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Breathing Emission Particles Turns HDL Cholesterol From 'Good' To 'Bad' Article Date: 18 May 2013 Academic researchers have found that breathing motor vehicle emissions triggers a change in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, altering its cardiovascular protective qualities so that it actually contributes to clogged arteries. In addition to changing HDL from "good" to "bad," the inhalation of emissions activates other components of oxidation, the early cell and tissue damage that causes inflammation, leading to hardening of the arteries, according to the research team, which included scientists from UCLA and other institutions. The findings of this early study, done in mice,...

U.S. taxpayers funding 'gender equality' in Ghana's energy developmentPresident Obama recently joked that he should just “pack up and go home” if Congress is going to continue resisting his policies. But before he heads back to Chicago, his administration plans to spend up to $400 million on “green” projects around the world, survey the satellite television viewing habits of Africans and simultaneously try to spark private-sector investment in the West Bank and Gaza, among other federal endeavors.

In the future all Eagle scout candidates will be required to earn a merit badge in climate change junk science. Via Scouting Magazine: The Sustainability merit badge debuted at the 2013 National Scout Jamboree at The Summit Bechtel Reserve, West Virginia, USA. Boy Scouts of America reported: Although the badge is still in development, Scouts can expect to learn about pollution, resource management, green chemistry, and zero-waste practices. They will be challenged to live sustainably and, as in other badges, to explore careers related to sustainability. Effective Jan. 1, 2014, the Sustainability merit badge will join the list of Eagle-required...

Abstract: Recently, many jurisdictions have implemented bans or imposed taxes upon plastic grocery bags on environmental grounds. San Francisco County was the first major US jurisdiction to enact such a regulation, implementing a ban in 2007. There is evidence, however, that reusable grocery bags, a common substitute for plastic bags, contain potentially harmful bacteria. We examine emergency room admissions related to these bacteria in the wake of the San Francisco ban. We find that ER visits spiked when the ban went into effect. Relative to other counties, ER admissions increase by at least one fourth, and deaths exhibit a similar...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Gareth Morgan has a simple dream: a New Zealand free of pet cats that threaten native birds. But the environmental advocate has triggered a claws-out backlash with his new anti-feline campaign.

A second Environmental Protection Agency official stands accused of using a personal email address to shield communications with environmental activists from public disclosure. Court documents show that EPA Region 8 Administrator James Martin corresponded with the Environmental Defense Fund — where he previously worked as an attorney — through his private email account.

Welcome to the pretzel logic of liberal environmental protection: In order to "save" owls, the Obama administration is going to shoot them dead. This is not -- I repeat not -- an Onion parody. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, the White House released a big fat policy turkey: its final critical habitat rule for the endangered northern spotted owl. The Obama plan will lock up 9.6 million acres of land (mostly, but not all, federal) in Oregon, Washington and northern California. This is nearly double the acreage set aside by the Bush administration. Thousands of timber workers (along with untold thousands...

Environmental groups divided on whether to hit Obama on climate changeBy Ben Geman - 10/20/12 04:13 PM ET The environmental movement is divided over how hard to pressure President Obama on climate change in the homestretch of the 2012 campaign. The contrasting strategies were evident in statements and e-mails to members that green groups released after Tuesday’s debate, which saw Obama and Mitt Romney battle at length over energy without once mentioning global warming for the second-straight onstage battle. Some groups praised Obama for strongly touting renewable energy and efficiency, while others knocked him for battling to be seen as...

Join us for this special GMO Awareness radio show! On Saturday, October 13, 2012 at 8:40 a.m. (PST). Deborah Whitman will be talking about some of the health affects of GMO Food and how you can protect yourself and your family.

The nation faces a critical need to "overcome a number of serious problems" related to economic development and growing energy needs, particularly because of its "strong dependence on energy imports," the Obama Administration has concluded. Consequently, it has launched a project to increase "competitiveness and energy security" while reducing "greenhouse gas emissions via greater clean energy investments" across the nation. Across the nation of Macedonia, that is.

As many people fall down in the sweltering heat, because of the loss of power to air conditioners, there are others jumping up and down, because the excessively hot weather seems be to punishing those naughty Americans, known around the world to use more than their "fair share" of energy. Coupled with the severe storms knocking out power lines, to an environmentalist, it may, indeed, be a perfect storm. In the past several years, American power generating companies have been diverted from upgrading their existing equipment, including coal generating plants, transmission lines, substations, etc. on the Grid, by the incessant...

