..
A February 2009 investigation by the Center revealed the threats of coal ash on the environment and human health near ponds, landfills, and pits. In November, the Center spotlighted the toll coal ash has taken on citizens in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia who live in the shadows of one of the nation’s largest coal ash ponds — Little Blue Run, owned by First Energy. Coal ash, the residue in the production of electricity, typically is dumped in unlined or partially lined sites near the more than 500 coal-fired power plants nationwide.
40% Success Rate on Gov't Home Loan Program: Mortgage Service Industry Neglects Upgrade
Yet the Obama administration bet the success of its foreclosure prevention program on the ability and willingness of that same troubled industry to help homeowners -- and lost. The program, overseen by the Treasury Department, has been characterized largely by lax enforcement and deference to banks.
New Documentary Investigates Sex Trafficking
Photojournalist Mimi Chakarova, who grew up in Bulgaria, takes us on a personal investigative journey, exposing the shadowy world of sex trafficking from Eastern Europe to the Middle East and Western Europe. Filming undercover and gaining extraordinary access, Chakarova illuminates how even though some women escape to tell their stories, sex trafficking thrives. The film will premiere in spring 2011.
GOP Proposes EPA Cuts; Backs Oil Subsidies
Republicans unveiled a budget plan on Wednesday that proposed a $1.6 billion cut to the Environmental Protection Agency, an agency whose authority they have sought to curtail, while business trade groups have complained about the burden placed on them by agency regulations. Politico also reported that the GOP's proposal would hit the Energy Department hard, with a proposal to cut energy efficiency and renewable energy programs in half.
EPA Proposes New Study on Hydraulic Fracturing & Its Impact on Drinking Water
The EPA proposal estimates that fracking uses 70 to 140 billion gallons of water annually, or about the same amount used by one or two cities of 2.5 million people. In the Barnett Shale, in Texas, the agency estimates fracking for gas drilling consumes nearly 2 percent of all the water used in the area.
EPA Proposes New Study on Hydraulic Fracturing & Its Impact on Drinking Water
The EPA proposal estimates that fracking uses 70 to 140 billion gallons of water annually, or about the same amount used by one or two cities of 2.5 million people. In the Barnett Shale, in Texas, the agency estimates fracking for gas drilling consumes nearly 2 percent of all the water used in the area.
Will U.S. Power Grid Withstand Renewable Energy?
A team of experts reporting to the chief U.S. regulator of the grid recently found that the power system could handle anticipated increases in wind power through 2012. But beyond that is an open question. “Careful study, planning, and deliberate actions will be required by each interconnection to ensure the continued reliability of the U.S. electric power system,” the experts concluded in their report to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC.