Fact Sheets: All

The oil and gas industry argues that the potential economic benefits of fracking justify the risks and costs to public health and the environment. But the industry has grossly overestimated the number of jobs that fracking would create, and has either ignored or dismissed the public costs of the practice.

Since launching its sustainability program in 2005, Walmart has tried to position itself as a leader on corporate environmental responsibility. In frequent press announcements and annual “Global Responsibility” reports, Walmart touts its activities on renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, waste reduction, and product improvements.

While Walmart’s sustainability campaign has done wonders for its public image, it has done little for the environment. In fact, Walmart’s environmental impact has only grown over the last seven years. Its business practices remain highly polluting, while its relentless expansion and consolidation of the market have come at the expense of more sustainable enterprises and systems of production and distribution.

Drilling and fracking a single shale well can produce millions of gallons of toxic wastewater and hundreds of tons of potentially radioactive solid waste. Disposal of these wastes poses serious environmental and public health risks.

Europe Fact Sheet: New drilling and fracking techniques have been a boon for the oil and gas industry in the United States, making it possible for companies to extract large quantities of oil and gas from shales and other “tight” rock formations. However, shale development has been a nightmare for those exposed to the resulting pollution.

United Water — owned by Paris-based Suez Environnement (Suez) — wants to build a desalination plant on the Hudson River to serve Rockland County, New York. The company says that the treatment plant is not only “necessary” but also the “most cost-effective” and “sustainable” way to meet the area’s long-term water needs. Suez’s performance history, however, calls these claims into question.

Universal access to safe and affordable water and sanitation service is crucial for public health, but achieving it will require significant investments in infrastructure and expertise. Worldwide, an estimated 884 million people lack access to safe water, and 2.6 billion people lack access to improved sanitation. In the United States, water and sewer systems have a $55 billion annual funding shortfall. Public-public partnerships (PUPs) are an innovative model uniquely suited to help address these needs.

Aqua Utilities Florida,a a subsidiary of Pennsylvania-based Aqua America, is the largest private water utility in Florida, serving drinking water to about 60,000 people statewide. Many customers are deeply dissatisfied with the company and report chronic water quality and customer service problems, yet these customers pay some of the highest water rates in the state. State legislators need to take action to stop this consumer rip-off. No Floridian should have to pay excessive prices for poor service from Aqua Utilities or any other water company.

There is something suspicious afoot in Nevada: a proposed multibillion-dollar water pipeline that Pat Mulroy, the general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), has promoted for more than two decades. The proposed project would convey groundwater in Nevada via a 300-mile pipeline from the northeastern Lincoln and White Pine counties to Southern Nevada and the Las Vegas Valley.

From June 20–22, 2012 in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, heads of state, UN agencies, and global stakeholders will convene for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) — commonly known as “Rio+20.”

The world is at a crossroads: the convergence of global economic meltdown and unchecked global warming is driving action in the streets, from the Arab Spring to the Occupy Movement. We must seize this momentum and use Rio+20 to force a paradigm shift.

Łączny areał upraw genetycznie modyfikowanych w Unii Europejskiej zmniejszył się w 2009 roku o połowę w porównaniu do 2006 roku, a tendencja spadkowa utrzymuje się nadal. W 2009 roku rośliny genetycznie modyfikowane uprawiane były na 0.05 procenta pól uprawnych Europy.