Environment 2012 Archive | PBS NewsHour

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ENVIRONMENT


	2012 DECEMBER Dec. 27, 2012 As EPA Chief Steps Down, an Evaluation of Obama's Environmental Policy So Far Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson announced she is stepping down after almost four years. Jeffrey Brown talks to Kenneth Green of the Fraser Institute and Michael Brune of the Sierra Club for debate on whether President Obama's environmental agenda and record have been successful or disappointing.

	Dec. 17, 2012 Food for 9 Billion: Four Steps Toward a Climate-Friendly Diet In the next installment of the "Food for 9 Billion" series, Jon Miller of Homelands Productions visits Baltimore to explore how food producers are dealing with climate change. Roni Neff of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, wrote this guest blog containing tips on making more environmentally friendly meals.

	Dec. 17, 2012 Making an Environmentally Friendly Meal Some Baltimore-based researchers and chefs are looking into how people's diets can be more environmentally friendly.

	Dec. 10, 2012 Industrial Residue From Receding Sandy Flood Waters Raise Concerns for Residents New York's waterways, like the Gowanus Canal, are home to major industry and major pollution. For homes and businesses near the coast, flooding from Hurricane Sandy left greasy residue and worries about long term risks and effects. Special correspondent Rick Karr reports on how officials are testing to check for safety concerns.



	NOVEMBER Nov. 30, 2012 Grand Canyon May Be 60 Million Years Older Than Previously Thought A newly published study renews an old debate about the age of the Grand Canyon, positing a possibility that the geographical formation could be tens of millions of years older than current wisdom suggests, dating back to the time of dinosaurs. Margaret Warner talks to science correspondent Miles O'Brien about its significance.

	Nov. 26, 2012 Quileute 'Twilight' Tribe Deals With Rising Sea Levels That Threaten Way of Life Located west of Olympic National Park, La Push, Wash., is idyllic at first glance. But the beauty of the place is matched by danger and vulnerability. Located at sea level, La Push lies directly in a flood and tsunami zone. Hari Sreenivasan reports on how the Quileute tribe culture is adapting to new climate challenges.

	Nov. 15, 2012 BP to Pay Largest Fine in U.S. History, Admit Guilt in Gulf Oil Spill Settlement Two years after a rig operated by British Petroleum exploded, spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the company agreed to plead guilty to felony charges and is expected to pay $4.5 billion in fines. Jeffrey Brown talks to ProPublica's Abrahm Lustgarten and John Young, president of Jefferson Parish, La., for their reactions.

	Nov. 15, 2012 Attorney General Holder Announces Legal Resolution to BP Oil Spill BP has agreed to plead guilty to 14 federal criminal counts related to the Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 workers and the subsequent oil spill that fouled the Gulf of Mexico for months and soiled miles of marshes and beaches.

	Nov. 15, 2012 Gulf Oil Spill: a Timeline of NewsHour Coverage Since the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 workers and set off a gigantic environmental disaster, NewsHour journalists have hosted dozens of discussions and filed scores of stories to help shed light on the causes and fallout of the disaster. This timeline chronicles our coverage.

	Nov. 13, 2012 China's New Leaders Face Growing Concerns From Chinese Eaters As the country strains to meet its growing food needs, Chinese consumers insist that the government not cut corners.



	SEPTEMBER Sept. 18, 2012 Climate Change From Different Perspectives Anything dealing with climate change is bound to provoke an argument. And our story on Berkeley physicist Richard Muller's recent conversion to a believer in man-made global warming, which he made in an op-ed in the New York Times, certainly stirred the pot.

	Sept. 17, 2012 Climate Change Skeptic Says Global Warming Crowd Oversells Its Message The big problem, as former television meteorologist Anthony Watts sees it, is that the research stations where temperatures are gathered are too close to urban developments where heat is soaked up, distorting the readings. So it looks like the earth is warming though it may not be, he says.

	Sept. 12, 2012 Majestic Forests in Oregon at Risk from Timber Industry and Chemical Spraying With 30 million acres of forestland, Oregon has a lucrative timber industry that makes $13 billion each year. But some residents are worried about health and environmental risks posed by a common practice to increase tree growth: chemical spraying. Correspondent Ingrid Lobet reports for the Center for Investigative Reporting.

