"The Trump administration has completed a review of plans to ease protections for a struggling bird species in seven states in the U.S. West, but there’s little time to put the relaxed rules for industry into action before President-elect Joe Biden takes office."
Watch the Jan 27 recording of the Society of Environmental Journalists' 9th annual look ahead at the year's key energy and environmental issues. Hosted by National Geographic Society and co-sponsored by the Wilson Center, the event kicked off with a prerecorded interview with new White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, followed by a live interview with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, and SEJ's annual panel of leading journalists offering their predictions for the year ahead.
"When Scott Angelle, an oil drilling advocate-turned-industry regulator, finished a hearing before the House Natural Resources Committee last March, lawmakers had some follow-up questions for him — a standard part of the congressional oversight process."
"Thousands of public housing residents live near the most polluted places in the nation — and the government has done little to protect them."
"Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, top aide Rich Baird and former health director Nick Lyon have been told they will face criminal charges resulting from Flint's water crisis, according to a source with knowledge of the situation."
"When the full story of the 6 January storming of the US Capitol building is told, historians will have to make sense of what might seem an odd footnote. The two most prominent rightwing militia groups that participated in the mob onslaught on Congress – the Three Percenters, based in Idaho, and the Oath Keepers, based in Nevada – cut their teeth in obscure corners of the American west, where for close to a decade they have threatened violence against federal employees and institutions that steward the nation’s public lands."
"Federal and state wildlife officials are investigating who wrote the name “Trump” on the back of a manatee that was spotted in a popular wintering spot for the threatened creatures.
The agencies don’t think the manatee was hurt — the letters appear to have been formed by scraping away algae that often coats the backs of the slow-moving mammals — but the prank appears to be a clear violation of laws against harassing them.
"Washington, Oregon and British Columbia pledged to slash greenhouse gas emissions. In a decade full of big talk and some epic battles, they all failed."
"A string of explosions involving little-regulated petroleum and chemical storage tanks have lawmakers and regulators talking about new rules as the Legislature prepares to convene this month."
"Joe Biden could mark his first day as president with one or more executive orders announcing plans to rejoin the Paris Agreement, submit a global deal on refrigerants for ratification and deliver on the sweeping climate pledges he made on the campaign trail."
