The headline of an article in the Washington Post on Tuesday might have gotten a lot of people excited about the fact that air travel may be more environmentally friendly than driving. Unfortunately, the analysis out of the University of Michigan featured in Tuesday’s article leads to some false conclusions, according to the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT).
The state of Florida is urging the federal government to postpone planned permitting of seismic exploration for oil and gas in the Atlantic Ocean, saying there is not enough information about the impact on endangered whales, sea turtles and fish.
As Pope Francis prepares to deliver what is likely to be a highly influential encyclical this summer on environmental degradation and the effects of human-caused climate change on the poor, he is alarming some conservatives in the United States who are loath to see the Catholic Church reposition itself as a mighty voice in a cause they do not believe in.
The moderate global warming that has already occurred as a result of human emissions has quadrupled the frequency of certain heat extremes since the Industrial Revolution, scientists reported Monday.
All across North America, patches of land are being taken over by the rigs, roads, and storage facilities of thousands of oil and gas drilling operations. Now, for the first time, a study tallies up the land area they consume: 30,000 square kilometers—an area equivalent to three Yellowstone National Parks.
The expansion of oil-sands mines and drilling pads has brought the caribou pictured on Canada’s 25-cent coin to the brink of extinction in Alberta and British Columbia. To arrest the population decline, the two provinces are intensifying a hunt of the caribou’s main predator, the gray wolf. Conservation groups accuse the provinces of making wolves into scapegoats for man-made damage to caribou habitats.
In spring 2011 stillborn and newborn bottlenose dolphins washed up dead on Gulf coast beaches from Louisiana to Alabama in unusually high numbers.
Just before Earth Day in 1970, Edward Cole, then president of General Motors, promised pollution free cars by 1980.
I call Utah home, and all I have to do is look out my window to tell you we’re not there yet. Half of all air pollution in the U.S. still comes from vehicles burning gasoline and diesel, and it doesn’t have to be that way.
The first Earth Day was a teach-in, where people got together to learn about our impact on the environment and encourage lawmakers to take action. In that spirit, I invite you to celebrate Earth Day this year by learning more about how fuel choice helps fight pollution:
Check out the Environment section of our website.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans took to the streets back in 1970 to raise awareness. Their concern and passion led to the passage of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (where I was head of the air quality division in the early 1980s).
There’s still a lot of work to do, but together we can take the next big step in caring for ourselves, our families, and the environment we call home.
It helps to be well-informed. So take a few minutes to read up on pollution and cleaner fuels.
Let us know what you think, and if you’re so inspired, tell a friend.
And have a happy Earth Day.
Joe Cannon is the president and CEO of Fuel Freedom Foundation. Cannon brings a wide array of leadership experience in government, law, business and journalism to the building of fuel freedom for America. He served as editor of the Deseret News, the leading newspaper in Utah. Prior to Deseret, he was a partner and co-leader of the Public Practice & Political Law practice team at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. Joe played a pivotal role in the purchase of Geneva Steel (a steel mill in Vineyard, Utah) and the reopening of the plant in 1987. He served as chief executive officer and chairman until 2001. From 1981 to 1985, he served in the Reagan administration as an assistant administrator in the Environmental Protection Agency, first for policy and resource management and later for air and radiation. Joe received his undergraduate and law degree from Brigham Young University.
Oklahoma geologists have documented strong links between increased seismic activity in the state and the injection into the ground of wastewater from oil and gas production, a state agency said on Tuesday.
A new study released Tuesday suggests that the global oil and gas industries allow as much as 3.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas — and almost certainly far more — to escape into the atmosphere annually.
