Dakota Access Pipeline threatens drinking water in Illinois
The Prairie Rivers Network has completed an assessment of the Dakota Access Pipeline and found it crosses a number of significant rivers in Illinois and would threaten the water supply of more than 27,000 people. Rivers include the Mississippi River, Illinois River and Kaskaskia River as well as smaller waterways including Apple Creek, Macoupin Creek, Mauvaise Terre Creek, Sandy Creek, Shoal Creek, Hurricane Creek, Flour Creek, Walnut Creek, Otter Creek, Brea Creek and Cedar Creek among others.
A Wall Street Journal investigation found 1,400 pipeline spills nationally between 2000 and 2013. That is essentially one a day.
In a prepared statement, Prairie Rivers Network stated: The Dakota Access Pipeline also represents a national commitment to fossil fuels, making climate goals harder to achieve.
Food waste both moral & environmental issue
Every year, an estimated one-third of the food produced for human consumption is wasted. That amounts to 1.3 billion tons a year, enough to feed more than one billion hungry people.
A report from Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition found the United States is among the top offenders in terms of wasted food. The U.N. Environment Programme reported wasted food accounts for the release of 3.3 billion tons of greenhouse gases each year.
Solutions include better meal planning as well as composting. When food scrapes are composted, aerobic decomposition occurs and methane is reduced and carbon is sequestered. When food scrapes are sent to landfills, anaerobic decomposition occurs and methane is released. Food sent to landfills accounts for 18 percent of U.S. methane gas emissions.
For optimum environmental benefit, layer food scraps with leaves or shredded newspaper to be sure adequate oxygen is supplied for aerobic decomposition.
High levels of glyphosate found in Cheerios
Food Democracy Now! and The Detox Project, both not-for-profit organizations, tested some of the most popular foods and found alarmingly high levels of glyphosate, an herbicide classified as a “probable human carcinogen” by the World Health Organization.
Glyphosate is the main ingredient in Roundup, the most widely used herbicide in the world.
Testing found:
General Mills Cheerios had 1,125.3 parts per billion
Kashi soft-baked oatmeal dark chocolate cookies had 275.57 parts per billion
Ritz crackers had 270.24 parts per billion
“Frankly, such a high level of glyphosate contamination found in Cheerios, Doritos, Oreos and Stacy’s Pita Chips are alarming and should be a wake-up call for any parent trying to feed their children safe, healthy and non-toxic food,” said Dave Murphy, executive director of Food Democracy Now!”
Healthy School Lunches: Uncertain Future
First Lady Michelle Obama made healthier school lunches and reducing childhood obesity signature issues for her tenure in the White House.
She and her “Let’s Move” campaign were targets of Republicans, industrial farmers and the food industry.
In addition to regulations mandating healthier school meals, the Obama administration helped usher a new food safety law through Congress, pushed for several food labeling regulations and started to phase out trans fat, added calorie labels to menus and pushed for new limits on sodium in packaged foods. The White House has also resisted pressure from Congress to trim food stamps.
Donald Trump has pledged to reduce regulations. His personal culinary tastes favor Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonald’s, reports the Associated Press.
Class-Action lawsuit against ExxonMobil regarding climate change
Inside Climate Change reports a class-action lawsuit was filed in November in Texas against ExxonMobil by its shareholders who allege the company misled investors and the public by failing to disclose the risks posed to its business by climate change.
Investors allege Exxon should have adjusted its accounting of oil reserves based on what it knows about climate change and coming climate action.
The alleged deception resulted in stockholders paying inflated prices for Exxon stock and subjected them to financial losses because the company knew the value of its oil reserves was less than what it was telling investors.