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Three EPA whistleblowers told ProPublica on Thursday that their complaints were the subject of the reports (which redact employee names). After endorsing Trump, Kennedy wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that the U.S. could “revisit pesticide and other chemical-use standards” if Trump wins. “The EPA was sort of paralyzed under the Trump administration,” she said. It’s not yet clear what Kennedy’s role might be in a potential Trump administration, or which decisions he’d help to make as part of the transition team. Even with Kennedy’s ties to Trump, Gartner said she would expect the EPA under a second Trump administration to act similarly to the first one.

Persons: Robert F, Kennedy Jr, Donald Trump, Kennedy, Trump, ”, Maria, Sean O’Donnell, ProPublica, Remmington Belford, “, Kennedy —, Tucker Carlson, ” Karoline Leavitt, ” Kennedy, Sharon Lerner, Lerner, Michal Freedhoff, , Freedhoff, Biden, Karen McCormack, McCormack, Trump’s, —, Eve Gartner, Danielle Alvarez, It’s, Carlson, Steven Cheung, Gartner Organizations: Environmental Protection Agency, NBC News, Trump, EPA, Chemical Control, Environmental Defense Fund, EPA’s, Trump ., RFK Jr, RFK, European Union, The, of Chemical Safety, Toxic, Federal, Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control Locations: U.S, Milwaukee, ”

PHOENIX — Members of an Arizona tribe are trying to persuade a federal judge to extend a temporary ban on exploratory drilling for a lithium project near lands they have used for religious and cultural ceremonies for centuries. The case is among the latest legal fights pitting Native American tribes and environmentalists against President Joe Biden’s administration as green energy projects encroach on lands that are culturally significant. The springs have served as a place of healing and prayer for generations, the tribe has said in court filings. Federal land managers also are expected to issue a draft environmental review of a lithium mine planned by Australian company Ioneer Ltd. between Reno and Las Vegas. Backers of Arizona Lithium’s project include the Navajo Transitional Energy Company, which announced its plans in 2022 to join with the Australian company and work as a contractor on the project.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, Thacker, Ha’Kamwe ’, ’, NTEC, Hualapai Organizations: PHOENIX, of Land Management, Arizona Lithium Ltd, Ioneer, Center for Biological Diversity, Mining, Historic Preservation, Environmental, Government, Navajo Transitional Energy Company Locations: Arizona, U.S, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Nevada, Oregon, Reno, Sandy, Colorado

☆ Hawaii Settles With Young Plaintiffs in Climate Case
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( David Gelles | More About David Gelles | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The government of Hawaii on Thursday settled a lawsuit with a group of young people who had sued the state’s Department of Transportation over its use of fossil fuels. It was the latest in a series of victories around the world in cases filed by young plaintiffs. The case was brought in 2022 and organized by Our Children’s Trust, a nonprofit organization that is pursuing similar cases in other states and federal courts, and Earthjustice, an environmental law firm. Last year a group in Montana, also organized by Our Children’s Trust, won their case against that state with a similar argument to the one presented in Hawaii. It also recognizes the constitutional rights of young people in the state to a clean and healthy environment.

Organizations: state’s Department of Transportation, Trust Locations: Hawaii, Montana

☆ Sweeping changes to America's aging power grid are on their way to help bypass NIMBY roadblocks and state infighting
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

America's power grid is old and stressed. The main problem: It takes way too long to build towering high-voltage power lines that carry electricity across state lines and to hook up new power to the grid. AdvertisementBut upgrading the power grid gets bogged down by several issues. A new rule issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission this month is aimed at tackling some of the problems. If the US doesn't invest in regional transmission lines, customers will pay the price in the form of congestion and more life-threatening outages.

Persons: Brett White, Larry Gasteiger, Allison Clements, West Virginia —, Jeffrey Shields, PJM, Shields, Manu Asthana's, Asthana, Mark Christie, Neil Chatterjee, Chatterjee, Christine Powell, Chuck Schumer, Gasteiger Organizations: Service, Business, Energy, Princeton University, Federal Energy Regulatory, Democrat, Sierra Club, Republican, Department of Energy, DOE, FERC, Earthjustice's Clean Energy, University of Chicago, wouldn't Locations: Pine, States, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New Jersey, California

It brings the U.S. closer to the European Union and California, which moved ahead earlier with corporate climate disclosure rules. The narrowed rule doesn’t include requirements that companies report some indirect emissions known as Scope 3. And small or emerging companies don’t have to report emissions at all. The SEC has said many companies already report such information, and the SEC’s rule would standardize such disclosures. More than 5,300 companies will be required to report their emissions under the California rule, according to Ceres, a nonprofit that works with investors and companies to address environmental challenges.

