shutterstock_91442597.jpg This is guest post by Megan Pitz. As another sweltering summer day over 100 degrees came to a close in the Washington, D.C. region, citizens of nearby Alexandria, Virginia witnessed the closure of the Potomac River Generating Station (PRGS) coal-fired power plant also known as the 'Mirant Plant.' The closure
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CANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: In Alberta, A Public Oil Pipeline Spill Tip Line Is Launched
“Hundreds of spills happen every year and still this government does nothing. We had three major spills last month alone. How many more have to happen before the government finally acts?” 9 July, 2012 (Edmonton ) – The Alberta Surface Rights Group, Greenpeace Canada, The Council of Canadians and the Sierra
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Terror is in the Eye of the Beholder: Alberta’s Counterterrorism Unit to Protect Oil and Gas Industry
Picture 2.png In January, during the week before Canada’s federal hearing on the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline, the Harper government and Ethical Oil Institute launched an unprecedented attack on environmental organizations opposed to the pipeline and accelerated expansion of the tar sands. Resurrecting Cold War-style ‘terrorist’ rhetoric, conservative politicians like
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Massey WV Coal Battle Take Two: Erie, CO Citizens Fight Fracking
shutterstock_15465343 (1).jpg Erie, CO meet Naoma, WV. Though seemingly different battles over different ecologically hazardous extractive processes — hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") for unconventional gas versus mountaintop removal for coal — the two battles are one in the same and direct parallels of one another. On June 2, a coalition of activist organizations
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: ALEC Wasn’t First Industry Trojan Horse Behind Fracking Disclosure Bill – Enter Council of State Governments
shutterstock_95581429.jpg 19th Century German statesman Otto von Bismarck once said, "If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made." The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), put on the map by the Center for Media and Democracy in its "ALEC Exposed" project, is the archetype of von Bismarck's truism. So too are the fracking chemical
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Sierra Club Launches "Mr. Coal" Video Campaign to Mock Dirty Coal PR
The Sierra Club launched a funny new "Mr. Coal" video campaign this week in its ongoing 'Beyond Coal' effort to shut down coal plants throughout the United States. The campaign will feature a steady stream of satirical TV commercials mocking the coal industry's incessant and incredulous claims about job creation, "clean coal," and many
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