Tag Archives: Water

Leak at First CO2 Injection Site in US Exposes Dangerous Folly of Carbon Capture

“This incident puts an exclamation point on concerns communities across the country have been raising for years about the dangers the CCS industry poses to public safety and drinking water,” said one climate group.

By Jake Johnson. Published 9-13-2024 by Common Dreams

Chevron refinery in North Salt Lake, Utah. Photo: arbyreed/flickr/CC

Environmental groups said Friday that a newly reported leak at the first CO2 injection site in the United States highlights the threat—and false promise—of carbon capture and storage efforts, which climate advocates have long criticized as a ploy by the fossil fuel industry to preserve its extractive business model.

E&E News reported Friday that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has “issued a violation notice to the operator of the country’s first carbon dioxide injection wells for permanent storage, alleging that the company hasn’t complied with its federal permit.”

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Tribes Celebrate as Dam Removals Set Klamath River ‘Free’ for First Time in a Century

“The biggest thing for me, the significance of the dam removal project, is just hope—understanding that change can be made,” a Yoruk activist said as the largest dam removal project in U.S. history neared completion.

By Edward Carver. Published 8-29-2024 by Common Dreams

The Klamath River. Photo: Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington/flickr/CC

Crews breached the final of four dams on a key stretch of the Klamath River on Wednesday, letting salmon run freely there for the first time in over a century and garnering tears from Indigenous activists who had campaigned for the dam removals for decades.

Together the four demolitions mark the largest dam removal project in U.S. history.

The Klamath, which runs from south-central Oregon into northwestern California, has long been bordered by Native American tribes—”Salmon People,” as they call themselves—that once relied on the protein-rich fish for about half of their caloric intake but were impoverished by the institution of the dams, among other white settler colonialist initiatives.

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Report Exposes ‘Systemic Abuse’ at For-Profit Migrant Detention Centers in Louisiana

“These individuals have fled persecution and violence only to be thrown in ‘civil’ detention and left to fend for themselves in an abusive, profit-driven, and manipulative system.”

By Edward Carver. Published 8-26-2024 by Common Dreams

The River Correctional Center in Ferndale, LA. Photo: ICE

A coalition of rights groups on Monday released a report documenting “systemic human rights abuses” at migrant detention centers in Louisiana and called for an end to the use of for-profit facilities by U.S. agencies.

The 108-page report, drawn from more than 6,000 interviews at Lousiana immigrant detention centers since 2022, was produced by Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Human Rights, the ACLU, the ACLU of Louisiana, Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy, and the National Immigration Project.

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Federal Judge Gives Louisiana Polluters a ‘Free Pass’ to Harm Communities of Color

“Louisiana has given industrial polluters open license to poison Black and brown communities for generations,” and the new ruling from a Trump-appointed judge will only magnify the problem, a campaigner said.

By Edward Carver. Published 8-23-2024 by Common Dreams

Cancer Alley. Photo: Gines A. Sanchez/flickr/CC

A right-wing federal judge in Louisiana on Thursday permanently blocked two federal agencies from enforcing civil rights legislation that could protect Black communities from disproportionate pollution in the state, drawing condemnation from environmental justice advocates.

The two-page ruling, issued by U.S. District Court Judge James Cain, who was appointed to the federal bench in 2019 by then-President Donald Trump, is a setback in the push for accountability for corporate polluters, most notably in “Cancer Alley,” a roughly 85-mile stretch that runs along the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to New Orleans.

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UN Secretary-General Urges ‘Polio Pause’ in Israeli War on Gaza as First Case Reported

“It is impossible to conduct a polio vaccination campaign with war raging all over,” said António Guterres after a 10-month-old infant became Gaza’s first new poliomyelitis case in 25 years.

By Brett Wilkins. Published 8-17-2024 by Common Dreams

A view of Jabalia refugee camp. Jabalia is the largest of the Gaza Strip’s eight refugee camps. Photo: IRIN Photos/flickr/CC

Following over a month of warnings, Gaza recorded its first case of polio since the highly contagious virus was eradicated there 25 years ago, prompting a Friday call by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres for a temporary truce to enable a vaccination drive in the embattled strip.

