AlternativesMagazine

California can officially add one more disaster to its rapidly growing list of water woes: The EPA just found that at least nine fracking sites throughout the state have been dumping billions of gallons of contaminated wastewater into its protected aquifers. Not only do many of these aquifers supply drinking water to residents throughout the Central Valley, they’re also reaching dangerously low levels due to overuse, as many farmers rely on aquifers for irrigation and have been overpumping groundwater supplies as the drought carries on. According to a letter sent to the EPA by the California State Water Resources Board, roughly 3 billion gallons of wastewater were illegally injected into aquifers throughout central California. The EPA ordered the report following contamination concerns after 11 fracking wastewater injection wells were shut down in July by state officials, DeSmogBlog reports: The letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity, reveals …

California made big news recently when it announced the first statewide ban on plastic shopping bags set to kick in during the middle of 2015. Beginning in July, large grocery stores, pharmacies and other food retailers in the Golden State will no longer be able to send shoppers home with plastic bags, while convenience markets, liquor stores and other small food retailers will join the ranks a year later. Back in 2007, San Francisco became the first U.S. municipality to ban plastic shopping bags. In intervening years upwards of 132 other cities and counties in 18 states and the District of Columbia instituted similar measures. Of course, Americans are late to the party when it comes to banning plastic bags: The European Union, China, India and dozens of other nations already have plastic bag bans or taxes in place. But the trend here toward banning plastic shopping bags comes in the wake of new findings regarding the extent and harm of plastic in our environment. Since plastic isn’t

What a Scam S an Francisco, CA – Breast Cancer Action today thanked Susan G. Komen and Baker Hughes for partnering on the most ludicrous piece of pink sh*t they’ve seen all year – 1,000 shiny pink drill bits. BCAction hailed this partnership as the most egregious example of “pinkwashing” they’ve ever seen and heartily lauded Komen and Baker Hughes for doing their bit to increase women’s risk of breast cancer with their toxic fracking chemicals. BCAction commended Baker Hughes and Komen for their ingenious pinkwashing profit cycle, whereby Baker Hughes helps fuel breast cancer while Komen raises millions of dollars to try to cure it. “With all the toxic chemicals Baker Hughes is pumping into the ground, we thought they didn’t care about women’s health. However, this partnership with Komen makes it clear where both organizations stand on this issue,” said Karuna Jaggar, executive director of Breast Cancer Action. Breast Cancer Action coined the term pinkwashing as part of their T

This short film, What’s Possible , kicked off the recent U.N. Climate Summit, presented and narrated by Morgan Freeman (as only Morgan Freeman can). He puts in perspective what 'green' is all about and suggests we cut the political crap and use a common sense approach about the issues.....before it's too late. It's one of the best videos I've seen on the subject and encourage everyone to check it out.  View it HERE . 

by Montana Environmental Information Center PPL earned $1.1 billion in profits in 2013, and can afford to clean up its toxic air pollution. It just doesn’t want to spend the money. PPL just asked the State to give it another year before it has to control its toxic air pollution. Tell DEQ to say NO to this appalling corporate handout!   After decades of delay, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency adopted the first-ever federal limits for toxic air pollutants from coal-fired power plants in 2012. The regulation, known as the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), requires coal-fired power plants to reduce toxic air pollutants such as mercury, arsenic, and heavy metals by 2015. These pollutants harm public health, they harm the environment, and power plants have been pumping massive quantities of toxins into the air for far too long. Now, PPL, the operator of the Colstrip coal plant, has asked the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for yet another delay – this

So far this year, Germany has gotten more electricity from renewables than from any other single source, 27.7 percent. That (just barely) beats the 26.3 percent of power generated by lignite coal, according to Agora research organization. Wind accounted for 9.5 percent of the power fed into the country’s grid in the first nine months of 2014, biomass for 8.1, solar for 6.8 percent, and hydropower for less than 4 percent. Last year, Germany got 24.1 percent of its electricity from renewables, so it’s up more than 3 percent. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government is aiming to get as much as 60 percent of the nation’s electricity from clean sources by 2035, even while phasing out nuclear power by 2022. The U.S., by contrast, thanks to a broken and corrupt political system and a greedy do nothing congress, got just 6 percent of its electricity from wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal last year, and other 7 percent from hydro.

by Karuna Jagger Executive Director Breast Cancer Action It’s Breast Cancer Industry Month and the pink floodgates have opened. And again we ask: what have all these pink ribbon products and promotions done for women living with and at risk of breast cancer? Pinkwashing is now a household word. People understand that you always have to “follow the money” in pink ribbon marketing. We’ve exposed the hypocrisy in pink ribbon fundraising and achieved some momentous wins against corporations. This October, we’re taking it further. We’re calling out the empty awareness, the misinformation, the profiteering, the pinkwashing, the degrading of women, the “tyranny of cheerfulness” that hides the harsh realities of this disease. We’re sick of marketing giants raking in billions of pink ribbon dollars while women continue to be diagnosed with and die from this disease. This October, we’re targeting some of the most outrageous pink ribbon promotions that exemplify everything th

