Trump Gears Up to Gut Crucial Environmental Law
The Trump administration this week launched the largest rollback in history to the vital protections for air, water and wildlife provided by the National Environmental Policy Act.
The president’s Council on Environmental Quality began its assault on the 48-year-old law Wednesday, targeting its longstanding requirements for robust environmental review before federal projects are approved.
“The Trump administration is taking a sledgehammer to the process that gives scientists and the public a say on federal projects harming clean air, water and wildlife,” said the Center for Biological Diversity’s Paulo Lopes. “If this landmark law is gutted, the power plants and factories that corporations target for poor and underrepresented communities will routinely be rubberstamped.”
Stay tuned for how you can help fight this attack and read more in our press release
A Win for Black Bears in Washington State
After a Center lawsuit, a judge has stopped — for now — the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife from issuing any more permits for killing black bears on private timberlands using bait, traps and other inhumane methods.
Despite the fact that voters in the state had already outlawed these cruel practices, the department created a program authorizing these types of bear killings by a small group of hunters in industry-owned forests. The judge’s ruling, made last Friday, suspends that illegal program.
“This decision will save many bears from a cruel death, and that’s a big relief,” said the Center’s Collette Adkins. “Now we’ll focus on shutting down the program for good.”
Get more from Associated Press.
Destructive California Mega-warehouse Defeated
Responding to a lawsuit by the Center and allies, a judge has ruled against a massive, environmentally destructive warehouse project planned for Southern California, called the World Logistics Center.
This 40-million-square-foot project — about three times the size of New York’s Central Park — would’ve added 14,000 daily truck trips to roads leading to the city of Moreno Valley; worsened already poor air quality; and harmed imperiled wildlife in the San Jacinto Wildlife Area, from burrowing owls to Los Angeles pocket mice. Read more.
Crisis Deepens for West Coast’s Southern Resident Orcas
The news for endangered orcas on the West Coast just went from bad to worse. Researchers announced over the weekend that another Southern Resident orca has died — driving this population to its lowest levels in more than 30 years.
The death of the whale named “Crewser” now means there are just 75 left in the wild.
This news comes in the wake of a Center legal petition pressing Trump to protect Southern Resident orcas’ habitat off California, Oregon and Washington.
We’ve been fighting for these unique marine mammals for years, and we won’t stop now. Learn more in our press release and make a donation to help us save endangered West Coast orcas
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Read lots more at http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/
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