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California Attorney General Bonta Headlines COP28 Side Event Sunday
DUBAI— California Attorney General Rob Bonta will deliver remarks Sunday at a COP28 side event showcasing key global fights against fossil fuels.
Read more.Analysis: Biden-Approved Fossil Fuel Projects Undermine IRA Emissions Cuts
WASHINGTON— Fossil fuel projects approved by the Biden administration threaten to erase the climate emissions progress from the Inflation Reduction Act and other climate policies, according to a new analysis released today by the Center for Biological Diversity.
Read more.Legal Petition Demands Biden Administration Halt Fast-Tracked CO2 Pipeline Permits
WASHINGTON— More than 350 environmental, public health, Indigenous, faith-based and community groups sent a legal petition to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today demanding that it stop fast tracking permits for carbon dioxide pipelines.
Read more.Lawsuit Launched Urging EPA to Set Climate Pollution Cap
WASHINGTON— Minnesota, Oregon, the San Carlos Apache Tribe, the Center for Biological Diversity, and 350.org filed a formal notice today of their intent to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to act on a 2009 petition urging a nationwide greenhouse gas pollution cap under the Clean Air Act.
Read more.Court Halts Bay Area Biofuel Megaproject Operations
MARTINEZ, Calif.— The Contra Costa County Superior Court today ordered Phillips 66 to halt its plan to operate a biofuel refinery in Rodeo, California. The court put the Bay Area megaproject on hold until the county fully complies with environmental review requirements that it violated when first approving the project.
Read more.Court Upholds Denial of ExxonMobil’s Plan to Truck Oil in Santa Barbara, Restart Offshore Drilling
LOS ANGELES— The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California today upheld Santa Barbara County’s denial of ExxonMobil’s proposal to transport oil by tanker trucks along hazardous California highways. The plan would have helped the company restart three drilling platforms off the Santa Barbara coast, shut down since the disastrous Refugio oil spill eight years ago.
Read more.New Mexicans Demand End to Fossil Fuels in Historic New York Climate March
NEW YORK— A delegation of more than 50 Indigenous, environmental, youth and frontline advocates from New Mexico joined more than 75,000 people from across the country and world today to march in the streets of Manhattan and demand that the U.S. end its extraction and use of fossil fuels. The mass mobilization took place ahead of the first United Nations Climate Ambition Summit on Sept. 20, when U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres will urge world leaders to make commitments to phase out fossil fuels.
Read more.New Mexico Indigenous, Environmental, Frontline Groups Head to New York to Advocate for End to Fossil Fuels
SANTA FE, N.M.— More than 40 prominent New Mexican community leaders in the battle against oil and gas extraction will travel to New York City to participate in the March to End Fossil Fuels, a mass mobilization taking place Sept. 17 ahead of the United Nations Climate Ambition Summit. The New Mexico delegation will deliver a declaration and join global advocates in calling on President Biden and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to lead the way in phasing out fossil fuels.
Read more.Biden Administration Working Group Recommendations Offer First Step to Protect Communities, Environment From Destructive Mining
WASHINGTON— The Biden administration’s Interagency Working Group released recommendations today to update hardrock mining laws and regulations. Tribes and conservation groups welcomed this first step but urged President Biden to use his authority to make additional improvements to protect communities, sacred places and water resources. The administration formed the working group in February 2022 as part of its efforts around “Securing a Made in America Supply Chain for Critical Minerals.”
Read more.Lawmakers, Youth, Frontline Advocates Rally Thursday in D.C. to Urge Biden Action on Fossil Fuels
WASHINGTON— Members of Congress, youth and climate justice advocates will rally on Capitol Hill Thursday morning to urge President Biden to use his executive powers to stop approving fossil fuel projects, phase out fossil fuels on federal lands and waters, and declare a climate emergency. The rally comes ahead of the March to End Fossil Fuels, Sept. 17 in New York City and the United Nations’ Climate Ambition Summit Sept. 20. It will include colorful banners and signs.
Read more.New Scorecard Shows New Mexico Governor on Verge of Failing on Climate
SANTA FE, N.M.— New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has failed to use the power of her office to adopt policies and take actions that address the climate emergency, according to a scorecard released today by the Center for Biological Diversity and endorsed by numerous environmental and Indigenous organizations.
Read more.Biden Administration Urged to Ditch Planned Hydrogen Investments
WASHINGTON— A nationwide coalition of more than 180 conservation, Indigenous, faith, labor and social justice organizations urged the Biden administration today to scrap plans to rapidly expand investment in the production and use of hydrogen. The U.S. Department of Energy is championing hydrogen as a supposed climate solution despite the heavy reliance of fossil fuels in its production.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Federal Approval of Alaska LNG Exports
ANCHORAGE, Alaska— Conservation groups sued the federal government today for approving exports from the Alaska LNG Project, which would transport gas from Alaska’s North Slope to Asia.
Read more.New Mexico Governor Urged to Ban Oil Wells Near Schools to Protect Children
SANTA FE, N.M.— Environmental, public health and social justice groups today urged New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to establish statewide health buffer zones to prohibit oil and gas wells within one mile of schools and other educational facilities.
Read more.Thousands Oppose Industrial Carbon Waste Dumping in National Forests
WASHINGTON— More than 9,000 people today urged the U.S. Forest Service to halt plans to allow carbon waste from industrial sources like fossil fuel power plants to be dumped in national forests.
Read more.Groups Win Legal Challenges to Massive Bay Area Biofuel Refinery Projects
MARTINEZ, Calif.— Communities for a Better Environment and the Center for Biological Diversity won legal victories today over Contra Costa County’s approval of two proposed biofuel refinery conversions in the Bay Area. The Superior Court of Contra Costa County found the county relied on incomplete and misleading environmental reviews in violation of the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA.
Read more.Biden Oil and Gas Proposal Marks Massive Climate Failure
WASHINGTON— The Biden administration released proposed regulations today that would continue expanding oil and gas extraction on federal public lands, marking yet another major climate failure by the administration.
Read more.Energy Department Refuses to Set Standards for Evaluating New Gas Exports
WASHINGTON— After a 10-year delay, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Tuesday denied a petition for rulemaking calling on the agency to issue regulations defining whether proposed gas exports are consistent with the public interest.
Read more.California Regulator Halts New Oil, Gas Wells Following Lawsuit
LOS ANGELES— A judge approved an agreement today to end litigation over approvals for 17 new oil and gas wells, some near homes and schools, in Los Angeles and Kern counties. The agreement comes after the state oil and gas regulator cancelled and rescinded approvals for the new wells.
Read more.Legal Intervention Defends EPA Approval of California Clean Truck Rule
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity joined seven other groups today to intervene in lawsuits regarding clean truck standards in California. The intervention seeks to defend California’s ability under the Clean Air Act to set truck emissions standards stronger than those of the federal government. The lawsuits were brought against the Biden administration by a variety of trucking and petroleum industry groups, along with several states.
Read more.50 Groups Petition to End California’s Dirty Biomass Loophole
OAKLAND, Calif.— More than 50 environmental and justice organizations petitioned the California Public Utilities Commission today to end a nearly two-decades-old “free pass” given to biomass power plants under the state’s greenhouse gas emission performance standard. The commission carved out this free pass based on the false premise that electricity made from biomass is not a significant source of carbon emissions.
Read more.500+ International Groups: Biden Must Stop Fossil Fuel Expansion Ahead of September Climate Summit
WASHINGTON— More than 500 groups from six continents sent a letter to President Biden today demanding he stop fossil fuel expansion ahead of U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres’s climate ambition summit this September.
Read more.Legal Petition Demands Biden Administration Halt Imports of Saudi Arabian Fossil Fuels
WASHINGTON— Conservation groups petitioned the U.S. Department of Commerce today to evaluate, review and ban all fossil fuel imports from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia — including all oil products — under the U.S. Trade Act because of the national security threat these imports pose to the United States.
Read more.Biden Administration Urged to Reject Hydrogen Hubs
ALBUQUERQUE/TIWA TERRITORY, N.M.— A coalition of Indigenous, climate, environmental justice and youth advocates urged the Department of Energy today to reject funding for the Western Interstate Hydrogen Hub, which is intended to rapidly expand hydrogen production in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
Read more.Top Scientists: California Must End Neighborhood Oil Drilling, New Fossil Fuel Permits
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— More than 100 scientists sent a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom today urging him to stop new oil and gas permit approvals, especially in and near neighborhoods. In the midst of a climate and public health crisis, California regulators have approved more than 1,000 new oil and gas permits this year — more than 600 of them within 3,200 feet of homes, schools and other sensitive sites.
Read more.Legal Intervention Defends Protections for Lesser Prairie Chickens
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity and Texas Campaign for the Environment moved today to intervene in a lawsuit to defend the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to protect lesser prairie chickens under the Endangered Species Act.
Read more.Secretary Haaland Protects Chaco Canyon From Oil, Gas Drilling
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— In response to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s decision today to prohibit new federal oil and gas leasing within 10 miles of the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, members of the Greater Chaco Coalition called on the Biden administration to end all new federal fossil fuel leasing across the country.
Read more.New Mexico Creates School Health Buffer to Protect Against Oil, Gas Pollution
SANTA FE, N.M.— New Mexico Public Lands Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard announced an executive order today that bans new oil and gas leasing on state lands within one mile of schools and other educational facilities.
