Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Mojave Desert outside of Pahrump, Nevada Helen O’Shea Southern Nevada is a prime location for solar development—the sun shines well over 200 plus days a year here. It’s also home to some of the Mojave desert’s most iconic species including desert tortoise and bighorn sheep. Balancing the development […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund On January 19, His Holiness Pope Francis will touch down for a few hours in Madre de Dios, an area in the Peruvian Amazon. Displaying his usual compassion for the marginalized and the powerless, the Pope will spend his time meeting with indigenous people and children. While the […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund iStock Well, this is awkward. After opening 90 percent of America’s coastlines to offshore drilling last week, U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke exempted Florida after its governor, Rick Scott, asked him to. That’s great news for Florida’s communities, coastal habitats, and local economies (and, ahem, Mar-a-Lago), […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Protesters against the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipelines at the Virginia Capitol Square in Richmond Daniel Sangjib Min/Richmond Times-Dispatch/AP Images Like the Keystone XL and Dakota Access before it, a disputed pipeline recently got the green light from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which controls the […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund In less than a decade, Bhutan’s Royal Manas National Park has achieved a big win for tiger conservation. From only 10 tigers in 2010, its population has now grown to 22. Singye Wangmo, the Royal Manas National Park’s manager, credits the increase to the great teamwork, including strong transboundary collaboration […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund In a welcome move, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) yesterday rejected Constitution Pipeline’s petition to overturn a previous New York State rejection of the fracked gas pipeline. This is one more nail in the coffin of this flawed project. Pipeline construction near homes. David Jones Constitution claimed […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Welcome to our weekly Trump v. Earth column, in which onEarth reviews the environment-related shenanigans of President Trump and his allies. Rick Perry Gets Totally FERC’d The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission unanimously rejected U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s plan to delay the retirement of outdated coal and nuclear […]
Published by Ocean Conservancy Some of my favorite early summer evenings were spent on the Puget Sound with the Olympic Mountains in view and the salty smell of the ocean nearby. My friends and I would get together at the local marina to grab beers and a bag of oysters from the dockside shop. Then at […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Sachin Daluja/Flickr Last July, after Karen Feridun and Tracy Carluccio delivered a petition with more than 63,000 signatures in support of a fracking ban in the Delaware River watershed to the office of Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf, they popped down to the cafeteria in the building. To their […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund Laura Miller dubs herself shy while Tiffany Jones is decidedly outgoing. This contrast in personality—combined with a shared interest in conservation—makes them a stronger team. The two 30-something friends from Dallas, Texas, serve as Panda Ambassadors, helping WWF advocate for conservation-focused goals at crucial moments and educating others about wildlife […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund The House’s $81 billion hurricane disaster aid package includes some poison pills that would harm disaster mitigation programs and endangered species. Photo courtesy of NOAA, www.nnvl.noaa.gov The U.S. Senate must act on a supplemental disaster aid package for areas affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria and the […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Local residents and environmentalists in Chile are enjoying a prolonged New Year’s celebration, thanks to two major legal decisions that will protect the country’s free-flowing rivers. Chile’s justice system put a final stop to two controversial large hydroelectric dam developments in Chilean Patagonia: (1) Mediterráneo S.A.’s run-of-the-river project […]
Published by the Department of the Interior The Council will examine ways to benefit wildlife resources; encourage partnership among the public, the sporting conservation organizations, state, tribal, territorial, and federal government; and benefit recreational hunting and recreational shooting sports. Read the full article at: https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/secretary-zinke-creates-new-council-hunting-and-shooting-sports-conservation
Published by the World Wildlife Fund A new study reveals rising temperatures are turning green turtle populations almost completely female in the northern Great Barrier Reef. More than 200,000 nesting females—one of the largest populations in the world—call the northern Great Barrier Reef home. But this population could eventually crash without more males, according to the […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund Despite the Damage, Positive Trends Endure Calling 2017 crazy is an understatement of epic proportions. We saw attempts by a marginalized President and congressional Republicans to unravel decades of environmental protections and clean energy progress as fast as they could. If a policy has his predecessor’s imprint on […]
Published by Ocean Conservancy On January 4, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke unveiled the Trump administration’s proposed new five-year offshore leasing program—and it’s not pretty. The proposed leasing program aims to open up almost all of America’s coastline to risky offshore drilling. Vast swaths of the Arctic—including areas in the Northern Bering Sea that haven’t […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund The Trump administration’s New Year gift to polluters: opening up nearly all of America’s coasts to oil and gas drilling, plus more ongoing attacks on our health and planet. iStock We’re closing in on a year since Donald J. Trump’s inauguration with little hope he’ll grow into the […]
Published by the World Wildlife Fund The Arctic Ocean—the pristine home to bowhead whales, gray whales, polar bears, walruses, and other magnificent wildlife, along with many indigenous communities—could potentially lose crucial protections from risky offshore oil and gas drilling. Every five years, the US Department of Interior creates a plan that says where oil and gas […]
Published by the Natural Resources Defense Fund The Interior Secretary plans to release a new five-year plan for offshore oil and gas drilling today. In late April, President Trump issued an executive order promoting oil and gas drilling off America’s coasts—and today, in response, U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke plans to unveil a […]
Published by the Department of the Interior Birdwatching is a favorite pastime for many public lands visitors. Over 1,000 species of birds can be found in the United States, and national parks, wildlife refuges and wilderness areas are often the best places to find them. Read the full article at: https://www.doi.gov/blog/chorus-color-amazing-birds-public-lands