	Sept. 12, 2012 Oregonians Fear Harmful Effects From Timberland Herbicides When Eron King moved from Eugene, Ore. to a plot of land in the forest valley, she didn't expect that she and her children would be breathing in herbicides. Every year the timber industry sprays millions of pounds of chemicals on forest land, but the herbicides don't stay in the trees.



	AUGUST Aug. 27, 2012 Spilt, Spoiled, Lost and Tossed: Exploring Two Worlds of Food Waste An alarming amount of the food we produce is never eaten. It's a huge waste of land, water, labor, fuel and other resources. How to limit the losses? That depends on where we live.

	Aug. 23, 2012 News Wrap: Mitt Romney Makes Energy Independence by 2020 a Policy Priority In other news Thursday, Mitt Romney unveiled his energy plan in New Mexico, which aims for complete energy independence in the U.S. His plans calls for increased oil and gas drilling, including offshore of Virginia and North Carolina, two states where drilling is currently banned.

	Aug. 10, 2012 Weighing Benefits and Pitfalls of Increased Oil and Gas Production in the U.S. Two years ago, the U.S imported two-thirds of its oil. Now, imports are less than half of U.S. oil needs. Jeffrey Brown talks to National Resources Defense Council's Kate Sinding and the Manhattan Institute's Robert Bryce about increased domestic energy production and whether economic benefits outweigh environmental concerns.

	Aug. 10, 2012 Half of U.S. Plagued by Drought, Bleak Expectations for Corn and Soybean Crops The Department of Agriculture predicts that corn and soybeans will be among the hardest hit crops in the worst U.S. drought in 65 years. Margaret Warner talks to New York Times' Ron Nixon on how the drought will likely will impact global food prices and what it means for U.S. exports.

	Aug. 10, 2012 Natural Gas and Where it Fits in America's Energy Future Ray Suarez recently visited Colorado, where he reported on a natural gas revolution occurring in the coal-powered state. Here are two extended excerpts from interviews he conducted for the piece.

	Aug. 9, 2012 Utah Makes Deal For Private Gas Drilling on Pristine Public Land White River, Utah, attracts adventurers for its gorgeous vistas and rare solitude. But proposals to drill for natural gas on the public land worry environmentalists and Native American tribes. Ray Suarez tells of efforts by energy companies and the federal government to strike a deal to drill and protect the environment.

	Aug. 8, 2012 Coal-Powered Colorado Undergoing a Natural Gas 'Revolution' In Colorado, coal and natural gas producers are fighting for energy dominance. Ray Suarez reports on the battle in a state that's also weighing what will be the most sustainable energy solution for the future.

	Aug. 7, 2012 North Dakota Boomtown Suffers Growing Pains Trying to Keep Up with Demand As domestic oil production increases, towns like Williston, N.D., struggle to meet demand for workers, housing and improved infrastructure. For some communities experiencing the benefits of an energy boom, rapid expansion comes with serious trade-offs. Ray Suarez reports.

	Aug. 7, 2012 Energy Boom in West Creating Jobs and Growth, But Changing Way of Life The boom in energy development in the U.S. is fueling growth in some parts of the American West and transforming some communities. We spoke with John McChesney, who directs the Rural West Initiative at Stanford University and has been chronicling the subject for a new documentary.

	Aug. 5, 2012 James Hansen: Extreme Heat Events Connected to Climate Change Dr. James Hansen of NASA, tells the Newshour there is now enough evidence to connect global warming to some of the extreme weather events of the recent past. There is now a 1 in 10 chance of extreme heat events like the 2010 Texas/ Oklahoma droughts, the 2010 heat wave in Russia and possibly even the current heat wave in the US.

	Aug. 2, 2012 California Water Wars: Will Thirsty Interests Divert More Water? The San Joaquin delta is a merging spot of rivers, sloughs, and canals, where water and snow from the Sierra Nevada Mountains flows to the Pacific Ocean. But there are some residents, especially farmers, who worry that thirsty interests will divert more of their water and ruin their livelihoods. Spencer Michels reports.

