Maria Dinzeo

Feds, conservationists go head to head over protections for sage grouse
Conservationists faced off with the federal government in Zoom court Thursday in the latest chapter of a prolonged legal fight over whether the sage grouse, an iconic prairie bird with a waning population, deserves Endangered Species Act protection.

Big Oil must face California city and county lawsuits over climate change
California cities and counties will get a chance to raise sweeping and novel allegations in state court that big oil companies like Chevron and BP actively deceived the public about the dangers of fossil fuel production.

Montana sues tobacco companies for $43M in disputed settlement payments
The state of Montana is taking several tobacco companies to court for withholding $43 million in payments owed for marketing a lethal product to children and driving up health care costs.

Judge OKs loosening of Obama-era restrictions on fracking
The Bureau of Land Management did not violate environmental laws when it rescinded Obama-era restrictions on fracking throughout the western United States, a federal judge ruled Friday.

Newsom lays out $222B proposed budget for California: Housing, fires and homelessness
California Governor Gavin Newsom rolled out an ambitious $222 billion spending plan for 2020-21 that expands the state’s role in attacking a number of vexing issues, including wildfires, the housing shortage, and the ever-escalating homelessness crisis.
Iran responds to Soleimani strike with missile attack in Iraq
Responding to the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. airstrike, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired “tens” of missiles at Ain Assad airbase in Iraq, which currently houses U.S. troops.

‘Wake up, the planet is burning up!’ Brown tells polluting nations
Outgoing California Gov. Jerry Brown had some harsh words for world leaders at the United Nations Climate Conference in Poland, which wrapped up Friday. “Wake up! The planet is burning up.

Gore likens climate change to the apocalypse at summit
Former Vice President Al Gore, who jumpstarted global awareness of climate change as documented in the 2006 film “An Inconvenient Truth,” pumped up attendees of the final day of an international summit in San Francisco with a rousing call to action.

Federal judge says he’ll likely keep sage grouse on threatened species list
A federal judge said he will likely overturn the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s withdrawal of the bi-state sage grouse from a list of threatened species. At a hearing Friday, U.S. District Judge Joseph Spero said he couldn’t understand why the agency concluded that bird populations were declining to the extent that they required protection, then suddenly reversed its decision two years later.