Read more.California Supreme Court to Hear Arguments Thursday Over Monterey Oil, Gas Drilling Restrictions
SAN FRANCISCO— The California Supreme Court will hear arguments Thursday in a lawsuit that will determine whether Monterey County’s local ordinance banning new oil and gas wells and phasing out wastewater disposal is preempted by state laws.
Read more.California Oil Regulators Sued Over New Oil, Gas Wells Near Homes, Beaches
LONG BEACH, Calif.— The Center for Biological Diversity sued California oil regulators today for approving about two dozen new oil and gas wells in Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo counties close to homes, beaches and important habitat without conducting the required environmental review.
Read more.New Mexico Sued Over Failure to Control Skyrocketing Oil, Gas Pollution
SANTA FE, N.M.— A coalition of Indigenous peoples, youth, frontline community members and environmental groups sued New Mexico, the state legislature, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and state agencies today for violating their state constitutional duty to control the rapidly growing pollution from the oil and gas industry.
Read more.Rally to Launch Landmark N.M. Constitutional Lawsuit Over Oil, Gas Pollution
SANTA FE, N.M.— A coalition of Indigenous peoples, youth, frontline community members and environmental groups will rally in front of the First Judicial District Court of New Mexico tomorrow to mark the filing of a lawsuit against New Mexico, the state legislature, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and other defendants for violating their state constitutional duty to control the oil and gas industry’s growing pollution.
Read more.Congressional Resolution Urges Biden to Declare Climate Emergency, Phase Out Fossil Fuels
WASHINGTON— Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) reintroduced a resolution today calling on President Biden to declare a climate emergency and use existing non-emergency powers to lead a multiagency, massive-scale response to the climate crisis.
Read more.Biden Auto Emissions Rules Fail to Meet Climate Emergency
WASHINGTON— The Biden administration proposed new tailpipe emissions standards today that fail to rein in massive carbon pollution from millions of new gas-powered SUVs, pickup trucks and cars.
Read more.UN Chief Calls for Halt to New Fossil Fuel Development Ahead of Climate Ambition Summit
NEW YORK— The United Nations Secretary General set strong conditions for joining a global climate ambition summit in September, including ceasing all licensing and funding of new oil and gas development and halting expansion of existing oil and gas reserves. This price of entry puts the United States at risk of being shut out of the meeting. The announcement from U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres came as the latest U.N. climate report declared drastic fossil fuel cuts are necessary to avert catastrophic warming.
Read more.'New York Times' Ad Blasts Automaker Climate Hypocrisy, Urges Biden Action
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity and GreenLatinos placed a full-page ad in The New York Times today blasting automaker doublespeak on clean vehicles. The ad calls on President Biden to make the manufacturers cut carbon emissions 75% by 2030 and boost electric vehicle, or EV, access and production.
Read more.50 Groups Urge N.M. Governor to End Oil, Gas Extraction by 2034
SANTA FE, N.M.— More than 50 Indigenous, environmental and social justice organizations marked the start of New Mexico’s 2023 legislative session by calling on Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to promote strong science-based climate legislation that phases out oil and gas production by 2034.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Biden EPA Failure to Cut Airplane Soot Pollution
WASHINGTON— Environmental groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency today over its rule that fails to cut aircraft particulate matter pollution, commonly known as soot and smoke.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Approval of Sea Port Oil Terminal
BRAZORIA COUNTY, Texas— Environmental and community groups sued the U.S. Department of Transportation today over its approval of the Sea Port Oil Terminal, also known as SPOT, a proposed massive Gulf Coast deepwater oil-export facility off the coast of Brazoria County, Texas.
Read more.Svitlana Romanko, Joye Braun Honored With Rose Braz Award for Bold Activism
OAKLAND, Calif.— The Center for Biological Diversity today awarded the 2022 “Rose Braz Award for Bold Activism” to Svitlana Romanko and posthumously to the late Joye Braun.
Read more.EPA Report: Automakers Stalling on Clean Vehicles
WASHINGTON— Major automakers are selling millions of gas guzzlers and a relative handful of electric and other clean vehicles, making little progress against pollution, according to the Automotive Trends Report released today by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Read more.Legal Agreement Blocks Oil Drilling on 725,000 Acres of California Central Coast
MARINA, Calif.— A federal judge approved an agreement today to suspend new oil and gas leasing across more than 725,000 acres of public lands in California’s Central Coast and the Bay Area. The legal agreement was reached by conservation groups, Monterey County, Santa Cruz County and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
Read more.Tuesday Morning Rally to Urge Congress to Oppose Manchin’s Dirty Deal
WASHINGTON— Members of Congress and climate justice advocates will rally Tuesday morning outside the Cannon House Office Building to oppose Sen. Joe Manchin’s massive giveaway to the fossil fuel industry.
Read more.750 Groups Blast Manchin Ploy to Include Dirty Deal in Defense Bill
WASHINGTON— As West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin continues to promote his fossil fuel permitting scheme, more than 750 climate, environmental justice, public health, youth and progressive organizations sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congressional leadership today opposing what they call a “cruel and direct attack on environmental justice communities.”
Read more.Newsom Administration Sued Over New Oil, Gas Wells Near Homes, Recent Spills
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The Center for Biological Diversity sued California oil regulators today for approving more than a dozen new oil and gas wells in Los Angeles and Kern counties, some near homes and schools, without conducting a required review intended to protect public health and the environment.
Read more.COP27 Makes Breakthrough on Loss and Damage But Flops on Fossil Fuels
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt— The United Nations climate summit ended in Egypt today with a critical failure to include commitments to phase out all climate-heating fossil fuels as the science behind the Paris Agreement demands.
Read more.Legal Petition Urges Biden Administration to Stop New Deepwater Ports for Oil, Gas Exports
HOUSTON— The Center for Biological Diversity and 289 organizations sent a legal petition today to the Maritime Administration, or MARAD, an agency in the U.S. Department of Transportation, demanding that the Biden administration halt approvals of new deepwater port infrastructure for oil and gas exports.
Read more.Emperor Penguins Win U.S. Endangered Species Act Protection
WASHINGTON— The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today granted the emperor penguin protection under the Endangered Species Act because of threats from sea-ice loss driven by the climate crisis. The decision follows a petition and lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity.
Read more.California Oil Group Pays Fees to Advocacy Groups It Harassed, But Dodges Multimillion Dollar Judgment
LOS ANGELES— The California Independent Petroleum Association, an oil industry trade association, paid the city of Los Angeles, Youth for Environmental Justice, South Central Youth Leadership Coalition, and the Center for Biological Diversity nearly $650,000 as part of a bankruptcy reorganization plan today, after years of litigation.
Read more.Manchin Pushes Most Significant Environmental Rollback in Decades
WASHINGTON— After weeks of keeping the public and virtually all members of Congress in the dark, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin today released the details of their secret deal that Manchin demanded as payment for voting to pass the Inflation Reduction Act.
Read more.California Lawmakers OK Climate Package With Buffer Zones, Carbon Capture
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The California legislature approved a suite of climate measures today, including historic health-and-safety setbacks that protect communities from oil and gas drilling, in its closing 2022 session.
Read more.California Clean Car Rule Fails to Match Climate Urgency
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— California’s Air Resources Board is set to finalize an auto emissions rule today that falls short of needed progress and jeopardizes the state’s pledge to be carbon neutral by 2045.
Read more.Over 650 Groups Call on Congressional Leaders to Reject Manchin’s Dirty Pipeline Deal
WASHINGTON— More than 650 climate, environmental justice, public health, youth, and progressive organizations sent a letter to congressional leadership today to oppose the fossil fuel expansion deal proposed by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin to Democratic leadership in exchange for his support of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Read more.Biden’s ‘Sustainable Aviation Fuel’ Goals Mired in Myth: Report
WASHINGTON— Sustainability and supply issues will make it impossible to reach the Biden administration’s goal to meet 100% of U.S. jet fuel demand with aviation biofuels by 2050, according to a new report by the Center for Biological Diversity.
Read more.Climate Bill Heads to Biden for Signature, Forecasts Fall Fossil Fuel Fight
WASHINGTON— The House of Representatives passed the Democrats’ climate and healthcare spending bill today, sending the biggest-ever U.S. government climate investment package to the president for his signature.
Read more.Legal Agreements Block Drilling, Fracking Across 1 Million Acres in Central California
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.— Community and conservation groups and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management reached an agreement today to suspend new oil and gas leasing across more than 1 million acres of public lands in California’s Central Valley and Central Coast.
Read more.Hundreds of Climate, Community Groups Tell Biden, Congress: No Fossil Fuel Expansion in Reconciliation Bill
WASHINGTON— More than 350 conservation and community groups, representing millions of people, called on President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer today to reject fossil fuel expansion during negotiations over a reconciliation package.
Read more.States Push National Greenhouse Gas Pollution Cap
WASHINGTON— Seven states and the territory of Guam called on President Biden and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today to set a nationwide greenhouse gas pollution cap under the Clean Air Act.
Read more.Biden Stops Short of Declaring National Climate Emergency
WASHINGTON— President Biden announced a series of executive actions targeting the climate crisis today, and while he described the crisis as “an emergency,” he stopped short of the national climate emergency declaration called for by the Center for Biological Diversity and more than 1,200 other groups.