Merchants of Despair: Radical Environmentalists, Criminal Pseudo-Scientists, and the Fatal Cult of Antihumanism, by Robert Zubrin (Encounter, 328 pp., $25.95) A ruling idea of the last two centuries has been materialism: the notion, as arch-materialist Daniel Dennett asserts, that “there is only one sort of stuff, namely matter—the physical stuff of physics, chemistry, and physiology—and the mind is somehow nothing but a physical phenomenon.” One consequence of this belief has been the rise of antihumanism—the stripping from people of their transcendent value and a reduction of them to mere things in the world to be studied, understood, reshaped—and ultimately...

We are making a call for all miners, prospectors and property owners to step up in the next 15 days to attempt to stop a new budget trailer bill which was once again sneaked into the political process: WMA June 2012 Newsletter Download the Western Mining Alliance Suction Dredge Information Sheet here: (See site) All that stands between losing your rights to dredge and having them restored is the Western Mining Alliance and Public Lands for the People. Please support our legal fight to restore your rights as an American to mine. This issue has far reaching consequences to all...

It has finally happened: The Heartland Institute, an anti-science front group that used to focus on downplaying the dangers of smoking on behalf of Phillip Morris but now spends much of its time denying the scientific consensus on climate change, has decided to stop even trying to be credible in order to attract publicity. In the vernacular: It has gone all PETA on us. "I still believe in global warming. Do you?" reads a caption written in bright red on a billboard recently mounted in Chicago by the Heartland folks, next to a wild-eyed mugshot of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski....

Meteorologist Brian Sussman blows whistle on president's scheme The environmentalist movement isn’t about protecting the environment at all, according to meteorologist-turned-journalist Brian Sussman. It’s about destroying private property, controlling behavior, and expanding government – and the Obama administration has a secret plan to further all of it, he says. Sussman is now blowing the whistle on the real nature of environmentalism in his explosive brand-new book, “Eco-Tyranny.” He reveals secret memos from inside Obama’s Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, outlining a covert plan “to pursue a program of land consolidation” for the federal government to secure tens of millions...

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/billionaire-boondoggle/1428210002001

In 2011 the Environmental Protection Agency provided $1 million in grants to 46 different non-profit and tribal organizations to promote what it called “environmental justice.” Since 1994, a little-noticed EPA program has handed out a total of $23 million in such grants to 1,253 organizations, for stated purposes that observers are questioning. President Bill Clinton and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) were responsible for implementing “environmental justice” as part of the EPA’s mission. In early 1990, following a lobbying push by the CBC, the EPA established the Environmental Equity Workgroup. In 1994 it was renamed the Office of Environmental Justice.

Power Plant Closures Due to Environmental Regulations to Take Toll on TownsPublished December 20, 2011 | Associated Press For more than 90 years, the coal-fired power plant in Glen Lyn, Va., has been churning out electricity and contributing to local prosperity. Of late, it has generated nearly a quarter of the revenue for the $1 million budget of the town. Yet when the plant ultimately shuts down to comply with new federal air pollution regulations by the end of 2014, says Town Manager Howard Spencer, so too might the community of 200. "If the town lost all of that revenue,"...

So, I just discovered a product called "strawboard." Apparently it's been used in Europe for 40+ years, but it's kinda new in the US. Some sources say that a typical house requires about an acre's worth of clear-cut timber, which would take about 30 years to replace. That same house (according to these sources) could be built using 18 acres of straw -- which is a waste product from wheat production. I've been searching, but I haven't found any serious problems with using strawboard. Presumably, it doesn't hold up as well to moisture as traditional wood does, but I don't...

President Obama's Department of Homeland Security (DHS) outlined an "environmental justice strategy" that would review how a variety of DHS activities, from interaction with local governments to granting regulatory permits, affect poor and minority populations. DHS defines environmental justice as "the commitment of the Federal Government . . . to avoid placing disproportionately high and adverse effects on the human health and environment of minority populations and low-income populations." Efforts to implement environmental justice will influence "our own operations, financial assistance to state and local governments, and [DHS'] regulatory permitting activities," DHS explained in the draft strategy.

