Author name: Don Lieber

Don Lieber has written extensively on human rights, war and disarmament, and environmental issues. His work has been published by the United Nations, The Associated Press, The International Campaign to Ban Landmines, DeSmog Blog, and many others. He also plays bass for the NYC-based band "Wifey" and scrubs surgeries.

The “Significant Public Health Risk” Of Fracking: The Data Mounts

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“Elevation in Cancer is Certain to Happen” The shale ‘boom’ in the United States since the mid-2000s has resulted in unprecedented growth for the oil and gas industry. This is largely the result of the technology known as ‘fracking’ — hydraulic fracturing. The process involves drilling thousands of feet below the Earth’s surface, then using explosives […]

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Pet Coke — #4 In "Top 10 Toxic Ingredients Used By The Fossil Fuel Industries" Series

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This is part of a 10-part series on the “Top 10 Toxic Ingredients Used By The Fossil Fuel Industries.” Read, share, and check in tomorrow for the next part, which will focus on sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). 4. Petroleum Coke (Pet Coke) Fossil Fuel Source: Oil Pet coke is a rapidly expanding byproduct

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Formaldehyde — #5 In "Top 10 Toxic Ingredients Used By The Fossil Fuel Industries" Series

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This is part of a 10-part series on the “Top 10 Toxic Ingredients Used By The Fossil Fuel Industries.” Read, share, and check in tomorrow for the next part, which will focus on pet coke. 5. Formaldehyde Fossil Fuel Source: Natural Gas Formaldehyde is a carcinogen with known links to leukemia and rare nasopharyngeall cancers, according to the International

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Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons — #6 In "Top 10 Toxic Ingredients Used By The Fossil Fuel Industries" Series

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This is part of a 10-part series on the “Top 10 Toxic Ingredients Used By The Fossil Fuel Industries.” Read, share, and check in tomorrow for the next part, which will focus on formaldehyde. 6. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) Fossil Fuel Sources: Oil and Coal In actuality, this is not a single listing — polycyclic aromatic

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Mercury — #7 In "Top 10 Toxic Ingredients Used By The Fossil Fuel Industries" Series

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This is part of a 10-part series on the “Top 10 Toxic Ingredients Used By The Fossil Fuel Industries.” Read, share, and check in tomorrow for the next part, which will focus on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. 7.  Mercury Fossil Fuel Source: Coal Mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin. It damages the brain and the nervous system either through

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Silica — #8 In "Top 10 Toxic Ingredients Used By The Fossil Fuel Industries" Series

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This is one part of a 10-part series on the “Top 10 Toxic Ingredients Used By The Fossil Fuel Industries.” Read, share, and check in tomorrow for the next part, which will focus on mercury. 8. Silica (Silicon Dust/Fracking Sand) Fossil Fuel Source: Natural Gas  Crystalline silica (“frac sand”) is a known human carcinogen; breathing silica dust can

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Radon — #9 In "Top 10 Toxic Ingredients Used By The Fossil Fuel Industries" Series

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This is the second part of a 10-part series on the “Top 10 Toxic Ingredients Used By The Fossil Fuel Industries.” Read, share, and check in tomorrow for the next part, which will focus on silica. 9. Radon Fossil Fuel Use: Natural Gas Radon is a colorless, odorless, tasteless radioactive gas which causes lung cancer. It

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Sea Level Likely To Rise One Meter By 2100, Threatening Coastal Cities (Largest Ocean Science Survey Ever)

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If greenhouse gas emissions remain at current levels, global sea-level rise will by 70 to 120 centimeters by 2100, according to the results of a new survey of 90 of the world’s most active ocean and climate scientists. The survey was conducted by researchers from the United States and Germany, and published in the recent Quaternary

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Methane Emissions "Through The Roof" As Arctic Melts Faster Than Predicted: Arctic Study Group

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Arctic methane emissions this month were recorded at historic-high levels, causing great concern among climatologists, who cite rapidly melting Arctic sea-ice and warming oceans as the main causes. As reported in the blog Arctic News, “huge amounts of methane are now escaping from the seabed of the Arctic Ocean, penetrating the sea ice, and entering the

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Week In Climate: China Burns, Greenland Melts, & The US Congress Continues To Fight Against Carbon Regulations

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The following items were reported in the past week: China is experiencing a massive, continent-wide record-setting heat wave. Several major cities across the country have recorded all-time high temperatures. Shanghai, for example, reached 105°F after setting century-old heat records each day for the previous week. Dozens of deaths are reported so far. Greenland recorded its highest temperature

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Electric Car Charging Leaps Forward, As Volvo Unveils New Portable Solar Charging Station