Persons: Caroline Crenshaw, “, ”, Hester Peirce, ” Peirce, —, Hana Vizcarra, Vizcarra, Gary Gensler, Gensler, ” Gensler, Coy Garrison, ” Suzanne Ashley, ” Ashley Organizations: WASHINGTON, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, U.S, European Union and, Publicly, SEC, Republican, Companies, Associated Press Locations: European Union and California, Earthjustice, U.S, overreach, California, Ceres, AP.org

Why did Biden delay consideration of LNG export terminals? Biden's action would not affect those projects, but could delay a dozen or more LNG projects that are pending or in various stages of planning. A public comment period after that will likely delay any decisions on pending LNG projects until after the November election. Environmentalists hailed Biden's decision, saying LNG exports not only pollute communities and add to the climate crisis but also raise energy prices for U.S. families and businesses. A single proposed LNG export terminal in Louisiana would produce about 20 times the greenhouse gas emissions of Willow, activists say.

Persons: —, Biden, Joe Biden, ”, Vladimir Putin, Ali Zaidi, Jennifer Granholm, ″ Zaidi, Granholm, Biden's, Abigail Dillen, Sen, Ed Markey, Mike Sommers, Mitch McConnell, Israel's, “, “ Biden, ″, Bill McKibben, Donald Trump, Karoline Leavitt Organizations: WASHINGTON, Democratic, Industry, Republicans, Russia, U.S, Energy Department, Energy, Seven, American Petroleum Institute, U.S . LNG, GOP Locations: United States, Europe, Asia, Ukraine, Alaska, U.S, Russia, Louisiana, Texas, Calcasieu, Coast, Kentucky, Gaza, Willow

☆ U.S. lays out plan at COP 28 to slash climate 'super pollutant' methane from oil and gas
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Biden administration on Saturday unveiled final rules aimed at cracking down on U.S. oil and gas industry releases of methane, part of a global plan to rein in emissions that contribute to climate change. The rules, two years in the making, were announced by U.S. officials at the United Nations COP28 climate change conference in Dubai. Methane tends to leak into the atmosphere undetected from drill sites, gas pipelines and other oil and gas equipment. It has more warming potential than carbon dioxide and breaks down in the atmosphere faster, so reining in methane emissions can have a more immediate impact on limiting climate change. The American Petroleum Institute, an oil and gas industry trade group, said it was reviewing the rule.

Persons: Biden, Michael Regan, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Jill Tauber, Dustin Meyer, Darren Woods Organizations: Saturday, U.S, United, Environmental, EPA, New, American Petroleum Institute, Reuters Locations: United Nations, Dubai, The United States, U.S, New Mexico, United States, COP28

The rules, two years in the making, were announced by U.S. officials at the United Nations COP28 climate change conference in Dubai. Methane tends to leak into the atmosphere undetected from drill sites, gas pipelines and other oil and gas equipment. It has more warming potential than carbon dioxide and breaks down in the atmosphere faster, so reining in methane emissions can have a more immediate impact on limiting climate change. The agency also tweaked the Super Emitter Program so that third parties send information on methane leaks to EPA directly for verification. The American Petroleum Institute, an oil and gas industry trade group, said it was reviewing the rule.

Persons: Liz Hampton, Biden, Michael Regan, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Jill Tauber, Dustin Meyer, Darren Woods, Nichola Groom, Valerie Volcovici, Diane Craft, Giles Elgood Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Saturday, U.S, United, Environmental, EPA, New, American Petroleum Institute, Reuters, Thomson Locations: New Mexico, U.S, United Nations, Dubai, The United States, United States, COP28

HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. military has confirmed that it will permanently end live-fire training in Makua Valley on Oahu, a major win for Native Hawaiian groups and environmentalists after decades of activism. Under the terms of a 2001 settlement, the military hasn’t conducted live-fire training at Makua Valley since 2004. But the court filing “removed the threat that Makua will ever again be subjected to live-fire training," environmental nonprofit Earthjustice said in a news release. Makua Valley was the site of decades of live-fire military training. Political Cartoons View All 1277 ImagesThe Makua Military Reservation spans nearly 5,000 acres.

