One thing that I’ve found to be a constant in more than 25 years of working cases around pollution from radiation: A good outside expert will often tell citizens the things that government or big business simply can’t or won’t. In most of my major radiation cases against the world’s largest oil companies, we’ve conducted our own testing to convincingly show that giant firms like Chevron and Exxon...
Chernobyl: A monument to folly that may outlast human civilization
In addition to the sixth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon spill, this month marked another grim environmental anniversary — 30 years since the April 24, 1986 nuclear accident at the Chernobyl plant in what was then the Soviet Union and is now the Ukraine. In a strange way, the fact that the accident occurred well behind the Iron Curtain of the 20th Century has left much of the Western...
The NRC’s appalling flip-flop on nuke plants, kids, and radiation
Like most federal regulatory agencies, especially in fields such as energy and the environment, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC, tends to be a toothless tiger. It’s quick to side with the interests of large corporations and against those of the public that it is supposed to serve. But even by the NRC’s historically weak standards, the agency is moving down a very disturbing...
The great Fukushima cover-up
One story that I’ve tried to stay on top of for the last four years has been the horrific nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, and its aftermath. It has been, without a doubt, the worst radioactive incident since I started working on this issue as an environmental lawyer at the end of the 1980s. For one thing, it shows the folly of humans and our shortsighted energy policies —...
Environmental Must-Reads – July 9, 2015
A selection of the latest headlines and must-read articles on issues ranging from fracking to the BP oil spill.
Environmental Must-Reads – July 7, 2015
A selection of the latest headlines and must-read articles on issues ranging from fracking to the BP oil spill.
Environmental Must-Reads – July 6, 2015
A selection of the latest headlines and must-read articles on issues ranging from fracking to the BP oil spill.
Environmental Must-Reads – July 2, 2015
A selection of the latest headlines and must-read articles on issues ranging from fracking to the BP oil spill.
Environmental Must-Reads – July 1, 2015
A selection of the latest headlines and must-read articles on issues ranging from fracking to the BP oil spill.
Environmental Must-Reads – June 29, 2015
A selection of the latest headlines and must-read articles on issues ranging from fracking to the BP oil spill.