Author: Richard Eskow

Rolling Stone Magazine recently published an article outlining the “5 Recent Underreported Environmental Disasters.” However, while mainstream news outlets drool over the ACA and speculate about the whereabouts of a missing plane, Ring of Fire has followed the stories that matter every step of the way. Rolling Stone started off naming the recent Galveston Bay oil spill where an oil barge collided with a bulk vessel, spilling nearly 170,000 gallons of heavy crude oil. The spill polluted 22 miles of the Texas coastline, killed hundreds of birds, and was possibly the reason why 29 dolphins were found dead.  ...

A controversial trade deal known as the Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) or the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) could limit governments’ abilities to regulate fracking, thereby expanding the process in both the United States and Europe, according to a new report by Friends of the Earth Europe, Sierra Club, and others. US and EU banks and powerful corporations have been pushing for the trade deal for more than a decade. Much like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), TAFTA/TTIP would not primarily target trade but rather health, environmental, and financial policies and protections. The trade deal threatens to weaken...

Ring of Fire’s top news from the past week. Video Rewind TransCanada Pipeline Explodes, Thousands in Sub-zero Temps without Heat 55 Bodies Excavated at Dozier School Harry Reid Announces Opposition to TPP Fast Track Bill Antiseptic Mouthwash Linked to Heart Attack, Stroke Your continued support keeps Ring of Fire on the air! Support when you shop on Amazon by bookmarking our link and use it when you shop on Amazon. A portion of the sales will come back to Ring of Fire at no extra cost to you. Joshua is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire. You...

On Saturday, a natural gas pipeline operated by TransCanada Corp. exploded and subsequently started a massive fire in the Canadian province of Manitoba. The explosion and fire caused a shut-off of gas supplies to as many as 4,000 residents living in sub-zero temperatures. TransCanada, the operator that applied for a permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline in 2008, said the fire was extinguished by Saturday afternoon, more than 12 hours after it started, but that the gas supply to several municipalities was shut off in order to repair the pipeline, according to ThinkProgress. Thousands were left without heat,...

Now, as in the past, climate change deniers are using the extreme, cold weather as an opportunity to call climate change a hoax. The recent “polar vortex” has conservative ideologues such as Rush Limbaugh and Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) feeling frisky. As temperatures in some parts of the country dropped to 30+ degrees below zero this week, some conservatives have jumped on the opportunity to revive their previous, misguided notion that cold weather disproves the existence of climate change. On Monday, Sen. Inhofe, a notorious climate science denier, said that, due to recent cold temperatures across the country, climate...