Tag Archives: environment

New Jersey Starting Today: No Paper, No Plastic [Video]

Bloomberg News reports: New Jersey became the first state to ban both plastic and paper bags on Wednesday, leaving companies and shoppers to find creative workarounds to get their groceries home. ShopRite, with more than 100 New Jersey stores, will charge a flat $1.50 per order for reusable bags. Instacart Inc., which fulfills shoppers’ lists for Aldi Inc., Lidl Ltd., …

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Biden Restores Environmental Rules Axed By Trump

The Washington Post reports: The White House on Tuesday announced it has restored key protections to a landmark environmental law governing the construction of pipelines, highways and other projects that President Donald Trump had swept away as part of an effort to cut red tape. The new rule will require federal agencies to scrutinize the climate impacts of major infrastructure …

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Massive Sewage Spill Closes Los Angeles Beaches

Los Angeles’s ABC News affiliate reports: Southern California beaches soiled by a sewage spill will remain closed until testing of water samples shows bacteria levels are within state standards, officials said. A sewer main line failed in the city of Carson and millions of gallons of untreated sewage was discharged into the Dominguez Channel, a waterway that empties into Los …

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CA Sues Walmart Over “Illegal” Disposal Of E-Waste

The Verge reports: The California attorney general and 12 state officials filed a lawsuit against Walmart, saying it allegedly illegally disposed of electronic and hazardous waste, compromising local landfills. California Attorney General Rob Bonta alleges in a statement the company violated state environmental laws with their practices, and the waste included materials like lithium and alkaline batteries, insect killer sprays, …

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“Imperfect” Agreement Struck At UN Climate Summit

The New York Times reports: With the bang of a gavel, diplomats from nearly 200 countries on Saturday struck a major agreement aimed at intensifying efforts to fight climate change, by calling on governments to return next year with stronger plans to curb their planet-warming emissions and urging wealthy nations to “at least double” funding by 2025 to protect the …

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POLL: 75% Of Republicans Say Humans Don’t Cause Climate Change, Most Say It’s Due To Natural Changes

Vice News reports: Nearly half of Americans still don’t think climate change is caused by human activities, but Democrats were far less likely than Republicans to hold those views, a new VICE News and Guardian poll has found. This year was marked by several unprecedented natural disasters, including a “heat dome” marked by sweltering temperatures of up to 113 F …

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Coast Guard: Cargo Ship Dragged California Pipeline

The Associated Press reports: Investigators believe a 1,200-foot (366-meter) cargo ship dragging anchor in rough seas caught an underwater oil pipeline and pulled it across the seafloor, months before a leak from the line fouled the Southern California coastline with crude. A team of federal investigators trying to chase down the cause of the spill boarded the Panama-registered MSC DANIT …

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Major Oil Spill Hits Southern California Beaches [VIDEO]

The Los Angeles Times reports: Crews raced Sunday morning to contain the damage from a major oil spill off the Orange County coast that left crude spoiling beaches, killing fish and birds and threatening local wetlands. The oil slick, first reported Saturday, originated from a broken pipeline less than three miles off the coast of Huntington Beach connected to an …

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Court Strikes Down Trump Rule On Water Pollution

The New York Times reports: A federal judge on Monday struck down a Trump-era environmental rule that drastically limited federal restrictions against pollution of millions of streams, wetlands and marshes across the country. The Biden administration had already begun the lengthy process of undoing the policy, which President Donald J. Trump established in 2020 to please real estate developers and …

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Major 8.2 Quake Hits Off Alaskan Coast, No Tsunami

CNN reports: The 8.2 magnitude earthquake that struck off Alaska’s coast Wednesday night was the strongest one since 1964, an official told CNN. The very strong quake was located about 56 miles (91 kilometers) east southeast of Perryville, Alaska, and happened around 10:15 p.m. Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said. At 29 miles deep (46.7 km), the earthquake is considered …

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DeSantis Refuses To Declare Emergency After Red Tide Sends 600+ Tons Of Rotting Fish Onto Florida Beaches

Axios reports: Despite pleas from the city of St. Petersburg, environmentalists and activists, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis doubled down Wednesday and again refused to declare a state of emergency for Tampa Bay’s ongoing red tide. Why it matters: DeSantis said his office is committed to working with the community to fight the red tide, but argued that a state of …

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Massive Oregon Wildfire Spreads To 150,000 Acres

NBC News reports: The Bootleg Fire in southern Oregon nearly doubled in size from Saturday to Sunday to more than 150,000 acres as extreme heatwaves and wildfires continued to scorch the West. The intense flames in the Fremont-Winema National Forest broke out on July 6, burning for its sixth day on Sunday, according to an incident report. The out-of-control wildfire …

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Newsom Pleads For Water Conservation Amid Drought

Axios reports: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Thursday asked state residents to voluntarily reduce household water usage by 15% due to worsening drought conditions. Newsom is yet to issue a California-wide state of emergency or mandate any water use restrictions. However, on Thursday, he expanded his regional drought state of emergency to apply to 50 of the state’s 58 …

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Saharan Dust Plume Brings Orange Skies To Florida

The Associate Press reports: Sunsets across Florida in the coming days could become even more spectacular, as clouds of dust from the Sahara desert sweep in across the Atlantic coast. The plume is expected to dampen storm activity but worsen air pollution, causing trouble for some people with allergies and other respiratory problems. Some health experts say symptoms could mimic …

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Keystone Pipeline Canceled After Biden Yanks Permit

CNN Business reports: The developer of the Keystone XL pipeline announced Wednesday it is pulling the plug on the controversial project after the Biden administration revoked its permit in January. TC Energy, the Canadian company behind the project, said it decided to terminate the project after a comprehensive review of its options and consulting with the government of Alberta, Canada. …

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Biden Admin Suspends Arctic Oil/Gas Drilling Leases

Politico reports: The Biden administration is moving to suspend all oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge pending a deeper look at the environmental impacts of drilling in the sensitive region, according to a person with direct knowledge of the decision. The suspension of the leases follows Biden’s January 20 executive order that identified “alleged legal deficiencies” …

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LIVE VIDEO: Biden Hosts Global Climate Summit

The New York Times report: President Xi Jinping of China, the United States’ biggest rival on the world stage, has said he will attend the virtual summit. So have Presidents Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, with whom the Biden administration is trying to negotiate a plan to protect the Amazon rainforest. A number of prominent …

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Biden Aims For 50% Reduction In Emissions By 2030

CNN reports: President Joe Biden on Thursday will kick off a climate summit attended by 40 other world leaders by announcing an ambitious cut in greenhouse gas emissions as he looks to put the US back at the center of the global effort to address the climate crisis and curb carbon emissions. At the White House summit, which will take …

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Haaland Seeks To Restore Monuments Cut By Trump

Reuters reports: U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland will kicked off a two-day visit to Utah on Thursday where she will meet with tribes and political officials to discuss the potential restoration of two national monuments that were slashed in size by former President Donald Trump in order to open them to mining and drilling. The visit is the centerpiece of …

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Florida Jail Evacuated Over Potential Wastewater Flood

Tampa’s ABC News affiliate reports: Florida state and local leaders fear an “imminent” collapse of the retention pond at the former Piney Point phosphate processing plant in Manatee County. People who live and work in the area are told to get out and stay away. In addition to a “significant leak” at the bottom of the 700-to-800-million-gallon holding pool, several …

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