Washington – The Federal Communication Commission's (FCC's) historic 5th Reconsideration and Order, released on November 30, 2012, brings to a conclusion a decades-long struggle to fully legalize low-power (“pirate”) radio broadcasting and make unused space available to community groups for local radio services.

Women’s Voices for the Earth is a national organization that works to eliminate toxic chemicals that impact women’s health by changing consumer behaviors, corporate practices and government policies.

Campaign wins over corporate influence on our democracy, unhealthy marketing to children, and threats to workers and the environment receive top marketplace activism prizes; Occupy Wall Street receives special recognition; Sarita Gupta honored for individual achievement.

National groups, small business representatives call on U.S. Chamber of Commerce to disclose the sources of funds behind its dark money electoral advertising

Statement from Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director, Food & Water Watch “This morning the Delaware River Basin Commission announced it cancelled the vote to proceed with regulations that would pave the way for 20,000 wells in the region, knowing they wouldn’t have the votes needed. “This is a victory for the grassroots activists who have passionately rallied to protect our water, communities and health from the potentially devastating effects of this dirty practice. By standing up against big lobbying cash and flashy ads touting the job creating effects of shale gas development, we have won this critical fight.

SUBJ: New KXL FOIA docs raise more concerns about State Department collusion with TransCanada as well as potential cover-up; docs have important implications for new environmental review announced by Obama administration Despite conclusive evidence (see http://foe.org/keystone-xl-pipeline-influence-scandal) that the State Department has overseen a corrupt Keystone XL tar sands pipeline review process, the Obama administration indicated last Thursday (November 10) that the department will remain in charge of the new environmental review of the proposed pipeline.

the World Bank launched a new partnership with global corporations including Nestlé, Coca-Cola and Veolia. Housed at the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), the new venture aspires to “transform the water sector” by inserting the corporate sector into what has historically been a public service. The new partnership is part of a broader trend of industry collusion to influence global water policy.

Thirteen years after Earthjustice first launched legal action, the nearly 50-million-acre heartland of America’s national forests is secure. A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of the Roadless Rule, virtually ending a politically infested process that pitted resource exploiters against the vast majority of citizens who rely upon these pristine lands for recreation and repose.

About Appalachian Voices Appalachian Voices is an award-winning, environmental non-profit committed to protecting the land, air and water of the central and southern Appalachian region, focusing on reducing coal's impact on the region and advancing our vision for a cleaner energy future. Founded in 1997, they are headquartered in Boone, N.C. with offices in Charlottesville, Va. and Washington, D.C. Since they believe working in concert with others produces maximum results, they are proud members of the Alliance for Appalachia, Waterkeeper Alliance, Wise Energy for Virginia, and Repowering NC coalitions. The Resource Renewal Institute recognized Appalachian Voices with a 2010 River Warrior award for our work to protect and improve water quality, fish, wildlife and river ecosystems. We were also awarded a 2010 BENNY Award by the Business Ethics Network for our role as a supporting organization in Rainforest Action Network's Global Finance Campaign. E, the Environmental Magazine recently listed Appalachian Voices as one of their top five favorite ways to become environmentally active. They have also been recognized as a Google Earth Hero for their work on the website, iLoveMountains.org, which was also named one of the first ever GOOD 100 "people, ideas, and organizations changing the world for good" by Good Magazine. For more information, visit http://appvoices.org.

June 20- Today, in rejecting a climate change pollution lawsuit, the Supreme Court of the United States reaffirmed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to curb climate change pollution under the Clean Air Act, as first established in the 2007 Supreme Court case Massachusetts v. EPA. Earthjustice was co-counsel in the 2007 case, and is now intervening in defense of limits on greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, which the EPA adopted in the wake of that case.

Scholastic announced that it would stop distributing “The United States of Energy,” a controversial fourth grade curriculum paid for by the American Coal Foundation. The materials were also removed from Scholastic’s website. Scholastic’s decision came after a two-day campaign led by the Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), Rethinking Schools, Friends of the Earth (FoE), Greenpeace USA, and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD).

Rejecting SFI's claim to be 'good for forests', seven companies -- Aetna, Allstate, Garnet Hill, Office Depot, Performance Bicycles, Symantec, and United Stationers -- each took action to stop using SFI's 'eco-label' or SFI-certified paper products (see each company's commitment here).

EPA announced today new standards for cutting air toxics from boilers and other industrial sources across the country. In response, NRDC’s Clean Air Project Director John Walke issued the following statement:

The Obama administration's January 14 announcement that it is lifting some government-imposed restrictions on travel to Cuba for several categories of U.S. citizens —including college students, people engaged in journalism, and those sponsored by religious organizations — represents a new opportunity for a wider segment of Americans to learn about Cuba firsthand.

Disney will work with Ceres to improve its efforts on key environmental and social sustainability issues. Disney will also engage key stakeholders to help advance its sustainability strategy, disclosure, and performance.

Three watchdog groups today filed an appeal with the U.S. State Department over its refusal to release correspondence between the agency and a former high-ranking presidential campaign staffer of Hillary Clinton’s, Paul Elliott.

Leading U.S. investors today announced they have filed shareholder resolutions with nine oil and gas companies, pressing them to disclose their plans for managing water pollution, litigation and regulatory risks that are increasingly associated with ever-expanding natural gas hydraulic fracturing operations (also known as “fracking”) in the United States.

The Humane Society of the United States has released findings from an undercover investigation that documented the inhumane treatment of female breeding pigs and piglets at a Virginia factory farm owned by a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, the world's largest pork producer.

During our annual retreat in late August we (Susan and Christina) reviewed our achievements and established a work plan for 2011. With our new website nearing completion, we look forward to increasing our presence in the coming year.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued long overdue emission standards for the toxic pollution emitted by gold mining companies’ ore processing facilities.

Fishing is allowed in all but one percent of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) on Canada’s Pacific coast, according to a study conducted by Living Oceans Society and published in Marine Policy this month. This is in spite of the fact thatover half of the MPAs are officially rated as “strictly protected” and are intended to prohibit all fishing.

the Pittsburgh City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance banning corporations from conducting natural gas drilling in the city.

Report reveals large net energy cost and other environmental threats posed by nanotechnology

The American Lung Association and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) intervened on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to defend important air quality standards that will limit sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants, factories, and other sources.

In the wake of BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster and its impact on UK pensions and other investments [1], evidence suggests that oil companies may be failing anticipate other major risks. Against this background, Greenpeace and FairPensions today launch a new campaign calling on investors to ensure that such risks are identified and managed [2]. We are enabling individuals to ask those questions through a new website at www.gobeyondoil.org and launching a national advertising campaign.

More than 50,000 air pollution violations at the massive Martin Lake coal-fired power plant led the Sierra Club, represented by Earthjustice and Environmental Integrity Project, to file a lawsuit today in federal court against plant owner Luminant (formerly TXU).

The campaign promoting Proposition 23, a referendum on California’s November ballot that would essentially annul the state’s landmark clean energy law, is being funded primarily by two Texas-based oil companies.

(c) Jerry D. Greer.Days before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) kicks off a series of regional hearings across the United States on whether and how to regulate toxic coal ash waste from coal-fired power plants, a major new study identifies 39 additional coal-ash dump sites in 21 states that are contaminating drinking water or surface water with arsenic and other heavy metals.

FDA Considers Approval of GE Salmon–the First GE Food Animal–Yet Fails to Inform the Public of Environmental and Economic Risks

A federal court Wednesday afternoon ordered all activities under Lease Sale 193 in the Chukchi Sea off the north coast of Alaska halted pending further environmental review by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Enforcement, and Regulation, formerly the Minerals Management Service.

International humanitarian organization Oxfam America commends the US Congress for making disclosure of payments from oil and mining companies to governments around the world a legal requirement.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today rejected petitions from Peabody Coal, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Commonwealth of Virginia and others that asked the agency to rescind its scientific finding that heat-trapping gases pose a threat to public health. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) says the EPA made the right decision based on science.

The Montana Peace Seekers Network is blessed and deeply privileged to name you, Ann Wright, as Peace Seeker of the Year 2010, as an expression of the deep respect, appreciation and honor in which you are held by the peace and justice community of Montana.

In fact, since Bush first pushed it, not one U.S. labor union, faith group, family farm organization or pro-environmental entity has yet to endorse or support the Korea FTA, or advocate for its passage.

With the Calgary Stampede underway, billboards asking Americans to rethink their travel plans to Alberta rolled out across four major US cities today (cities that bring the most US tourists annually to Alberta) marking the first wave of a multi-year ad campaign aimed at revealing Alberta to be one of the world’s dirtiest destinations.

Many American communities now living with heavy industry and toxic air pollution may finally get the chance for real protection from unnecessary health risks and environmental damage.

As details continue to emerge on just how extensively BP cut corners at the expense of safety, and 60,000 barrels of oil gushes into the Gulf each day, nearly two months after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, 50 members of Congress submitted a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to press her and the Obama administration not to rush to approve a new tar sands oil pipeline that would stretch over 2,000 miles of the United States from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

Late Tuesday, regional and national organizations challenged a decision by the federal Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to allow the East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC) to waive federal debt obligations and seek private financing for a new 278-MW coal-fired power plant at the J.K Smith Power Station in Clark County, Kentucky.

In Wake of BP Oil Spill, Consumers Want Bodycare Products Made without Petrochemicals: Organic Consumers Association Calls on Other Leading Retailers to Follow Whole Foods' Example

Earthjustice filed suit today in federal court against the U.S. Minerals Management Service challenging the agency’s arbitrary approval of BP’s oil spill clean-up plan. The clean up plan was approved in July 2009 prior to the approval of the exploratory drilling plan.

As the oil spill disaster in the Gulf deepens, Canada's oil industry is taking advantage of the catastrophe to offer its dirty oil as an alternative to offshore drilling. A report released this week crushes that myth, Tar Sands Invasion: How Dirty and Expensive Oil from Canada Threatens America’s New Energy Economy, details the enormous financial and environmental costs associated with what has been termed the largest and most destructive project on the planet.

The board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) today considered the status of 18 countries which were unable to meet the deadline they were given in 2008 to complete external verification of their progress under the global transparency initiative.

A historic agreement reached between environmental and public health organizations and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will regulate the toxic air emissions from the nation's existing and new coal- and oil-fired electric power plants to the maximum achievable extent.

Responding to an escalating campaign waged by students on campuses across the country, Aramark has agreed to work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to directly improve farmworker wages and working conditions in the tomato fields of Florida.

James Cameron, a Canadian born and raised near the majestic boreal forest, has shined a light on a dark reality. Find out more at: dirtyoilsands.org

"This is simply an attempt to delay action to reduce pollution that threatens public health and the environment. EPA has done its homework and reported back to the American people that greenhouse gases endanger the public health and welfare of current and future generations..."

New Coalition Responds to Citizens United Decision with a Call to Amend the U.S. Constitution to Overrule the Supreme Court’s Activist Expansion of Corporate “Rights”

The new limits to curb sewage and fertilizer pollution proposed today by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency represent a historic first step toward cleaning up Florida's waters.

Coalition of local business owners and organizations call on U.S. Chamber's President Tom Donohue to stop protecting a small number of CEOs and start supporting businesses and consumers in California

The decision is a victory for the citizens and environmental groups who petitioned EPA to object to the permit in August 2008 on the grounds that it did not accurately account for the large increases in dangerous air pollution that would be caused by BP’s expansion of the refinery.

Earthjustice applauds the introduction of Roadless Area Conservation Acts in both the House and Senate today with a record number of original cosponsors in both houses

In July, ForestEthics sent letters to over 100 Fortune 500 companies, warning that use of transportation fuels from Canada's Tar Sands puts their brands at risk, and offering the group's expertise in avoiding such fuels.

In a case brought by Center for Food Safety and Earthjustice representing a coalition of farmers and consumers, a federal court ruled yesterday that the Bush USDA's approval of genetically engineered (GE) "RoundUp Ready" sugar beets was unlawful. The court ordered the USDA to conduct a rigorous assessment of the environmental and economic impacts of the crop on farmers and the environment.

Native American and environmental groups filed suit in federal court today challenging a proposed tar sands oil pipeline that would bring the dirtiest oil on Earth from Canada to the United States.

Yesterday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries (NOAA Fisheries) overrode opposition from many fishermen and others and relied on a highly questionable referendum to approve an unfair and potentially harmful plan for managing the Gulf of Mexico’s tilefish and grouper fisheries.

A broad coalition of more than 300 faith, human-rights, social justice, and environmental groups sent a letter to U.S. senators today calling for energy and climate legislation that is much stronger than the Waxman-Markey bill that passed the House of Representatives June 26. That bill contained massive giveaways to polluting special interests and would fail to ensure a rapid transition to clean energy.

An international coalition of environmental and Native American groups strongly opposed Thursday's U.S. State Department decision to issue a permit for a pipeline to carry the dirtiest oil on earth from Canada to the U.S. and vowed to challenge it in court.

This week, mounting consumer backlash against Nestle became especially apparent when the mega-conglomerate reported that their sales had dipped by 2.4 percent to 5.07 billion Swiss francs ($4.69 billion) from 5.21 billion francs a year earlier. The company’s bottled water division, which packages and sells water under several brands including Arrowhead, Calistoga, Deer Park, Poland Spring, and Perrier, among others, recorded a 3.7 percent decline in volume.

On 16 August, civil society members of the EITI multistakeholder group in Niger unanimously announced their decision to suspend their participation in the national EITI process ‘until further notice’. The decision was made following increasingly serious incidents of harassment and intimidation against civil society activists campaigning for good governance and transparency in Niger, including the arbitrary arrest and detention of Rotab/PWYP Niger Member Marou Amadou*.

People throughout the west celebrated an Obama administration decision to cancel a Bush-era plan that would have nearly quadrupled current logging on public lands in western Oregon.

Even though a federal judge ruled in 2007 that "back pumping" polluted water from drainage canals into South Florida's Lake Okeechobee creates toxic byproducts that threaten public health, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled today that the practice can continue without Clean Water Act permits.

U.S. District Court Judge James Redden has told the federal government what to consider in order to restore Columbia basin salmon runs. The judge released a letter to the parties on Monday as part of long running litigation brought by fishing and conservation groups aimed at rebuilding the once vast salmon runs of the Columbia River and its tributaries. Read Judge Redden's letter: http://www.earthjustice.org/library/legal_docs/redden_letter_2009_columbia-snake_biop.pdf

The Rainforest Alliance, an international nonprofit conservation organization, announces its 2009 honorees at its annual gala on May 6 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

In the wake of financial scandals and a major market downturn Green America (formerly known as “Co-op America”) is mounting a major effort to get direct shareholders in publicly traded companies to learn more about key issues – climate change, CEO pay, human rights, and abusive credit card practices – and then vote their proxies.

For decades, the Clean Water Act protected the Nation’s surface water bodies from unregulated pollution and rescued them from the crisis status they were in during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Now these vital protections are being lost. This report details the threat to our Nation’s waters by examining dozens of case studies, and highlights the urgent need for Congress to restore full Clean Water Act protections to our waters.

Environmental groups are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over a Bush administration rule that will allow more than 100,000 tons a year of hazardous waste to be burned without regard to regulations that monitor such toxins. This last-minute rule from the Bush administration redefines the hazardous waste as "fuel," allowing facilities that generate, store and transport it to avoid federal requirements for preventing leaks, spills, and toxic emissions.

A federal court has ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must close a loophole that -- for more than 25 years -- has made it easy for mining companies, coal ash dumps, and a host of other polluting industries to skip out on costly cleanups by declaring bankruptcy.

A federal appeals court today ruled that Bush-era clean air standards were deficient, sending them back to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for corrective action. The Bush administration had rejected recommendations by its science advisors for stronger airborne particulate standards, and the court today ruled that this action was arbitrary.

In Brief: Earthjustice is taking Proctor & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, and other household cleaner manufacturing giants to court for refusing to follow a New York state law requiring them to disclose the chemical ingredients in their products and the health risks they pose.

The Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform (CAAR) today slammed the BC government for once again failing to invest in the development of a new, green technology industry that would address the numerous devastating impacts of open net-cage salmon farming in coastal waters while creating jobs for the new economy.

The Manatee County Commission engaged in a "grossly illegal process" when it gave Mosaic Phosphate approval to strip-mine 2,000 acres within the Peace River watershed, a pair of lawsuits filed today by Earthjustice contends.

The Mikisew Cree and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations and environmental group ForestEthics have placed a full-page ad in USA Today highlighting the human and environmental damage wrought by Canada's Tar Sands.

A group called the Dogwood Initiative, based in Victoria, is finding the national spotlight over its’ refusal to halt its “no tankers” campaign.

A new survey of scientific evidence conducted by researchers working with the Breast Cancer Fund makes a persuasive case that the industrialized world's rising breast cancer rate may stem from exposure to radiation and chemicals in plastics, pesticides, cosmetics and other common household goods.

Common sense and reverence for America's natural heritage are behind today's action by the Department of Interior canceling a lease sale of more than 100,000 acres of Utah wilderness, Earthjustice said in a statement.

Following a December 31, 2008 deadline to end harmful gas flaring in Nigeria, Friends of the Earth International started today a letter writing campaign - directed at the Nigerian President - asking the Nigerian government to prevent oil companies from continuing to flare gas. Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell is the largest producer of gas and oil in Nigeria.

Fox Broadcasting has used its vast resources to unfairly squelch the First Amendment rights of an independent blogger. In this case, Fox Chicago objected to the use of three short video excerpts that were posted on YouTube to support political commentary on the site ProgressIllinois.com.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Hawai'i affirmed the U.S. Army's duties under a October 4, 2001 settlement with Malama Makua (represented by Earthjustice)

A diverse alliance of organizations published an open letter [1] today in the U.S. and internationally warning of the dangers of industrially produced biofuels (called agrofuels by critics).

Conservation groups filed a lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court challenging the Idaho Roadless Rule. According to the lawsuit, the Bush administration violated laws to remove protection for 400,000 acres of Idaho roadless lands and to weaken protection for an additional 5 million acres of pristine Idaho lands.

In a lawsuit filed today against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a coalition of groups challenged a last-minute Bush administration rule that exempts factory farms from federal laws requiring them to alert government officials when they release unsafe levels of toxic emissions into the surrounding community.

The decision by U.S. power company Dynegy (NYSE:DYN) to pull out of planned power plant projects means that “coal-fired power is one big step closer to being mothballed once and for all,” according to Green America, formerly known as “Co-op America.”

San Francisco-based Catholic Healthcare West this week announced a new policy, that "its food purchasing dollars will be focused on promoting sustainable food production practices, in part by seeking alternatives to foods produced with sugar from genetically engineered ("GE") sugar beets, as well as meat and dairy produced with animal clones."

Statistics released by international environmental group ForestEthics show for the first time the total quantity and variety of toxic herbicides used by Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) as part of their controversial logging practices.

On the day Canadian finance ministers are meeting in Saskatoon to discuss financial breaks for Tar Sands, environmental groups took out an ad in the local Saskatoon paper, the Star Phoenix, that asks ‘How will Canada’s finance ministers spend your money?’

As You Sow’s second Beverage Container Recycling Scorecard and Report evaluates new and ongoing efforts by beverage producers to: 1. reduce materials use 2. increase recycled content in containers 3. raise recovery and recycling rates 4. support public policy initiatives to increase container recycling rates 5. disclose such activities to stakeholders

Health experts have been ringing alarm bells about the amount of sodium, or salt, in processed foods for years. But according to discouraging new data published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, most food companies aren't listening.

The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and Skagit County Diking District No. 22 today filed a formal settlement agreement that ends the litigation over the district's drainage practices in the Skagit delta.

Under pressure from consumer advocates and regulators, some leading beauty companies are using fewer toxic chemicals than they did a few years ago, according to new product tests released today by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

Nearly 30 environmental, science and conservation groups presented their top policy recommendations to President-elect Barack Obama's transition team yesterday. Representing millions of Americans, the groups provided a document laying out recommendations on key federal agencies and issues, including land, air, water, oceans and public health.

PETA is demanding the immediate dismissal of all abusive employees of Aviagen Turkeys, Inc., whose West Virginia headquarters is in Lewisburg, after an undercover investigation at the company's West Virginia turkey-breeding factory farms revealed rampant, willful abuse of birds. Despite the fact that PETA eight days have passed since PETA provided Aviagen officials with the names and actions of the violent perpetrators and showed the officials video footage of abuses, the company has yet to fire--or even suspend--even one of the employees, to PETA's knowledge.

With only three months to go until the digital TV conversion, the Electronics TakeBack Coalition (ETBC) today released its new TV Recycling Report Card, grading the major TV manufacturers on their efforts to establish national programs to take back and recycle their old TVs. More than half of the 17 companies ranked scored a failing “F” grade, because they have no recycling program in place. Sony received the highest grade, a B minus, with other companies scoring C's and D's.

The U.S. Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) illegally approved plans by Shell Offshore Inc. to drill for oil in the Beaufort Sea off the north coast of Alaska according to a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling.