For 100 years, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) has protected nearly 1000 bird species in the United States against being “taken” or killed except under prescribed circumstances. This statute prohibits hunters from intentionally killing birds without a permit, but has also been interpreted by courts and the Interior Department to prohibit incidental taking – […]
By Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer The White House announced Friday that President Biden will use his executive authority to restore protections for three national monuments drastically reduced during the Trump Administration. He will reestablish and increase the boundaries of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, both of which are in Utah. The orders […]
The post Biden Reinstates Protections for Three National Monuments appeared first on Our Daily Planet.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed 23 species from the Endangered List because, despite efforts to save them, they have become extinct. Among these is the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, known as the Good Lord Bird because anyone lucky enough to catch sight of the large beautiful bird blurted out the Lord’s name. Also now extinct […]
In a stark example of how climate change can damage the outdoor recreation industry, heat and drought in the Rocky Mountain area have nearly dried up many prized trout streams. The Associated Press reported in a September 7, 2021 article that the Mountain West region has become hotter and drier and has experienced more frequent […]
Leading medical, nursing and public health journals throughout the world published a joint editorial on September 5, 2021 calling for urgent action on climate change. The editorial focused on rising health problems already being felt from rising global temperatures. In the past 20 years, heat-related mortality among people over 65 years of age has increased […]
In January 2021, the Biden Administration announced that it would establish a new, interim cost figure for the damage caused by a ton of greenhouse gas emissions. The executive order said “An accurate social cost is essential for agencies to accurately determine the social benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions when conducting cost-benefit analyses of […]
Fifty-four Congressional Democrats signed an August 30, 2021 letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging that the Build Back Better infrastructure legislation soon to b taken up include a repeal of $121 billion in subsidies for the fossil fuel industries, including tax breaks for foreign oil and gas income. The letter cited the International Monetary […]
Carbon capture is a term used to describe a group of technologies that either remove carbon directly from the air or scrub it from waste gas as fossil fuels are burned. In either case, the carbon “captured” is buried or used in the manufacture of other products. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change includes carbon […]
At the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting, leaders of the state’s largest energy and utility companies participated in a roundtable discussion with Public Service Commission Chair Charlotte Lane. The meeting was held Labor Day weekend at the Greenbrier resort. The PSC is responsible for supervising and regulating the state’s public utilities. During her […]
When I was a first-year student at the University of Virginia I was required to take a science course. The choices were physics, chemistry, biology or geology. “Rocks” is what the students called geology and it was reputed to be the least rigorous, so that’s what I took. It was a good choice. We learned […]
