Matthew Renda
Judge orders Feds to let public weigh in on sage grouse habitat
A federal judge has halted the Trump administration’s updated policy on public participation in the process by which the Bureau of Land Management decides whether to grant oil and gas leases in habitat of the greater sage grouse.
National parks (including Glacier) hit hardest by climate change, study finds
Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and University of Wisconsin-Madison performed a first of its kind analysis that found average temperatures in national parks increased at twice the rate of the rest of the nation while rainfall totals have decreased more than other areas of the country.
Report: Outdoor recreation outpaces Big Oil as economic engine
Spending on outdoor recreation outpaced Big Oil’s contribution to the U.S. economy according to federal statistics released Thursday, prompting critics to renew their attacks on Trump administration policies of ramping up oil and gas leases on or near public lands.
Court: Feds must reconsider endangered status for Arctic grayling in Montana
The Ninth Circuit ruled Friday the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service incorrectly denied endangered listing to a cold-water fish living in the Upper Missouri River Basin in Montana. A three-judge panel found Fish and Wildlife failed to supply evidence of increased population of the Arctic grayling in Montana rivers, and didn’t properly account for climate change when it declined to list the species as endangered in 2014.
Ninth Circuit orders EPA to ban harmful pesticides within 60 days
The Ninth Circuit blasted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday for failing to follow federal guidelines and ordered the agency to ban chlorpyrifos, a pesticide known have detrimental health impacts to children.
Calif. governor blames climate change for fires; Death Valley has hottest month ever recorded on Earth
California Governor Jerry Brown wasn’t shy when it came to identifying the underlying culprit responsible for the glut of wildfires raging across the state: climate change. “The fire season is so much longer and the fires are so much bigger,” Brown said Wednesday when asked about the biggest difference between his management of fires now versus when he was first governor in the 1970s.
Keeping funds from sanctuary cities is illegal, 9th Circuit Court rules
The Ninth Circuit handed the Trump administration a legal defeat Wednesday, ruling the Justice Department does not have the authority to withhold federal grant money from sanctuary cities. The U.S. Constitution bars the executive branch from refusing to disburse grants without explicit permission from Congress, the panel said.
Explosive wildfire forces widespread closures in Yosemite National Park
Federal officials will close Yosemite National Park’s main attractions at noon Wednesday due to the encroachment of the Ferguson Fire on the park’s iconic western entrance. “Based on the smoke impacts, we are instituting a closure for Highway 41 and Yosemite Valley tomorrow,” said Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman on Tuesday.
Firefighter killed as wildfire explodes near Yosemite National Park
A deadly wildfire threatening Yosemite National Park in California doubled in size overnight, fire officials said Monday. The Ferguson fire has charred 9,000 acres and is only 2 percent contained. Firefighter Braden Varney, 36, died in a bulldozer accident over the weekend; officials are hopeful his body can be recovered on Monday.
Poll: Record number of Americans now believe climate change is real
Nearly three-quarters – 73 percent – of survey respondents believe there is substantial evidence for global warming, according to the National Surveys on Energy and the Environment, the largest recorded percentage since the survey commenced in 2008.