	Aug. 2, 2012 The Hidden Costs of Hamburgers When it comes to hamburgers, what we don't pay for at the counter, we pay for in other ways. Beef has many hidden costs for our health and environment.

	Aug. 2, 2012 California Water: Old Song, New Lyrics NewsHour correspondent Spencer Michels reflects on covering the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, source of water and controversy.

	Aug. 2, 2012 California's Mixing Bowl: The Delta's Crucial Role in a Thirsty State The ecology of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta offers a history of the state of California, of American ambition, of pioneers and politicians, of conservationists and farmers - men and women getting things done. This interactive map from KQED traces the "sinking heart" of California, which is the center of conflict once again.



	JULY July 26, 2012 USDA: Severe Drought Will Drive Up Cost of Food The drought gripping the Midwest is affecting 88 percent of the country's corn crop and will send food prices up next year, according to a report released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

	July 25, 2012 Sudden Rare Ice Melt in Greenland. What Caused it? In a four-day period this July, the Greenland ice sheet melted at a faster rate than satellite data has ever recorded and at higher elevations than we've ever seen in our lifetimes.

	July 25, 2012 What Caused the Sudden Burst of Extreme Ice Melt in Greenland? Map showing the four day period this July that the Greenland ice sheet melted at a faster rate and at higher elevations than satellite data had ever recorded.

	July 24, 2012 Big Fish: Vietnam's Fish Farmers Scale Up for Global Distribution As the world looks to feed a growing population, fish are seen as one solution. But fish farms have a long history of disease, pollution and interfering with the surrounding ecosystem. Marketplace reporter Sam Eaton traveled to Vietnam to look at how large and small scale fish farms are competing to meet the growing demand.

	July 23, 2012 Scaling Up: Vietnamese Fish Farms Search for Eco-Friendly Formula Reporter Sam Eaton from Marketplace looks at Vietnam, where conservation groups and fish farmers are working to meet health and environmental standards thatbig retailers increasingly demand.

	July 19, 2012 Native American Communities Affected by Climate Change Plan for the Future Native Americans from Maine to Washington state convened for a conference this week at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. Their goal: To discuss the effects of climate change on tribal communities. Hari Sreenivasan reports.

	July 19, 2012 Climate Change Strikes Especially Hard Blow to Native Americans Native Americans make up about one percent of the United States population, but they manage more than 95 million acres of land. Their reservations lie in some of the most diverse ecosystems in the country, ranging from Alaska to the coasts of Florida. And they are often on the frontlines of America's climate-related dangers.

	July 18, 2012 Northwest 'Salmon People' Face Future Without Fish For Northwest tribes, salmon fishing is a way of life. But changes in the climate may be pushing the fish toward extinction. Together with KCTS9 and EarthFix, NewsHour visited the Swinomish Indian reservation to see how they are coping.

	July 17, 2012 In Panama, Locals Protest Canadian Copper Mines In Panama, local groups have teamed up with environmental activists to halt the development of huge Canadian copper mines. In collaboration with CBC News in Canada and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Mellissa Fung reports on the project and the money and land at stake.

	July 17, 2012 Facing Drought, Farmers' Crops Taking Heat More than half of the country suffered drought in June, and farmers and their crops are taking a hard hit. David Beckmann of Bread for the World and Brian Fuchs of the National Drought Mitigation Center discuss how disappointing corn yields have larger economic consequences for the world's hungriest people.

	July 17, 2012 Measuring Significant Drought Years More than half of the continental United States was in moderate to extreme drought in June -- including corn- and soybean-producing states -- damaging crops and impacting prices at the grocery store.

	July 17, 2012 The U.S. as the New Saudi Arabia: An Environmentalist's Nightmare? A proactive new article poses the U.S. is on the cusp of becoming the world's next Saudi Arabia when it comes to oil production. But is energy abundance a possibility, and what of the environmental implications?

	July 16, 2012 Climate Change Threatens The Tribe From 'Twilight' Washington's Quileute tribe, thrust into the spotlight by the "Twilight" series,' has been in a struggle to reclaim land threatened by floods and sea level rise. Together with KCTS9 and EarthFix, NewsHour visited the tribe to hear their story.



