Canada Bans Bee-Killing Neonics While US Moves Backward

August 17, 2018 Environment

By Jessica Corbett While the Trump administration recently moved to roll back a ban on neonicotinoid pesticides in U.S. wildlife refuges, conservationists are celebrating Canada “for recognizing the overwhelming body of scientific evidence on neonics and phasing out these dangerous pesticides.” SEE: Trump Reverses Ban On GMOs And Bee-Killing Pesticides In Refuges “This is a really huge decision.” —John Bennett, Friends […]

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Scientists Are Developing Greener Plastics – The Bigger Challenge Is Moving Them From Lab To Market

August 15, 2018 Environment

By Richard Gross, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Synthetic plastics have made many aspect of modern life cheaper, safer and more convenient. However, we have failed to figure out how to get rid of them after we use them. Unlike other forms of trash, such as food and paper, most synthetic plastics cannot be easily degraded by […]

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We are guinea pigs in a worldwide experiment on microplastics

August 15, 2018 Environment

John Meeker, University of Michigan One of the main problems with plastics is that although we may only need them fleetingly – seconds in the case of microbeads in personal care products, or minutes as in plastic grocery bags – they stick around for hundreds of years. Unfortunately, much of this plastic ends up as […]

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Trump Reverses Ban on GMOs and Bee-Killing Pesticides in Refuges

August 6, 2018 Environment

By Jessica Corbett While regulators in other regions of the world have recently worked to ban bee-poisoning pesticides called neonicotinoids that scientists have long warned could cause an “ecological armageddon,” the Trump administration just reversed an Obama-era policy that had outlawed the use of neonics and genetically modified crops in the nation’s wildlife refuges. “The more we learn about the […]

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Mexico’s New President Will Ban Fracking

August 3, 2018 EnvironmentTop

By Heather Callaghan, Editor Mexico’s newly elected President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, will step into office on December 1. His first order of business as the leader of Mexico is the immediate ban of hydraulic fracturing – aka fracking. Obrador is already gaining a reputation as “the People’s President” as he told the Associated Press on Tuesday, “We […]

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4 Widely Used Neonicotinoid Pesticides Harm Bees This Study Shows

August 3, 2018 Environment

WASHINGTON – Four commonly used neonicotinoid pesticides can harm bees and other pollinators, according to a new analysis by California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation. The study found that current approved uses of the “neonics” on crops like tomatoes, berries, almonds, corn and oranges exposes bees to levels of the pesticides known to cause harm. “The more we […]

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The Big One: How Environmental Killing Becomes a Medical Disease

August 2, 2018 Environment

By Jon Rappoport The giant pig farm disaster: a medical hoax and cover story… The full truth has never been told—until now. “To handle all that [pig-farm feces] waste, farmers in North Carolina use a standard practice called the lagoon and spray field system. They flush feces and urine from barns into open-air pits called […]

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Can Goats Save the Country From Wildfires?

July 31, 2018 Environment

By Melinda Cafferty, Natural Blaze Portugal is getting by with a little help from … goats! The U.S. is not the only nation with drought-ridden regions that are extremely susceptible to wildfires. And while the U.S. has quietly employed goats for about a decade to help stall wildfires – the Portuguese can’t help but sing their praises. […]

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The Final—Maybe Last—Straw

July 29, 2018 Environment

By Catherine J. Frompovich With just about everyone in food services and food distribution tripping over themselves about plastic straws, which they should have done ages ago, there now comes a new problem to affect individual rights. Those are the rights of incapacitated individuals who actually NEED straws to drink liquids. Personally, I’ve said since […]

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Adidas Vows to Use Only Recycled Plastic as Market Shifts Toward Conscious Capitalism

July 25, 2018 Environment

By Phillip Schneider Last week, German clothing company Adidas announced its commitment to begin making their products with 100% recycled plastic by 2024.  As reported by the Financial Times and picked up by CNN and other outlets, the company has pledged to fully “eliminate the use of ‘virgin’ plastic” in its products, including polyester which accounts for around 50 percent […]

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This Bee Makes Stunning Flower Nests