Every mouthful of McDonalds meal contains a handful of chemicals that raise 'bad'cholesterol levels, increase diabetes risk, lower immunity, and damage DNA. I had a weak moment last night and went to McDonald's. It's been a couple years since I last had a weak moment. Maybe it took that long to get the after taste out of my mouth. In spite the little voices telling me no, I went ahead anyway and ordered a Big Mac and a large of order of fries. Like in the picture above. When I picked it up off the conveyor belt I almost sent it back. It looked disgusting. It didn't smell like food and it certainly didn't taste like food. AND it wasn't cheap, or that fast. $7.50 for an order toxic sludge.  I can't believe they haven't been shut down by the FDA, the health department and every location be classified as a hazardous toxic dump site. And to think parents actually take their kids there to feed them and call it a TREAT!  If it wasn't bad en

Americans are getting fatter, and older. These converging trends are putting the USA on the path to an alarming health crisis: Nearly half of adults have either pre-diabetes or diabetes, raising their risk of heart attacks, blindness, amputations and cancer. Federal health statistics show that 12.3% of Americans 20 and older have diabetes, either diagnosed or undiagnosed. Another 37% have pre-diabetes, a condition marked by higher-than-normal blood sugar. That's up from 27% a decade ago. An analysis of 16 studies involving almost 900,000 people worldwide, published in the current issue of the journal Diabetologia, shows pre-diabetes not only sets the stage for diabetes but also increases the risk of cancer by 15%. "It's bad everywhere," says Philip Kern, director of the Barnstable Brown Diabetes and Obesity Center at the University of Kentucky. "You almost have the perfect storm of an aging population and a population growing more obese, plus fewer reasons t

  In  USA TODAY an article appeared, "What If Cancer Simply Can't Be Cured." Over the past 10 years we've featured many articles about cancer, it's cures, the fraud involved and many other aspects of this deadly disease. It seems like the medical profession and the cancer research institutions are hell bent in finding a cure simply through chemistry. And most of us agree the reason for that is because of the buck$. We very rarely hear anything from the medical side or big pharma that changing our lifestyle, eating a proper diet and doing a little exercise might go along way in preventing, not only cancer but many catastrophic diseases.  During this 10 period of following the growing cancer epidemic, we've heard many documented stories from cancer patients who were given the standard "X amount of time to live story," which usually came after the chemo, after radiation, after surgery and after their money ran out. Instead many decided to fore-

  An industry-funded study claims that diet soda drinkers lose weight faster than those who don’t drink ANY soda at all The study comes on the heels of rapid reductions in diet soda sales. Last year, diet Coke and diet Pepsi both dropped by nearly seven percent Research over the last 30 years has repeatedly shown that artificially sweetened no- or low-calorie drinks and other “diet” foods tend to stimulate your appetite, increase cravings for carbs, and stimulate fat storage and weight gain Studies have also linked diet drinks and artificial sweeteners to a number of other, more serious health hazards, including increased risk of stroke and cancer Artificial sweeteners trick your body into thinking that it’s going to receive sugar (calories), but when the sugar doesn’t arrive, your body signals that it needs more, which results in carb cravings.  Read the entire article from the August 15, 2014 Dr. Mercola newsletter. Click HERE . 

Approximately 400,000 people in and around Toledo, Ohio are being warned not to drink their tap water after high levels of a dangerous toxin were discovered in the water supply Saturday, according to the Toledo-Lucas County Department of Health. The toxin is called microcystin, the high levels of which were caused by massive increases in algae on Lake Erie. The increases in algae, called “algae blooms”, are poisonous if consumed — causing abnormal liver function, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, numbness, and dizziness. Boiling the water doesn’t help — in fact, it increases the presence of the toxin. Experts say one of the biggest reasons for the severity of this algal bloom is excess phosphorus runoff from urban and industrial agricultural lands, as well as from waste water from sewage treatment plants As of now, it’s unclear when Toledo residents will have clean water again. According to the Toledo Blade , fresh water samples are being flown to a specialized U.S. Environmental Protectio

Fryeburg, Maine residents pour out bottled water in protest of Poland Spring diverting the town's aquifer When Nestlé subsidiary Poland Spring came to the tiny town of Fryeburg, Maine, USA nearly a decade ago, residents noticed that their water was vanishing. Lake levels were lowering. Streams were getting smaller. Nestlé was pumping the aquifer under their town for all it could get. A battle over corporate privatization of our natural water resources When the citizens of Fryeburg spoke up, Nestlé unleashed an aggressive, divide-and-conquer strategy. It sued the town, nearly bankrupting several local activists. It worked to ensure that local regulatory boards were friendly to its position and it took its case all the way to the state Supreme Court. But Nestlé also set up a Poland Spring shop for local outreach, and established the Fryeburg Business Association -- staffed by a Nestlé employee -- to lead a charm offensive. Local schools even have a bottled water vending mac