Aging nuclear power plants present increasing risks to the U.S. environment, because of possible catastrophic events like the one that hit Fukushima, Japan, and storage problems with nuclear waste. A trespassing case in Vermont raised some of these questions, reports William Boardman.
Category: Environment
Ignoring the Global Warming Reality
Even as the science and reality of global warming becomes painfully clear, some of the U.S. political/media class pretends it’s all a myth and that the important thing is to “drill, baby, drill.” But that rejection of empirical data is being challenged by…
US Nuke Plants’ Flooding Risks
Thirty-four U.S. nuclear plants sit downriver from dams whose collapse could cause a nuclear accident along the lines of the Fukushima disaster in Japan. But the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has withheld evidence of the threat, writes William Boardman.
Death Knell for a Failing Paradigm
The death and destruction from Super Storm Sandy this time inflicted near the U.S. power center of New York City are warnings of what’s in store if the global-warming deniers continue to obstruct action. Future devastation will shatter the creaky…
Protests Mount over Keystone Pipeline
Environmentalists and the oil industry continue to clash over the Keystone pipeline and the plan to pump Canadian tar sands through the U.S. to the Gulf of Mexico, amid new reports on the plan’s environmental harm, reports William Boardman.
Ignoring Real National Security Needs
Before the Right began demonizing government, there was a bipartisan consensus on the wisdom of federal action to build important national projects, like the Interstate Highway System. Today, the need for a strengthened infrastructure has become a national security concern,…
Risking a Repeat of Election 2000
Exclusive: President Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney are locked in a tight race with Tuesday’s election likely to be decided in a few hard-fought battleground states, much like 2000. And, Robert Parry sees other troubling parallels to that disastrous election.
Romney/GOP Play Good Cop, Bad Cop
Exclusive: On Nov. 6, the American people will face a choice, not just between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, but whether they will reward the Republican Party for its four years of obstructionism or whether they will demand that the…
Stubborn Treehouse Blockade of Pipeline
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has made building the TransCanada pipeline a centerpiece of his campaign, with President Obama mostly trying to finesse the issue. But a treehouse blockade of the pipeline through Texas reflects a determined resistance by environmentalists,…
Ellsberg Warns of a Romney Victory
Many American progressives are angry with President Obama for his actions, including expanding the Afghan War and his drone assassinations. Some vow to not vote or to vote for a minor-party candidate. But Vietnam-era whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg warns of the…