Natural Resources

Records: Upper Peninsula Mine Approved Despite Major Concerns

"Over and over, Michigan environmental regulators sounded alarms as they reviewed a proposed large, open-pit ore mine in the Upper Peninsula near the Menominee River, prized for walleye fishing and a major tributary to Lake Michigan. ... Then the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and then-Michigan Department of Environmental Quality approved the mine anyway."

Source: Detroit Free Press, 08/14/2019

"New Trump Rules Weaken Wildlife Protections"

"The Trump administration took its final step Monday to weaken the Endangered Species Act, a bedrock law that brought the bald eagle, the American alligator, the California condor, the humpback whale and the grizzly bear back from the brink of extinction."

Source: Washington Post, 08/13/2019

"Inside The Tsilhqot’in Nation’s Battle Against Taseko Mines"

"A proposed copper and gold mine has been rejected twice by the federal government for its impacts on Fish Lake, an area considered sacred by the Tsilhqot’in. But B.C.’s mining laws allow the company to move ahead with exploration work anyway. That doesn’t square with Tsilhqot’in law and the community says it won’t back down".

Source: The Narwhal, 08/12/2019

"EPA Dropped Salmon Protection After Trump Met With Alaska Governor"

"The Environmental Protection Agency told staff scientists that it was no longer opposing a controversial Alaska mining project that could devastate one of the world's most valuable wild salmon fisheries just one day after President Trump met with Alaska's governor, CNN has learned."

Source: CNN, 08/12/2019

Freelance Journalism: Not an Enterprise for the Weak

August 8, 2019 — I'm a Washington, D.C.-based, award-winning energy and environment reporter. As a staff writer for InsideClimate News, my groundbreaking dispatches from Kalamazoo, Mich., "The Dilbit Disaster: Inside the Biggest Oil Spill You Never Heard Of," won a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. As well, an e-book version of the narrative won the 2013 Rachel Carson Book Award from the Society of Environmental Journalists.

Visibility: 

WOTUS: "Trump Rule Muddies Oversight Of Free-Flowing Ariz. River"

"SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. — It's easy to spot the San Pedro River from the air; just look for the cottonwood trees outlining its banks. The bright green forest persists even at the height of Arizona's dry season in June, when most of the river doesn't have any water. But summer monsoons this month bring waves of water up to a dozen feet tall."

Source: Greenwire, 08/06/2019

Should Rivers Have Same Legal Rights As Humans? More Voices Say Yes

"In early July, Bangladesh became the first country to grant all of its rivers the same legal status as humans. From now on, its rivers will be treated as living entities in a court of law. The landmark ruling by the Bangladeshi Supreme Court is meant to protect the world's largest delta from further degradation from pollution, illegal dredging and human intrusion."

Source: NPR, 08/05/2019

Judge Blocks Rosemont Copper Mine, Overturning Forest Service Decision

"A federal judge blocked construction of a giant copper mine in Arizona’s Coronado National Forest, overturning a decision by the federal government and handing a major victory to environmental groups and tribes that have been fighting plans for the mine."

Source: Arizona Republic, 08/02/2019

"Forest Service To Change Sage Grouse Protections In 5 States"

"Plans for protecting sage grouse in five Western states are being changed in ways that will conserve habitat while allowing ranchers to maintain their livelihoods, federal officials said Thursday. ... Environmental groups blasted the plan based on the Forest Service’s three-bullet-point summary released Thursday ...."

Source: AP, 08/02/2019

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