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☆ New Jersey's environmental agency called itself out for destroying two endangered birds' protected habitats while creating one for another species
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

New Jersey's environmental agency plans to punish itself for damaging land for endangered birds it was supposed to protect. The damage happened when the department was trying to create habitat for another bird species, the American woodcock. The work was designed to create habitat for one species of bird, but actually wound up destroying habitat for two others. Before the work was done, this land was considered suitable habitat for the barred owl, which is listed as a threatened species, and the red-shouldered hawk, an endangered species. The project also cleared and disturbed an additional 12 acres of land near wetlands known as transition areas, which also are protected.

CNN —A fast-moving wildfire in southern New Jersey has grown to nearly 4,000 acres less than 24 hours after it started. It was just 500 acres at 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. About 170 structures in the Manchester Township area were evacuated Tuesday night, but all residents have since been allowed to return home, Manchester Police Chief Robert Dolan said during a news conference Wednesday. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection/APThe fire was primarily burning on federal, state and private property in Manchester Township, but it had jumped to the nearby borough of Lakehurst. The cause of the fire is under investigation, New Jersey Forest Fire Service Warden Trevor Raynor said.

☆ Mountain Valley Pipeline's West Virginia water permit tossed by court
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Clark Mindock | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Circuit Court of Appeals found several defects in the review the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection conducted before issuing the permit. They told the court the agency ignored Equitrans' history of violating state water regulations when it issued the permit under the Clean Water Act. A spokesperson for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection said they're reviewing the decision. The permit is one of the last remaining hurdles for the multi-billion dollar project, which would carry natural gas between West Virginia and Virginia. For West Virginia: Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, Michael Williams and Lindsay See of the state attorney general’s office and Jason Wandling of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.

[1/7] A view shows a forest parcel from which trees burned by the last summer's wildfires have been removed, in Landiras, in the Gironde region, France, March 20, 2023. Columns of white, acrid smoke rise from a forest floor outside the town of Hostens in the Gironde region, south of Bordeaux. The Gironde region was particularly badly hit with 20,000 hectares of forest destroyed, and the risk of renewed fires is a great concern. When it comes to wildfires risk, she said that prevention was crucial, as well as swift intervention when a fire first starts, which is easier to do from above. The interior ministry said measures for fighting forest fires across France will be presented in the coming weeks.

A package containing "suspicious white powder" was discovered at noon on Friday in the building where a grand jury has been hearing evidence in the Trump "hush-money" investigation led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, officials told Insider. The package was delivered to the building's mail room, and was non-hazardous, police told Insider. The package was delivered by USPS, Fox News reported; the New York Post reported that it was an envelope addressed to "Alvin." The grand jury meets Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, sources have told Insider, and was not in session on Friday. No one was sickened or taken to the hospital; the package was determined to be non-hazardous within three hours, officials told Insider.

☆ Death threat, powder sent to Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg after Trump warning of violence
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was threatened with assassination in a letter containing powder, hours after former President Donald Trump warned Friday of "potential death & destruction" if he is indicted by a grand jury in a criminal case led by Bragg. said the typewritten note in a letter contained in an envelope addressed to Bragg, WNBC reported, citing law-enforcement sources. The letter, containing an Orlando, Florida, postmark from Tuesday, was found in the DA's mail room in a lower Manhattan building after being received at 11:40 a.m. The white powder in the envelope was found to be non-hazardous, the New York Police Department told CNBC. NYPD investigators and the FBI, which has an office close by, were at the scene investigating the letter.

An Insider review found that his company has sold to foreign governments, including a $228 million dollar contract. What Mills didn't advertise was Pacem's munitions contracts with foreign governments. The company's chief legal officer Joseph Schmitz said all of Pacem's foreign munitions sales are approved by the Department of State. Mills's influence over American military spending while having ties to a munitions company poses the potential for conflicts of interest, an ethics watchdog said. In Congress, Mills sits on the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees, which oversee military spending and foreign weapons sales.

The comments by the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were echoed by President Joe Biden later on Tuesday. The EPA also ordered that Norfolk Southern officials attend town meetings about the Feb. 3 spill in East Palestine, Ohio. The EPA order requires Norfolk Southern to submit a work plan for EPA approval for the cleanup associated with the derailment. Norfolk Southern shares closed down 1.6% on Tuesday and have slid almost 11% since Feb. 3. Norfolk Southern did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Shapiro's remarks.

The Environmental Protection Agency order requires Norfolk Southern to submit a work plan for EPA approval for the clean up associated with the Feb. 3 derailment. Norfolk Southern shares were down 1.6% on Tuesday afternoon and have slid almost 11% since Feb. 3. Norfolk Southern did not immediately reply for a request for comment on Shapiro's remarks. Although no fatalities or injuries have been reported, residents have been demanding answers about health risks and blaming Norfolk Southern, state and federal officials for a lack of information regarding the crash. Norfolk Southern said it had consulted with town leaders and was worried about the safety of its employees if they did attend.

☆ The workers who are supposed to lead the US response to the climate crisis are feeling 'burned out'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

There's a staffing crisis at the nation's top environmental agency, union officials say. The number of Environmental Protection Agency employees today is similar to the Ronald Reagan era. Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest on the culture & business of sustainability — delivered weekly to your inbox. "People are burned out," Marie Owens Powell, an EPA employee and the president of its union chapter known as AFGE Council 238, told Insider. "Communities need to implement these programs, whether it's replacing lead service lines for drinking water or cleaning up environmental pollution."

☆ The $113,000 Hummer EV is totally outrageous in every way — and that's what makes it such a good time
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The GMC Hummer EV is ridiculously large, astonishingly quick, and excessive in every way. GM lent me a Hummer EV Edition 1, which retails for around $113,000. First, the basicsThe 2022 GMC Hummer EV Edition 1. The Hummer EV pickup launched in late 2021, and an SUV is on the way for 2023. What falls short: New Hummer, same problemsThe Hummer EV is wildly inefficient compared to its competitors, which is both unfortunate and on brand.

☆ COP27: WTO chief seeks to revive green trade talks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Simon Jessop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 8 (Reuters) - The head of the World Trade Organization aims to revive negotiations on a global environmental trade deal, she told Reuters, as part of efforts to give the trade watchdog a bigger role in tackling climate change. But WTO discussions collapsed in 2016 after disagreements between China and Western countries about which products should be on the environmental list. "You need to have a friendly trade regime for renewables and other environmentally-friendly products," she said, noting tariffs for fossil fuel products are lower than for renewables in many countries. Exploratory discussions about a possible revival of a green trade deal have begun at the 164-member WTO body, although Okonjo-Iweala said some countries had expressed concerns, without naming them. She suggested beginning with a preliminary list of some 50 or 60 products that could be lengthened gradually.

☆ Duke Energy is one of the top leakers of a gas that is 25,000 times more polluting than carbon dioxide, EPA records show
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Phil Mckenna | Inside Climate News | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +22 min

The emissions were equal to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of more than 59,000 automobiles, according to the EPA’s greenhouse gas equivalency calculator. Under such a scenario Duke Energy would likely have years of low emissions punctuated by a single year of high emissions. While other utilities have participated for decades in a voluntary program with the EPA to reduce SF6 emissions to next to nothing, Duke Energy has not. Brooks said Duke Energy is also targeting its most leaky equipment for faster replacement. The figure is roughly half of 1% of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, far smaller than yearly emissions of carbon dioxide, the primary driver of climate change.

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