Topic: Environmental Public Health

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'Zero job' economy: 11 ways Washington can fix it

A stagnant job market has ramped up the pressure on President Obama and Congress to come up with solutions. What can be done? Here are 11 proposals.
Heat wave: Four things that will rise with the temperatures

Slowing down because of rising heat is the expected response in any summer heat wave. But in a week like this one, where high temperatures fanned across the country, sizzling toward 100 degrees F. from Texas to Boston, some things also go up. Here are four things to expect to rise along with our desire to stay indoors and beat the heat.
In Pictures: Nuclear Japan: from meltdown to shutdown
Chernobyl disaster: four ways it continues to have an impact

Twenty-five years ago April 26, the Chernobyl power plant exploded in Ukraine. The disaster remains the world’s worst nuclear accident.
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 04/05

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'Zero job' economy: 11 ways Washington can fix it

A stagnant job market has ramped up the pressure on President Obama and Congress to come up with solutions. What can be done? Here are 11 proposals.
Obama drops smog plan: Is it all about the presidential election?

Environmentalists say President Obama is dropping a plan to set new air-quality standards with one eye on on the presidential election. The administration says it is waiting for more research.
Fukushima's nuclear cauldron: Retirees who want to go in

Fukushima's radiation has hit deadly levels for the second day, according to Tepco, making efforts to bring the nuclear plant under control difficult. Japan’s retired skilled laborers say they are ready to relieve younger workers.
Fukushima radiation levels rise, area closed

Fukushima radiation has been found at potentially lethal levels at two locations. The area around the leaks has been evacuated.
Heat wave: Four things that will rise with the temperatures

Slowing down because of rising heat is the expected response in any summer heat wave. But in a week like this one, where high temperatures fanned across the country, sizzling toward 100 degrees F. from Texas to Boston, some things also go up. Here are four things to expect to rise along with our desire to stay indoors and beat the heat.
EPA tells coal-fired plants to reduce pollution. Some may just shut down.

The details of new EPA regulations, released Thursday, mandate reductions in power-plant emissions. 'Old, decrepit plants' without pollution controls may be just too costly to retrofit and be shut down by their owners, say analysts.
New Mexico wildfires approach Los Alamos nuclear lab

New Mexico wildfires are near the boundaries of the 23,000-acre Los Alamos National Laboratory, which holds some low-level radioactive material in an above-ground storage facility about three miles from the flames.
Beyond Japan's Fukushima exclusion zone, shuttered shops speak to radiation doubts

As Japan's Tokyo Electric and Power Company tries to recycle the highly contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, people just outside the exclusion zone won't let children play outside and worry about food contamination.
In Pictures: Nuclear Japan: from meltdown to shutdown
Green Economics
Reigning in lead poisoning in China

Battery factories in China have exposed nearby residents to high levels of lead. Even a free market optimist can see that there should be stricter regulations.
Chernobyl disaster: four ways it continues to have an impact

Twenty-five years ago April 26, the Chernobyl power plant exploded in Ukraine. The disaster remains the world’s worst nuclear accident.
Robots throw doubt on 'road map' to control Fukushima crisis

Robots found high radiation levels in reactor buildings 1 and 3 Monday, which could make it impossible for workers to enter the Fukushima plant to carry out crucial fixes.
New warning of poisonous chemicals in natural gas 'hydrofracking'

A congressional report finds that chemicals used in 'hydrofracking' to extract natural gas are known or possible human carcinogens, regulated under federal environmental laws.
Sendai Airport reopens, but Japan still lacks plan to end nuclear crisis

One month after the March 11 quake that triggered a tsunami and damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japanese authorities say they're still crafting plan to end the nuclear crisis.
Fukushima gets worst crisis rating. But how much radiation has been released?

Based on new estimates of the radiation that has been released, Fukushima now has the worst score on the IAEA's accident rating scale. But much about the reactors, and their future, is still unknown.
Japan expands Fukushima evacuation zone. Will residents ever return home?

Radiation 'hot spots' beyond the existing Fukushima evacuation zone spur Japanese officials to order more areas to be emptied. Residents are being given a month to leave.
Decoder Wire
How do we know Fukushima isn't a danger to US? Radnet says so.

The 200 Radnet stations that have been sniffing the air since the 1970s say Fukushima radiation in US is quite low.
Fukushima update: Major aftershock hits Japan; cash and safes are washing ashore

One month after the March 11 quake that triggered a tsunami and damaged the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Japanese observed a moment of silence. A 6.6 temblor shook Japan again.
Nuclear update: Leak stopped. Why is Japan injecting nitrogen into reactor?

Workers plugged a leak of highly radioactive water into the ocean from Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant Wednesday, even as they tried to prevent another hydrogen explosion in reactor No. 1 by injecting nitrogen gas.
Radioactive leak plugged, officials now eye hydrogen buildup: Japan nuclear timeline

Officials say workers have stopped highly radioactive water from leaking into the ocean from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant's No. 2 reactor. Concerns now center on a buildup of hydrogen inside reactor No. 1.
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 04/05
Five ways House Republicans are striking fear in environmentalists

House Republicans are attempting to shape US environmental policy by attaching to their 2011 spending plans so-called "riders" that would target regulations ranging from greenhouse gases to mining.
Why is Japan dumping radioactive water into the ocean?

Japanese officials allowed owners of the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant to empty tanks holding 10,000 tons of slightly radioactive water into the ocean – in order to make room to pump highly contaminated water out of reactor No. 2.
Radioactive milk harmless, but will consumers buy it?

Radioactive milk, detected in two states, contains tiny amounts of radioactive iodine that probably originated in Japan but pose no health threat. So far, milk sales seem steady.
Radioactive milk found on West Coast, but levels are 'minuscule'

Radioactive milk linked to the Japan nuclear crisis has been detected in samples from California and Washington State. But the amounts are so tiny that they pose no health risk, officials say.