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One of the most unique electric car charging designs from a major manufacturer was unveiled this week by Volvo. The major car company revealed a new portable electric car charging pavilion that fits in the car’s trunk. The unit consists of a flexible mesh structure held in place by bendable fiber rods.  It functions as an

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800-Ton Steel Roof Raised By Electric Fans Blowing Air, As Massive Australian LNG Project Proceeds

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A massive new liquified natural gas (LNG) construction project in Australia — one of the first “coal-conversion” projects of its kind — took a major step towards completion last week when, on June 25, a dome-shaped steel roof, weighing more than 850 tons (more than four 747 airliners) was lifted to into place by electric

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

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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

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

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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

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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

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NBA Launches Green Week

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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

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

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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,

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

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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

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Largest German Research Center Cuts Ties to Alberta Tar Sands

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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

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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

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State Department Receives New Report On Climate Effects Of Keystone Pipeline

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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

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Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon Join Thousands At Anti-Fracking March At NY Governor Cuomo's Office

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  Adding to the increasing numbers of celebrities adding their voice to the anti-fracking and anti-extreme extraction movement overall, Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon today joined protesters at a rally at the offices of NY Governor Andrew Cuomo in Albany. The rally was organized by a coalition of anti-fracking activists, including “Artists Against Fracking” and

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Keystone Pipeline Opposition Grows Nationwide: Protesters Storm TransCanada's Offices In Texas, Wisconsin, Massachusetts

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  Protesters yesterday mounted joint occupations of TransCanada’s corporate offices in at least three cities as the increasing protests against the Keystone “Tar Sands” Pipeline escalated into more public, direct confrontations. Various reports confirm 50 to 100 people ‘stormed’ the Houston offices of the giant Canadian oil company, utilizing street-theater tactics such as hanging orange

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Environmentalists Set High Climate Policy Expectations For John Kerry As Secretary of State: Pipeline Rejection Tops The List

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  Leading national environmental organizations and climate policy experts reacted quickly to the December 21 nomination of Senator John Kerry as the next Secretary of State, stating clearly what their expectations of him are: decisive action on climate change, including full rejection of the Keystone Pipeline; establishing the United States as a world leader in

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Keystone Pipeline Blockade Update: 80 Days In Trees, Hunger Strikes, And An Army General Speaking Out

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  Protests against the Keystone Pipeline — and other new fossil fuel pipelines (i.e., Enbridge) — continue across North America and are increasing in scope. From Canada to the southern United States, people are organizing a variety of protests, locally and on a nationwide basis. Among the more dramatic of these is the ongoing “Tar

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TransCanada Awarded Nobel Prize for Innovative Climate Change Policies

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  Note: This article is satire. The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded today to Canadian oil giant TransCanada for its innovative public policies on climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Canadian fossil-fuel infrastructure company, whose earnings exceeded $1 billion in 2011, has received strong praise from environmentalists in recent days over its unique

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Climate Change Policy Gap Between USA and Europe Widens, as Norway Announces World's Largest Carbon Tax

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  In the latest example of the widening gap in climate change policies between the USA and Europe, the Government of Norway last week announced the world’s largest new tax on carbon emissions, stating in explicit terms its desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate against global warming — just two weeks after the

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Transcanada Seizes A Grandmother On Her Own Property, Detains NYTimes Reporter, & Pays Local Police to Make Arrests… As The Tar Sands Blockade Digs In

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  The Canadian fossil fuel giant Transcanada (net earnings 2011: $1.5 billion) is encountering increased resistance from the “Tar Sands Blockade” in eastern Texas — now in its 18th day of an extensively constructed “tree sit-in.” And it is employing increasingly draconian police measures to prevent any public awareness of the protests and confrontations. Today, two

Transcanada Seizes A Grandmother On Her Own Property, Detains NYTimes Reporter, & Pays Local Police to Make Arrests… As The Tar Sands Blockade Digs In Read More 👉

Romney, In Brilliant Appeal For Appalachian Votes, Declares: "I Like Low Birth Weight. I Mean… Coal"

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  Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, in a passionate appeal for American energy independence, proudly proclaimed “I like coal” during the October 4 Presidential debate, advancing his unique and much touted job-creation plan — linking employment opportunity in Appalachia to leukemia, heart disease, cancer clusters, and low birth rate. “I like coal,” said the former Massachusetts

Romney, In Brilliant Appeal For Appalachian Votes, Declares: "I Like Low Birth Weight. I Mean… Coal" Read More 👉

Open Challenge to Rebecca Rimel, President of Pew Charitable Trusts: Match Your Mission Statement With Your Position On Alaskan Oil Drilling

