Pruitt
Gov/Politics

Senate Confirms EPA Foe Pruitt as EPA Administrator

WASHINGTON, DC, February 17, 2017 (ENS) – Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt today won Senate confirmation to head the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, the federal agency he has sued multiple times during the Obama administration in attempts to limit its control of industry. […]

spillway
At Risk

‘Extreme Peril’ at California’s Lake Oroville Dam

SACRAMENTO, California, February 13, 2017 (ENS) – More than 180,000 people near Lake Oroville in Butte County, California were evacuated from their homes Sunday as officials warned the auxiliary emergency spillway at Lake Oroville Dam could fail, causing widespread, severe flooding along the Feather River Basin. […]

solar
Energy

Renewables Dominate New U.S. Generating Capacity

WASHINGTON, DC, February 13, 2017 (ENS) – In 2016, for the second year in a row, the majority of new generating capacity installed in the United States came from renewable energy sources, according to the latest issue of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s monthly “Energy Infrastructure Update.” […]

fire
At Risk

‘Extreme’ Chilean Wildfires Worst in Decades

SANTIAGO, Chile, February 6, 2017 (ENS) – In Chile’s worst fire disaster in 50 years, the South American country has lost over half a million hectares to more than 100 wildfires that first flared up in mid-January. The blazes have frustrated firefighters’ efforts to control them, with new hot spots emerging daily. […]

fast food
Food

Perfluorinated Chemicals Found in Fast Food Wrappers

WASHINGTON, DC, February 5, 2017 (ENS) – The health hazards of perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs, are well known to scientists, yet some fast food chains still use food wrappers, bags and boxes coated with these grease-resistant compounds, according to nationwide tests reported in a new peer-reviewed study. […]

stream
Latest News

Republican Congress Scraps Stream Protection Rule

WASHINGTON, DC, February 3, 2017 (ENS) – The Senate voted Thursday to send President Donald Trump a measure to kill the Interior Department’s Stream Protection Rule, a coal mining regulation finalized in December, just weeks before the end of the Obama administration. The House passed the measure earlier in the week. […]

Gorsuch, Trump
Gov/Politics

Environmental Record of Trump’s Supreme Court Choice

WASHINGTON, DC, February 1, 2017 (ENS) – Neil McGill Gorsuch, a judge who now sits on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colorado, is President Trump’s nominee for the seat on the U.S. Supreme Court left open by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. If confirmed, the jury is out on what he would mean for the environment. […]

Leaf
Latest News

Cuba Gets Electric Cars: Nissan Leafs Made in the USA

MIAMI, Florida, Febuary 1, 2017 (ENS) – A Miami-based automotive export company has received the first approval from the U.S. government to ship American-made electric cars to Cuba. Putting aside politics in favor of business, the move follows former President Barack Obama’s policy of restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba. […]

hunter
Latest News

U.S. Hunters Auction African Hunts for $$ to Lobby Trump

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, February 1, 2017 (ENS) – Safari Club International, America’s most powerful hunting lobby group, this week will auction the lives of 280 South African animals to raise funds to lobby the Trump administration against measures protecting threatened species, such as the Big Five: elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo and leopard. […]

Trump
Gov/Politics

Trump’s Regulatory Order Jeopardizes Environment

WASHINGTON, DC, January 30, 2017 (ENS) – Framing it as a “prudent and financially responsible” measure, President Donald Trump today ordered federal agencies to repeal two existing regulations for every new regulation issued. Environmentalists warned the order will dismantle protections. […]

water tower
Latest News

Senators Ask EPA Help for Carcinogen in Long Island Water

WASHINGTON, DC, January 30, 2017 (ENS) – U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Friday called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to “prioritize and accelerate” the risk evaluation for 1,4-dioxane, a potential carcinogen found in 71 percent of Long Island water supply systems. […]

shore
At Risk

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Erodes Louisiana Shoreline

PASADENA, California, January 30, 2017 (ENS) – “Dramatic, widespread shoreline loss” is what government scientists call the pattern revealed in new NASA/U.S. Geological Survey annual maps of the Louisiana marshlands where the coast was heavily coated with oil during the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. […]

Uber
Gov/Politics

Ride-Sharing Firms Fight Trump’s Immigration Order

WASHINGTON, DC, January 29, 2017 (ENS) – As protesters jammed airports across the country, the ride-sharing company Lyft announced Sunday that it will donate $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days and banning Syrian refugees indefinitely. […]

scientist
Gov/Politics

U.S. Scientists Resist Trump Team ‘Case By Case’ Review

WASHINGTON, DC, January 26, 2017 (ENS) – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other government scientists face Trump administration review on a “case by case basis” before they can publish or present their scientific findings, according to the head of communications for the Trump administration’s EPA transition team. […]

food
Food

Latin America, Caribbean Aim to End Hunger by 2025

PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic, January 25, 2017 (ENS) – Latin America and the Caribbean could be the first developing region to completely eradicate hunger if its governments further strengthen their implementation of a new food security plan, the United Nations’ top food and agriculture official said Wednesday. […]