There is no surprise that tritum has reached the drinking water aquifer at Vermont Yankee.  The claimed surprise by both Vermont Yankee officials and state officials cannot be genuine.   In June, CLF filed testimony stating:  “every indication is that the bedrock is, or soon will be, contaminated by tritium.”  CLF’s expert hydrogeologist reviewed Vermont Yankee’s groundwater data and analysis and concluded that the tritium is deep in the groundwater and has been there for months.  This  “represents clear evidence that radionuclides released from VY … have reached the bedrock surface, and threaten the water supply aquifer beneath it.”  (p. 19-20). Water flows down and downstream.  Any grade schooler will tell you this.  Sadly, rather than step up to acknowledge and clean up the pollution, we are getting more lies about the leaks.  It is no read more…

So the 100% biodegradable packaging that PepsiCo uses for its Sun Chips snacks is going away because … well, isn’t it obvious?! PepsiCo is taking the no-waste, completely compostable, producer-finally-taking-responsibility-for-the- waste-it generates packaging off the shelves because WE complained that the packaging makes too much noise. It is hard to believe that we as consumers would make the conscious effort NOT to buy a product simply because the part of the product that we usually throw away is too loud. The trash trucks barreling down the side streets to pick up garbage (not too loud), the people living near landfills raising their voices to complain about rodents and odors and air quality (not too loud), citizen voices raised in anger to complain about higher taxes to pay for the higher read more…

I was privileged to meet yesterday afternoon with a delegation of Russian leaders and activists to talk about decommissioning nuclear power plants.  They were mostly interested in how groups like CLF work within the system.  What are our strategies, tactics and funding to do the work we do?  The idea that we are funded by members and bring lawsuits or intervene in proceedings seemed more foreign to them than just our different nationalities. In a country still facing the effects of Chernobyl, it is inspiring that a group of dedicated persons – mostly volunteers – are working so hard internationally on decommissioning.  I am encouraged by their enthusiasm.  They seemed encouraged by Vermont’s example of passing a law to allow the state legislature to vote on relicensing.  They were wondering if they could do read more…

An exciting start to the big offshore wind energy conference in Atlantic City New Jersey came in the form of an announcement that a lease for the Cape Wind project would be signed by the Secretary of Interior and a public signing of that lease.  The folks back home at CLF posted a timely statement about that on this blog, illustrated by my debut as a breaking news photographer (if I had as nice a smartphone as my wife it would be a better picture). As it often has been, Atlantic City is an odd mix of the artificial (including the eerie artificially lit and climate controlled casinos where you literally can’t tell if it is day or night) and the natural (the crash of the Ocean waves is as read more…

Tomorrow, the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Ian Bowles, will announce new state support for electric vehicles and the infrastructure needed to support them.  This is great news for the environment and the economy. Electric vehicles are a vital piece of the puzzle when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful pollutants from the transportation sector.  These benefits are multiplied when electric cars are powered by clean renewable energy such as wind and solar.  In fact, electric cars are especially compatible with wind power which is often at its height when electric cars are charging at night.  Although these benefits are dampened in parts of the country where coal-fired power provides the majority of electricity, electric cars are still an improvement over the status quo.   So read more…

Hotter Temperatures More than Doubled Smog Days in New England On October 1, the EPA announced that the number of bad air quality days increased from 11 last year to 28 in 2010.  These are also known as “high ozone days” and are triggered when ozone levels exceed the standards EPA has set to protect public health. Excessive ozone, more commonly known as smog, results from a combination of nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and heat and sunlight. Even short-term exposure to smog has been shown to shorten lives and cause other severe health impacts, including shortness of breath, chest pain, asthma attacks, and increased hospitalization for vulnerable populations such as the very young, elderly, and those already suffering from lung or heart disease. In children, smog can also result read more…

October 8 is the deadline to adopt a mile of New England’s shoreline and we’re counting on you to make a difference. Even if you never heard the term “nutrient pollution” before, you may have seen its devastating effects on the New England waters that you treasure. Slimy algae blooms and fish kills are two of the more visible consequences of too much nitrogen and phosphorus in the water. And the effects you can’t see are the most troubling: massive areas under the glistening waters of our fragile bays and lakes where no living thing can survive. This man-made problem is a solvable one and the key to our success is you! By adopting a mile (or more!) of shoreline, you are giving CLF the ability to rescue our most read more…

Yes! On Monday October, 25, 2010 you’re invited to the Providence premiere of Carbon Nation, a documentary about climate solutions. Filmmaker Peter Byck has taken a complex and polarizing topic and made it apolitical, accessible, and entertaining. You’ll meet (to name a few): A rancher bringing new life to a Texas town through wind farming. Government employees working to make the military more energy efficient. Farmers using innovative, low-carbon growing methods. The screening, presented by the Conservation Law Foundation and ClimateCounts.org, will be followed by a discussion with director Peter Byck and a panel of environmental pundits and climate policy experts. A reception with light refreshments will follow the discussion. The details: Screening of Carbon Nation, a film about climate solutions Monday, October 25 6 p.m. RISD Metcalf Auditorium at read more…

Dear CLF Supporter, New England’s waters are in crisis. Nutrient pollution is a huge problem for our region; inadequately-treated wastewater, fertilizer-laden runoff from industrial farms, roadways, and sprawl development are fueling deadly algae blooms in some of our most cherished waters—like Lake Champlain, Long Island Sound, Cape Cod’s bay and estuaries, and the Great Bay, located between New Hampshire and Maine. These algae blooms suffocate and kill fish, shellfish and other aquatic life, creating vast “dead zones.” Nutrient pollution is bad news. But there is a silver lining to this scummy, man-made problem: It’s solvable. For years, CLF has been working to reverse nutrient pollution in waters throughout New England. And there’s even more good news; today, you have the opportunity to make a REAL impact on nutrient pollution by read more…

I have updated my previous post about the fossil fuel billionaire Koch brothers to note that the two brothers who are major funders of the anti-progress and prosperity “Americans for Prosperity” are, as reported by the Albany Times-Union,  participating in the RGGI carbon allowance auction through their commodity trading business. While they are certainly free to do this it is deeply ironic because their friends at the astroturf  anti-progress and prosperity “Americans for Prosperity”, as discussed in the original blog post, are in the midst of a campaign against the RGGI program.