Read more.Biden’s Top Five Climate Executive Actions
WASHINGTON— With climate provisions stripped from Democrats’ economic package by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), President Biden’s executive powers are front and center in protecting U.S. international commitments and preserving a livable planet.
Read more.Supreme Court Leaves Open Powerful Climate Pathway for Biden, EPA
WASHINGTON— The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision last week curtailing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate power plant pollution left untouched one of the strongest tools to reduce greenhouse gas pollution under the Clean Air Act — a nationwide greenhouse gas pollution cap.
Read more.Supreme Court Limits Climate Action Under Clean Air Act
WASHINGTON— The Supreme Court today limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate power plant emissions under the Clean Air Act. The decision in West Virginia v. EPA is a blow to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from coal and gas fired power plants. It spotlights the need for the Biden administration to use its broad range of executive powers to combat the climate emergency.
Read more.EPA Urged to Reject Carbon Capture Projects in Central California
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.— Citing threats to the environment and public health, more than 80 environmental justice and conservation groups urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today to stop an influx of carbon capture, use and storage, or CCUS, project applications in California’s Central Valley.
Read more.Temblor Legless Lizard Wins California Endangered Species Act Protections
LOS ANGELES— In response to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, the California Fish and Game Commission unanimously agreed today to protect the Temblor legless lizard under the state’s Endangered Species Act. The move grants legal protection to the rare lizards for at least a year.
Read more.Lawsuits Challenge Two Massive Bay Area Biofuel Refinery Projects
OAKLAND, Calif.— Communities for a Better Environment and the Center for Biological Diversity sued Contra Costa County on Tuesday over its rushed approval of two proposed biofuel refineries in the Bay Area using incomplete and misleading environmental reviews.
Read more.Biden Use of Defense Production Act Signals Pivot on Climate, Renewables
WASHINGTON— President Biden signaled a major shift in climate strategy today, announcing executive actions that use the Defense Production Act to manufacture solar panel components, heat pumps, insulation, and grid transformers needed to speed the country toward renewable energy.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges California Biofuel Refinery Expansion
LOS ANGELES— Environmental justice and conservation groups sued the city of Paramount, California today over its approval of a biofuel refinery expansion without adequate environmental review.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges U.S. Postal Service Plan to Buy 150,000 Gas-Guzzling Trucks
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity, CleanAirNow, Sierra Club, and 16 states filed lawsuits in California federal court today challenging the U.S. Postal Service’s decision to replace its aging fleet with close to 150,000 gas-burning delivery trucks.
Read more.500 Global Groups Urge Biden to End Fossil Fuel Era in Response to Russia-Ukraine War
WASHINGTON— More than 500 organizations from six continents sent a letter to President Biden and other world leaders today, urging them to speed the end of the fossil fuel era and spur a just and equitable transition to 100% renewable energy.
Read more.Top Scientists: California Must End Neighborhood Oil Drilling, Phase Out Fossil Fuels
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— Nearly 200 scientists marked Earth Week by sending a letter today calling on the Newsom administration to immediately end neighborhood oil drilling and rapidly phase out fossil fuel production in California.
Read more.‘Los Angeles Times’ Ad Urges California to Ramp Up Clean Car Rules
LOS ANGELES— Environmental, equity and health groups placed a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times today warning that California’s weak draft auto emissions rule falls short of needed progress and jeopardizes the state’s pledge to be carbon neutral by 2045.
Read more.Temblor Legless Lizard Gets Closer to California Endangered Species Protection
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The California Department of Fish and Wildlife today recommended that the Temblor legless lizard move toward protection under the state’s Endangered Species Act. The action came in response to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity.
Read more.California Issues Weak Clean Cars Rule, Fails to Lead Aggressive Electric Push
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— California proposed a new clean car rule today that jeopardizes the state’s pledge to be carbon neutral by 2045. The Advanced Clean Cars II Rule charts inadequate progress toward 100% zero-emission vehicle, or ZEV, sales and ignores tailpipe pollution from millions of gas-powered cars sold until that transition is complete.
Read more.100 Groups Demand EPA Set Protective Airplane-Pollution Limits
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity and more than 100 allies submitted comments today opposing the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed particulate matter pollution standards for aircraft.
Read more.Groups Call for Oil Industry to Fund California’s Costly Oil Well Cleanup
OAKLAND, Calif.— California climate, health and community groups sent a letter to the U.S. Interior Department today urging it to force polluters to pay for the cleanup of tens of thousands of dangerous abandoned oil and gas wells in the state.
Read more.Lawsuit Aims to Protect California’s Temblor Legless Lizard
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit today to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to decide whether the temblor legless lizard in California warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act.
Read more.Biden Urged to Invoke Defense Protection Act, Resist Shortsighted Domestic Fossil Fuel Policies
WASHINGTON— Following President Biden’s announcement Tuesday that the United States will ban all Russian oil imports, more than 200 climate, Indigenous, social justice, religious, and progressive groups sent a letter to the White House today urging the president to invoke the Defense Production Act in order to ramp up the deployment of renewable energy to transition the world off the fossil fuels that are leading to global instability.
Read more.Eighty Groups Demand Gov. Newsom Set Nation-Leading Clean Car Standard
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— More than 80 environmental and justice organizations delivered a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom today urging him to strengthen the state’s clean car regulations. The letter comes ahead of Newsom’s State of the State address Tuesday, in which he’s expected to outline his top priorities.
Read more.Legal Petition Demands Biden Administration Halt Imports of Russian Fossil Fuels
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the U.S. Department of Commerce today to review and ban all fossil fuel imports from Russia — including oil, coal, petroleum gas products and petcoke — under the U.S. Trade Act because of the national security threat those imports pose to the United States.
Read more.State of the Union: Amid Global Crisis, Biden Must Move to End Fossil Fuel Era
WASHINGTON— Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, released the following statement after President Biden’s State of the Union address.
Read more.Biden Climate Leadership Needed in Wake of Supreme Court Argument
WASHINGTON— The Supreme Court heard oral argument today in West Virginia v. EPA, a case that could shape the contours of the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate power plant emissions under the Clean Air Act. The Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental respondent in the case, urged the court to either uphold the EPA’s authority to set appropriate standards for coal and gas fired power plants or dismiss the case for lack of appellate standing.
Read more.Supreme Court Argument Highlights Need for Biden Climate Action
WASHINGTON— A high-stakes argument before the Supreme Court on Monday will spotlight the urgent need for President Biden to take bold executive action to fight climate change, but the best outcome could be for the court to decline to decide the case at all.
Read more.Report Details Key Powers Biden Can Unlock With National Climate Emergency, Echoes Congressional Calls for Declaration
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity released a groundbreaking report today outlining the suite of specific powers that President Biden could unlock to fight the climate crisis by declaring a national climate emergency.
Read more.Army Corps Urged to Block Louisiana Methanol Facility Over Potential Groundwater Harms
NEW ORLEANS— Groups opposing a South Louisiana Methanol project sent a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today calling attention to the agency’s failure to obtain critical information about the facility’s possible threats to the freshwater Gramercy Aquifer. The $2.2 billion complex, planned for a 1,500-acre site in St. James Parish, would be one of the world’s largest methanol plants.
Read more.California Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Measure Z Oil, Gas Protections Case
SAN FRANCISCO— The California Supreme Court announced today that it will take up the years-long legal fight over Measure Z, a ballot initiative that would block oil and gas development in Monterey County.
Read more.California Court Rules Lawsuit Against State Oil Regulator Can Proceed
OAKLAND, Calif— A judge has ruled decisively in favor of the Center for Biological Diversity’s ability to proceed with a suit over California’s oil and gas regulator committing widespread violations of environmental laws. The regulator and an oil-industry lobbying group had tried to dismiss the Center’s case, but on Wednesday the court rejected their arguments.
Read more.Biden Administration Finalizes Weak Auto Emission Standards
WASHINGTON— The Biden administration finalized new auto emission rules today that improve on those proposed in August but still fail to cut climate pollution fast enough to confront the climate emergency.
Read more.John Beard Jr. Honored With Rose Braz Award for Bold Activism
PORT ARTHUR, Texas— The Center for Biological Diversity has awarded the 2021 “Rose Braz Award for Bold Activism” to John Beard Jr.
Read more.Legal Petition Demands Federal Government Use Buying Power for Climate Gains
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the General Services Administration today to use its unique buying power to advance climate goals by purchasing renewable energy and zero-emission vehicles.
Read more.California Supreme Court Review Sought for Oil, Gas Protections in Monterey County
MONTEREY, Calif.— Proponents of a Monterey County ballot initiative aimed at restricting oil and gas extraction and pollution asked the California Supreme Court today to overturn an appellate court decision that struck down major provisions in the ordinance.
Read more.State Endangered Species Protection Sought for Rare Central California Lizard
McKITTRICK, Calif.— The Center for Biological Diversity formally petitioned the California Fish and Game Commission today to protect the Temblor legless lizard under the state’s Endangered Species Act.
Read more.COP26 Summit Ends Without Biden Taking Crucial Action on Fossil Fuels
GLASGOW, Scotland— The United Nations climate summit ended in Glasgow today with the United States still failing to make crucial domestic and global commitments to address the climate emergency.
