Regulation - Inside Climate News

Nonprofit Law Center Asks EPA to Take Over Water Permitting in N.C.

By Lisa Sorg — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 17:35:31 +0000

The unprecedented move highlights regulatory tensions between Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, and an environmental rule-making commission controlled by appointees of Republican state legislative leaders.

By Lisa Sorg

RALEIGH, N.C.—The Southern Environmental Law Center is petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency to take over the state’s water permitting authority, an unprecedented move for North Carolina.

California Climate and Health Groups Urge Legislators to Pass Polluter Pays Bills

By Liza Gross — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

As the state’s legislative session draws to a close, activists urge their representatives to pass bills they call critical to protecting communities and the planet from fossil fuel extraction.

By Liza Gross

Dozens of activists gathered outside the state Capitol in the scorching Sacramento sun Monday to make a last push against the industry that’s largely responsible for the climate crisis shattering one heat record after another.

In Final Rock Springs Resource Management Plan, BLM Sticks With Conservation Priorities, Renewable Energy Development

By Jake Bolster — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 08:55:00 +0000

The controversial plan would also place new limits on the terrain open to coal mining and oil and gas drilling, mainly due to a lack of resources in the areas, irking many fossil fuel advocates in the state.

By Jake Bolster

The Bureau of Land Management, on Aug. 22, released its final Resource Management Plan for its Rock Springs District in Southwest Wyoming, spurring blowback from the governor and the fossil fuel industry, and drawing mostly praise from conservation groups.

US District Court Throws Out Federal Agency’s Assessment Allowing More Drilling for Fossil Fuels in the Gulf of Mexico

By Aman Azhar — Sun, 25 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

The lawsuit before the court showed the staggering scale of ecological damage a bad federal assessment can cause to endangered and federally protected sea creatures.

By Aman Azhar

The United States District Court for the District of Maryland has tossed a flawed environmental assessment that grossly underestimated harms to endangered and threatened marine species from oil and gas drilling and exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.

Coal Baron a No-Show in Alabama Courtroom as Abandoned Plant Continues to Pollute Neighborhoods

By Dennis Pillion — Sat, 24 Aug 2024 09:05:00 +0000

The son of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice was hailed as a hero five years ago when his family’s company purchased a troubled coke plant in North Birmingham that had polluted three historically Black neighborhoods. Now, a judge says the Justices’ Bluestone Coke is on a “superhighway to contempt.”

By Dennis Pillion

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.— Chief U.S. District Judge David Proctor is fed up.

Apache Group is Carrying a Petition to the Supreme Court to Stop a Mine on Land Sacred to the Tribe

By Noel Lyn Smith — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

The prayer journey will pass through other tribal communities threatened by resource extraction while trying to stop a mine that claims it could satisfy a quarter of the U.S. demand for copper.

By Noel Lyn Smith

GALLUP, New Mexico—A group of Apache opposing a copper mine in the Oak Flat area of Arizona stopped to make their case in New Mexico on their way to Washington, D.C., where they will file a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case against the federal government.

This Country Voted to Keep Oil in the Ground. Will It Happen?

By Katie Surma — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 09:05:00 +0000

More than 10 million Ecuadorians voted last year to ban oil operations in part of the Amazon rainforest. But heavy crude has continued to flow from the region, which is home to uncontacted Indigenous families.

By Katie Surma

Update: After this article was published, the Ecuadorian government announced plans to cap and close 246 oil wells in the Ishpingo, Tambococha and Tiputini (ITT) fields beginning on August 30, 2024. That phase-out process will last until December 31, 2029. The government expects that removing other infrastructure, such as well pads, and remediating environmental damage will last through August 31, 2032.

In Wisconsin Senate Race, Voters Will Pick Between Two Candidates With Widely Differing Climate Views

By Kristoffer Tigue — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 09:05:00 +0000

While Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin has warned that climate change threatens “our very way of life,” GOP challenger Eric Hovde compared clean energy tax credits to “corporate welfare.”

By Kristoffer Tigue

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Democrats kicked off their national convention in Chicago Monday. But today, Vice President Kamala Harris will be 80 miles north, in Milwaukee, as she makes her third visit to Wisconsin since becoming the Democratic presidential candidate last month.

Harris Stirs Hope for a New Chapter in Climate Action

By Marianne Lavelle — Sun, 18 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Although expected to follow in Biden's pragmatic footsteps, her record as a prosecutor and voice for justice has environmentalists looking to the future.

By Marianne Lavelle

Although President Joe Biden already has cemented an unmatched legacy of climate change action, Vice President Kamala Harris raised the bar the moment that she entered the presidential race on July 21.

Greenidge Sues New York State Environmental Regulators, Seeking to Continue Operating Its Dresden Power Plant

By Peter Mantius — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Regulators have ordered the plant to close, finding that its greenhouse gas emissions linked to bitcoin mining were inconsistent with goals under New York’s ambitious climate law.

By Peter Mantius

This story previously appeared in Water Front.