Arsenic-laden drinking water drives antibiotic resistance, study says
Exposure to arsenic through drinking water has long been recognized as a serious risk to human health. This month, two studies underscore the extent of the ongoing threat, presenting fresh evidence regarding how arsenic exposure contributes to antibiotic resistance, and how the overall health risks are disproportionately borne by Hispanic and American Indian communities.
Interview: “Transformational change” is needed as severe climate change impacts loom
By Pam Strayer
Last month, Cornell University professor Rachel Bezner Kerr traveled to Egypt where she addressed scientists and political leaders gathered from around the world at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27).
Postcard from California: Food waste law fights hunger and climate change
By Bill Walker
California produces far more food than any other US state, but we throw a lot of it away. Meanwhile, more than one in five Californians don’t always know where their next meal is coming from. Food insecurity is higher among Black and Latino households, and inflation is making the problem worse.
Amid energy policy debates, a battle over a natural gas pipeline in Appalachia
When developers first approached West Virginia farmer Maury Johnson in 2015 seeking to bury part of a 303-mile-long natural gas pipeline on his property, Johnson was not eager to comply. But with eminent domain laws giving Johnson few options to oppose the move, developers began construction a few hundred feet from his house in 2018.
“Flagrant environmental injustice”- groups petition EPA over coal ash pollution
By Grace van Deelen
Seven years after US regulators set what were supposed to be strict rules for the disposal of coal ash—a toxic mix of metals such as arsenic and lead generated by coal-burning power plants—the vast majority of coal power plants are continuing to allow coal ash contamination of groundwater at levels considered unsafe, according to environmental advocacy groups.
Postcard from California: Regulators bowing to scheme to cripple rooftop solar
Once again, California is poised to sabotage its own climate goals. After almost a year of heated public debate, the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has unveiled its latest proposal for changes to the state’s rooftop solar program.
Opposition to CAFOs mounting in US Midwest
By Keith Schneider
For decades, Americans have mostly turned a blind eye to the industrial-scale livestock production operations that churn out cheap supplies of meat and dairy for the masses. Occasional opposition to local pollution problems and the casual animal cruelty that characterize conventional US dairy, hog, and poultry production did little to alter practices that have become embedded in the rural landscape.
Guest column: EPA has lost its way
By Tim Whitehouse
It has been more than 20 years since I worked as a senior attorney at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), using my legal training to help enforce the Clean Water Act, and advise agency managers on a range of hazardous waste issues.
Scientists speak out against WHO draft guidelines for PFAS in drinking water
By Shannon Kelleher
The World Health Organization (WHO) is ignoring risks to human health posed by two toxic types of PFAS chemicals, and is failing to propose properly protective measures in draft guidelines for drinking water standards, a group of more than 100 scientists alleged in a letter issued this month.
Pesticides from cattle feedlots may threaten Texas wetlands
Across northwest Texas, from the panhandle south past Midland, nearly 20,000 shallow, watery basins dot the landscape. Locals call them mud holes, buffalo wallows, or lagoons, but they are technically known as playas. As oases in the landscape, these wetland areas act as recharge points for the Ogallala Aquifer and play a critical role in sustaining life in northwest Texas.