Persons: Defense Lloyd Austin, Army Christine Wormuth, hasn’t, Earthjustice, “, ”, Malama, Sparky Rodrigues, we’re, ’, Malama Makua Organizations: Defense, Army, National Environmental Locations: HONOLULU, Makua Valley, Oahu, Hawaii, Makua

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A federal judge in Alaska on Friday rejected requests from environmental groups to halt winter construction work for the massive Willow oil project on Alaska’s North Slope while the groups’ legal fight over the drilling project wages on. U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason just last month upheld the Biden administration’s approval in March of the ConocoPhillips Alaska project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and dismissed lawsuits brought by environmentalists and a grassroots Iñupiat group challenging Willow’s approval. Those groups are appealing that decision and asked Gleason to block winter construction work planned by ConocoPhillips Alaska while the appeal is pending. While ConocoPhillips Alaska had proposed five drilling sites, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management approved three, which it said would include up to 199 total wells. Erik Grafe, an attorney with Earthjustice, which represents several environmental groups in one of the cases, said Gleason's decision was disappointing.

Persons: Sharon Gleason, Gleason, Joe Biden’s, Rebecca Boys, Erik Grafe, Willow, ” Grafe Organizations: —, U.S, Biden, ConocoPhillips, National Petroleum Reserve, ConocoPhillips Alaska, U.S . Bureau of Land Management, Earthjustice Locations: JUNEAU, Alaska, ConocoPhillips Alaska, Willow

☆ ‘Backtracking:’ A year of climate failures ahead of a crucial summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Laura Paddison | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

And yet, even as the climate crisis inserts itself viscerally into people’s lives, experts say the year has seen alarming backsliding on climate action. Green policies have been watered down, huge new oil and gas projects have been greenlit and coal has had something of a resurgence. As countries gather in Dubai for the UN’s COP28 climate summit, there are “high expectations,” said Harjeet Singh, the head of global political strategy at nonprofit Climate Action Network International. It sent worrying signals about climate backtracking, said Elisa Giannelli, a senior policy advisor at climate think tank E3G. Around 50% of its total capital spending needs to go toward clean energy projects by 2030, according to the report.

Persons: ”, Harjeet Singh, Kaveh Guilanpour, Singh, Biden, “, Erik Grafe, Joe Biden, Countess, Norway —, Elisa Giannelli, “ It’s, Rishi Sunak, Joeri Rogelj, Flora Champenois, It’s, Bernd Lauter, ” Rogelj, Darren Woods, Bernard Looney, Fatih Birol, Guilanpour, Claire Fyson, ” Fyson, “ we’re, ” CNN’s Ella Nilsen, Ivana Kottasová, Gan Organizations: CNN, United Nations, Action, “, Climate, Energy Solutions, US Department of Interior, Imperial College London, Global Energy Monitor, GEM, Getty, BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, Exxon, IEA, Climate Analytics Locations: Canada, Libyan, Dubai, Alaska, Washington ,, Australia, Norway, Europe, Germany, China, Asia, Ukraine, Eschweiler, COP28

Fish and Wildlife Service follows more than two decades of disputes over the risks of climate change, and threats to the long-term survival of the elusive species. They also said habitat loss due to climate change — combined with other problems such as increased development such as houses and roads — will likely harm wolverine populations. Environmentalists have argued in multiple lawsuits against the Fish and Wildlife Service that wolverines face localized extinction from climate change, habitat fragmentation and low genetic diversity. The wildlife service received a petition to protect wolverines in 2000 and the agency recommended protections in 2010. Wolverine trapping was once legal in states including Montana.