<p>LINCOLN, Neb. – Days after the Obama administration threatened to delay approval of a planned oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico -- angering unions while appeasing environmentalists -- the company seeking to build the pipeline says it's willing to reroute the project to get it back on track.</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal agents trying to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border say they're hampered by laws that keep them from driving vehicles on huge swaths of land because it falls under U.S. environmental protection, leaving it to wildlife — and illegal immigrants and smugglers who can walk through the territory undisturbed. A growing number of lawmakers are saying such restrictions have turned wilderness areas into highways for criminals. In recent weeks, three congressional panels, including two in the GOP-controlled House and one in the Democratic-controlled Senate, have moved to give the Border Patrol unfettered access to all federally managed lands...

Asbestos abatement school owner sentenced BY MICHAEL P. TREMOGLIE Ortiz A woman who was one of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) "most wanted" fugitives was sentenced Sept. 13 to 87 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. She is the fifth environmental criminal captured since the EPA fugitive website was launched in December 2008, according to the announcement. James Cattuso, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said he was was unaware of the fugitive list. He said he was amazed it existed. "Certainly these are not violent crimes that would require wanted posters which is what...

Man arrested in Oklahoma pipe bomb attempt Published: Aug. 15, 2011 at 4:44 PM OKEMAH, Okla., Aug. 15 (UPI) -- An Oklahoma man has been arrested after authorities said he called 911 and reported he put a pipe bomb on a natural gas pipeline. Daniel Wells Herriman, 40, of Konawa, was arrested Friday, the FBI said, The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman reported. Special Agent in Charge James Finch said the bomb could have done extensive damage had it exploded on the Enerfin Resources natural gas line near Okemah. "Thank goodness Mr. Herriman is not the greatest bomb-maker," Finch said. The device,...

Though it is unrelated to their mission, the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce and Housing are among the federal agencies that will focus on helping minorities get green under an Obama Administration plan that aims to bring “environmental justice” to poor and underserved communities nationwide. The effort was launched by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last fall and the agency has doled out millions of dollars in “environmental justice grants” to dozens of leftwing groups, including some dedicated to helping illegal immigrants. Earlier this year the administration dedicated an additional $7 million to study how pollution, stress and social...

Hundreds of job opening listings posted on Monster.com and other jobs sites explicitly state that people who are unemployed would be less attractive applicants, with some telling the long-term unemployed to not even bother with applying. The New York Times' Catherine Rampell said she found preferences for the already employed or only recently laid off in listings for "hotel concierges, restaurant managers, teachers, I.T. specialists, business analysts, sales directors, account executives, orthopedics device salesmen, auditors and air-conditioning technicians." Even the massive University of Phoenix stated that preference, but removed the listings when the Times started asking questions.

WASHINGTON — A bill that would grant the Department of Homeland Security unprecedented access to federal lands near the border was sharply criticized Friday for giving the department unchecked authority. The National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act would let DHS waive 36 environmental-protection laws for patrol activities within 100 miles of U.S. borders. -------------------------- 1505 may succeed in decreasing immigration, but only because the water, air and environments of border communities will be so degraded, no one will want to come here,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson.

What's an environmentalist? A watermelon: green on the outside and red on the inside. Hear how old school leftists are using the green movement to push their socialist agenda as Roger L. Simon sits with author James Delingpole.

A proposal to replace 835 oak, sycamore and walnut trees with 199,000 new interment spaces at a prominent Hollywood Hills cemetery near Griffith Park is at the heart of a controversy over the future of what little remains of the Los Angeles area's undeveloped wildlife habitat. Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries wants to develop 120 acres of its grounds because its existing expanse of carefully manicured lawns has nearly run out of room for interments in grassy havens with names like "Ascending Dawn" and "Vale of Hope." On Wednesday, as families in mourning gathered around grave sites overlooking the San...

Last week President Obama announced his new ‘Green Fleet’ plan that would see all of the government’s 600,000 vehicles be either hybrids, plug-in electrics or flex-fuel models by 2015. There are, however, a few exceptions – most notably ‘The Beast’. The nickname for the President’s armored Cadillac limousine, also referred to as Cadillac One, it is exempt from the new rules. Secret Service Special Agent Robert Novy confirmed as much to Fox News, commenting that, “certain specialized vehicles with law enforcement and security specifications are not subject to this directive.” Included in that list is ‘The Beast’, which features 5-inch...

