"EPA’s enforcement of environmental laws was on the rise again this year, although not yet reaching the highs the agency attained in cracking down on polluters over the past decade."
With climate-related legal disputes playing out worldwide, we could see more environmental journalists facing subpoenas to access their newsgathering materials and reveal their sources. Case in point: the legal battle embroiling a news nonprofit over its coverage of pipeline protests. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press’ Chris Young looks at shield laws and resources to help deal with legal threats to your journalistic integrity.
"The Biden administration approved the smallest offshore oil program in U.S. history Friday, a move that’s already provoked both outrage from Republicans and disappointment from climate activists who had urged the president to take more dramatic action."
"New oil and natural gas leasing will be prohibited on state land surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park, an area sacred to Native Americans, for the next 20 years under an executive order by New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard."
"Scientists with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory were flying a plane equipped with a visible-infrared imaging spectrometer over an oil field in California’s San Joaquin Valley when they made a worrisome discovery. Images produced by the device revealed a large plume of methane lingering in the air."
"The story of California’s water wars begins, as so many stories do in the Golden State, with gold."
"California’s funding from gas taxes will drop by nearly $6 billion in the next decade due to the state’s electric car rules and other climate programs, “likely resulting in a decline in highway conditions for drivers,” according to a new state analysis released today."
"Wildlife groups aren’t sure what is worse: That trains have killed more than 63 grizzly bears in northern Montana since 2018, or that Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad has seemed to ignore requests to help alleviate the problem."
"Brazil's Congress on Thursday overturned a presidential veto that had struck down the core of a bill to limit Indigenous land claims, setting up a likely clash at the Supreme Court."
"Citing new scientific research, a coalition of farm worker, public health and environmental advocates on Wednesday filed a legal petition with US regulators demanding they immediately suspend authorization for the controversial weed-killing chemical called glyphosate."
