Author Archives: Don Lieber


About Don Lieber

Don Lieber's writing and research has been published by the United Nations, The Associated Press, The International Campaign to Ban Landmines, The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, E-The Environmental Magazine and others. He contributes regularly to PlanetSave.com.

Fracking Waste: Too Toxic, Even For A Hazardous Waste Site

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Image: Shutterstock

On April 19, a truck delivering waste from a fracking operation in Greene County, Pennsylvania, was quarantined after being rejected by a hazardous waste landfill as too dangerous. The truck was carrying highly radioactive radium-226 in concentrations 86 times higher than allowed per EPA limits. After being quarantined at a the landfill, the truck was sent back to the fracking site, which is operated by Rice Energy. Radium, it should be noted, is a routine by-product of fracking … Read More

The Great Green Wall Of Africa — A 4,000 Mile Defense Against Climate Change

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Image: Grand Muraille Verte

One of the most unique large-scale international climate change projects is underway in Africa. A 4,000 mile “wall of trees” is being constructed across the east-west axis of the continent as a defense against rapid, expanding desertification of the Sahara. 11 nations — Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti — have agreed to participate in The Great Green Wall initiative (GGW), planting a contiguous “wall of trees” stretching 4,300 … Read More

More Fire, More Rain: Two New Reports Predict Worsening Weather Due To Greenhouse Gas Effects

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Two separate reports issued in early April by different US agencies predicted significant increases in major wildfires and in major rain storms (“precipitation events”) within the next few decades due to the atmospheric effects of expected greenhouse gas emissions. A study by the US Department of Agriculture said that wildfires in the US will be at least twice as destructive by 2050 as they are today.  The report, researched and written by scientists with the US … Read More

NBA Launches Green Week

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NBA Star Gerald Wallace (Charlotte Bobcats) with NBA Green Week Basketball. Image Courtesy NBA/Getty

The National Basketball Association this week launched NBA Green Week – a comprehensive week of action taken by the league to promote environmental stewardship. The NBA is the only major professional sports league in the world to dedicate an entire week to educating tens of millions of fans about the importance of protecting the planet. A sampling of NBA Green Week actions: The NBA is offsetting all the carbon-based electricity used in every game, league-wide, during Green … Read More

The State Of The Climate Change Battle: Science-Based Warnings Vs. The Politician’s Caution.

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climate change speedometer

During a ten-day period last month, two very different views about climate change were presented to the public from two very different bodies of influence. The two conflicting perspectives illustrate well the chasm which now exists between mainstream science and mainstream US politics regarding one of the most important issues facing society today. Leading policy makers, including President Obama, who have remained non-committal on key climate issues to date such as the decision over the Keystone … Read More

Opposition To Keystone Pipeline, Stigmatization Of Tar Sands Increasing (Pictures)

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Washington DC, February 17 2013. Image Credit: 350.org

Public opposition to the Keystone “Tar Sands” Pipeline continues to increase, with protests against ‘the dirtiest fuel on the planet‘ taking new and increasingly organized public forms of civil disobedience in the United States and around the world. Last week, the “National Week of Action Against Tar Sands Profiteers” resulted in over 50 protest actions against the pipeline and its top investors in dozens of US cities. A sample of the protests and acts of civil … Read More

Largest German Research Center Cuts Ties to Alberta Tar Sands

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Tar sands in Alberta, Canada Image Credit: Dru Oja Jay, Dominion CC BY 2.0

Germany’s largest research institution — one of the world’s most prestigious — has withdrawn from a multi-million dollar Canadian-funded “tar sands” research project, citing the tar sands’ significant environmental concerns as posing a ”risk to our reputation”. “It’s a clear signal that Canada’s energy and climate policy is not accepted by the international community, especially Germany,” said Professor Frank Messner, head of staff at the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres – the largest scientific organization … Read More

Fracking In The Age Of Cancer

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DownloadedFile

In 1794 Thomas Paine released “The Age of Reason“, a call to abandon blind loyalty to institutionalized religion.The title of Paine’s work can also be applied to today’s fracking industry — in the age of cancer. In 2012 alone there were 1,600,000 newly diagnosed cancer discoveries in the United States. Some 1,500 people die of cancer every day, according to the American Cancer Society. It is the second leading cause of death in the United … Read More

Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign Gains Steam In New York: Bill McKibben At NYU

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The fossil-fuel university divestment campaign, started by the international climate change organization 350.org, is gaining momentum, as over two hundred student groupshave now formed official campaigns on campuses across the United States. This week, author, activist, and 350.org founder Bill McKibben spoke to over 500 students at one of the nation’s largest private university systems — New York University. He told the crowd that “NYU would be a perfect place for this to happen…. It’s … Read More

State Department Receives New Report On Climate Effects Of Keystone Pipeline

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keystone-pipeline-to-nowhere

Four days before President Obama promised, during his second inauguration address, to combat climate change, officials at the US State Department received a new report by scientists which details how a particular byproduct of the Keystone XL pipeline — “Petroleum Coke” — renders the project even more dangerous to the climate than previously estimated. The report by Oil Change International (OCI), a research and advocacy organization based in Washington DC, states that previous warnings about the … Read More