The Gaza Health Ministry said Friday that an 10-month-old infant in the central city of Deir al-Balah “who has not received any polio vaccine dose” has tested positive for the virus, which often causes paralysis and can be fatal. The ministry said the baby is one of “a number of children” who have presented with symptoms consistent with polio in recent days.

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Allies Vow to Fight Off Big Oil Lawsuit Aimed at Ending ‘Existence’ of Greenpeace

“No matter who you are, no matter what your politics are, this is one of the most important issues in America right now,” one Greenpeace spokesperson said.

By Olivia Rosane. Published 8-2-2024 by Common Dreams

Protesters against the Dakota Access Pipeline and Keystone XL Pipeline hold a sit-in in the street next to the San Francisco Federal Building. in January 2017. Photo: Pax Ahimsa Gethen/Wikimedia Commons/CC

Nearly 300 organizations and tens of thousands of individuals have signed an open letter supporting Greenpeace USA against a $300 million lawsuit brought against the environmental group by Energy Transfer—a company with a majority stake in the Dakota Access pipeline.

The corporation is falsely accusing Greenpeace of being the driving force behind Indigenous-led protests against the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) in 2016 and 2017.

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‘Ticking Time Bomb’: International Alarm as Poliovirus Found in Gaza Sewage

“Detecting the virus that causes polio in wastewater heralds a real health disaster,” Gaza’s health ministry said.

By Edward Carver. Published 7-19-2024 by Common Dreams

Photo: Dr. Renee Levant/X

Poliovirus has been detected in sewage samples at six locations in the Gaza Strip, the World Health Organization said on Friday, following announcements from both the Israel and Gaza health ministries.

Vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 was found in samples taken on June 23 from sites in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.

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Biden Proposes New Protections From Oil and Gas Drilling in Western Arctic

While applauding the proposal, climate advocates said they would “keep fighting to ensure there’s no new oil extraction on a single acre” of the region.

By Julia Conley. Published 7-13-2024 by Common Dreams

Teshekpuk Caribou in the National Petroleum Reserve in northwest Alaska. Photo: Bureau of Land Management/flickr/CC

Indigenous groups in Alaska were joined by climate advocates on Friday in welcoming the Biden administration’s proposal to expand protections from oil and gas drilling in the Western Arctic, though some groups emphasized that the federal government should not stop with the newly announced effort.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said it was opening a 60-day comment period regarding a potential expansion of areas protected from drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A), also known as the Western Arctic.

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‘Monumental’: Advocates Applaud Federal Rule to Protect Workers From Extreme Heat

The administration has established that “every worker in America has the right to shade, water, and rest while working in temperatures that could kill them,” a labor leader said.

By Edward Carver. Published 7-2-2024 by Common Dreams

Screenshot: FOX13 Now

Labor advocates celebrated on Tuesday following the Biden administration’s announcement of a proposed rule to protect workers from extreme heat—the first national workplace heat safety standard.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor, published the rule, which the administration says would protect about 36 million indoor and outdoor employees from heat-related injuries and illnesses. It follows similar regulations that five states have approved in recent years.

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As India Swelters, Experts Say Deadly Heat Is Growing Public Health Emergency

“How much evidence is enough for action?” asked one expert as temperatures soared to over 120°F in New Delhi and 16 people died in Bihar.

By Brett Wilkins. Published 5-30-2024 by Common Dreams

When the water tanker arrives in Delhi. Screenshot: Licypriya Kangujam/X

As a record heatwave scorches large swaths of India, killing 16 people in Bihar state, climate scientists warned Thursday that extreme heat fueled by the worsening climate emergency poses a fast-growing threat to public health and human survivability.

The Indian Meteorological Department said temperatures soared to over 120°F in recent days in New Delhi. The agency said it is investigating an all-time high reading of 127.2°F in the capital on Wednesday that may be attributable to a sensor error. If the reading is accurate, it would mark the highest temperature ever recorded in India.

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