Read more.Anti-Fossil Fuel Protest Meets U.S. Interior Secretary at COP26
GLASGOW, Scotland— Leaders from the Build Back Fossil Free campaign unfurled a large banner today at the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow urging the Biden administration to halt federal oil, gas and coal expansion on public lands and oceans.
Read more.Anti-Fossil Fuel Protest to Meet U.S. Interior Secretary at COP26
GLASGOW, Scotland— Grassroots leaders from the U.S. Gulf Coast will gather for a photo and speaking opportunity ahead of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s remarks at the U.N. climate summit today. Just three days after the end of COP26, the Biden administration is slated to hold a major offshore oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico. The representatives of impacted communities and other climate justice groups in the Build Back Fossil Free campaign will demand President Biden keep his promise to end new federal fossil fuel leasing and permitting on public lands and waters.
Read more.U.S. Grassroots Leaders Greet Biden at COP26 With Push to End Fossil Fuel Era
GLASGOW, Scotland— Grassroots leaders from the Build Back Fossil Free campaign rallied ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s remarks at the United Nations climate summit today in Glasgow, Scotland. Representatives of Indigenous, Black and frontline communities — along with dozens of other climate justice groups — demanded Biden take executive action to stop fossil fuel project approvals and declare a climate emergency.
Read more.New Analysis: Gov. Newsom Urgently Needs to Stop Permitting New Oil, Gas Wells in California
GLASGOW, Scotland— As a delegation of Newsom administration officials attends the U.N. climate talks following the governor’s call for an end to global reliance on oil, a new analysis by the Center for Biological Diversity shows the staggering cost of the state’s approval of new oil and gas wells, the majority of which are located in California’s most polluted communities.
Read more.U.S. Activists: Biden Climate Credibility in Glasgow Depends on Executive Action
GLASGOW— U.S. grassroots activists from the Build Back Fossil Free coalition will gather for a photo and speaking opportunity ahead of President Biden’s remarks at the U.N. climate summit today. The representatives of frontline communities and dozens of other climate justice groups will demand Biden take executive action to stop fossil fuel project approvals and declare a climate emergency, building on the historic People vs. Fossil Fuels week of action last month in Washington, D.C.
Read more.Five Executive Actions Biden Must Take As Climate Program Falters in Congress
WASHINGTON— As Congress struggles to pass major climate legislation, President Joe Biden can use existing executive powers to take at least five major actions to establish global leadership at the international climate talks in November, according to legal experts at the Center for Biological Diversity.
Read more.San Luis Obispo County Approves Disputed Drilling at Arroyo Grande Oilfield
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.— The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors rejected an appeal from the Center for Biological Diversity and the pleas of concerned community members today in approving dozens of new oil and gas wells at the Arroyo Grande oilfield.
Read more.Court Strikes Down Oil Industry Pollution Protections in Monterey County
SAN JOSE, Calif.— A California appeals court on Tuesday struck down the landmark Measure Z ballot initiative that banned new oil and gas wells and phased out waste fluid disposal in Monterey County.
Read more.Hundreds of Scientists Tell Biden: Halt Fossil Fuel Development Now
WASHINGTON— More than 330 U.S. research scientists sent a letter to President Biden today urging him to use his executive authority to stop all new fossil fuel projects and declare a climate emergency — actions they say are necessary to avoid the worst damages of the climate crisis and deliver on environmental justice.
Read more.Legal Petition Demands Biden Administration Stop Unlawful Fossil Fuel Projects
WASHINGTON— More than 380 environmental, public health, Indigenous, faith-based and community groups sent a legal petition today demanding that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stop issuing permits, and revoke illegally and inappropriately issued permits, for fossil fuel infrastructure projects.
Read more.100 Groups Demand Biden Cut Airplane Climate Pollution
WASHINGTON— One hundred environmental, community and public-health groups called on the Biden administration today to set strong standards to cut airplane pollution and avoid industry-promoted biofuel greenwashing.
Read more.California Oil Industry Lobby Group Files for Bankruptcy
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The California Independent Petroleum Association, one of the two main lobbying groups for the oil and gas industry in California, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a state bankruptcy court this week. The move comes after a Los Angeles court ordered the group to pay more than $2 million to the Center for Biological Diversity, youth groups from South Los Angeles and Wilmington, and the city of Los Angeles for filing a retaliatory lawsuit against them.
Read more.Lawsuit Filed After Biden Opens 80 Million Acres of Gulf of Mexico for Oil
WASHINGTON— Immediately following the Biden administration’s decision to offer more than 80 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas leasing, environmental and Gulf groups today filed a challenge to the lease sale in court.
Read more.Biden EPA Urged to Strengthen Clean Car Rules to Protect Climate
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity offered live testimony today urging the Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen its newly proposed clean car rule to tackle the climate emergency. The Center argued at a public hearing that this make-or-break rulemaking can only meet President Biden’s climate commitments if it rejects the half-measures and loopholes in the current version.
Read more.Records Reveal Years of Illegal Oil Drilling at California’s Arroyo Grande Oilfield
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.— The Center for Biological Diversity informed San Luis Obispo County leaders today that the operator of the Arroyo Grande oilfield has been drilling illegal oil wells for years. Evidence of the illegal drilling was uncovered by the Center through a recent public information request.
Read more.Biden Yields to Automakers, Issues Weak Emissions Standards
WASHINGTON— The Biden administration is proposing new tailpipe emissions standards today that are weaker than what automakers agreed to with the Obama administration nearly a decade ago.
Read more.'New York Times' Ad Urges Biden to Dramatically Cut Tailpipe Pollution
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity placed a full-page ad in The New York Times today warning that President Biden will put the planet in peril if he yields to automakers by setting the weak, loophole-riddled emission rules the administration has reportedly chosen.
Read more.Los Angeles Court Makes Oil Industry Pay Over $2 Million for Retaliatory Lawsuit
LOS ANGELES— A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ordered the oil industry this week to pay over $1.2 million in legal fees to Youth for Environmental Justice, the South Central Youth Leadership Coalition and the Center for Biological Diversity — and over $1 million to the city of Los Angeles — for bringing a retaliatory lawsuit against the groups.
Read more.Report: California Oil Among the Most Climate-damaging on Earth
LOS ANGELES— Oil produced in California is among the most climate-damaging on the planet and is rapidly getting worse, according to a new report released today by the Center for Biological Diversity.
Read more.Attorneys General Demand Deeper Army Corps Analysis of Formosa Plastics’ Louisiana Project
NEW ORLEANS— New York State Attorney General Letitia James and four other attorneys general sent a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today demanding a deeper analysis of the climate, wildlife and environmental justice impacts of Formosa Plastics’ massive proposed petrochemical complex in St. James Parish, Louisiana.
Read more.650 Groups Tell Congress: Leave Dirty Power Out of Clean Electricity Standard
WASHINGTON— More than 650 national advocacy and grassroots groups sent a letter today calling on Congress to develop a truly clean, renewable and just energy standard for electricity as part of an evolving infrastructure package.
Read more.UN Report: Methane Cuts Are Critical to Confronting Climate Emergency
WASHINGTON— Slashing emissions from methane, including from the fossil fuel industry, is far more critical than previously thought to avoid the worst effects of climate change, according to a United Nations report released today.
Read more.Newsom Announces Plans to Ban Fracking, Phase Out Oil Extraction in California
SACRAMENTO, Calif.― Gov. Gavin Newsom directed state agencies today to stop issuing new fracking permits by 2024 and analyze pathways to phase out oil extraction in California by 2045.
Read more.Biden EPA Urged to Set Climate Pollution Cap
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity and 350.org urged the Environmental Protection Agency today to set a nationwide greenhouse gas pollution cap under the Clean Air Act.
Read more.Ad Campaign Calls on Biden to Dramatically Cut Car Pollution
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity launched an online ad and petition campaign today urging President Joe Biden to set strong clean-car standards and reject automaker pleas for weak ones.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration Oil, Gas Leases in Central California
FRESNO, Calif.— Conservation groups sued the Bureau of Land Management today over the Trump administration’s rushed sale of seven oil and gas leases on public lands in Kern County, California.
Read more.Kern County Sued Over Fast-tracking of Tens of Thousands of New Oil Wells
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.— Community and environmental groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging Kern County’s adoption of an ordinance that would fast-track permitting for oil and gas projects and eliminate future environmental reviews and public participation.
Read more.EPA Reopens Consideration of National Climate Pollution Cap
WASHINGTON— The Environmental Protection Agency has reopened consideration of a nationwide greenhouse gas pollution cap under the Clean Air Act, moving Thursday to withdraw the Trump administration’s last-day denial of a petition by the Center for Biological Diversity and 350.org.
Read more.New Drilling Project in Bay Area Wetlands Meets Resistance
OAKLAND, Calif.— The Center for Biological Diversity joined with a dozen environmental and health advocacy groups today in a letter urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reject a new methane gas well that would be drilled on the shores of Suisun Bay in Northern California.
Read more.Newsom Administration Sued Over Thousands of Unlawful Oil, Gas Projects
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the state of California today for approving thousands of oil and gas drilling and fracking projects without the required environmental review.
Read more.Thousands Urge Biden to Commit U.S. to Doing Fair Share on Climate
WASHINGTON— Just days before the reentry of the United States into the Paris Agreement becomes official, environmental groups delivered a petition to the Biden administration signed by more than 50,000 Americans demanding that the U.S. commit to cutting its fair share of emissions.
