Tag: pollution

Rachel Maddow reports on the Trump admnistration's loosening of restrictions on methane, and plans to open the Tongass National Forest in Alaska to logging, mining, and drilling, despite a report by Trump's own USDA describing the vital role of the…

What they will be deciding is whether Lake Erie has the same legal rights as a corporation or person. Called the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, it would grant personhood status to the lake, with the citizens being the guardians of the body of water. “The drafters of the Lake Erie Bill of Rights in Toledo share this understanding, that existing environmental laws are simply not sufficient to protect and restore the lake.” In the United States, the Ponca Nation in Oklahoma was the first Native American tribe to recognize the rights of nature in statutory law in 2017, a reaction to earthquakes and water pollution caused by fracking. Ponca leaders say they are “thrilled” with what is happening in Ohio. One of the reasons for so little organized opposition is that the region has rediscovered the five Great Lakes as important assets. Ganges and Yamuna rivers granted same legal rights as human beings Read more The Ohio Farm Bureau is opposed to the proposal, but has done so in a low-key manner. The lake provides 11 million people with drinking water from those political jurisdictions. “The authority will be questioned, and all sort of business leaders and political groups will be fighting this to protect their own interests and not be responsible stewards of the environment.” “But what these groups finding problems with this bill are missing is why this thing came about in the first place,” Lodge says. Over the years they called for the cavalry repeatedly to help them. So they have decided to be their own cavalry.”

The drop, attributed mainly to the city’s high levels of pollution, handling of last year’s Typhoon Mangkhut, and vulnerability to health crises, also puts Hong Kong 40 places behind Singapore, which has been ranked first for 17 years running. The study by ECA International, which was released on Tuesday, covered roughly 480 locations around the world. Lee Quane, ECA International’s regional director for Asia, said one of the reasons for Hong Kong’s fall was the pollution in the city. Hong Kong got its highest average annual concentrations of hazardous ozone in nearly two decades last year, at 52 micrograms per cubic metre. Moreover, Typhoon Mangkhut also contributed to the drop. The typhoon was the most powerful in the city since records began in 1946, requiring a typhoon signal No 10 to stay in place for 10 hours. However, some 1,500 trees were knocked down, and up to 500 windows broken. Even so, Quane noted the disruption it caused to people’s ability to live and work, which would not happen in Singapore. He cited Hong Kong’s seasonal influenza outbreaks, which recently led to all kindergartens and child care centres being closed for a week ahead of schedule for the Lunar New Year holiday. He suggested congestion charges to discourage people from owning and driving cars, and requiring public transport operators to upgrade to less polluting vehicles.

Right before I sat down to write this column, I got a phone message from a guy who said he was doing a research project on political corruption in New Mexico and wanted to talk to me. Just 20 minutes later, I received an email from state Attorney General Hector Balderas’ spokesman announcing his office had indicted a sitting Rio Arriba County commissioner on three felony counts of unlawful interest in a public contract and one felony count relating to campaign finances. During his 2016 primary campaign, Trujillo accused Salazar of trying to sandbag his candidacy by asking the attorney general to look into Rio Arriba County projects Trujillo had led. The investigators also wanted documents related to county policies, county contracts and records of discretionary funds, Trujillo said. In January 2017, investigators from Balderas’ office raided Trujillo’s home. Española’s Rio Grande Sun reported at the time that an affidavit for a search warrant served at the Española Public Schools office the week before named Trujillo, who until last year had a $50,000 no-bid contract with the district for marketing services. During this year’s primary campaign, Trujillo didn’t return phone calls from The New Mexican for a profile interview. Corruption almost always is an issue in New Mexico elections. He said the strategy could well work “so long as Democrats keep the focus on the larger Republican Party rather than on Trump alone.” In New Mexico, most high-profile corruption cases in recent years have involved Democrats, though enough Republicans have been caught up, it’s fair to say this is a bipartisan problem. However, our politicians have not done a great job of sharing the graft, so that potential part of their support base isn’t as strong as it used to be.

Santa Barbara OKs jail time for defying a new plastic straw ban. Greg Gutfeld reacts on 'The Five'. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news.…

Andrew Wheeler will assume duties as acting-EPA administrator. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. The number one network in cable, FNC has been the…