Environment of the United States

It’s never really a great day to be endangered, but for U.S. species, today is a better one than most. The Biden Administration issued a set of three policies on Wednesday that strengthen the 1973 Endangered Species Act (ESA). These proposed rules reverse a number of Trump-era changes thateffectively gutted wildlife protections in 2019. With the Biden shifts many—though not all—of those destructive Trump alterations have been reverted back to their original state.Bees Are Fish Now, I Guess?After the new rules go into…

Multiple conservation groups joined forces and announced their intent to sue a federal agency over what they say is a failure to protect West Indian manatees, large marine mammals that live near Florida and across the Caribbean. The manatees’ population has declined in recent years as they run out of food and lose habitat.Rare Polar Bear Attack in Canada | Extreme EarthThe Harvard Animal Law & Policy Clinic, Center for Biological Diversity, Miami Waterkeeper, and engineer Frank S. González García filed a notice…

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.Bees Are Fish Now, I Guess?California just cracked down on pollution from transportation in two major moves, part of an effort to improve air quality and cut carbon emissions at the same time.On Friday, the California Air Resources Board unanimously approved a rule that would ban the sale of diesel big rigs in the state by 2036. The mandate, which will apply to about 1.8 million trucks — including those operated by Amazon, UPS, and…

On Monday, several outlets broke the story that the Biden administration is planning to release a plan to regulate carbon emissions from power plants. And even though the rule isn’t public yet, if history is any indication, conservative forces are already getting ready to take the EPA to court.Bees Are Fish Now, I Guess?Last year, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of several plaintiffs, including two coal companies and a group of Republican attorneys general, in a case challenging the Obama administration’s Clean Power…

We need climate action. But just because something gets grouped under the umbrella of things that theoretically combat climate change doesn’t mean it’s actually good for the planet or people. In an alarming example, production of certain alternative “climate-friendly” fuels could lead to dangerous, cancer-causing emissions.Bees Are Fish Now, I Guess?A Chevron scheme to make new plastic-based fuels, approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, could carry a 1-in-4 lifetime cancer risk for residents near the company’s…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed new regulation that would make chemical plant owners and operators responsible for their toxic emissions. Facilities would have to measure and reduce hazardous compounds beyond just the property that a chemical plant sits on, a change that could significantly improve air quality for nearby communities, according to the EPA. Bees Are Fish Now, I Guess?The rule would update regulations that govern chemical plant emissions, particularly air pollutants ethylene…

The fallout from last month’s disastrous train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio is still unfolding. The Environmental Protection Agency continues to oversee clean-up efforts, is still struggling to find suitable treatment sites for contaminated waste water, and is conducting some ongoing environmental monitoring and reporting.Bees Are Fish Now, I Guess?Yet amid those touted efforts, the agency itself has faced flack. Some locals and researchers have criticized the EPA for being slow to act. Others have pointed out the…

A proposal to build a nearly 500-mile-long stretch of transmission line in Nevada has been further delayed due to the discovery of possible fossil deposits in its path.According to E&E News, an environmental review of the transmission line plan, originally slated to be released in January,may not be made public for a public comment period until May. That’s because the path of the Greenlink West power line, as it’s been proposed by NV Energy, runs through 1.5 miles of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument,…

Cryptocurrency miners operating on public lands haven’t been paying their dues, according to a new report from federal watchdog group, the Office of the Inspector General for Department of the Interior (DOI OIG). The regulatory agency document, published this week and dated Monday, highlights a lack of clear policy surrounding crypto mining that’s left the U.S. government and its land losing out. Fossil fuel companies and other resource extraction industries mine, in part, on federal lands through a system of permits and…

People in East Palestine, Ohio are still struggling with uncertainty and fear for their health and community in the aftermath of the disastrous derailment of a train carrying hazardous chemicals on February 6. This week, the extreme impacts of that spill on local wildlife became clearer.An estimated 43,785 aquatic animals died as a result of the train derailment, Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources said in a Thursday statement and recorded press conference.The agency came to that number through sampling and surveying…