Read more.California Senate Bill Aims to End Fracking, Neighborhood Drilling
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— State Sens. Scott Wiener and Monique Limón introduced a bill in the California legislature today that would end hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in California by 2023. The legislation is supported by a broad coalition of environmental, public health and community groups.
Read more.Biden Urged to Pull Unlawful Trump, G.W. Bush Endangered Species Act Rules
WASHINGTON— More than two dozen leading scientists and law professors led by Harvard Law School’s Animal Law & Policy Program and the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned President Joe Biden today to immediately rescind key policies that restrict the government’s consideration of harms from greenhouse gas emissions on animals such as the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act.
Read more.Congressional Bill Urges Biden to Declare Climate Emergency
WASHINGTON— Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) introduced a bill today that would require President Joe Biden to use the power he already has to declare a climate emergency under the National Emergencies Act.
Read more.Federal Bill Proposes Fracking, Drilling Halt on California’s Central Coast, Bay Area
WASHINGTON— U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) reintroduced legislation today to create a moratorium on fracking and drilling along California’s Central Coast and in the Bay Area.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration’s Failure to Cut Airplane Climate Pollution
WASHINGTON— Environmental groups sued the Trump administration today over its finalization of the nation’s first-ever airplane climate emissions standards, which don’t actually reduce greenhouse gas pollution.
Read more.EPA Report: Gas Mileage Down, Pollution Up
WASHINGTON— Major automakers are failing to meet fuel-efficiency standards critical to reducing climate pollution from cars and trucks, according to the Automotive Trends Report released today by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Read more.Trump Administration Finalizes Do-nothing ‘Standards’ for Airplane Climate Emissions
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration announced today that it finalized new regulations of airplane climate emissions that fail to force greenhouse gas reductions through either technology or operations changes.
Read more.Leading Progressive Groups Launch Public Pressure Campaign for Biden to Address Fossil Fuel Pollution, Climate Crisis
WASHINGTON— Organizations representing millions of environmental, racial and economic justice advocates across the country launched a new campaign today to hold President-elect Joe Biden accountable on his promises for bold climate action. The Build Back Fossil Free campaign includes 25 crucial executive actions Biden must take the moment he enters office to prevent climate chaos, end fossil fuel racism and improve well-being for millions of people.
Read more.California Must Set Clean Car Mandate to 2030 to Meet Climate Goals: Report
LOS ANGELES— California Gov. Gavin Newsom must move up his target for 100% zero-emission vehicle sales to meet crucial state climate goals, according to a new report by the Center for Biological Diversity.
Read more.Biden Urged to Sign Climate Emergency Executive Order
WASHINGTON— More than 380 groups today called on President-elect Joe Biden to sign an executive order to confront the climate emergency with the full power of the executive branch as soon as he takes office.
Read more.Trump Administration Auctions Off California Public Lands for Oil, Gas
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.— The Trump administration opened bidding today in the first auction of California federal public lands to oil companies in eight years. Despite community opposition and ongoing legal disputes, the Bureau of Land Management put over 4,000 acres in Kern County up for sale for oil drilling and fracking.
Read more.Online Press Conference to Launch Presidential Plastics Action Plan on Dec. 8
WASHINGTON — A coalition of more than 550 community and conservation organizations plans to publicly release its Presidential Plastic Action Plan on Dec. 8. The plan urges President-elect Biden to address the plastic pollution crisis with a series of executive orders shortly after taking office. A virtual press conference discussing the plan will include prominent environmental justice, political, science, legal and academic experts and advocates.
Read more.Trump Administration Dodges Environmental Review on Liquefied Methane
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration today finalized a rule making it easier to export superpolluting methane gas without environmental review. The Department of Energy rule moves to “categorically exclude” its authorizations of liquefied methane export and any associated ship transportation from review under the National Environmental Policy Act.
Read more.Nevada Releases Flawed Climate Strategy
LAS VEGAS— Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak and the Nevada Climate Initiative released the state’s climate strategy late Tuesday. This is an important milestone in the state’s march toward decarbonization, as mandated by 2019’s Senate Bill 254.
Read more.San Francisco Bay Oil Tanker Dredging Project Shelved
OAKLAND, Calif.— The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced it will withdraw plans to dredge a 13-mile stretch of San Francisco Bay and adjacent waters in a project that would have allowed larger oil tankers to access local oil refineries.
Read more.Audit Finds California Oil Regulator’s Rampant Legal Violations
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— On the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the California Department of Finance released a damning audit detailing repeated violations of oil and gas regulations. Today’s report shows that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s oil and gas regulators repeatedly skipped required reviews when approving hundreds of oil and gas wells last year.
Read more.California Court Strikes Down Limits on Fighting Dirty Power Plants
SAN FRANCISCO— A California appeals court has struck down unconstitutional limits on the rights of citizens to challenge the location of power plants in their communities.
Read more.Formosa Plastics Opponents Ask Feds to Expand Environmental Justice Analysis of Suspended Permit, Hold Hearing
NEW ORLEANS— Following the Army Corps of Engineers’ recent suspension of its permit for Formosa Plastics’ proposed Louisiana plant, plaintiff groups in the federal lawsuit that sparked that decision asked today for a public hearing and expanded analysis of the plant’s environmental justice, wetlands and pollution impacts.
Read more.Legal Protest Fights First Federal Oil-lease Sale in California in 8 Years
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.— On behalf of 10 conservation, environmental justice, health and community groups today, the Center for Biological Diversity filed protest comments against the Bureau of Land Management’s plans to lease California federal public land to oil and gas companies for the first time in eight years.
Read more.Youth Leader Nalleli Cobo Honored With Rose Braz Award for Bold Activism
LOS ANGELES— The Center for Biological Diversity has awarded the 2020 “Rose Braz Award for Bold Activism” to Nalleli Cobo.
Read more.Report: Funds to Clean Up California Oil Wells Dangerously Low, Records Show
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— A new report by the Center for Biological Diversity reveals that California’s largest oil producers have set aside only a miniscule fraction of the money that would be required to properly plug their oil and gas wells.
Read more.Efficient, Electric: Report Offers Path to U.S. Aviation Climate Pollution Cuts
LOS ANGELES— Planet-warming pollution from U.S. aviation could be cut by three-quarters or more in the next 20 years, according to a new report released today by the Center for Biological Diversity. The report challenges airplane emissions standards recently proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency as weak and ineffective.
Read more.Public Records Sought Over Delays in National Climate Report
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity filed a Freedom of Information Act request today seeking records relating to delays in preparing the Fifth National Climate Assessment. The request for records from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration comes amid government delays in recruiting the dozens of scientists needed to produce the report. The next version is due in 2022, but the agency’s website indicates it is already behind schedule.
Read more.Thousands Oppose First Federal Oil Lease Sale in California in Eight Years
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.— More than 85 conservation, environmental justice, public health and community groups submitted a letter to the Bureau of Land Management today opposing the Bureau’s first oil and gas lease sale of federal public lands in California in eight years.
Read more.Legal Petition Seeks to Close California Forest Carbon Loophole
SAN FRANCISCO— Conservation and environmental justice groups filed a legal petition today that demands the California Public Utilities Commission stop letting carbon-polluting biomass projects take advantage of programs meant to benefit clean energy.
Read more.Gov. Newsom’s Climate Initiative Omits Key Actions on Oil Drilling, Fracking
SACRAMENTO, Calif— Gov. Gavin Newsom announced steps today that California will take to accelerate climate action, but he failed to include ambitious actions to curb oil drilling and ban fracking. Today’s measures include an executive order directing the California Air Resources Board to require 100% zero-emissions vehicle sales for passenger cars, pickups and SUVs by 2035.
Read more.Gov. Newsom Faces Lawsuit Over California’s Illegal Oil-well Permits
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The Center for Biological Diversity notified Gov. Gavin Newsom today of its intent to file a lawsuit to halt illegal permitting of oil and gas wells in California. In a letter to the governor, the group says giving out such permits causes unacceptable climate and health harms and that the permits are being issued illegally, without the review required under the California Environmental Quality Act.
Read more.EPA Airplane Pollution Rule Blasted for Failing to Help Climate
LOS ANGELES— The Center for Biological Diversity today offered live testimony opposing the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed greenhouse gas emissions standards for aircraft. The Center argued at a public hearing that the rules, which mirror those adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization, or ICAO, are too weak to address the severity of the climate crisis.
Read more.Airplane Pollution Standards Lag 10 Years Behind Technology: Report
WASHINGTON— International airplane standards for planet-warming pollution lag behind industry advances by about a decade, according to a report released today by the International Council on Clean Transportation.
Read more.Trump Administration Proposes First Oil Lease Sale in California in Eight Years
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it intends to hold the first federal oil and gas lease sale in California since 2012.
Read more.Lawsuit Fights Trump Administration Plan to Open 18 Million Acres of Western Arctic to Oil and Gas Drilling
ANCHORAGE — Conservation groups today sued the Trump administration over its plan to allow oil and gas drilling on 18.7 million acres of the Western Arctic, known as the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
Read more.California Senate Bill May Shield Oil Companies From Cleanup Costs
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— Last-minute amendments to Senate Bill 1012 in the California legislature threaten to shift massive oil-industry well-cleanup costs to taxpayers. S.B. 1012, introduced by Sen. Melissa Hurtado, would make changes to the California Public Resources Code that could make it harder for the state to recoup well-remediation costs from oil companies.