Sure, you might get a carpool sticker and a tax break. But if you buy an electric car, will it make much environmental difference? Experts say that depends on three factors: What were you driving before? How is your electricity generated? And how many other electric cars are going to be sold? In many cases, people who trade gasoline-powered cars for electric ones won't be dramatically lessening the smog they emit. But when it comes to global warming, even when emissions from generating the electricity are taken into account, electric vehicles have a much smaller carbon footprint than gas-powered vehicles...

NEW ORLEANS -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says federal scientists catching fish to test for possible damage from last year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill accidentally drowned three dolphins. Spokeswoman Connie Barclay says the pantropical spotted dolphins were caught Wednesday from a trawl off the research ship Pisces, which works out of Pascagoula, Miss. She said Friday that NOAA will investigate whether all proper procedures were followed.

The budget stalemate between the right and the left comes down to a basic difference in economic views, the left feels that we need to tax more in order to consume more money, and the right believes that we need to consume less money in order to tax less. Whichever side of the argument you come down on, it's not hard to see which of these positions is fundamentally unsustainable. And it is amazing that the same people who can and do lecture for hours on environmental sustainability, seem to have no grasp of economic sustainability. If you tell them...

Radical environmental groups have a power over President Obama and his administration that is truly astonishing. At a time when the economy is struggling and low and middle income earners - both in the United States and overseas -- are worried about their economic prospects, the administration continues to pursue policies that will unambiguously harm them. Consider the domestic front first, and the administration's energy policies. Since coming to office, Obama and his green allies have pursued a deeply unpopular cap-and-trade program. The program would raise energy costs, particularly burdening low-income Americans for whom energy costs constitute a sizable portion...

(Dagbladet): One and a half years after the newspaper Dagbladet revealed major problems with the Armed Forces' new environmental ammunition, considering the military to stop the use of lead-free ammunition and reintroduce traditional lead balls. Defence Management admits that they now have a significant challenge in dealing with problems with the new ammunition, and that the extent of physical health problems among soldiers who use it only on the increase. Doctors in the Armed Forces are more and more reports of soldiers who are sick for days after the shooting with lead-free ammunition

MR. BLUMENFELD: So today we recognize this person for an extraordinary vision and leadership as an early, ardent and articulate champion in the defense of our planet against global climate change. This person had a great team. I want to recognize Terry Tamminen and Linda Adams, who are both here, who really -- you can't do this stuff alone when you're sitting -- (Applause) And the job at the top is lonely and so when you surround yourselves by people you want to have people that free you up to take action and those are the type of people that...

The plan articulates that environmentally literate students, upon graduation, will demonstrate proficiency in each of the following areas: * Understand the physical and biological world and our interdependent relationship with it * Understand and apply systems thinking concepts and tools * Understand one’s relationship to the local, regional, national and global community * Investigate options for, plan and create a sustainable future * Understand and achieve personal and civic responsibility Oregon’s Environmental Literacy Plan will be submitted to the Oregon legislature and considered for full adoption by the State Board of Education later this year. To implement the plan, Oregon...

WASHINGTON, DC, Sept. 28 -- Reviews of the coastal plain and two other study areas within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for possible federal wilderness designation will begin now that initial public comments have been gathered for updating ANWR’s 1988 comprehensive conservation plan, the US Fish and Wildlife Service said on Sept. 27. The three areas comprise almost all of ANWR’s acreage that is not already wilderness, according to FWS’s Region 7 office in Anchorage. The coastal plain is believed to have substantial petroleum resources but is presently off-limits for leasing, development, or any other oil and gas activity. FWS...

Environmental activist Wendy Van Asselt was at the World Resources Institute in 2003 when officials from the Wilderness Society made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. They wanted her to lead a huge project to remove 26 million acres of federal land in the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) from oil and gas production, grazing, timber harvesting, mining for strategic minerals, off-road recreation, and providing rural jobs.

U.S. Education Secretary Vows to Make American Children 'Good Environmental Citizens' "Today, I promise you that under my leadership, the Department of Education will be a committed partner in the national effort to build a more environmentally literate and responsible society," said Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Thursday, September 23, 2010 By Nicholas Ballasy Education Secretary Arne Duncan looks on as President Barack Obama talks to students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va., Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (CNSNews.com) - U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan vowed on Tuesday that his department would work to make American children into...

Several Cabinet officials gathered today to restart the federal government's effort to stop environmental discrimination. The interagency working group on environmental justice, which had not met for a decade, came together at the White House on Wednesday morning to discuss ways to insure that low-income and minority communities don't unfairly bear the brunt of environmental pollution.

