Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–December 21, 2011.  Today, U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson, the former CEO and chairman of the California-based energy company Edison International, issued the following statement in response to the EPA’s new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards. “For business leaders, there are few challenges greater than uncertainty, and by issuing[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–December 21, 2011.  The Swedish Chemicals Agency (Kemi) has published an analysis of the antibacterial chemicals triclosan, triclocarban and silver textile products that finds these antibacterial chemicals to significantly leach out of treated products after washing. In the case of triclosan and triclocarban, about half or more of the[Read More…]

San Francisco, Calif.–(ENEWSPF)–December 21, 2011. Concerned by the growing body of scientific reports cautioning against the unregulated use of nanotechnology in consumer products, a coalition of nonprofit consumer safety and environmental groups sued the Food and Drug Administration today. The case is the first lawsuit over the health and environmental[Read More…]

72 Tufted Titmouse, 1 Rufous Hummingbird, But No Partridge in a Pear Tree  David Speiser www.lilibirds.com  Rufous Hummingbird seen during Audubon’s 112th annual CBC for Central Park New York NY–(ENEWSPF)–December 20, 2011. Eighty-three Citizen Scientists braved breezy below freezing temperatures this past Sunday morning to count birds in New York City’s Central[Read More…]

Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–December 20, 2011. Congress has been unable to extend vital tax credits for the wind industry, causing incredible uncertainty for investors in the fast-growing wind sector and threatening thousands of jobs across America, like those at Alliant Energy in Iowa highlighted in the video released by the Center for[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–December 19, 2011.  The National Organic Program (NOP) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released a comprehensive list of the expiration dates for all materials currently allowed for use in organic production and handling. These materials, which are collectively referred to as the National List of[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–December 19, 2011. The Deepwater Horizon site. Download here. (Credit: NOAA) The amount of air pollutants in the atmospheric plume generated by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was similar to a large city according to a new NOAA-led study published today in a special issue of Proceedings of the National[Read More…]

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–December 19, 2011. Last week marked the deadline for submissions to the “America’s Next Top Energy Innovator” challenge, and the U.S. Department of Energy today announced that it will give Americans the chance to vote for the most innovative and promising technologies supported by the program. The Department also[Read More…]

Vatican Library EU–(ENEWSPF)–19 December 2011. Antique books in the Vatican Library are being digitised to preserve them for future generations using a technique developed through ESA to store satellite images of the sky.  The Library needed a way of scanning the delicate old manuscripts and storing the files so that they[Read More…]

MAINE–(ENEWSPF)–December 17, 2011. Are consumers waking up to the general wastefulness and toxicity of the chemical lawn care industry? Based on the ongoing decline in the finances of the world’s largest purveyor of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides — coupled with the increase in the sales of organic products — all[Read More…]