing oil from water.
The Pacific island nation of Kiribati is generally only 6.5 feet above sea level. That means 6.5 feet above oblivion as sea levels are predicted to rise up to 3 feet by the end of the century. But many islanders remember God's biblical promise to Noah that he would never send another flood.
"A drawn-out fight over the guidelines for thyroid patients who are given radioactive drugs has taken a new turn, with a decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that it is not a good idea for them to go to hotels."
"Monarch butterfly colonies in Mexico more than doubled in size this winter after bad storms devastated their numbers a year ago, conservationists said on Monday although the migrating insect remains under threat."
"Rising demand for powdered rhino horn in Vietnam and China has driven the price as high as US$50,000 per kilogram, roughly equal to the street price for cocaine in the UK, says a international wildlife conservation organization headquartered in the hamlet of Kingsfold, West Sussex."
"Sen. Frank Lautenberg introduced legislation Tuesday designed to give the federal government more tools and financial resources to combat such wildlife diseases as white nose syndrome, a fungus that has contributed to the death of more than a million bats in New Jersey and other states in the past few years."
A Congressional watchdog agency has put the Interior Department's program for regulating -- and collecting revenue from -- offshore oil drilling on its "at risk" list. Will Congressional oversight committees keep overseeing an agency that has failed to collect billions from an industry that gives generously to their campaigns?
The Obama budget proposes charging tiny royalties for hard-rock minerals owned by the U.S. taxpayers that have been given away free to large, profitable corporations for more than a century. Will the GOP deficit hawks go along?
"The attorneys general of New York, Connecticut and Vermont sued the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday, challenging a new commission policy stating that nuclear waste can be safely stored at a nuclear power plant for 60 years after a reactor goes out of service."
Down about 85% from their levels around 130 years ago, according to researchers from the US, China, Italy, Uruguay, and Australia, the decimation of native oysters — a contributor to healthy ecosystems and an indicator of ecosystem health — has largely been caused by overharvesting, disease, and introduction of exotic species.
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