	JUNE June 18, 2012 News Wrap: Firefighters Battle High Winds in Northern Colorado In other news Monday, more than 1,700 firefighters battled heat and high winds trying to corral a record-breaking fire in northern Colorado. The blaze grew to 91 square miles over the weekend forcing new evacuations. Also, President Obama's choice for ambassador to Iraq has withdrawn.

	June 15, 2012 In Colo., Drought and Wind Fuel Summer of Fire Almost a week after the High Park wildfire began west of Fort Collins, Colo., the flames still rage out of control. Meanwhile, in New Mexico, fires have burned almost 60 square miles. Tom Bearden reports from northern Colorado, where a dry winter, high winds and a tiny insect are making it hard to contain the flames.

	June 15, 2012 News Wrap: EPA Proposes New Standards to Reduce Soot, Protect Air Quality In other news Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced new air quality standards to reduce levels of airborne soot. Environmental and health groups said the move would help prevent respiratory illness, strokes and heart attacks. Also, a federal jury convicted former Goldman Sachs board member Rajat Gupta.

	June 12, 2012 Western Fires Continue to Spread as Hundreds More Evacuate The High Park wildfire in Colorado continues to spread, now covering more than 68 square miles. To the south in New Mexico, fire crews are battling huge blazes there as well. Correspondent Tom Bearden reports from Fort Collins, Colo.

	June 11, 2012 Colorado, New Mexico Emergency Officials Seek More Help Fighting Wildfires Since it was started early Saturday by a lightning strike, the High Park wildfire has consumed more than 60 square miles in Colorado -- damaging or destroying more than 100 homes. Meanwhile, crews in southern New Mexico battled a 54-square-mile fire near the town of Ruidoso. Gwen Ifill reports.

	June 1, 2012 Before and After: 50 Years of Rising Tides and Sinking Marshes Isle de Jean Charles, home to several Native American tribes in Louisiana, was 11 miles long and 5 miles wide in the 1950s. But the strip of land has been shrinking rapidly, and these aerial images show it slip away over time.



	MAY May 28, 2012 Floating Architecture: Preparing for a Life on Water As the climate continues to change, scientists are predicting more precipitation, flooding and rising seas across the globe. In response, there is a growing movement in architecture and design to create homes and other buildings that would allow people to live surrounded by more and more water. View some artists' renderings.

	May 7, 2012 Bugs for Dinner? Join the Rest of the World Many Americans would squirm when thinking of eating an insect. But a fledgling movement praising insects' health benefits and low environmental impact is encouraging Americans to swap steak sandwiches for salted crickets tostadita.



	APRIL April 25, 2012 Why Clean, Safe Water Is Still Out of Reach for Liberia Since 1980, Liberia has tackled a cycle of civil war, claiming over 200,000 lives while developing an impossible water crisis. In partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, correspondent Steve Sapienza and two local journalists unearth why the government and aid agencies can't crack the country's water problems.

	April 24, 2012 News Wrap: 3 More Secret Service Agents Lose Jobs Over Scandal In other news Tuesday, another three Secret Service agents lost their jobs as a result of the ongoing prostitution scandal ahead of President Obama's Colombia trip. A total of nine have now been forced out and three have been cleared. Also, a Kofi Annan spokesman accused Syria's government of subverting U.N. observers' efforts.

	April 24, 2012 Baby Dolphin Die-Offs Continue in the Gulf An unusually high number of dead dolphins - including stillborn and infant calves - have washed up along the Gulf of Mexico shores in the two years since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded into flames, unleashing tens of thousands of barrels of oil into the ocean.

	April 23, 2012 'Earth: The Operator's Manual' Chronicles Conservation Solutions Around Globe "Earth: The Operator's Manual," a new PBS documentary, chronicles how communities around the world are saving money by conserving energy. Hari Sreenivasan and geologist Richard Alley, who's also the host of the film, discuss the role of human ingenuity in tackling tough global energy problems.



	MARCH March 20, 2012 Coping With Climate Change: Texas Water Woes The drought in Texas has put an unprecedented strain on the state's already tenuous water supply. In the face of continued climate uncertainty and a growing population, Texas communities face the stark reality of a future without enough water.

