"President Obama [Tuesday] ordered five federal agencies to streamline regulations for offsetting environmental harm and to promote independent mitigation efforts."
"Democratic U.S. senators on Monday urged the Obama administration to reform the federal coal mine program to include costs of the fuel's carbon emissions and potentially raise royalties paid by companies that mine the fuel on public lands."
"Federal wildlife managers have determined that grizzly bear numbers in and around Yellowstone National Park have rebounded sufficiently to propose stripping the animals of U.S. Endangered Species Act protections in the months ahead, a spokesman told Reuters."
"Tar sands mining companies have continued to withdraw water from the Athabasca River in northeastern Alberta despite low flows that have made navigation difficult for river users downstream and left Fort Chipewyan's harbor dry."
Wyoming's legislature calls it "data trespass." Really? The state in March 2015 made it illegal to collect and report information about stream pollution or other environmental harm — when it involves entering private land. One independent publication invited its readers to collect and post such potentially illegal photos.
The nonprofit SkyTruth, an innovator in applying map technology to environmental problems, offers an interactive version of an obscure federal database on abandoned coal mines. Also available, data from the Bureau of Land Management.
"DENVER -- The release of 3 million gallons (11 million liters) of toxic wastewater from a defunct southwestern Colorado gold mine that was triggered by the Environmental Protection Agency was preventable, a government review of the spill concluded on Thursday."
"A study of yellow cedars in Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve suggests that climate change calls for new models of conservation and preservation."
"Dust storms and desertification are two of China’s biggest environmental challenges, and they can’t be addressed without dealing with the stressed northern region of Inner Mongolia. Years of intensive agriculture, the ravages of open-pit coal mining, and climate change have depleted the scarce water resources of the already arid territory."
"With sweeping views of Jackson Lake and the jaw-dropping jagged Tetons from its deck, and the historic Molesworth furniture that fronts its stone fireplace, the historic Brinkerhoff Lodge in Grand Teton National Park would likely qualify as a 5-star resort property commanding hefty rental fees."