Read more.Judge OKs Millions in Executive Payouts for Bankrupt California Oil Giant
HOUSTON— A federal judge in Houston late yesterday approved an incentive package worth up to $57 million for top executives as part of bankruptcy proceedings for oil giant California Resources Corporation.
Read more.Trump Administration Rolls Back Methane Pollution Rules for Oil, Gas Industry
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration finalized two rules today that will roll back regulation of the oil and gas industry, allowing the release of hundreds of thousands of tons of methane and other harmful air pollutants over the coming years.
Read more.Labor, Environmental Groups Urge Emergency Action to Protect Frontline Workers From COVID-19
WASHINGTON— Labor unions representing health care workers, teachers, transit operators and millions of other frontline workers joined with environmental groups today to demand that the Trump administration take emergency action to provide adequate masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment to these essential workers.
Read more.Formosa Plastics Agrees to Delay Work on Louisiana Plant After Opponents File for Injunction
ST. JAMES PARISH, La.— A federal judge has approved Formosa Plastics’ agreement not to start construction work on its massive petrochemical complex in St. James Parish, Louisiana after opponents filed a preliminary injunction on July 14 to block work on the site.
Read more.California Data Show Regular Truck Crashes, Deaths Along Proposed ExxonMobil Oil-trucking Route
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.— There’s been a large truck collision every week, and almost two fatalities per year, on average over the past five years along the California highways where ExxonMobil wants to send up to 70 oil tanker trucks a day, according to California Highway Patrol data analyzed by the Center for Biological Diversity.
Read more.Trump Administration’s Weak New Aircraft Pollution Rules Fail to Protect Climate
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration proposed long-overdue rules today to regulate greenhouse gas pollution from aircraft. The rules, which mirror those adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization, or ICAO, are too weak to address the severity of the climate crisis. The EPA itself says it doesn't expect the rule to result in emissions reductions.
Read more.As Oil Giant Goes Bankrupt, California Governor Urged to Hold Industry Responsible for Well Cleanups
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— As one of California’s largest oil producers enters bankruptcy, the Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club today urged Gov. Gavin Newsom to prevent California Resources Corporation and other troubled oil companies from shirking legal obligations to clean up their wells and prevent pollution. CRC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday.
Read more.Opponents of Formosa Plastics’ Louisiana Plant File for Preliminary Injunction
ST. JAMES PARISH, La.— Opponents of Formosa Plastics’ massive proposed petrochemical complex in St. James Parish, Louisiana filed for a preliminary injunction today to block construction of the project. The proposed facility would be one of the largest plastics plants in North America.
Read more.60 Groups Denounce Trump Administration’s Proposal to Revive Super-polluting Supersonic Planes
WASHINGTON— More than 60 climate, environmental, community and public-health groups nationwide called on the Trump administration to withdraw a proposed rule that would pave the way for the return of commercial supersonic airplane travel.
Read more.With New Permits, Newsom Ramps Up Fracking in California
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— Gov. Gavin Newsom’s oil and gas regulatory agency has approved 12 new permits for Chevron to conduct hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the Lost Hills Oil Field in Kern County.
Read more.Lawsuit Targets Trump Administration Push to Gut Car Pollution Standards
WASHINGTON— Conservation groups sued the Trump administration today to block a major rollback of fuel-efficiency standards for automobiles. The revised standards will worsen dangerous levels of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and cost consumers more at the gas pump without making the nation’s roads safer.
Read more.Pipeline Shutdown Prevented 34 Million Tons of Carbon Pollution in California
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.— The failure of Plains All American Pipeline’s coastal California oil pipeline five years ago prevented massive emissions of climate pollution. If the seven offshore drilling platforms served by the pipeline had not gone idle, they would have added 33.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution to the atmosphere.
Read more.Louisiana Groups Urge Delay in Power Project for Industrial Polluters, Citing COVID-19 Concerns
ST. JAMES PARISH, La.— The coalition opposing Formosa Plastics’ massive proposed petrochemical complex in St. James Parish, Louisiana, has requested a delay in upgrading electric transmission lines to serve that project and future industrial polluters. The coalition’s letter cites current public health warnings about COVID-19 and damage to wetlands.
Read more.300 Groups Call on Congress to Bail Out People, Not Polluters
WASHINGTON— More than 300 groups called on Congress today to demand that federal relief money be directed to people affected by the COVID-19 crisis and not to fossil fuel polluters.
Read more.Trump Administration Moves to Weaken Oil Pipeline Spill Rules
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration proposed weaker new rules today governing how companies operating oil pipelines prepare for and respond to oil spills. The changes would eliminate or modify several key protections and relieve companies of the responsibility for reporting many oil spills.
Read more.Trump Opens Door to Return of Super-polluting Supersonic Planes
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration proposed new rules today that would pave the way for the return of commercial supersonic airplane travel. The new rules would allow commercial supersonic aircraft, which have been banned for almost 50 years, to be noisier at takeoff and landing than new conventional jets.
Read more.Information Sought on Trump EPA’s Suspension of Environmental Rules
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity filed a Freedom of Information Act request today for documents related to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to suspend enforcement of environmental laws in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
Read more.Trump Administration Cripples Effort to Curb Car Pollution
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration finalized a major rollback of fuel-efficiency standards for automobiles today. The revised standards will maintain dangerous levels of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and cost consumers more at the gas pump without making the nation’s roads safer.
Read more.Crews Break Ground on Formosa Plastics Project in Louisiana Despite Coronavirus Crisis, Flood Risk
ST. JAMES PARISH, La.— Utility crews unexpectedly broke ground on Formosa Plastics’ massive proposed petrochemical complex in St. James Parish, Louisiana, this week, surprising community members and other opponents, who are demanding work on the site stop until after the COVID-19 public health crisis passes.
Read more.Senate Republicans Bail Out Major Fossil Fuel Polluters
WASHINGTON— The Senate voted tonight to pass a $2 trillion stimulus package that aims to combat the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The package includes over $400 billion in funding for “distressed sectors” of the economy including oil, gas and coal companies and commercial airlines despite pleas to hold those industries accountable for their reckless behavior.
Read more.Congress Urged to Reject $400+ Billion Fossil Fuel Bailout
WASHINGTON— More than 100 climate, environmental, social-justice and workers’ rights groups urged Congress today to reject Republican efforts to assist the fossil fuel industry and instead focus relief legislation on the American people.
Read more.Congress Urged to Hold Airlines Accountable on Climate, Workers
WASHINGTON— More than 200 climate, environmental, social-justice and workers' rights groups urged Congress today to make any federal relief for the U.S. aviation industry contingent on airlines cutting carbon pollution and supporting airline workers during the coronavirus crisis.
Read more.Opponents of Formosa Plastics Project to Demand Louisiana’s St. James Parish Council Rescind Approval
CONVENT, La.— Opponents of Formosa Plastics’ massive proposed petrochemical complex in Louisiana will urge the St. James Parish Council today to rescind its land-use permit for the project, following up similar earlier requests with new information. The demand follows the discovery of burial sites of enslaved people on the property, the filing of two lawsuits against the project, and the record-setting $50 million settlement of a lawsuit against Formosa for polluting Texas waterways with billions of plastic pellets.
Read more.California Court: Kern County Violating Law by Rubberstamping Oil Drilling
FRESNO, Calif.— In a monumental victory for both public advocacy groups and local farmers, a California court today ruled that a Kern County oil and gas ordinance paid for and drafted by the oil industry violated the state’s foundational environmental law.
Read more.Appeal Challenges Louisiana’s Air Permits for Formosa Plastics’ Massive Petrochemical Complex in Cancer Alley
ST. JAMES PARISH, La.—Local and national organizations filed an appeal today challenging the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality’s decision to approve air permits for Formosa Plastics’ massive proposed petrochemical complex in St. James Parish. The complex would contain 14 plants spanning 2,500 acres, just one mile from an elementary school in a predominantly African American community already inundated with industrial pollution.
Read more.Sens. Sanders, Merkley Introduce Bill to Ban Fracking Nationwide
WASHINGTON— Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced legislation today to immediately ban fracking for oil and gas on all federal public lands onshore and offshore. The bill also would forbid any new federal permits for fossil fuel infrastructure such as pipelines, natural gas export terminals and ethane cracker plants.
Read more.Lawsuit Threatened Over Trump Administration’s Failure to Cut Airplane Climate Pollution
WASHINGTON— Environmental groups threatened today to sue the Trump administration for failing to fulfill its obligation under the Clean Air Act to curb planet-warming pollution from airplanes.
Read more.Report: $550 Million Needed to Plug Abandoned California Oil, Gas Wells
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California taxpayers could be on the hook for more than $500 million to plug thousands of so-called “orphan” wells drilled and abandoned by oil and gas companies, according to a report by experts with the California Council on Science and Technology.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration’s Suppression of Grid Study Bolstering Clean Energy Transition
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration today for failing to release documents about a $1.5 million study that examined how grid improvements can bolster renewable energy access.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Trump Plan to Frack, Drill 1 Million Acres of California Public Lands, Minerals
LOS ANGELES— Conservation groups sued the Trump administration today challenging the last step in the administration’s plan to allow oil drilling and fracking on more than 1 million acres of public lands and minerals in Central California.
