EPA study whitewashes the effects of fracking By Philip Guelpa

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final draft of a study last month on the effects on drinking water of fracking (high volume hydraulic fracturing for the extraction of oil and natural gas). The study had been requested by Congress in 2010. An earlier, 2004, EPA study had found that fracking had no adverse effect on drinking water. …

Did the Feds Open up 400,000 California Acres to Fracking in a Water Crisis? By REBEKAH KEARN

The federal and state governments illegally opened up 400,000 acres for fracking in Southern California, which already has thousands of such dangerous oil and gas wells, environmentalists claim in court. The Center for Biological Diversity and Los Padres Forestwatch sued the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the Secretary of the Interior and the director of California’s Bureau of Land Management …

‘The Bees Can’t Wait’: White House Plan to Save Pollinators Falls Short, Say Experts – Lauren McCauley

Faced with the growing crisis of declining bee populations, the White House on Tuesday released its strategy for improving pollinator health. Almost immediately, experts decried the plan, saying it “misses the mark” by refusing to acknowledge the overwhelming role that pesticides play in driving bee deaths. Under the strategy (pdf) put forth by the Pollinator Health Task Force, which falls under the …

Are Scientists Exposing Bee Death Epidemic Facing Censorship and Threats? – Christine Sarich

A formal letter to the United States Department of Agriculture reports that scientists are being harassed and their research on bee-killing pesticides is being censored or suppressed by the Monsanto-infiltrated agency (the USDA). Surprised, anyone? At least we are organizing formally against a scourge that has been painfully obvious for years now. A broad coalition of farmers, environmentalists, fisheries and food-safety organizations (over 25 …

Suppressing Science For Monsanto? Groups Demand Investigation of USDA – Sarah Lazare

More than 25 farmworker, environmental, and food safety organizations sent an open letter on Tuesday to the U.S. Department of Agriculture demanding that the agency investigate reports that its scientists are facing retaliation and suppression of their research on controversial neonicotinoid insecticides that pose a danger to pollinator and human health. “It is imperative that the USDA maintains scientific integrity and does …

New Data: 2.7 Million Animals Killed by Rogue Federal Wildlife Program in 2014

New data from the highly secretive arm of the U.S. Agriculture Department known as Wildlife Services reveals it killed more than 2.7 million animals during fiscal year 2014, including wolves, coyotes, bears, mountain lions, beavers, foxes, eagles and other animals deemed pests by powerful agricultural, livestock and other special interests. Despite increasing calls for reform after the program killed more than 4 million …

USDA research links pesticides to monarch butterfly declines

USDA researchers have identified the neonicotinoid insecticide clothianidin as a likely contributor to monarch butterfly declines in North America. The USDA research is published in the journal Science of Nature and was published online on April 3rd (Pecenka and Lundgren 2015). Monarch butterfly populations (Danaus Plexippus) have declined precipitously in North America in the last twenty years. This decline has …