Postcard from California: Can new laws slow the “plastics pandemic?”
In July, a 130-foot vessel called the Kwai docked in Sausalito carrying a sickening cargo: 96 tons of plastic garbage and other trash recovered from the Pacific Ocean during a 45-day voyage from Honolulu.
Guest column: Overfishing poses threat to our oceans
Increasingly, it seems, environmental problems are dominating the news – plastic waste, illegal dumping, and toxic chemical contamination events are only a few of the issues we read about regularly.
Roundup litigation at turning point as Bayer rejects “global resolution plan”
By Carey Gillam
Fresh off a fifth-in-a-row trial victory, Monsanto owner Bayer AG is rejecting a proposed “global resolution plan” put forward by plaintiffs’ lawyers as a last chance to try to settle tens of thousands of pending Roundup cancer claims before a wave of new trials get underway, newly filed court documents show.
Jury finds for Monsanto in St. Louis Roundup cancer case
By Carey Gillam
After brief deliberations, a St. Louis jury on Thursday sided with Monsanto in the latest Roundup cancer trial. The win puts Monsanto and its German owner Bayer AG at five trials won versus three won by plaintiffs. The jury took only a few hours to reach the defense verdict.
NOAA is damaging marine life by bottom trawling Gulf of Mexico
By Shannon Kelleher
A U.S. government agency that is supposed to protect ocean resources is instead endangering coral reefs, fish, and other marine life as it collects data from the Gulf of Mexico, an environmental watchdog group alleged this week.
Citing “irreversible harm,” lawmaker introduces bill to ban class of pesticides
By Carey Gillam
US Rep. Nydia Velazquez on Tuesday introduced a bill that would ban organophosphates in food production, citing harm to children, farmworkers and other vulnerable communities exposed to the group of chemicals.
For first time, Bayer CEO targeted to give testimony in Roundup litigation
By Carey Gillam
Bayer AG CEO Werner Baumann can be required to provide testimony in ongoing Roundup litigation despite efforts by Bayer to block such action, according to a recent court order.
Air pollution can raise risk of Covid-19 death 51%, study says
By Pam Strayer
People who are live in areas that come with long-term exposure to high levels of air pollution face a 50% higher chance of dying from Covid-19, and thousands of lives could have been saved during the pandemic if air quality standards were met, a new public health research study has found.
Guest column: Setting the stage for a food system transformation
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) new $300 million Organic Transition Initiative offers meaningful investments in climate-friendly farming that meet urgent needs of communities across the country.
Bayer facing long line-up of new Roundup trials as cancer takes toll
Cancer has taken an unrelenting toll on 72-year-old Mike Langford. After being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in 2007 he suffered through five recurrences despite multiple rounds of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant.