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Earther
Facebook Is Letting a Pipeline Company Run Ads While Muzzling Its Opponents
Since the election, Facebook has cracked down on political ads across its platform in an attempt to squelch misinformation. But those ad policies may be letting polluters—including powerful pipeline companies—promote their messages while simultaneously restricting ads from green and Indigenous groups. “If you have a David and Goliath fight, with all of us tiny nonprofits … Continued
By Molly Taft -
EartherEnvironmental Justice
Chevron’s Oil Spill Is Its Latest Injustice Foisted on Bay Area Communities
As the pandemic drags on, some residents of the Bay Area faced a different kind of health emergency on Tuesday: an oil spill. Around 600 gallons of an oil-and-water mixture spilled from a Chevron oil refinery in Richmond, California into the San Francisco Bay, the company told local health authorities. The company announced the spill … Continued
By Molly Taft -
EartherClimate Change
Electric Vehicles Are Improving So Fast, Data on Using Them May Be Obsolete
This week, group of economists released an analysis that attempts to answer how much the average American drives their electric vehicle. While it shows people drove electric cars fewer miles than gas-powered ones, the results might not reflect the rapidly changing electric vehicle landscape. Currently, California, where roughly half the electric vehicle users in the U.S. … Continued
By Molly Taft -
Earther
How a Coal Mine in Montana Could Screw the Navajo Nation
The overwhelming economic consensus is that coal is out, renewables are in. Yet one company, associated with the Navajo Nation, doesn’t seem to have gotten the message—and may be weighing the tribe down with more coal baggage as the rest of the country moves on. A judge last week blocked the expansion of the Spring … Continued
By Molly Taft -
Earther
Glacier Breaks, Unleashing a Monster Flash Flood in Himalayas
At least 20 people are dead and up to 125 still missing after a piece of a glacier in the Himalayas collapsed on Sunday, causing flash floods and destroying a dam in its path. Video footage shows a colossal rush of water and rocks roaring through a mountain valley in the northern Indian state of … Continued
By Molly Taft -
Earther
The Murky Connection Between the Coronavirus and Climate Change
Climate change is basically messing up everything in our lives. It’s tempting to find a way to pin the coronavirus pandemic on it, and a new study released today does just that, claiming that climate change “may have driven the emergence” of coronavirus. But it may be more complicated than it seems at first blush. … Continued
By Molly Taft -
Earther
Rich Hamptons Residents Scared of ‘Violent Energy Releases’ From Offshore Wind Farm Cable
If New York doesn’t meet its renewable energy goals over the next few years, some billionaires might be to blame. A group of well-heeled Hamptons property owners filed a lawsuit this week seeking to block a key piece of infrastructure needed to construct a large wind farm off the coast of Long Island. The Citizens … Continued
By Molly Taft -
Earther
Think You Have It Bad? Try Living in Perth, Australia, Right Now
It’s looking apocalyptic Down Under. Thousands of people were forced to leave their homes in the state of Western Australia this week as wildfires tore through an area close to the city of Perth, right as the city began a strict lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Officials say the Wooroloo Fire, which has a … Continued
By Molly Taft -
Earther
How to Ensure the Federal Government Doesn’t Try to Muzzle Science Again
The climate denier is out of the White House, and the scientific community is beginning to take stock of—and clean up—the mess left behind. On Monday, following a request from the Biden administration, a federal judge vacated one of the Trump administration’s most dangerous tweaks to scientific integrity. But don’t celebrate too soon: Some of … Continued
By Molly Taft -
Earther
The Only Carbon Capture Coal Plant in the U.S. Just Closed
Early last year, the Trump administration’s Department of Energy celebrated a special birthday. “Happy Third Operating Anniversary, Petra Nova!” the agency trumpeted in a press release. The release boasted of a coal-fired power plant in Texas that seemed to have done the impossible: It successfully removed carbon dioxide from the plant’s emissions for three years, … Continued
By Molly Taft