"The Trump administration has completed a review of plans to ease protections for a struggling bird species in seven states in the U.S. West, but there’s little time to put the relaxed rules for industry into action before President-elect Joe Biden takes office."
Watch the Jan 27 recording of the Society of Environmental Journalists' 9th annual look ahead at the year's key energy and environmental issues. Hosted by National Geographic Society and co-sponsored by the Wilson Center, the event kicked off with a prerecorded interview with new White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, followed by a live interview with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, and SEJ's annual panel of leading journalists offering their predictions for the year ahead.
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt quietly signed a directive last month that could have significant impacts on how the Bureau of Land Management's law enforcement rangers protect federal lands."
"At least 50 countries committed to protecting 30% of the planet, including land and sea, over the next decade to halt species extinction and address climate change issues, during a global summit Monday aimed at protecting the world’s biodiversity."
"The warming climate is intensifying drought, contributing to fires and drying out the river's headwaters, sending consequences cascading downstream."
"Outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is moving to loosen mining regulations and green light new mineral projects before leaving office this month, with successor Joe Biden unable to reverse some of the changes."
"The world’s grasslands are an essential carbon sink, and may even be more efficient at capturing atmospheric carbon than trees. But thanks to animal agriculture and fertilizer use, they’re now producing as much greenhouse gas pollution as they sequester, according to a new study published in Nature Communications on Tuesday."
"A Michigan judge has overruled state regulators who approved a key permit for a proposed open-pit mine in the Upper Peninsula, another delay for a project that has been debated for nearly two decades."
"A federal judge in Alaska ruled late on Tuesday that the Trump administration’s planned auction of oil drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) could proceed as planned on Wednesday morning."
"The Trump administration on Monday finalized plans to open more than 80 percent of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve (NPRA) to oil drilling, pushing ahead over objections from environmentalists who have already challenged the plans in court."
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