Suit Filed Over Huge Trump Oil Rush in Gulf of Mexico

The Trump administration has offered up more of the Gulf of Mexico for offshore oil drilling than history has ever seen: 78 million acres, virtually all the available public acreage. So the Center for Biological Diversity and allies this week sued Trump's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

Our lawsuit, filed in Washington, D.C., challenges the agency's failure to analyze risks to people and wildlife from the massive selloff.

"Trump is turning over the Gulf of Mexico to oil companies so they can drill and frack with no regard for the consequences. Shortcutting environmental review puts the natural world at risk and will push us deeper into the climate crisis," said Kristen Monsell, legal director of the Center's Oceans program.

We've filed more than 80 lawsuits against the Trump administration. Read more about our latest in The Hill.

Yellowstone Grizzlies Need You Right Now

Our campaign to save Yellowstone's grizzly bears from trophy hunters is kicking into high gear. Starting Sept. 1, more than 20 grizzlies that wander out of Yellowstone National Park and into Wyoming and Idaho could be shot and killed. We're mobilizing across the country to stop the hunt and get federal protection restored to these beloved bears.

We need your help. If you want to attend or host an event in your area, sign up at Ignite Change and we'll give you the details of next week's webinars on how to get involved. You can also help raise funds — whether for activists traveling to Yellowstone or billboards in the region. Gifts supporting this fight will be matched dollar for dollar by a generous Center member.

And don't forget to sign the petition calling on the Trump administration to restore protection to Yellowstone's grizzlies immediately.

Enviros to Feds: Release More Mexican Gray Wolf Packs

The Center and two dozen other groups have asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to release three captive-bred Mexican gray wolf packs — families with pups — to New Mexico's Gila Wilderness this summer. More wolves are urgently needed by the Southwest's small wild-wolf population, whose survival is threatened by low genetic diversity.

A decade ago, the Service — kowtowing to the cattle industry — halted most releases of captive-born wolves into the wild. Instead, in 2016 it began "cross-fostering": releasing captive pups into existing wild packs, without their parents.

The approach seems to be failing: Only two of 10 cross-fostered pups from 2016–2017 are known to still be alive.

Read more in our press release.

GOP Launches Slew of Attacks on Endangered Species Act

Congressional Republicans have just launched more than a dozen new attacks on the Endangered Species Act and the 1,800 imperiled animals and plants protected by this landmark law.

The Senate held a hearing Tuesday on legislation that would virtually obliterate the Act and push hundreds of species toward extinction, including grizzly bears, wolves and Pacific salmon. Meanwhile the House is poised to vote on 13 policy riders attempting to gut the Act. These attacks follow a nine-bill package introduced last week seeking to eviscerate the law.

"This legislation is deeply out of touch with the values of most Americans," said the Center's Brett Hartl. "Since the Act was passed, it has prevented hundreds of extinctions."

Read more in our press release.

Wild & Weird: Deep-sea Drama Off the Carolina Coast

Exploring the ocean depths a few dozen miles off the coast of North Carolina earlier this year, researchers captured amazing and rare footage. Check out the seafloor drama of predation in the deep sea — starring a barracuda and a burrow-dwelling "Atlantic midshipman" fish — in our new video on Facebook and YouTube.