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The White House is finally addressing a serious, and misunderstood, problem with a new “bee plan.” The bee plan is a federal strategy to stop the sharp decline of pollinators, most notably bees, and restore pollinator populations to their previous buzzing glory. Can the White House end a problem that has alluded scientists and policy makers for over a decade? The bee plan is focused on habitats… and bureaucracy. The first step of the plan is form a task force. The group will include representatives from 14 major federal departments (click here for the full list).

Exposure to environmental pollution may cause brain changes that make people more vulnerable to developing autism or schizophrenia, according to a new study published in Environmental Heath Perspectives. This research falls in line with a 2013 study published in JAMA Psychiatry, which demonstrated an epidemiological link between pollution and autism; the researchers found that children who lived in areas with high levels of traffic pollution seemed to be more likely to be diagnosed with the neurodevelopmental disorder. […] While most research on pollution focuses on large-particle pollution—the only type monitored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—this research focused on the...

In a sweeping initiative to curb pollutants blamed for global warming, the Obama administration's EPA unveiled a plan Monday aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by nearly a third by 2030. But it delays the deadline for some states to begin complying until long after President Barack Obama leaves office. The 645-page plan, expected to be finalized next year, is a centerpiece of Obama's efforts to deal with climate change and seeks to give the United States more leverage to prod other countries to act when negotiations on a new international treaty resume next year. Under the...

The U.S. power sector must cut carbon dioxide emissions 30 percent by 2030 from 2005 levels, according to federal regulations unveiled on Monday that form the centerpiece of the Obama administration's climate change strategy. The Environmental Protection Agency's proposal is one of the most significant environmental rules proposed by the United States, and could transform the power sector, which relies on coal for nearly 38 percent of electricity. Gina McCarthy, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said on Monday that between 2020 and 2030, the U.S. amount of carbon dioxide the proposal would reduce under the plan would be more...

1. Fresno-Madera, Calif. 2. Visalia-Porterville-Hanford, Calif. 3. Bakersfield, Calif. 4. Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif. 5. Modesto-Merced, Calif 6. Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, Penn.-Ohio-W.Va 7. El Centro, Calif. 8. El Paso-Las Cruces, Texas-N.M. 9. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. 10. St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, Mo.-Ill. COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE: http://247wallst.com/special-report/2014/04/30/the-10-most-polluted-cities-in-america/2/

After making great strides in air pollution over the past decade, the United States took a small step backwards. Forty-seven percent of the U.S. population lived in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution, slightly higher than last year. According to the American Lung Association’s 2014 “State of the Air” report, the Fresno, Calif., metro area was the most polluted city, moving ahead of Bakersfield, Calif. The ALA’s report measures cities based on low-lying ozone pollution, as well as both short- and long-term particle pollution. These particles, just 1/30th the diameter of a human hair, are capable of getting past...

Faced with growing public anger about a poisonous environment, China’s government released a yearslong study that shows nearly one-fifth of the country’s farmland is contaminated with toxic metals, a stunning indictment of unfettered industrialization under the Communist Party’s authoritarian rule. The report, previously deemed so sensitive it was classified as a state secret, names the heavy metals cadmium, nickel and arsenic as the top contaminants. It adds to widespread doubts about the safety of China’s farm produce and confirms suspicions about the dire state of its soil following more than two decades of explosive industrial growth, the overuse of farm...

Revelations that the US Environmental Protection Agency has been conducting deadly experiments on unwitting volunteers have surfaced. According to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the EPA’s experiments exposed individuals to pollutants in quantities up to 50 times greater than the levels the agency deems safe. The OIG findings were dismissed as “exaggerated scaremongering” by EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “The number of individuals exposed to these toxins are but a tiny fraction of the population. Those criticizing the Agency are overlooking the potentially larger gains to the vast majority of the country that may be achieved by the sacrifice...

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif) wants the EPA to take a closer look at the proposal to build the Keystone Pipeline. The pipeline would replace rail transport of oil from Canada and is considered a generally safer means of getting the flammable commodity to its destination. Boxer sought to clarify her opposition to the pipeline, saying that “I’m not stupid. I know that trains sometimes get derailed and that in terms of the safety of transporting oil a pipeline would be less dangerous. The point I am trying to make is that a cheaper and safer mode of shipping will mean...

Polluted Minds: Greenies think nature is bad for itself by Daniel Clark One of the things liberals remember best about Ronald Reagan is that he said trees cause pollution. The reason they remember this is that it makes them feel superior to him, and no wonder. Can you imagine anything that sounds stupider than that? It’s the kind of statement for which we’d expect Sarah Palin to be ridiculed, despite her never having said it. So why would Reagan say such a thing? Because trees cause pollution, that’s why. In particular, decaying leaves and pine needles produce organic compounds that...