Persons: Biden, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Matt Rosendale, it's, “, ”, Timothy Preso, who's, I’m, –, We’ll, Matt Bishop, there's, Obama Organizations: wolverine, wolverines, Wolverines, U.S . Fish, Wildlife Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Wildlife Service, Western Environmental Law Center, Trump Locations: Mont, U.S, Rocky, Alaska, Florida, Montana, Sierra Nevada, Montana , Wyoming , Idaho, Washington, California , Utah, Colorado, Oregon, Idaho, Canada

Circuit Court of Appeals ruling means the lease sale — once set for September, but postponed multiple times amid legal fights — will be held in December. And it must cover 73 million acres (30 million hectares), as originally planned when the administration announced the sale in the spring. The administration later scaled back the area covered by the lease sale to 67 million acres (27 million hectares) as part of an agreement to protect the endangered Rice’s whale. But the state of Louisiana joined oil and gas companies in opposing the changes. The American Petroleum Institute, a powerful U.S. oil and gas industry trade association, lauded the development.

Persons: Biden, —, ” George Torgun, Ryan Meyers Organizations: ORLEANS, U.S, Circuit, Industry, Biden, American Petroleum Institute, Energy, Fifth Circuit Locations: Gulf, Mexico, Louisiana

☆ ConocoPhillips' $8 billion Willow project approvals upheld by US judge
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Clark Mindock | Companies Need To Integrate Climate Reporting Across Functions To Comply With California S New Law | Henry Engler | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Acquire Licensing RightsSummaryCompanies US judge upholds approvals for $8 billion Willow projectGroups say they are considering an appealNov 9 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Alaska on Thursday upheld U.S. approvals for ConocoPhillips’ multibillion-dollar Willow oil and gas drilling project in the state’s Arctic, rejecting environmental and tribal groups' concerns that the project poses too large of a climate threat. U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason in Anchorage dismissed a lawsuit filed by environmental and tribal groups challenging the $8 billion project's approvals, which the U.S. Opponents claim the project would release hundreds of millions of tons of carbon pollution into the atmosphere, aggravating climate change and damaging pristine wilderness. The approvals give ConocoPhillips permission to construct three drill pads, 25.8 miles of gravel roads, an air strip and hundreds of miles of ice roads. The environmental and tribal groups challenged the approvals in two lawsuits filed in March.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Sharon Gleason, Gleason, Erik Grafe, ConocoPhillips didn't, Joe Biden's, Iñupiat, Ian Dooley, Carole Holley, Earthjustice, Bridget Psarianos, Suzanne Bostrom, Rickey Turner, Paul Turcke, Ryan Steen, Whitney Brown, Jason Morgan, Luke Sanders, Stoel, Clark Mindock Organizations: ConocoPhillips, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, ConocoPhillips ’ multibillion, U.S, U.S . Interior Department, Earthjustice, Interior Department, of Land Management, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, Environmental, of Land, for Biological, District of, Trustees, U.S . Department of Justice, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Alaska, Anchorage, District of Alaska

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday upheld the Biden administration’s approval of the Willow oil-drilling project on Alaska’s remote North Slope, a massive project that drew the ire of environmentalists who had accused the president of backpedaling on his pledge to combat climate change. She added that the alternatives analyzed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management as part of its review were consistent with the policy objectives of the petroleum reserve and the stated purpose and need of the Willow project. The administration's action alienated and outraged some supporters, particularly young activists who launched a TikTok campaign to oppose the project ahead of its approval in March. Connor Dunn, vice president of the Willow project for ConocoPhillips Alaska, said in court documents that it was “highly unlikely” that Willow would proceed if the administration’s approval were to be vacated. Many Alaska Native leaders on the North Slope and groups with ties to the region have argued that Willow is economically vital for their communities.

Persons: backpedaling, Sharon Gleason, ” Gleason, Erik Grafe, Earthjustice, ” Bridget Psarianos, Inupiat, ” Psarianos, Joe Biden’s, Deb Haaland, Connor Dunn, Dunn, Gleason, Rebecca Boys, Willow, Trump, Biden, greenlight, Mike Dunleavy, “, ”, Nagruk Harcharek Organizations: —, Biden, National Petroleum Reserve, U.S . Bureau of Land Management, ConocoPhillips, Land Management, Gleason ., Alaska, Republican Gov Locations: JUNEAU, Alaska, North, Willow, ConocoPhillips Alaska, ”

