News Clips

Does Sackett clip EPA’s wings on permits, water rules?

by E&E News | January 19, 2024
Months after the Supreme Court stripped federal protections for over half the nation’s wetlands, scientists and legal experts are raising new concerns about how the ruling could affect permits for pollutants in rivers and streams. “This is about, ‘Are we going to have enough clean ...

Public Comments: How to Make Yours Count

by Sierra Magazine | January 17, 2024
We’ve all been there. We thought we were doing our civic duty, participating in democracy by auto-filling our names and addresses on form letters sent out by our trusted NGOs, adding our voices in the public comment period on public lands, wildlife, or social justice issues. But does it ...

Fish and Wildlife report suggests improper use of federal wildlife funds

by The Timberjay | January 17, 2024
A recently released report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or FWS, provides stunning conclusions on what appears to be a wholesale violation of a federal grant program by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The draft report, completed nearly four years ago, was only made ...

Public hearings set on ‘Teddy’ bear hunting season in Louisiana

by Shreveport Times | January 12, 2024
The Louisiana Wildlife Commission voted unanimously in November to establish the season for the iconic “Teddy” bear in December 2024 in which 10 adult bears can be killed.   A 2018 lawsuit led by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) with co-counsel ...

National Park Service completes plan to reduce air tours at Haleakala National Park

by Spectrum News | January 12, 2024
A new plan to reduce the amount of air tours over Haleakala National Park, which has been in the making for two decades, was completed on Thursday by the National Park Service and Federal Aviation Administration, according to a news release.   The Air Tour Management Plan puts the NPS and ...

When is a little ‘forever chemical’ too much to eat?

by Bay Journal | January 12, 2024
Tim Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said MDE should not only expand its testing of fish but use that information to reduce contamination of waterways. PEER did some testing of its own that found PFAS in an oyster, a crab and striped bass ...

Feds add more hoops for DNR logging on wildlife management areas

by Duluth News Tribune | January 11, 2024
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is tightening requirements imposed on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources when the state wants to cut trees in wildlife management areas. The latest details, included in a letter from the federal agency to the DNR, were made public by the ...

Whistleblowing microbiologist wins unfair dismissal case against USGS

by Chemistry World | January 11, 2024
A microbiologist has won her case for unfair dismissal against a US federal agency after she blew the whistle on animal welfare and biosafety failures. The US Geological Survey (USGS) hired Evi Emmenegger as a fisheries microbiologist in 1994, and in 2006 promoted her to manager of the ...

Alaska’s open seasons on predators are approved behind closed doors

by Alaska Public Media | January 10, 2024
As spring arrived in southwestern Alaska, a handful of people from the state Department of Fish and Game rose early and climbed into small airplanes. As the crew flew, it watched for the humped shape of brown bears lumbering across the hummocks. When someone spotted one, skinny from its ...

EPA offers court schedule for responding to Oak Ridge landfill documents request

by Exchange Monitor | January 10, 2024
In coming weeks, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will review hundreds more documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act request about a new low-level radioactive waste landfill at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, according…In addition, the ...

Tucson turf businessman discusses advancement of industry concerning PFAS

by News 4 Tucson | January 10, 2024
Duane Enos owns Turf Designs on Silverbell near Grant. The retired Tucson Police Officer has been in business for around four years and says since the beginning, his company has tested for PFAS chemicals in their product. Enos reached out to News 4 Tucson after seeing our report on the ...

Federal officials revise grant conditions to ensure DNR logging on hunting lands serves wildlife

by Star Tribune | January 10, 2024
A public watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., applauded the US FWS for requiring extensive documentation by the DNR and pre-approval by the USFWS. The compliance is required before the DNR can offer any timber for sale on subsidized hunting land. The parcels in question have been ...

The Biden Administration Is Letting Corporate Criminals Off the Hook

by The New Republic | January 10, 2024
Tim Whitehouse, a former EPA enforcement attorney and the executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, praised the Biden administration’s recent improvements on enforcement while acknowledging the strong headwinds such efforts face. “It takes years of ...

Report links toxic substance to cancer deaths in at least six baseball players: ‘What happened to exercising caution?’

by The Cool Down | January 8, 2024
An investigation showing a possible link between brain cancer and artificial turf strengthened a key argument among champions for natural grass — that nature does it better. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on examinations into the deaths of six former Philadelphia Phillies, who spent ...

Colt killed after injuring leg escaping BLM roundup, event captured on video

by 8 News Now | January 8, 2024
Video showing a colt hurting its leg as it fights to get away from wranglers is the latest flashpoint in advocates’ criticism of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) roundups on Nevada ranges. “A mare and her colt escaped. The colt is now dead,” according to an account on Wild Horse ...

Environmentalists Hope To Revive Landmark PFAS Orders Despite Court Stay

by Inside EPA | January 4, 2024
Two environmental groups are seeking to join the appellate suit over EPA’s novel orders for a plastics manufacturer to halt use of a fluorination technology that allegedly contaminates products with PFAS, aiming to bring the orders back into force after the agency agreed to a stay — ...

Tough choices could make 2024 a wild ride for Interior

by E&E News | January 4, 2024
Results of the latest Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey made public last month showed that 56 percent of NPS employees expressed satisfaction with the agency. A remarkable 36 percent said they would not recommend the agency as a good place to work, while 46 percent said they doubted senior ...

Unexpected drawbacks to artificial turf in Arizona

by News 4 Tucson | January 2, 2024
Many home and business owners in Arizona are considering a switch to artificial turf. Fake grass has its benefits, like saving on water, but it has its own set of problems. The national nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility recently released a study showing turf ...

Oil and gas exempt from drilling rules in endangered bird habitat. Is species threatened?

by Carlsbad Current-Angus | January 2, 2024
Oil and gas operators were granted exemptions to drilling restrictions intended to protect an endangered bird species in the plains of eastern New Mexico, causing environmental groups to criticize the federal agency tasked with managing operations on public land. Largely based on timing ...

Why fake grass is not a good alternative for your lawn

by 12News | January 2, 2024
Fake grass might sound like a great alternative to the water-loving lawns at homes in the Valley – but experts say that’s not the case. “It’s dangerous for you. It’s dangerous for your pets. It’s dangerous for your kids and it’s dangerous for your ...
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