	March 19, 2012 Planning to Visit the Cherry Blossoms? Err on the Earlier Side Cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C. have bloomed exceptionally early this year, but this is nothing compared to when they might be blooming decades from now. By 2080, cherry blossoms could reach their peak bloom as early as late February, according to Dr. Soo-Hyung Kim of the University of Washington. Hari Sreenivasan reports.

	March 14, 2012 Report: NYC, Southern Calif. Among Big Targets of Accelerating Sea Level Rise Accelerated sea level rise from global warming has doubled the risk of extreme flooding events in many of the country's coastal communities, according to a new report released by research organization Climate Central. Ray Suarez and lead author Ben Strauss discuss the connections between climate change and severe flood threats.

	March 12, 2012 In Oregon, Rare 'Snowstorm' of Pine Butterflies Takes Toll on Forests In Oregon's Malheur National Forest, pine butterflies experience a population explosion for two to three years every three decades. Oregon Public Broadcasting's Oregon Field Guide series explores the snowstorm-like population surge that has stripped needles from 250,000 acres of trees.

	March 9, 2012 Fukushima Survivor: I Want 'To Breathe Freely Again' Nuclear technician Carl Pillitteri was one of 38 Americans at the Fukushima nuclear power plant when an earthquake and tsunami struck Japan's eastern coast and triggered a radiation leak at the reactor. It's taken Pillitteri a full year to be able to talk publicly about what he saw at Fukushima.

	March 8, 2012 Oregon Farmers Surprised to Find Fish in Fields Researchers in Oregon's Willamette Valley found young native fish thriving in ditches that fill with water during the winter months. The unrecognized habitat meant farmers had been inadvertently raising fish in their fields, in addition to their intended crops, for years. This report first appeared on Oregon Public Broadcasting.

	March 7, 2012 O No! Climate Change Shortens Canada's Pond Hockey Season In a paper published Monday, researchers determined that climate change across Canada has already had a negative impact on the outdoor skating season, and if that trend continues, the viability of outdoor skating in Canada will be threatened for future generations.



	FEBRUARY Feb. 23, 2012 Upper Big Branch Miners' Families 'Encouraged' by Prosecutors' Moves West Virginia mine safety officials on Thursday issued 253 violations against Massey Energy in their final report on the 2010 Upper Big Branch mining disaster that killed 29 men. Jeffrey Brown and NPR's Howard Berkes discuss the findings and prosecution efforts to reach higher into the ranks of Massey's upper management.

	Feb. 21, 2012 Climate Expert Assumed False Identity to Obtain Documents Fallout over internal memos that were leaked from the conservative Heartland Institute rattled the climate world again this week, when a climate researcher confessed to lying in order to obtain and distribute them.

	Feb. 15, 2012 Debating the Safety, Wisdom of New Nuclear Reactors in Georgia A construction site in Georgia is slated to house the nation's first new commercial nuclear reactors in decades. Jeffrey Brown discusses the controversial Plant Vogtle facility and the state of American nuclear power with Stephen Smith of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and the Nuclear Energy Institute's Tony Pietrangelo.

	Feb. 14, 2012 Poet Tony Hoagland Explores Species' 'Romantic Moments' In honor of Valentine's Day, poet Tony Hoagland reads "Romantic Moment" -- a poem about a man and woman who have just watched a nature documentary on a date, and how their expressions of affection stack up against those of leopard frogs, chimpanzees, bull penguins and so on.



	JANUARY Jan. 23, 2012 News Wrap: At Least 2 Killed, 100 Hurt by Possible Tornadoes in Alabama In other news Monday, at least two people were killed and 100 hurt when possible tornadoes struck Alabama. The huge system stretched from the Great Lakes to the Deep South, where the heaviest storms were hitting. Also, a U.S. Marine pleaded guilty to dereliction of duty in the killing of two dozen Iraqis in 2005.

	Jan. 18, 2012 Could Keystone Pipeline Plan Be Revived After Obama's Rejection? President Obama denied TransCanada Corp.'s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline Wednesday, a project that would have carried oil 1,700 miles from the tar sands of Canada to refineries in Port Arthur, Texas. Hari Sreenivasan discusses the president's decision and the next steps with The Washington Post's Juliet Eilperin.