1 March 2018 (Mongabay) – On Tuesday, a federal judge in California ruled that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not abuse its authority in waiving dozens of environmental laws to build sections of wall along the border between the U.S. and Mexico. The ruling frees the department to waive laws for future border […]
By Alessandra Prentice, with additional reporting by Natalia Zinets, Pavel Polityuk, and Agnieszka Barteczko; editing by David Stamp 19 February 2018 KIEV (Reuters) – For the first time in Ukraine’s history, U.S. anthracite is helping to keep the lights on and the heating going this winter following a deal that has also helped to warm […]
By Martin Arnold 6 February 2018 (Financial Times) – Central banks must clamp down on bitcoin and stop such cryptocurrencies “piggybacking” on mainstream institutions and becoming a “threat to financial stability”, the head of the Bank for International Settlements has warned.Agustín Carstens, general manager of the BIS — known as the bank for central banks […]
By Ryan Beene, Alan Levin, and John Lippert 9 February 2018 (Bloomberg News) – President Donald Trump’s administration is looking at ways to reduce future fuel economy standards for automobiles in a move to appease carmakers, who have asked to ease targets put in place under President Barack Obama.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is […]
12 February 2018 (MSNBC) – President Trump released his fiscal 2019 budget on Monday, 12 February 2018. Steve Rattner says the country’s budgetary outlook is “potentially apocalyptic”. Photo: MSNBC Rattner: Deficits headed for $2 trillion
By Lisa Friedman 12 February 2018 (The New York Times) – The Trump administration on Monday moved to repeal one of the last unchallenged climate-change regulations rushed into place in the waning days of the Obama presidency — a rule restricting the release of planet-warming methane into the atmosphere. The rule, which applied to companies […]
Arlington, Virginia, 12 February 2018 (Conservation International) – A study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) finds that protected areas that are deforested are more likely to subsequently lose legal protections.The study examined 62 protected areas in Rondônia, Brazil, home to immense stretches of the Amazon, and found […]
By Michael Biesecker 14 February 2018 WASHINGTON (AP) – The head of the Environmental Protection Agency has broken months of silence about his frequent premium-class flights at taxpayer expense, saying he needs to fly first class because of unpleasant interactions with other travelers.EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt spoke about his flight costs on Tuesday in a […]
By Yvette Sierra Praeli; Translated By Romina Castagnino 13 February 2018 LIMA, Peru (Mongabay) – More than two years after a massive seizure of illegal timber sent from Peru to international markets in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the United States, much of Peru’s exported wood is still illegal according to a new report. The […]
Hong Kong, 9 February 2018 (TRAFFIC) – A new TRAFFIC report reveals a thriving trade in poached South African abalone Haliotis midae in Hong Kong, where the marine mollusc is considered a delicacy in Cantonese cuisine. Over the last 20 years, the illegal harvest of abalone in South Africa has exceeded the legal quotas, with […]
