Natural Resources

"On a warm day last spring, dozens of protesters gathered outside a shopping center on the west side of Hawaii’s Big Island. They weren’t there to boycott a store or a pipeline or to deride a politician. They came to revolt against a new ban on feeding cats in the parking lot. “Stop starving the cats,” the protesters chanted, according to a local newspaper."

"A rule published by the Trump administration removed protections for 21 percent of streams and 25 percent of wetlands that otherwise could have received federal protection, new research has found."

"The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Thursday finalized their strategy on the protection of endangered North Atlantic right whales in the offshore wind power development process."

"Canada’s tar sands have gained infamy for being one of the world’s most polluting sources of oil, thanks to the large amounts of energy and water use required for their extraction. A new study says the operations are also emitting far higher levels of a range of air pollutants than previously known, with implications for communities living nearby and far downwind."

"A Brazilian federal judge ruled that miners Vale, BHP and their joint venture Samarco must pay 47.6 billion reais ($9.67 billion) in damages for a 2015 tailings dam burst, according to a legal decision on Thursday seen by Reuters."

"Climate change was the primary driver of a massive drought in the Amazon basin in 2023 and will likely cause future extreme droughts, with potentially dire consequences for global efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report from World Weather Attribution."

"An unusual collection of Senate leaders, British lords, environmentalists and a secretive lobbying group is urging the Biden administration to block a Brazilian meat processing giant linked to Amazon deforestation from offering shares to U.S. investors."

"A new rule imposing penalties for migratory bird killings associated with energy development, construction, and poaching is unlikely to be proposed by the Interior Department before the end of the current presidential term, legal experts say."