environmental
UPDATED: U.S. Supreme Court rejects Biden wetlands regulation, ruling for Idaho couple
The U.S. Supreme Court in a major environmental decision Thursday overturned the Environmental Protection Agency’s definition of wetlands that fall under the agency’s jurisdiction, siding with an Idaho couple who’d said they should not be required to obtain federal permits to build on their property that lacked any navigable water. All nine justices agreed to […]
U.S. House votes to roll back Biden’s WOTUS rule
The U.S. House voted Thursday to undo a Biden administration definition of wetlands that allows for regulations on private lands. The chamber approved, 227-198, a resolution to roll back the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s broader definition of what qualifies as “waters of the United States,” or WOTUS, for the purposes of federal regulation under the […]
Southwest Arkansas and the promise of ‘green’ lithium extraction
Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part series looking at the promise and possible environmental peril of lithium extraction in Southwest Arkansas. At 4:30 p.m., Jan. 10, 1921, the Busey No. 1 well drilled 2,233 feet and sent a thick black column of gas, oil, and water through the top of the derrick, […]
Fossil fuel drilling threatens air and wildlife in national parks, advocacy group finds
WASHINGTON — A “massive” methane cloud forming over Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico. Noxious air pollution fouling Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Herds of mule deer and pronghorn at risk of decimation at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Environmental problems like these are already resulting from fossil fuel extraction near four […]
Sanders names directors of economic development, environmental quality
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday appointed two state agency veterans to be directors of the Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. Caleb Osborne will serve as director and chief administrator of environment at ADEQ, and Clint O’Neal will lead AEDC as executive director, Sanders announced in press statement. Osborne […]
Climate funding in the farm bill a target if GOP controls Congress
WASHINGTON — Republicans who may be taking control of Congress in next week’s midterm elections have not been very specific about many policy goals—but the farm bill is an exception. Members of the GOP in the U.S. House and Senate are sending strong signals they want to strip climate funding from the legislation in 2023 […]