Peter Matthiessen, one of the first environmentalists to examine the potential effects of global warming, spoke out against the oil industry and the lobbying efforts of big oil corporations, such as Exxon and Shell, on Tuesday.

Tar sands mines in Alberta, Canada, contain a reserve of 175 billion barrels of retrievable oil, making it the third-largest crude oil reserve in the world after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. TransCanada, a Canadian gas and oil company, has proposed the construction of a pipeline called the Keystone XL that will transport the heavy crude oil over 1,700 miles from Alberta to refineries along the Gulf Coast. The construction is a $7 billion completion of the company’s existing Keystone Pipeline that will allow for stalled oil in Cushing, Okla., to flow south to be sold. The current Keystone Pipeline carries half a million barrels of oil a day, but its planned expansion would increase oil production to over 900,000 barrels a day. The Consumer Energy Alliance along with twenty-five other organizations in support of the Keystone XL project report submitting more than 450,000 comments from Americans calling on the U.S Department of State to allow construction of the pipeline on American soil. While proponents of the pipeline cite many potential benefits, other Americans oppose the Keystone XL, saying that TransCanada’s extortion of Alberta’s dirty tar sands threatens human health and the future of the environment.

The Ithaca Fire Department reported additional oil contamination in Fall Creek to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation on Friday. Firefighters placed a new absorbent boom in the creek to contain the oil.

Excavation workers found the source of an oil sheen Tuesday that was spotted in Fall Creek on April 11, according to The Ithaca Journal.

The Department of Environmental Conservation is currently investigating oil found in Fall Creek, which likely originated at Cornell’s Arts and Sciences Alumni Building on 726 University Avenue.

Cornell professors find that extracting natural gas through hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as "fracking," may worsen the effects of global warming.

Local produce, jams and cheeses adorned tables in Mann lobby on Nov. 18 for the second annual Food and Fiber Fair.  The event attracted local farmers and activists.

Last time, on South Park (this is my of reminding you that this week’s episode was a superhero sequel) … there were some lovely jokes about double penetration and how BP is ravaging the Earth … Coon attempted to join the world’s greatest heroes into one group, Coon and Friends … Captain Hindsight weighed in … BP unlocked a portal (to another, evil dimension) … the Dark Lord, Cthulhu, has plunged the world into three thousand years of darkness and only Mysterion can save us (who is Mysterion!?)! Hint, hint. You find out who it is, and it's exactly who you would expect.

What’s the only thing better than a superhero flick? Answer. Three superhero flicks. So, you should be excited to hear that this week’s episode of South Park was the second of a superhero trilogy.  Plus, it had jokes about double penetration and the gulf oil disaster. Watch out, Spiderman! Step off, Iron Man! Screw you, Daredevil! It’s the return of … The Coon.

As an environmental microbiologist and a teacher, Prof. Bill Ghiorse, microbiology, is passionate about the importance of microbes in our world.