Read more.Louisiana Issues Air-pollution Permits for Formosa Plastics Plant
ST. JAMES PARISH, La.— The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality today issued air-pollution permits for a massive petrochemical complex that Formosa Plastics wants to build in St. James Parish, Louisiana.
Read more.Trump Administration Permits Oil Company to Harm Alaska’s Endangered Whales, Ice Seals
ANCHORAGE—The Trump administration today announced the issuance of federal take permits that would allow Hilcorp Alaska to kill or seriously injure 14 whales and nine ice seals as it constructs the Liberty offshore drilling island. The controversial project would be the first offshore drilling development in federal Arctic waters.
Read more.Trump Administration Gives Final OK to Drilling, Fracking in Central California
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.— The Trump administration took the final step today to break a five-year moratorium on leasing public land in California for oil drilling and fracking, issuing a decision that will allow more than 1 million acres to be put on the auction block.
Read more.500 Groups Urge Next U.S. President to Declare National Emergency, Rejoin Paris Accord With Bold Climate Commitments
MADRID— U.S. environmental and climate-justice groups at the United Nations climate change conference in Madrid called on the next U.S. president today to declare a national climate emergency. The plan, supported by hundreds of U.S. groups, urges the next administration to take 10 executive actions in its first 10 days in office to confront the climate crisis.
Read more.Organizaciones de EEUU Urgen al Próximo Presidente Declarar Emergencia Nacional y la Reincorporación al Acuerdo de París con Fuertes Compromisos Climáticos
MADRID, España- Organizaciones ambientalistas y de justicia climática de EEUU en la conferencia sobre cambio climático de las Naciones Unidas en Madrid, hacen un llamado al próximo Presidente de Estados Unidos para declarar una emergencia nacional climática. Un plan, apoyado por cientos de grupos de Estados Unidos, insta a la próxima administración a tomar 10 acciones ejecutivas en sus primeros 10 días de gobierno para hacer frente a la crisis climática.
Read more.U.S. Groups to Unveil Plan at UN Conference for Next President to Declare National Climate Emergency
MADRID— Environmental and climate-justice groups from the United States will host a press conference Wednesday at the United Nations climate conference to unveil a plan urging the next U.S. president to take 10 executive actions in her or his first 10 days in office to confront the climate crisis.
Read more.500 Groups Call for Next President to Declare National Climate Emergency
WASHINGTON— More than 500 conservation, environmental justice, youth, health, faith and labor groups today called on the next U.S. president to declare a national climate emergency. The plan urges the next administration to take 10 executive actions in its first 10 days in office to confront the climate crisis.
Read more.Mike Mann, Other Experts to Expose Fossil Fuel Industry’s Shifting Tactics to Block Climate Action at San Francisco Event
SAN FRANCISCO— Climate scientist Mike Mann, community organizer Andres Soto and investigative journalist Antonia Juhasz will expose the fossil fuel industry’s latest efforts to block a just and equitable transition away from dirty fossil fuel production at a public event on Dec. 10 in San Francisco.
Read more.Legal Petition Seeks New Air Pollution Standards for Petrochemical Plants
WASHINGTON― More than 350 community and conservation organizations filed a legal petition today that demands the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency adopt strict air pollution standards for industrial plants that create plastic.
Read more.National Coalition to Announce Legal Challenge to Plastic Plant Pollution at San Francisco EPA Office
SAN FRANCISCO― More than 350 community and conservation organizations from around the country will announce a major new legal challenge to pollution from industrial plants that create plastic tomorrow in San Francisco.
Read more.Panel de Cumbre Climática de la ONU Advierte Sobre la Importancia de Eliminar el Uso de Petróleo Mediante la Electrificación del Transporte
MADRID, España— Grupos ecologistas y académicos serán los anfitriones de un panel sobre la eliminación gradual de la producción de petróleo y la electrificación del transporte con energía limpia y renovable, en la conferencia climática de las Naciones Unidas en Madrid este lunes 2 de diciembre.
Read more.UN Climate Summit Panel to Focus on Importance of Phasing Out Oil, Electrifying Transportation
MADRID, Spain— Environmental groups and academics will host a panel on phasing out oil production and electrifying transportation with clean and renewable energy at the United Nations climate conference in Madrid on Monday, Dec. 2.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Trump’s Move to Block California’s Clean Car Standards
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity joined eight other groups today in suing the Trump administration for trying to prevent California and other states from setting more protective vehicle pollution standards.
Read more.Legal Action Challenges North Carolina Utilities’ Unlawful Use of Ratepayer Funds
RALEIGH, N.C.— The Center for Biological Diversity today submitted a brief to the North Carolina Utilities Commission arguing that utilities cannot use ratepayer funds for trade association dues as it violates customers’ First Amendment rights. Money from ratepayers is frequently channeled into campaigns against rooftop solar.
Read more.Trump Administration Proposes Oil Drilling Expansion in Alaska’s Arctic Reserve
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Trump administration released a new draft plan today that could dramatically increase the federal land available for oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic Reserve. The Bureau of Land Management’s proposal includes an alternative that would turn over about 18.3 million acres to the oil industry.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration OK of Oil Waste Dumping in California Aquifer
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today for failing to consider threats to the environment and endangered wildlife before approving an aquifer exemption for the Arroyo Grande oilfield south of San Luis Obispo.
Read more.Newsom Administration Announces Crackdown on Dangerous California Oil Extraction
SACRAMENTO, Calif.― Gov. Gavin Newsom announced today that the state would take major steps to protect Californians from oil industry pollution, as part of an overall strategy to phase out oil production in California. The actions include a moratorium on new high-pressure steam injection wells and the initiation of a process to protect the health of people living near oil and gas wells.
Read more.Ninth Circuit to Hear Arguments Against Arctic Offshore Drilling Project Approval
PORTLAND, Ore.— A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will hear oral arguments tomorrow in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s approval of the Liberty project, the first offshore drilling development in federal Arctic waters.
Read more.Trump to Quit Paris Accord, End U.S. Obstruction of Global Climate Progress
WASHINGTON— President Trump today will submit the official withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change. Trump’s withdrawal comes days after the Chilean government cancelled its plan to host the 2019 United Nations climate change talks.
Read more.Trump Plans to Open 1 Million More Acres of California Public Land to Drilling, Fracking
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.— The Trump administration today announced a proposal to open more than 1 million acres of public lands and minerals in central California to oil drilling and fracking. The plan, first floated in draft form in April, would end a more than five-year moratorium on leasing federal public land in the state to oil companies.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration’s California Fracking Plan
SAN FRANCISCO— Conservation groups today sued the Trump administration to challenge its Oct. 4 decision to allow fracking and drilling on 725,500 acres of public lands and mineral estate across California’s Central Coast and the Bay Area.
Read more.Gov. Newsom Urged to Phase Out Fossil Fuel Cars by 2030
SACRAMENTO— The Center for Biological Diversity called on Gov. Gavin Newsom today to phase out the sale of fossil fuel cars in California on an ambitious timeline that matches the scale and urgency of the climate crisis.
Read more.Legal Challenge Opposes Duke Energy’s North Carolina Rate Hike
RALEIGH, N.C.— The Center for Biological Diversity and Appalachian Voices filed a petition today to intervene in Duke Energy Carolinas’ application to substantially increase electricity rates in North Carolina without also promoting renewable energy. The groups argued that simply raising rates, without concrete policies to advance the clean energy transition, is wrong for North Carolina, its people and the climate.
Read more.Formosa Plastics Settles Texas Pollution Case for $50 Million, No More Plastic Releases
VICTORIA, Texas— Formosa Plastics today settled a Clean Water Act lawsuit brought by a former shrimper and San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper challenging its extensive plastic pollution of waterways around its Point Comfort, Texas plant. Under the $50 million settlement, Formosa is paying for pollution cleanup and promises no future discharges of plastic pellets or other plastic materials from the plant.
Read more.Study: Emperor Penguins Threatened by Climate Crisis, Need Urgent Protection
GLAND, Switzerland— A study published this week finds that emperor penguins are being pushed towards extinction by the climate crisis melting the sea ice they need for survival. Yet the Trump administration has refused to give Endangered Species Act protections to the iconic birds.
Read more.Trump Bucks Protests, Opens 725,500 Acres of California’s Central Coast to Oil Drilling
MARINA, Calif.— The Trump administration today dismissed protests and made a formal decision to open 725,500 acres of public lands and mineral estate across California’s Central Coast and the Bay Area to new oil and gas drilling and fracking.
Read more.Federal Studies: Oil Waste Fluid Contaminated California Groundwater
MCKITTRICK, Calif.— Oil industry waste fluids containing benzene and other toxic chemicals have migrated into California’s groundwater through multiple pathways at sites in Kern County, west of Bakersfield, federal experts have discovered.
Read more.Lawsuit Filed Over Trump’s Move to Block California’s Clean Car Standards
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity joined eight other groups today in suing the Trump administration over its attempt to prevent California and other states from setting more protective vehicle pollution standards.
