environment-climate-news
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Federal Government To Offer One Million Acres in California for Oil and Gas Development
Opinion -The Trump administration’s Bureau of Land Management has offered a detailed plan to open more than a million acres of public and private land in California to oil and gas development, including through the use of fracking. -
Midwestern Governors Push Major Gas Tax Hikes
Opinion -Citing pressing transportation needs, three Midwestern governors – two Democrats and one Republican – are calling for significant gas tax hikes in their states. -
Cities Turning to Non-Green Options to Handle Recyclable Material After China Halts Imports
Opinion -China’s decision ban recyclable waste imports is resulting in some U.S. cities beginning to burn or bury recyclable material rather than pay the higher prices to recycling companies. -
FDA Approves Biotech Firm’s Genetically Modified Salmon Project
Opinion -The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has decided to permit Massachusetts biotech firm AquaBounty to begin importing genetically modified Atlantic salmon eggs to be raised at its private, land-based facilities. -
Trump Administration Proposes Major Cuts in Federal Science Programs
Opinion -Setting up what is certain to be a bruising showdown with Congress over Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 spending, President Donald Trump’s budget proposal recommends significant funding reductions in science programs at a slew of federal agencies. -
Colorado Adopts Strict Anti-Drilling Legislation
Opinion -Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed into law sweeping oil and gas legislation which that allows imposing greater restrictions on new oil and gas exploration in the state than a proposition voters rejected in a 2018 election referendum. -
Sorry Kids—The Next Energy Alternative Is Not Here Yet
Opinion -With present technology, renewable energy sources can’t replace energy from deep earth minerals and fuels. Global economies increase, not decrease, their use of fossil fuels each year. -
Indiana Utility Asks for Rate Hike to Replace Coal with Renewables
Opinion -The Northern Indiana Public Service Co. filed a plan with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to remove coal from its electric power mix by 2028 and replace it primarily with electricity generated by solar power. -
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Approves Minnesota Copper Mine
Opinion -The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ issued a final wetlands permit to PolyMet Mining, authorizing the company to discharge dredge and fill material into 901 acres, as part of the construction and operation of the NorthMet copper mine. -
Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes Returning Gray Wolf Management to States, Tribes
Opinion -The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, is proposing to remove gray wolves from protection under the 1973 Endangered Species Act in the lower 48 states. -
Federal Agencies Approve Arizona’s Rosemont Mine Permits
Opinion -Two federal agencies issued permits to allow Hudbay Minerals Inc. to build and operate its proposed Rosemont copper mine in Pima County, Arizona. -
Courts Reject Challenges to EPA Policy on Science Advisory Boards
Opinion -In two separate cases, federal courts tossed out lawsuits challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s policy aimed at preventing conflicts of interest for people serving on the agency’s scientific advisory boards. -
President Trump Signs EMP Order to Protect Critical Infrastructure
Opinion -President Trump issued an Executive Order directing federal agencies to identify and develop responses to the threat electromagnetic pulses could pose to critical infrastructure. -
North Dakota to Charge Electric Vehicle Owners for Highway Maintenance
Opinion -North Dakota joined 20 other states imposing fees on electric vehicles, on April 11. -
Federal Judge Blocks Oil and Gas Leases, Development on Federal Lands in Wyoming
Opinion -U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras blocked oil and natural gas lease sales proposed by the Obama administration in 2016 for nearly 500 square miles of federal land in Wyoming. -
Senate Confirms Bernhardt as Interior Secretary
Opinion -The U.S. Senate confirmed David Bernhardt as the 53rd Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior by a vote of 56 to 41. -
Trump Acts to Speed Oil and Gas Infrastructure Construction
Opinion -President Donald Trump signed two executive orders to speed construction of multistate pipelines, liquefied natural gas terminals, and cross-border infrastructure projects, to remove key obstacles to interstate commerce. -
California Activists Push for Forcing Insurance Companies to Disclose Fossil Fuel Connections
Opinion -Environmental activist groups have petitioned California’s new insurance commissioner to require insurance companies to publicly disclose their investments in fossil fuel-related companies and any fossil fuel projects they underwrite or insure. -
Renewables Push Undermines Power Grid Serving 65 Million
Opinion -In recent years, environmental zealots have called for replace coal and nuclear power plants with green energy source, a shortsighted plan that could very well endanger the future of American energy production. -
Green New Deal Resolution Unanimously Rejected in Senate
Opinion -The U.S. Senate voted to reject the much-publicized Green New Deal (GND) resolution, authored by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA). -
New Mexico Enacts 100 Percent Renewable Energy Mandate
Opinion -New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a law requiring 50 percent of the electricity provided by the state’s utilities to be generated by renewable sources by 2030, 80 percent by 2040, and 100 percent by 2050. -
Environmentalists Are Using Bees for a Steroid-Infused Land Grab
Opinion -The Natural Resources Defense Council sued the U.S. Department of the Interior for declining to designate “critical habitat” for the rusty patched bumblebee, which the Obama administration designated as endangered just before leaving office. -
United States Will Soon Pass Saudi Arabia in Fossil Fuel Exports
Opinion -The United States will be exporting more oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and gasoline than Saudi Arabia by the end of 2019, which has not occurred since Saudi Arabia began exporting oil in the 1950s. -
Air Emissions, Toxic Releases Reduced, EPA Reports
Opinion -The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released reports showing air pollution and the amount of toxins released into the environment continue to decline nationwide.