☆ US Commercial fishing groups sue tire manufacturers over fish-killing chemical
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Clark Mindock | Companies Need To Integrate Climate Reporting Across Functions To Comply With California S New Law | Henry Engler | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Nathan Frandino/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 8 (Reuters) - U.S. commercial fishing groups on Wednesday sued 13 tire manufacturers in California, saying a chemical used in their tires is poisoning West Coast watersheds and killing rare trout and salmon. The fishing groups said the chemical, which becomes toxic when it degrades, is released from tires as vehicles drive around and park. The tire manufacturers did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. In July, California's Department of Toxic Substances Control adopted a rule requiring tire manufacturers to evaluate safer alternatives to 6PPD, noting the threat to coho salmon. Together, the 13 tire manufacturers sued on Wednesday account for 80% of the domestic U.S. tire market, according to the lawsuit.

Persons: Nathan Frandino, Elizabeth Forsyth, Forsyth, Clark Mindock, Alexia Garamfalvi, Sandra Maler Organizations: REUTERS, Wednesday, Institute for Fisheries Resources, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, Bridgestone Corp, Goodyear Tire &, Michelin, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, California's Department, Toxic Substances, Thomson Locations: Lagunitas, Marin County , California, U.S, California, San Francisco federal, West

For more than a year, the Environmental Protection Agency investigated whether Louisiana officials discriminated against Black residents by putting them at increased cancer risk. As attorney general, Landry fought the EPA’s investigation. Health officials, for example, wanted the unilateral power to decide if and when they had to do the EPA-proposed analysis. The AP reviewed a draft agreement edited by state health officials and sent to EPA in May, reflecting negotiations at the time. It has not reviewed any draft agreement that would show what Louisiana's environmental agency might have been willing to accept.

Persons: Biden, Eric Schaeffer, it’s, Schaeffer, Republican Jeff Landry, Landry, Deena Tumeh, Tumeh, “, ”, ” Tumeh, Kevin Litten, VI, Sharon, Lavigne, James, Michael Regan, It's, Stacey Sublett Halliday, Beveridge, Diamond, ” Sublett Halliday Organizations: Environmental Protection Agency, The Associated Press, EPA’s, Civil, Louisiana, Republican, EPA, Louisiana Department of Environmental, Louisiana Department of Health, Health, AP, Cancer, Associated Press, Walton Family Foundation Locations: Louisiana, chloroprene, St

Biden's Interior Department on Friday unveiled a congressionally mandated five-year plan for offshore oil drilling that included just three sales, all in the Gulf of Mexico -- the lowest number in any five-year plan since the government began publishing them in 1980. Previous five-year offshore lease programs have ranged between 11 and 41 sales, according to Interior's U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The Inflation Reduction Act, a landmark climate change law passed last year, made oil and gas lease sales a prerequisite for new offshore wind power auctions. Biden sees offshore wind power as a key element to his plan to decarbonize the U.S. economy by 2050. In a sign of the litigious nature of U.S. drilling policy, Biden's administration had been scheduled to hold a Congressionally mandated Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease auction this month.

Persons: Biden, Erik Milito, Abigail Dillen, we've, Mike Sommers, Bill Cassidy, Vladimir Putin, Cassidy, Trump, Nichola Groom, Jamie Freed, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Biden's, Department, Reuters, National Ocean Industries Association, U.S . Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Interior Department, Biden, American Petroleum Institute, U.S . Chamber of Commerce, Gulf Coast, OPEC, Organization of, Petroleum, ., Interior, Thomson Locations: Gulf of Mexico, U.S, Gulf, Mexico, Putin, Louisiana, Russia, California

The five-year plan includes proposed sales in the Gulf of Mexico — the nation’s primary offshore source of oil and gas — in 2025, 2027 and 2029. The three lease sales are the minimum number the Democratic administration could legally offer if it wants to continue expanding offshore wind development. The lease program will guard against environmental damage caused by oil and gas drilling and other adverse impacts to coastal communities, Haaland said. “The (oil leasing) program is definitely informed by the IRA and the connection that the IRA makes between offshore oil and gas leasing and renewable energy leasing,” he said Thursday, referring to the Inflation Reduction Act. The Interior Department can’t sell the rights to drill for oil and gas offshore without first publishing a schedule that outlines its plans.

