Trash Fouls World's Beaches

Columbia researchers warn of dangers to marine life

(NEWSER) - Industrial emissions are causing the oceans to acidify at a fast rate—the fastest in 300 million years, say researchers from Columbia University. That could spell danger for sea creatures. In the last century alone, the pH of the oceans dropped by 0.1 units. That's 10 times faster than the closest historical parallel, a drop that occurred 56 million years ago, reports Bloomberg . More»

They protect polluters on the false pretext of saving jobs: EPA chief

(NEWSER) - House Republicans claim that to create jobs, we need to loosen environmental regulations. To that end, they’ve “averaged roughly a vote every day” in session to weaken the rules—and have already cut back the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and other laws, writes EPA chief Lisa Jackson in the Los Angeles Times . “This pseudo jobs plan to protect polluters might well be called ‘too dirty to fail,’” she writes. More»

Think 1% the size of Texas, not twice as big

(NEWSER) - The "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" is often said to be twice the size of Texas—but that and other scary-sounding claims are “grossly exaggerated,” some scientists are now insisting. A new study shows the plastic waste patch is actually 200 times smaller than previously claimed when comparing its mass to the amount of water; if you need a Texas-sized visual, it’s actually closer to 1% of the state's area, says researcher Angelicque White. More»

Vermont, Maine, and Hawaii lead the way

(USER SUBMITTED) - Which states are the most environmentally friendly? 24/7 WallSt analyzes pollution levels, energy use, and environmental policies to rank them from 1 to 50:

1. Vermont: Among its many "green" attributes, Vermont has the smallest carbon footprint in the country. It also releases the fewest carcinogenic toxins.

BP, DuPont escape environmental rules

(NEWSER) - The White House has handed wads of stimulus cash to the biggest US polluters and given them "sweeping exemptions from the most basic form of environmental oversight," finds a Center for Public Integrity investigation. Coal burners like Westar Energy and chemical maker DuPont have been among the beneficiaries of some 179,000 “categorical exclusions” related to clean energy stimulus projects, meaning those projects won't be reviewed under the National Environmental Policy Act. More»