Free online publication of peer-reviewed scientific articles is essential to environmental journalists. One publisher, Elsevier, caused a stir recently by demanding that several universities take their own scholars' research down from the web or social media.
"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A state-sponsored study meant to examine potential pollution from the boom in natural gas drilling never actually tested key wastes from the Marcellus Shale formation, according to a West Virginia University researcher who led the effort."
"Scientists say the closure of some of the world's finest fishery, ocean and environmental libraries by the Harper government has been so chaotic that irreplaceable collections of intellectual capital built by Canadian taxpayers for future generations has been lost forever."
"One government biologist discovered the best way he could help save polar bears was to quit his job."
"The Environmental Protection Agency was justified in intervening to examine possible risks of gas drilling to Texas drinking water, the agency's internal watchdog reported Tuesday. But environmentalists say the report raises fresh concerns about the EPA's 2012 decision to halt its investigation into possible well water contamination in Parker County, Texas."
"The EPA Inspector General's report is the latest analysis to spotlight the regulator's handling of high-profile cases of alleged drinking-water contamination near natural gas drilling sites.
"Researchers say they have discovered a large reservoir of melt water that sits under the Greenland ice sheet all year round."
"If you’ve been paying any attention at all to the ongoing noise about global warming, then you’ve heard of the so-called 'pause'. This is the idea that the planet hasn’t actually been warming for the past 15 years or so."
"The hole in the ozone layer is stabilizing but will take until about 2070 to fully recover, according to new research by NASA scientists."
The Obama White House announced that newly appointed Keystone XL opponent John Podesta would recuse himself from any decisions about the controversial pipeline. But documents have shown that ERM, the company that produced a favorable report on the pipeline for the State Department, had serious conflicts of interest, which were hidden by both ERM and the State Department.
As efforts to suppress science go, the Interior Department's dunking-stool investigation of scientist Charles Monnett (who published observations that polar bears were drowning because of ice retreat) was quite a story. Now, with a $100,000 settlement, it is a story that may never be fully told, including whether there was evidence of political interference by top Interior officials.
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