Persons: Joe Biden's, Biden, Democratic Sen, Joe Manchin, Manchin, Harris, Deb Haaland, ”, Haaland, “, Biden's, Ryan Lance, Willow, Dyani Chapman, Tommy Beaudreau, Interior Department can’t, Rene Santos, Santos, Beth Lowell, Abigail Dillen, Sen, Dan Sullivan, ___ Brown, Becky Bohrer Organizations: WASHINGTON, Democratic, Biden, Interior Department, Interior Department’s, of Ocean Energy Management, drillers, BP, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Alaska Environment, Interior, P, Gulf, American Petroleum Institute, Chevron, Associated Press Locations: Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, Gulf, Mexico, West Virginia, Chevron, Brazil, Guyana, Louisiana, Oceana, Gulf Coast, Billings, Mont, Juneau , Alaska

That area was reduced to 67 acres (27 hectares) in August when Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced final plans for the sale. Chevron, Shell Offshore, the American Petroleum Institute and the state of Louisiana sued to reverse the cut in acreage and block the inclusion of the whale-protecting measures in the lease sale provisions. They also said the changes after the initial lease sale was proposed in March violate federal law because they were adopted arbitrarily, without sufficient explanation of why they are needed. Political Cartoons View All 1173 ImagesMeanwhile, rival litigation filed by Earthjustice and other prominent environmental groups seeks to halt the lease sale. The organizations say the lease sale violates the National Environmental Policy.

Persons: Biden, James David Cain Jr, Lake Charles, BOEM, Earthjustice, ” Erik Milito, Steve Mashuda Organizations: ORLEANS, —, Interior Department, Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, District, Shell, American Petroleum Institute, Environmental, Energy, National Ocean Industries Association Locations: Gulf, Mexico, Lake, Maryland, Chevron, Louisiana, Gulf Coast

☆ 'I don't want to die:' How 14 youth advocates in Hawaii are fighting climate change by taking the state to court
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Yoonji Han | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Hawaiian youth advocates sued the state's transportation department over greenhouse-gas emissions. Amid the escalating climate crisis, Nishida and 13 other Hawaiian youth advocates sued the Hawaii Department of Transportation in 2022 over transportation-related greenhouse-gas emissions. The lawsuit, Navahine F. v. Hawaii Department of Transportation, is scheduled to go to trial next summer. Transportation emissions made up the largest share of energy-sector emissions in Hawaii in 2017, according to a 2021 report by the Hawaii Department of Health. Youth plaintiffs gather before the start of the Navahine F. v. the Hawaii Department of Transportation hearing at the First Circuit Environmental Court in Honolulu on January 26.

Persons: Taliya Nishida, Nishida, Navahine, Andrea Rodgers, Rodgers, KawahineʻIlikea, Taliya, Mesina, Kalā, Rylee, Elyse Butler Organizations: Service, Hawaii Department of Transportation, . Hawaii Department of Transportation, Transportation, Hawaii Department of Health, Trust, cocounsel, Court, Department of Transportation Locations: Hawaii, Maui, Montana, Honolulu, Waimea, United States

☆ Growing fury from Maui residents over the direction of early wildfire recovery efforts
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Alicia Victoria Lozano | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

US President Joe Biden is embraced by Hawaii Governor Josh Green (C) after delivering remarks as he visits an area devastated by wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii on August 21, 2023. Rebuilding hasn't even started after a deadly wildfire destroyed the historic town of Lahaina, Hawaii, last month, but residents are already angry and frustrated with recent moves by Gov. Now, they say, that pattern could be repeated with the aid of an emergency proclamation signed by Green that could erode their hard-won rights, despite his reassurances that rebuilding would reflect the needs of Maui residents. "It is a real slap in the face when we still have to deal with the aftermath of this fire." Green reinstated the water rules last week, but residents are wary that future proclamations could jeopardize their efforts to restore Maui's streams and wetlands.

