April 2017 - EnviroNews | The Environmental News Specialists
Archive | April, 2017

(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) — EDITORIAL: A repeated theme in the legendary and utterly hilarious cult classic film The Big Lebowski features the character of a belligerent Vietnam veteran, Walter Sobchak (John Goodman), yelling at his bowling mate and buddy Theodore Donald Kerabatsos (Steve Buscemi), “Shut the fuck…

(EnviroNews Nevada) — Washington D.C. — On April 26, 2017, the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy, chaired by Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), held a hearing to examine a “discussion draft” called, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017 (the 2017 Act). This measure…

(EnviroNews Nature) — Playground, a news and media site, has produced a graphic video showing shocking hunting practices that are now legal in Alaska’s wildlife refuges. These methods, which have been called “scientifically indefensible” and “unsportsmanlike” by defenders of animal rights, include hunting bears from aircraft, killing bear…

(EnviroNews Nature) — Denver, Colorado — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) can continue to release Mexican gray wolves (Canis lupus baileyi) from captivity into the wild after the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned an injunction halting the program on April 25, 2017, which conservationists say…

(EnviroNews USA Headline News Desk) — Neonicotinoids, which are powerful insecticides and neurotoxins, have been found in the finished drinking water of two Iowa public water facilities. These chemicals were detected by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) researchers, whose findings were published in a study titled, Occurrence of Neonicotinoid…

(EnviroNews USA Headline News) — Washington D.C. — The Center for Biological Diversity (the Center) filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Anchorage, Alaska, on April 20, 2017, against the U.S. Department of Interior (Interior) and Secretary Ryan Zinke, after President Donald Trump signed House Joint Resolution…

(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) — Washington D.C. — ExxonMobil (Exxon) has applied to the Treasury Department’s (Treasury) Office of Foreign Assets Control for a waiver from sanctions that currently prevent its collaboration with Russia’s state-run oil company Rosneft. Exxon’s former CEO Rex Tillerson is now Secretary of State.…

(EnviroNews USA Headline News Desk) — Cado County, Oklahoma — On March 28, 2017, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma ordered the natural gas pipeline company Enable Midstream Partners (Enable) to remove a pipeline running through tribal lands. The land…

(EnviroNews California) — The Environmental Working Group (EWG) released a report April 11, 2017, that found 94 water systems serving eight million Californians are contaminated with 1,2,3-trichloropropane (TCP). TCP is a toxic pesticide byproduct that has also been used as a solvent and paint remover. While Shell Chemical…

(EnviroNews USA Headline News Desk) — Humanity has about a decade to reduce carbon emissions and meet the climate goals set by the monumental Paris Agreement (Paris accord) of 2016, according to an International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) study called, Pathways for balancing CO2 emissions and…

(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) — Washington D.C. — President Trump’s preliminary 2018 budget proposal was released in March and along with many cuts to environmental programs, it includes $120 million to restart licensing operations for the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository (Yucca Mountain). This currently unused underground facility…

(EnviroNews DC News Bureau) — Washington D.C. — Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administrators have drafted a “Priority Work List” that reveals BLM’s focus on oil, gas and coal development on federal land as well as the security of the U.S.-Mexico border. E&E News obtained the internal documents,…

(EnviroNews Politics Desk) — Provo, Utah — “Why won’t Chaffetz investigate the Trump-Russia connection?” reads a message to Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), posted on a 48-foot-wide billboard erected April 11 in his district. Brothers Jeremy and Chris Voros, who are registered Republicans, funded the sign through their political…

(EnviroNews USA Headline News Desk) — Hailey, Idaho — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Wildlife Services (WS), which kills millions of wild animals in the U.S. each year, agreed April 10, 2017, to temporarily halt the use of M-44 cyanide bombs for predator control initiatives in Idaho.…