BERKELEY, Calif., June 4, 2012 – Solar cells do not offset greenhouse gases or curb fossil fuel use in the United States according to a new environmental book, Green Illusions (June 2012, University of Nebraska Press), written by University of California – Berkeley visiting scholar Ozzie Zehner. Green Illusions explains how the solar industry has grown to become one of the leading emitters of hexafluoroethane (C2F6), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). These three potent greenhouse gases, used by solar cell fabricators, make carbon dioxide (CO2) seem harmless. Hexafluoroethane has a global warming potential that is 12,000 times higher...

President Obama speaking at a Safeway distribution center in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, while speaking about fuel standards: "So for decades, the fuel efficiency standards of our cars and trucks was stuck in neutral even as other kinds of technology leapt forward," Obama said. "And that left families and businesses and our economy vulnerable to fluctuations in oil prices. Every time oil prices shot up the economy got hurt. Our automakers were in danger of being left in the dust by foreign automakers. Carbon pollution was going unchecked, which was having severe impacts on our weather."

Editor's Note: This column was co-authored by Roger Bezdek. The Environmental Protection Agency, other government agencies and various scientists contend that fossil fuels and carbon dioxide emissions are causing dangerous global warming and climate change. They use this claim to justify repressive regulations for automobiles, coal-fired power plants and other facilities powered by hydrocarbon energy. Because these rules are costing millions of jobs and billions of dollars, a federal Interagency Working Group (IWG) devised the “social cost of carbon” concept – which attaches arbitrary monetary values to the alleged impacts of using hydrocarbons and emitting carbon dioxide. SCC estimates...

I say “probably” because I haven’t had time to research the factual claims behind the legislation. But if anyone thinks conservatives are against all government action, then this might be a time to set the record straight. If the facts are correct then I think if is quite likely that the NY legislature is doing exactly what it needs to do. In that case, I hope other states, or even the Federal Government follows their example. Here is Newser.com’s summary:

The pollution that reaches the West Coast is largely a by-product of production of consumer goods for the U.S. and Europe. It’s the first study to measure exactly how much of the Chinese pollution reaching the U.S. West Coast is from the production of items for the U.S., like cell phones, televisions, and electronics. “We’ve outsourced our manufacturing and much of our pollution, but some of it is blowing back across the Pacific to haunt us,” said U.C. Irvine Earth system scientist Steve Davis, a co-author of the study. “Given the complaints about how Chinese pollution is corrupting other countries’...

WASHINGTON – The recent nationwide cold snap isn’t just making Americans uncomfortable. It’s turning some into lawbreakers. The shocking news of state and local regulations that make it illegal to warm up your frozen car is hitting home in Texas, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, Colorado, Wisconsin, South Carolina – even some cities in Minnesota. Who knew it could be illegal to run back inside while your car is warming up in winter – in a practice sometimes called “puffing”? Many Americans are getting first-hand experience this brutal winter with the latest manifestation of what some call the “Nanny State.” The...

The farm-to-table process in China starts in villages like this one in the agricultural heartland. Food from the fields of Ge Songqing and her neighbors ends up in their kitchens or in the local market, and from there goes to other provinces. The foods are Chinese staples: rice, cabbage, carrots, turnips and sweet potatoes. But the fields are ringed by factories and irrigated with water tainted by industrial waste. Levels of toxic heavy metals in the wastewater here are among the highest in China, and residents fear the soil is similarly contaminated. Though they have no scientific proof, they suspect...

Chinese air pollution has been in the headlines for some time now. Earlier this year Beijing announced a massive program that would need 1.7 trillion yuan in investment over the next five years to tackle its smog problem. While headlines about cancer villages and the other side effects of China's pollution debacle continue, and Beijing does seem to be taking the issue seriously, Chinese state media is searching hard for a silver lining. Citing a report from a nationalist newspaper, South China Morning Post points to an article that tries desperately to put a positive spin on China's air pollution....

Here are the world’s worst cities for air pollution, and they’re not the ones you’d expect. In 2010, some 223,000 people around the world died from lung cancer caused by exposure to air pollution, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday. And more than half of those deaths are believed to have been in China and elsewhere in East Asia. Here are the world’s worst cities for air pollution, according to the WHO. + air-pollution-by-city Exposure to air pollution is getting worse in parts of the world, especially industrializing countries, according to the WHO. The WHO’s key announcement yesterday was...

A Portland, Oregon man urinated in a Mt. Tabor reservoir Wednesday causing the city to take it’s critical water supply off line and dump millions in gallons of water. According to The Oregonian, officials saw five people throwing objects into the reservoir, while one person began to urinate into it through the fencing. Police did not cite the 21-year-old or his friends, but the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office may press criminal charges after surveillance video and police reports are reviewed. [Snip] An administrator for the Water Bureau, David Shaff, said that because of this incident, roughly 7.8 million gallons...