July 24, 2018 Environment

By Heather Callaghan, Editor Most bees are colonial collectivists. Heck – a bee hive is the quintessential metaphor for a collective group. If someone is behaving from a “hive mind” – well that image says a lot! But one species of bee stands out as a renegade – a rather aesthetic renegade at that. The osmia avosetta handcrafts beautiful […]

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Man Runs Backwards in Marathons to Save the Bees

July 23, 2018 Environment

By Melinda Cafferty, Natural Blaze Farai Chinomwe didn’t set out to bring awareness to bee decline, but his life has changed drastically in the last decade. He always enjoyed marathon running and eventually was inspired to run backward. Meanwhile, he made one very life-changing decision that most people wouldn’t even think about… Instead of eradicating a swarm of […]

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People Have Now Planted 30 Million Trees By Doing Simple Web Searches

July 11, 2018 Environment

By Heather Callaghan, Editor 30 million extra trees now grace the world thanks to these Web searches What is the least amount of effort one could exert to make the world a better place? Tooling around the Web, right? In other words, almost nothing. Seriously – unless you can feed people while watching TV, there is nothing less you can […]

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7 Environmental Nightmares Created by Open Pit Mines

July 10, 2018 Environment

By Gary G. Kohls, MD, guest to Natural Blaze Seven (Of Hundreds) Environmental Nightmares Created By Open Pit Mines (and the Obligatory Tailings Ponds) that have Caused Irremediable, Highly Toxic Contamination Downstream 1) The 2014 Mount Polley Environmental Disaster (British Columbia, Canada) Aerial view of the outlet of tiny Hazeltine Creek (normally 6 feet wide) as it empties […]

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Hawaii Bans Most Sunscreens in Effort to Save Dwindling Coral Reefs

July 10, 2018 Environment

By Phillip Schneider On July 3rd, Hawaii became the first state in the union to enact a ban on certain sunscreens with ingredients which have been deemed harmful to coral reefs.  Senate Bill 2571 was passed by state lawmakers in early May, but was only recently signed into law by Hawaii Governor David Ige in July.  The […]

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PG&E Plans to Cut Electricity to Some California Residents to Prevent Wildfires

July 8, 2018 EnvironmentNatural Health News

By Daisy Luther In a move straight out of the Soviet Union handbook, PG&E has warned they may cut electrical power to some California residents during “extreme weather” to help prevent wildfires. This comes after some poorly maintained Pacific Gas and Electric power lines and equipment have been determined to have started last year’s deadly wildfires […]

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Rural Americans Breathe Life Into the Fight Against Factory Farm Polluters

July 5, 2018 Environment

Sacoby Wilson, University of Maryland As U.S. livestock farming becomes more industrial, it is changing rural life. Many people now live near Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) – large facilities that can house thousands of animals in close quarters. Neighbors have to contend with noxious odors, toxic emissions and swarms of insects, and have had […]

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Study Warns of Deepwater Horizon Disaster Long-Lasting Impact on Marine Life’s “Building Blocks”

July 5, 2018 Environment

By Jessica Corbett Following President Donald Trump’s “reckless” decision last week to repeal an ocean protection policy enacted by his predecessor, a study published Friday in the journal Nature details the long-term impact of BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, outlining how “lingering oil residues have altered the basic building blocks of life in the ocean.” Researchers at the University of Southern Mississippi collected […]

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House Looks At Forcing States To Drill Offshore . . . Or Else

July 4, 2018 Environment

By Brandon Turbeville, Natural Blaze House Republicans can’t claim anything if they’re not earning their keep for massive corporations and other special interests whether it be genetically modified food, the banking and finance industry, pharmaceutical companies, the Israel lobby, and, of course, Big Oil. In keeping with their history of doing the bidding of large interests, House […]

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Why Have Insect-Delivered Diseases Tripled Since 2004?

June 30, 2018 EnvironmentVideo

By Catherine J. Frompovich In May of 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published some rather interesting demographic data regarding insect-delivered diseases – basically those diseases have tripled since 2004 [1-2]!  https://youtu.be/mLumut2nQMs?t=17 [do_widget id=text-16] According to the CDC, “Nine new germs spread by mosquitoes and ticks have been discovered or introduced […]

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