BOISE, Idaho — Forty environmental groups told Northwest lawmakers they want a "full project assessment" of oil equipment transports through Idaho and Montana to tar sands in Alberta, Canada. Exxon Mobil has proposed more than 200 oversized shipments weighing up to 300 tons starting this winter from the inland port city of Lewiston along a narrow mountain highway on their way to the Kearl Oil Sands.

The Largest Selection of Liberal-baiting Merchandise on the Net! ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Print Email AmSpecBlog "My tax dollars are being used to crush me" By Chris Horner on 9.7.10 @ 2:15PM No, the Gulf Coast does not have a monopoly on green policies being used to steal your freedom and bankrupt you -- to coin a phrase -- but is only (for now) the latest example. Watch this. As gut-wrenching as this is it is actually a very common tale, or at least the elements are present in every hare-brained consequence I have encountered in two decades of the vague, sweeping...

Backlash over China curb on metal exports China's draconian export curbs on rare earth minerals needed by the rest of the world for frontier technologies is escalating into a serious diplomatic and trade clash with the United States and other leading powers. By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor Japan's foreign minister Katsuya Okada issued what amounted to a formal protest at top-level meeting with Chinese officials in Beijing over the weekend, saying the sudden cut-off was "affecting the global production chain". It is the latest sign of rising pressure after angry complaints by companies outside China that rely on this...

The prospect of even a small exploration drilling program near the site of one of the worst U.S. natural disasters in modern memory has environmentalists blowing their tops. As Ascot Resources announced they have begun exploration drilling on the Mt. Margaret property , a former Duval Corp. property located in the St. Helens Mining District of Skamania County in Washington State, Oregon-based environmentalists say even Ascot's small drilling program has no business disturbing the Mount St. Helens National Monument.

Environmental Militant Killed by Police After Discovery Channel SiegeSuspect James Lee Rails in Manifesto Against 'Filthy Human Babies' Associated Press 6:46 PM EDT, September 1, 2010 **SNIP** A lengthy posting which could be seen Wednesday on a website registered to Lee expressed anger against the Discovery Channel and said it promoted overpopulation. He said it and its affiliates should stop "encouraging the birth of any more parasitic human infants." Instead, he said, the network should air "programs encouraging human sterilization and infertility." "NO MORE BABIES! Population growth is a real crisis," he wrote. He also railed against "programs promoting War"...

Regulators on Friday shut down a big community bank based in Chicago that has been known for its social activism but racked by financial troubles in recent months. It was the 114th U.S. bank to fail this year. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over ShoreBank, with $2.16 billion in assets and $1.54 billion in deposits. Urban Partnership Bank, a new institution comprised of several big Wall Street banks and a private foundation, agreed to assume ShoreBank's deposits and nearly all its assets... In an unusual move, the FDIC allowed some of ShoreBank's executives to continue running the restructured bank......

Thanks to the oil spill, BP (BP) is No. 1 on most green groups’ bad guys list. Most have also tried to tie the oil giant to the right, using Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, and his apology to BP last week as only the most obvious link. But that only tells part of the story. Critics may have called BP’s use of the slogan “Beyond Petroleum” corporate “greenwashing,” but for years BP walked the walk by supporting groups like the U.S. Climate Action Partnership and donating millions to environmental groups. And they never seemed to have a problem

I was walking back to the office one day, not long after The Atlas Society moved to Washington, when a young woman accosted me on a street corner. “Got a minute for the environment?” she asked, thrusting a leaflet in my direction. Welcome to Washington, I thought. In New York, where I used to live, people passing bills on the street were usually selling one of two things: men’s suits or sex. But Washington is a political town. Here we sell causes. I didn’t stop. I didn’t have a minute for her, or for much of anything except getting back...

A fudgelike goo coating Louisiana’s marshes. A thick oil slick stretching across the Gulf of Mexico. A plume of oil miles below the ocean surface. A tragic loss of life. Reverberating economic consequences. Throw in a poll that shows that 53 percent of Americans rate President Barack Obama “poor” or “very poor” in his handling of the Gulf oil spill, and it’s no wonder the President yesterday broke his 308-day self-imposed press conference moratorium in hopes of conveying some semblance of leadership amid an environmental, economic and human catastrophe that has spiraled out of his control.