Republicans opposed to plan from Bureau of Land Management affecting Powder River Basin area of Wyoming and Montana
The Biden administration on Thursday proposed an end to new coal leasing from federal reserves in the most productive coal mining region in the US as officials seek to limit climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions from burning the fuel.
The Bureau of Land Management proposal would affect millions of acres (millions of hectares) of federal lands and underground mineral reserves in the Powder River Basin area of Wyoming and Montana.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/16/2024 - 14:41
05/16/2024 - 11:56
Commitments range from cutting NHS waiting times to delivering economic stability – and are united by a lack of detail
UK politics live – latest updates
Keir Starmer has unveiled six commitments which, he said, would constitute the first steps taken by a Labour government. The Labour leader was reluctant to use the word “pledge”, but the six statements inevitably drew comparisons with Tony Blair’s 1997 pledge card.
Unlike Labour’s promises going into that election, however, the steps Starmer outlined were generally vague and their success is likely to prove difficult to measure.
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05/16/2024 - 11:46
Reduction in insect numbers contributes to drop, and there are declines across more than a third of bird species surveyed
Swallows, swifts and house martins were once a common sight over UK towns and cities, dextrously catching insects on the wing. But these spring and summer visitors are becoming increasingly rare, according to the definitive survey of the country’s birds.
Populations of these insect-eating birds have dropped by 40% or more in the past decade, according to the latest Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) report.
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05/16/2024 - 10:00
Campaigners accuse Forest Fire Management Victoria of ‘knowingly’ killing endangered wildlife after greater glider found dead
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The Victorian government has been accused by conservationists and a leading ecologist of allowing a de facto native logging industry to emerge under the guise of fire management just months after closing down the industry.
Environmental lawyers said the state government agency, Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV), was acting “with impunity”, and conservationists and the Victorian Greens called on state and federal ministers to step in.
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05/16/2024 - 09:28
Russian constitutional court is considering claim, which activists hope will raise awareness about emissions
A group of activists are fighting for the right to scrutinise Russia’s climate policies, and in particular its enormous methane emissions, in court.
Russia’s constitutional court is considering a claim brought by 18 individuals and the NGO Ecodefense that insufficient action by the Russian state to cut national greenhouse gas emissions is violating their rights to life, health and a healthy environment.
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05/16/2024 - 09:23
Near-10% dividend increase follows allegation that water company failed to prevent illegal pollution for 10 hours in February
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One of Britain’s most polluting water companies has increased its payouts to shareholders by nearly 10% in the same week that it emerged it had pumped raw sewage into Windermere in the Lake District for 10 hours.
United Utilities will pay its investors – which include some of the world’s biggest asset managers – £339m in dividends for this year, up from £310m for 2023, after it reported higher operating profits thanks to a rise in customer bills.
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05/16/2024 - 07:42
State, which just had its hottest year since 1895, will ban offshore wind power, boost natural gas and reduce gas pipeline rules
Climate change will be a lesser priority in Florida and largely disappear from state statutes under legislation signed on Wednesday by the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, in a move which experts say ignores the reality of Florida’s climate threats.
The legislation, which comes after Florida had its hottest year on record since 1895, also bans power-generating wind turbines offshore or near the state’s lengthy coastline.
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05/16/2024 - 07:40
Council says primary school in Brixham shut due to having no drinking water as cases of cryptosporidiosis investigated
A primary school in south Devon has closed as it does not have drinking water as officials investigate a local outbreak of a disease that causes sickness and diarrhoea.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said 22 cases of cryptosporidiosis, a waterborne disease caused by a microscopic parasite, had been confirmed in Brixham and more were expected. Other reported cases of diarrhoea and vomiting among residents and visitors to the town are under investigation.
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05/16/2024 - 05:00
Ex-president at Mar-a-Lago last month hosted more than 20 executives, including from Chevron, Exxon and Occidental
A “deal” allegedly offered by Donald Trump to big-oil executives as he sought $1bn in campaign donations could save the industry $110bn in tax breaks if he returns to the White House, an analysis suggests.
The fundraising dinner held last month at Mar-a-Lago with more than 20 executives, including from Chevron, Exxon and Occidental Petroleum, reportedly involved Trump asking for large campaign contributions and promising, if elected, to remove barriers to drilling, scrap a pause on gas exports, and reverse new rules aimed at cutting car pollution.
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05/16/2024 - 02:00
Neoprene is made from toxic chemicals, hard to recycle and, with 400,000 tonnes made a year, a growing problem. So can surfers and swimmers find green wetsuits?
I have been hesitating for months. The wetsuit I swim in every week to keep me toasty warm in the winter and safe from jellyfish stings in the summer is riddled with holes. Yet I can’t bring myself to buy a new one because I’ve learned that comfortable, flexible and insulating neoprene is manufactured using some of the most toxic chemicals on the planet.
Neoprene, a synthetic foamed rubber, is made from the petrochemical compound chloroprene. Exposure to chloroprene emissions, produced during the manufacturing process, may increase the risk of cancer, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
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