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  Dear Ms. Rimel, I am an independent writer with an interest in environmental issues. I am a father, and an informed citizen. The credentials I hold as a writer and citizen are no less important than those of yours, which, I presume, may be bred from similar motivation: intellectual curiosity and, mostly, a committed

Open Challenge to Rebecca Rimel, President of Pew Charitable Trusts: Match Your Mission Statement With Your Position On Alaskan Oil Drilling Read More 👉

Tar Sands Opposition Escalates: Human Blockade, Tree Sit-In "Village," And Police Violence In Texas Forest

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  Protest against the controversial Keystone XL “Tar Sands” Pipeline has escalated dramatically in recent days, largely unreported in the national media. Protesters have established a human blockade in front of the construction path of the pipeline, in an old oak forest outside of Winnsboro, Texas. The confrontation is shaping up to be a defining

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In Historic Reversal, US House of Representatives Cling to 20th Century Loyalty to Fossil Fuels — While Saudi Arabia Goes Solar

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Over the past few days, a strange and unexpected role reversal has come into focus in the realm of international energy policies. On September 21, the US House of Representatives voted in favor of the “Coal Miner Employment and Domestic Energy Infrastructure Protection Act,” an aggressively anti-environment call which, despite the lofty title, represents a shrill

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Historic "Wave Energy" Power Station Set To Begin Development In Oregon Waters

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  In a little-noticed breakthrough for sustainable, non-fossil-fuel electricity generation, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last month issued the first-ever license for a wave power station in the United States. The license was issued to Ocean Power Technologies, a New Jersey–based private corporation specializing in wave energy. The first stage of the station, a

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"Worst Environmental Bill" Now Before Congress: Denying Science & Health, Written by Coal Industry Lackey

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  Tomorrow, the US House of Representatives will vote on H.R. 3409, the “Coal Miner Employment and Domestic Energy Infrastructure Protection Act.” The bill has been called the “single worst environmental law” proposed by the most virulently anti-environmental US legislators in history. The bill is aggressively anti-science and anti-public health. Its priority is made clear:

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Voluntary Fracking Reporting? Bloomberg: Chemicals Not Reported, Half of All Wells "Obscured"

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  In a little-noticed Aug 2012 report, Bloomberg News reported that gas and oil energy companies failed to comply with their own voluntary plan to disclose chemicals in their operations — and, further, failed to report on the very existence of half of their wells. The report analyzed the efficacy of “FracFocus.org” — a voluntary

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Caribbean Coral Reefs "On the Verge of Collapse"

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Update: Depressed by this news. Check out: “A Transformation From Environmental Grief to Environmental Action,” which will be on Google+ on Wednesday, 3/12/2004 at 11:00 am PST. The gist: environmental news can be depressing. How do you maintain your resolve to fight for a better environmental future? A new report issued by the International Union for Conservation of

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Fracking and the Natural Gas "Boom" — No National Standards, Secrecy, and Carcinogens

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  The President of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Francis Beinecke, recently visited areas in western Pennsylvania where ‘fracking’ operations are occurring, and spoke with local residents about the impacts of these projects in their communities. My cousin — a medical professional without any affiliation with environmental organizations like Ms. Beinecke’s — also spent

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Hollywoood Stunner: Darth Vader Upstages Clint Eastwood at GOP Convention, Endorses Romney's "War on the Environment"

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  Former Imperial Fleet Supreme Commander Darth Vader, in his first public appearance in years, today announced his support for Mitt Romney for President. Vader’s endorsement, the subject of much backroom gossip in recent weeks, was secured after the selection of Paul Ryan as the Vice Presidential candidate, according to a Dark Star spokesman. “The

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Obama, Declaring "we must learn from history," Praises Chevron at A-bomb Memorial Service

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  President Obama, speaking at the annual “Chevron remembers Nagasaki” memorial service, today praised the US oil giant for its role “in helping all of us learn from history.” Speaking in San Fransisco moments before the crowd-pleasing pyrotechnic recreation of the 1944 blasts in Japan, Obama cited the role of the oil industry in working

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Health Crisis in Texas as Long-Elusive "Stupid Virus" Found

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  Scientists across the United States today reacted with alarm at the discovery of the long-assumed, but previously undetected “Stupid Virus.” The discovery came after analyzing tissue samples from members of the official Texas Republican Party, who, earlier this week, released their 2012 statewide policy platform which declared “No More Teaching of ‘Critical Thinking Skills’

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Earth Day Perspective: U.S. Ranks 49th in Global Environmental Index

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  As we approach the quintessential ‘green’ holiday — April 22, Earth Day — one academic study should provide important perspective on the United States role in the world. The Environmental Performance Index (EPI), a project of the Yale University Center for Environmental Law & Policy, this year ranked the United States 49th in overall

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