"A Nevada ranch defied U.S. drought closure orders in grazing cattle on federally managed land, environmentalists said on Wednesday, comparing it to action by another Nevada rancher that led to an armed standoff last year with federal agents."
"An oil pipeline that ruptured and spilled an estimated 383,000 litres (101,000 gallons) of crude near Santa Barbara in May had been allowed to corrode to a tiny fraction of its original thickness, federal regulators have said."
It appears to an outside observer that NYT reporter Coral Davenport was uninvited to EPA's "Waters of the U.S." (WOTUS) rule announcement phone call as retaliation for an unfavorable story she had written about the agency's public affairs operation the week before. EPA says not.
"Pat Mulroy Preached Conservation While Backing Growth in Las Vegas".
"State and federal courts handed down three decisions against a proposed copper and gold mine in Alaska that environmentalists are staging a nationwide fight against."
"ALONG THE SALTON SEA, CALIF. — The bone-dry lake bed burned crystalline and white in the midday sun. Ecologist Bruce Wilcox hopped out of his truck and bent down to scoop up a handful of the gleaming, crusty soil."
"The foul-smelling carcasses of whales are attracting a veritable swarm of marine biologists to California beaches in what has so far been a futile effort to figure out why so many of the blubbery beasts are washing ashore."
Areas of the Southwest are desert, but federally financed water projects have created cities and farms dependent on water that may not be there much longer.
"President Obama on Wednesday announced a sweeping new clean water regulation meant to restore the federal government’s authority to limit pollution in the nation’s rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands."
"Dustin Wichterman's well-tanned arm rests on the rolled-down window of his beat-up silver Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. Suddenly, he points into the woods. "Do you see how it's wide?" he asks, indicating the stream rushing along near the road. It is one of hundreds of streams that feed into the southern branch of the Potomac River headwaters in West Virginia. "It shouldn't be like that.""
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