2019 | Environment News Service (ENS)

Court Blocks Controversial Oregon Grazing Permits

June 4, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

PORTLAND, Oregon, June 4, 2019 (ENS) – A federal judge in Oregon today granted conservation groups’ motion to block livestock from using public lands allotments near the town of Burns in central Oregon during the month of June. The temporary restraining order was issued in response to a lawsuit challenging former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s order to reinstate the grazing permits, overriding the Bureau of Land Management. […]

Powering Jet Planes With Plastic Waste

June 4, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

RICHLAND, Washington, June 4, 2019 (ENS) – Scientists have found a way to turn daily-use plastic waste products into jet fuel. In a method described in a new paper in the journal “Applied Energy,” a research group led by Washington State University Associate Professor Hanwu Lei melted plastic waste at a high temperature with activated carbon to produce jet fuel. […]

British Columbia Bans Sale of Gas-powered Cars by 2040

June 2, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

VICTORIA, British Columbia, Canada, June 1, 2019 (ENS) – In a move aimed at removing a major source of air pollution and climate change, the provincial government has put British Columbia on a path to require the sale of all new light-duty cars and trucks to be zero-emission vehicles by the year 2040. British Columbia Wednesday passed a law curbing the production and sale of gasoline-fueled cars in the province. […]

Governments Cue Hydrogen for Global Clean Energy Role

June 2, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Canada, June 1, 2019 (ENS) – Hydrogen is on the move. At the Clean Energy Ministerial meeting Friday in Vancouver, governments announced a new international hydrogen partnership under the leadership of Canada, the European Commission, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States, with participation from several other CEM member countries. […]

Leopard Seals Recognized as New Zealand Residents

May 31, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, May 31, 2019 (ENS) – New Zealand’s newest residents like being alone, have leopard-like spots, and can each weigh up to 600 kilos (1,320 pounds). This week leopard seals have gone from being officially classified as vagrants, to recognition as residents of New Zealand. […]

NGOs Buy Grazing Rights to Protect Argentina’s Species

May 30, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

NEW YORK, New York, May 30, 2019 (ENS) – The largest protected area in Argentina’s Patagonian steppe, inhabited by wildlife such as the guanaco, the Andean cat, and Andean condor, has now been further secured by conservation groups that have arranged to buy the grazing rights on the reserve from livestock producers. […]

Big Companies Ask Congress For National Carbon Price

May 22, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

WASHINGTON, DC, May 22, 2019 (ENS) – Representatives of some of the largest U.S.-based corporations are asking Congress to pass meaningful climate legislation, including a price on carbon. Today, executives from more than 75 businesses met with a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers in the largest business gathering on Capitol Hill to advocate for climate legislation in over a decade. […]

Indigenous Pipeline Protest Disrupts Trudeau Fundraiser

May 22, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Canada, May 22, 2019 (ENS) – An Indigenous leader demanding that cancellation of the Trans Mountain pipeline interrupted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his speech today at a Liberal fundraiser at the Opus Hotel in downtown Vancouver. Trudeau is fundraising ahead of the federal election scheduled to take place on or before October 21. […]

West Antarctic Glaciers Unstable, Melting Into the Sea

May 16, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

LEEDS, England, UK, May 16, 2019 (ENS) – The warming of ocean waters over the 25 years between 1992 and 2017 have caused the glacier ice in West Antarctica to thin so rapidly that 24 percent of the region’s ancient ice is now affected, a British research team has determined. […]

Yum! Brands’ Recipe for Good

May 16, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 15, 2019 – Yum! Brands, the parent company of Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut, today was named to the 100 Best Corporate Citizens list by “Corporate Responsibility Magazine” for its continued commitment to being a good corporate steward. […]

Intense Early Season Fires Burn Across Europe

May 15, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

BRUSSELS, Belgium, May 15, 2019 (ENS) – From Norway to Spain, from the United Kingdom to Romania, the number and severity of wildfires burning at the start of this year have risen sharply from that of previous decades, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System, EFFIS. […]

Earth’s Most Famous Glaciers Could Melt Away by 2100

May 12, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

GLAND, Switzerland, May 10, 2019 (ENS) – Glaciers are forecast to vanish from almost half of all UNESCO World Heritage sites if business-as-usual greenhouse gas emissions continue, finds the first global study of World Heritage glaciers, co-authored by scientists from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, IUCN. […]

Humans Threaten One Million Species With Extinction

May 6, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

PARIS, France, May 6, 2019 (ENS) – Nearly one million species are at risk of becoming extinct within decades, and current efforts to conserve the Earth’s resources will likely fail without “radical action,” a United Nations report by hundreds of biodiversity experts warned on Monday. […]

California Agencies Partner to Advance Carbon Farming

May 5, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

SACRAMENTO, California, May 4, 2019 (ENS) – A public-private initiative to advance climate-smart agriculture and reduce greenhouse gas emissions on agricultural lands is the newest cooperative project for two California state agencies that want to create a way for food and fiber businesses to directly fund climate projects on California farms and ranches. […]

Beto O’Rourke’s $5 Trillion Climate Crisis Plan

April 29, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, California, April 29, 2019 (ENS) – Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke today proposed a climate change action plan that would mobilize $5 trillion over 10 years, require net-zero emissions by 2050 and address “the greatest threat” facing the human race. […]

Earth Day 2019 Marked By Climate Concerns

April 22, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

WASHINGTON, DC, April 22, 2019 (ENS) – “Our magnificent planet is always ready for its close-up,” says the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA. Today, on Earth Day, April 22, NASA wants you to share how you see it. […]

New York City Ends Reliance on Plastic Tableware

April 15, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

NEW YORK, New York, April 15, 2019 – New York Mayor Bill de Blasio signed an executive order today that will end the direct city purchase of unnecessary single-use plastics in favor of compostable or recyclable alternatives. New York City purchases at least 1.1 million pounds of single-use plastic tableware every year… […]

U.S. States Fight Trump Revision of Clean Water Rule

April 15, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

SACRAMENTO, California, April 15, 2019 (ENS) – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today joined a multistate letter urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw a proposed rule that would exclude many U.S. waterways from vital federal protections. […]

Smartphone Test Detects Arsenic-Contaminated Water

April 15, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

EDINBURGH, Scotland, April 15, 2019 (ENS) – A smartphone device developed at the University of Edinburgh could help millions of people avoid arsenic-tainted drinking water. Water contamination by heavy metals is a worldwide health issue, and arsenic is one of the main dangers. […]

Curry Spices Ease Air Pollution Breathing Problems

April 14, 2019 News Editor Comments Off

OSAKA, Japan, April 14, 2019 (ENS) – Spices often used in curry can counteract respiratory problems caused by fine particle pollution in the air, finds a joint study by Japanese curry roux maker House Foods Corp. and a professor at state-run Kyoto University. […]