Persons: Joe Biden, Josh Green, hasn't, Green, Kekai Keahi, Makana McClellan, we've, McClellan, We're, Hōkūao Pellegrino, Nani Medeiros, I've, Medeiros, Marti Townsend, Townsend, Glenn Tremble, Manuel, Ed Wendt, David Henkin, Pellegrino Organizations: Hawaii, Gov, Maui Land Co, West Maui Land Co, American Civil Liberties Union, Sierra Club, Earthjustice Locations: Lahaina , Hawaii, Maui, Lahaina, Hawaii, Honolulu

☆ The Great Salt Lake has lost half its water, and a new lawsuit says it's Utah state lawmakers' fault
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Jesse Bedayn | Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Great Salt Lake has shrunk in half since 1847 due to freshwater demand and climate change. Spencer Cox earlier this year created a position and chose the first-ever commissioner of the Great Salt Lake in an effort to find solutions. AP Photo/Rick BowmerThe risks of a diminished Great Salt Lake aren't merely beached sailboats and wider beaches. AdvertisementAdvertisementAs the lake shrinks, it becomes saltierThe sun sets on the Great Salt Lake on June 15, 2023, near Magna, Utah. AdvertisementAdvertisementAlready, a pelican colony on a Great Salt Lake island has floundered after their island became a peninsula, letting in coyotes, Seed said.

Persons: Brian Moench, didn't, Rick Bowmer, Spencer Cox, Moench, Rick Bowmer Stu Gillespie, Gillespie, ____ Jesse Bedayn Organizations: Service, Utah's Republican, Utah Rivers Council, Utah Physicians, Environment, AP, Republican Gov, Chemicals, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Associated Press, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: Utah, Mississippi, Salt Lake, Magna , Utah, Salt, Marina, Lake, Earthjustice, Chile, Alaska, North America

The decision by EPA Administrator Michael Regan means that one of the agency's most important air quality regulations will not be updated until well after the 2024 presidential election. Political Cartoons View All 1145 ImagesThe delay marks the second time in 12 years that a Democratic administration has put off a new ozone standard prior to an election year. Former President Barack Obama shut down plans to tighten ozone standards in 2011, leading to four-year delay before the standards were updated in 2015. "Unfortunately we’ve seen the process for updating the ozone standards repeatedly swept up in political games that risk lives,'' the lawmakers said in an Aug. 7 letter to EPA. Lianne Sheppard, a University of Washington biostatistics professor who chairs the scientific advisory panel, said Regan's decision was “his alone” to make.

Persons: Michael Regan, “, Regan, ”, Barack Obama, Paul Billings, Raul Garcia, ” Garcia, Sen, Sheldon Whitehouse, we’ve, Conor Bernstein, EPA’s, Donald Trump, Bernstein, Andrea Woods, —, Lianne Sheppard, Richard Moore, Peggy Shepard, Moore, Sheppard, Tomas Carbonell, Carbonell Organizations: WASHINGTON, Environmental Protection Agency, Republicans, Democratic, American Lung Association, National Mining Association, American Petroleum Institute, Scientific Advisory, White, Environmental, EPA, University of Washington, E, White House, Los Jardines Institute, WE ACT, Environmental Justice, Air Locations: Billings, Albuquerque , New Mexico, New York City

Interior Department on Wednesday said it would cancel oil and gas leases in a federal wildlife refuge that were bought by an Alaska state development agency in the final days of former President Donald Trump's administration. Environmentalists and an Alaska indigenous group praised the move while a Republican Senator from Alaska slammed it. A Republican-passed tax bill in 2017 opened the area to oil and gas leasing and directed Interior to hold two lease sales by December 2024. The oil and gas industry largely failed to embrace the 2021 lease sale, which generated just $14 million in high bids, mostly from AIDEA. “We commend Secretary Haaland for canceling unlawfully issued oil-and-gas leases in the Arctic Refuge,” Abigail Dillen, president of environmental group Earthjustice, said in a statement.

Persons: Donald Trump's, Joe Biden, Biden, Deb Haaland, AIDEA, “, ” Abigail Dillen, Dan Sullivan, Interior's, Jarrett Renshaw, Nichola Groom, Chizu Nomiyama, David Gregorio, Mark Porter Organizations: U.S . Fish, Wildlife Service, Library, Fish, REUTERS, Conocophillips, U.S . Interior Department, Alaska Industrial Development, Export Authority, Wildlife, Democrat, National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska Natives, Trump, ConocoPhillips, United Nations, ALASKA Trump's Interior Department, Republican, Biden, Thomson Locations: Beaufort, Wildlife Service Alaska, U.S, Alaska, United States, ALASKA Trump's, ANWR, Washington, Los Angeles

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