Read more.Climate Strike Highlights Opposition to Restarting ExxonMobil Offshore Oil Platforms Off Santa Barbara
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.— California Central Coast residents will march and call for climate action Friday as part of the global Climate Strike Week of Action. The Center for Biological Diversity, one of more than 30 participating organizations, will use the occasion to highlight opposition to ExxonMobil’s proposal to restart its dormant offshore drilling platforms off Santa Barbara County.
Read more.NYC Youth, Global Frontline Leaders Disrupt Oil, Gas Climate Initiative Greenwash Soirée
NEW YORK CITY— Two days after hundreds of thousands marched through New York demanding action to confront the climate crisis, youth activists disrupted a greenwashing event attended by several oil major CEOs. They then joined global frontline movement leaders to denounce these polluting corporations’ abuses and demand real, people-first solutions to address the climate crisis and ensure polluters pay for the damage they have knowingly caused.
Read more.Center for Biological Diversity Strikes for Climate Action
TUCSON, Ariz.— More than 600 Climate Strike events are taking place today across the country. The event is the latest manifestation of the global youth climate strike movement, inspired by Greta Thunberg’s #FridaysforFuture, and is led by youth organizers. The Center for Biological Diversity is supporting and participating in strikes across the country, from Honolulu and Portland, Ore. to New York City, Tucson, Ariz. and beyond.
Read more.Lawsuit Launched to Protect Students, Chapel Hill-Carrboro from UNC’s Coal Plant Pollution
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.— The Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club today filed a formal notice of intent to sue the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for violations of the Clean Air Act.
Read more.Report: U.S. Airlines’ Carbon Emissions Grew Twice as Fast as Fuel Efficiency Gains
WASHINGTON— Domestic aviation fuel use and carbon dioxide emissions increased by 7 percent from 2016 to 2018, according to a report released today by the International Council on Clean Transportation. Fuel efficiency increased by only 3 percent during the same period.
Read more.Formosa Plastics’ Proposed Louisiana Plant Gets Permit to Destroy Wetlands
ST. JAMES PARISH, La.— The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a Clean Water Act permit for Formosa Plastics’ massive proposed plastic plant in St. James Parish, La. This federal permit authorizes the company to dredge and fill sensitive wetlands along the Mississippi River.
Read more.North Carolina Governor Urged to End Duke Monopoly, Transform Energy System
RALEIGH, N.C.— In the wake of Hurricane Dorian, the Energy Justice NC Coalition today called on North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper to end Duke Energy’s monopoly and transform the state’s electricity system to 100 percent renewable energy as soon as possible.
Read more.Trump Proposes Killing Methane Pollution Rule
WASHINGTON— Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency proposed today to eliminate direct limits on methane pollution from new and modified oil and gas infrastructure.
Read more.Trump Urged to Block Return of Super-polluting Supersonic Planes
WASHINGTON— Twenty-eight public-interest groups called on Trump’s Federal Aviation Administration Tuesday to stop the comeback of highly polluting luxury supersonic planes, which are projected to burn five to seven times more fuel per passenger than typical airliners.
Read more.Lawsuit Filed to Protect Habitat for 12 Endangered Coral Species
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration today for failing to protect 12 coral species around Florida and islands in the Pacific Ocean. The corals all received Endangered Species Act protection in 2014, but they did not receive the critical habitat protection the law requires.
Read more.Lawsuit Takes on Trump’s Dirty Power Plan
WASHINGTON— Ten environmental groups sued Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency today to overturn the administration’s Dirty Power Plan and reinstate the Obama-era Clean Power Plan.
Read more.Trump Visit to Plastic Plant Ignores Pollution Crisis, Outdated Federal Rules
MONACA, Pa.― President Donald Trump’s visit today to a massive plastics plant being built in Pennsylvania by Royal Dutch Shell ignores the plastic pollution and toxic chemicals such plants are allowed to release under decades-old federal regulations. Local groups protested today’s visit and the petrochemical industry’s plan to increase U.S. plastic production using the oversupply of fracked natural gas.
Read more.Lawsuit: Trump Is Failing to Protect Emperor Penguins From Climate Crisis
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump administration today for failing to act on a petition to protect emperor penguins under the Endangered Species Act.
Read more.Lawsuit Launched Over Trump Administration’s Approval of Oil-waste Dumping in California’s Arroyo Grande Aquifer
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.— The Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice today of its intent to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for ignoring threats to endangered wildlife in its recent approval of an aquifer exemption in the area around the Arroyo Grande oilfield.
Read more.Legal Petition Seeks Ban on Plastic Pollution From Petrochemical Plants
WASHINGTON― More than 270 community and conservation organizations filed a legal petition today that demands the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency adopt strict new water-pollution limits for industrial plants that create plastic.
Read more.Lawsuit Forces Trump Administration to Consider Oil Drilling’s Harm to Endangered Wildlife in Gulf of Mexico
TAMPA, Fla.— Prompted by a lawsuit filed by three conservation groups, the Trump administration has finally agreed to complete a legally required consultation about the harm offshore oil drilling does to whales and other threatened and endangered wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico.
Read more.Congressional Resolution Declares Climate Emergency
WASHINGTON— Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) unveiled a concurrent resolution today to declare the climate crisis an emergency warranting a “massive-scale mobilization to halt, reverse and address” its consequences.
Read more.Louisiana to Hold Hearing on Massive Formosa Plastics Toxic Chemical Complex
ST. JAMES PARISH, La.— Louisiana will hold a public hearing on issuing 15 air permits for Taiwanese company Formosa Plastics. The massive proposed complex would be one of the largest and most toxic plastic production facilities in the world.
Read more.Federal Court Rules Formosa Plastics Is Liable for Plastic Pollution in Texas
VICTORIA, Texas— A federal judge in Texas on Thursday found Formosa Plastics liable for polluting Texas waterways with billions of plastic pellets from its plant in Point Comfort. The Taiwanese company is currently seeking permits to build an even larger plastic-making plant along the Mississippi River in St. James Parish, La., a project strongly opposed by local residents and national conservation groups.
Read more.California to Evaluate Curbing Oil, Gas Extraction
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— Gov. Gavin Newsom Thursday signed into law this year’s California budget, which includes the allocation of $1.5 million toward a study to “identify strategies to decrease demand and supply of fossil fuels.” The provision marks the first step the state has taken toward decreasing the state’s fossil fuel production.
Read more.Trump Administration to Dredge San Francisco Bay to Make Room for More Oil
OAKLAND, Calif.— Public-interest groups filed a joint letter Monday with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers strongly warning against efforts to dredge a deeper channel through San Francisco Bay.
Read more.Trump's EPA Finalizes Dirty Power Plan
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency today released its final rule that scraps the Clean Power Plan and lets states decide whether, and how, to limit power-plant pollution.
Read more.Trump Administration Sued for Failing to Protect Imperiled Ice Seals’ Arctic Habitat
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity sued the National Marine Fisheries Service today for failing to designate critical habitat in Alaska for two ice-seal species. Both bearded and ringed seals are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act because climate change is melting their Arctic sea-ice habitat.
Read more.Appeals Court Throws Out Case Blocking Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline, Relying on New Permit Issued by President Trump
SAN FRANCISCO— The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a legal challenge to the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, ruling the case was no longer active due to President Trump’s revocation of the permit at the center of the case. In March, Trump issued a new “presidential” permit for Keystone XL, in an effort to spur construction of the pipeline.
Read more.Lawsuit Launched to Force Trump EPA to Protect California’s Ventura County From Deadly Smog
VENTURA, Calif.— The Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Environmental Health filed a notice today of their intent to sue the Trump administration for failing to finalize plans to curtail dangerous smog in Ventura County, Calif.
Read more.Court Urged to Reject Discrimination Against Arizona Rooftop-solar Customers
PHOENIX— The Center for Biological Diversity today took legal action in a federal court to challenge an Arizona power-utility company’s discrimination against rooftop-solar customers.
Read more.Rally to Oppose Dangerous Oil-industry Injections in Santa Maria Aquifers
SANTA MARIA, Calif.— Santa Barbara County residents and environmental advocates will rally Wednesday against a proposed aquifer exemption that could pollute groundwater and drastically expand oil drilling in the county. The rally will precede the state’s public meeting on the proposal.
Read more.2019 Hurricane Predictions Spell Disaster for Coastal Communities, Wildlife
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.— The 2019 Atlantic hurricane season officially starts on Saturday, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicting a total of nine to 15 named storms and as many as four major hurricanes.
Read more.Lawsuit Launched to Protect Hawaii’s Cauliflower Coral After 36 Percent Decline
HONOLULU— The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a notice of intent to sue the Trump administration for failing to protect cauliflower coral around the Hawaiian Islands. The bushy, shallow-water coral species has been devastated by ocean warming triggered by human-caused climate change.
Read more.Disregarding Climate, Trump Administration Pushes to Re-open Public Lands to Coal Leasing
WASHINGTON— The Trump administration today restarted an effort to reopen public lands to new federal coal leasing. In today’s action, the Interior Department responded to a court order overturning its illegal nixing of a nationwide coal leasing moratorium with a highly abbreviated environmental review.
Read more.Rallies in Bakersfield, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara to Oppose Trump's Oil-leasing Plan for California
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.— Environmental and community groups joined by elected officials will hold rallies this week to blast the Trump administration’s draft plan to open more than a million acres of public land and mineral estate in central California to oil drilling and fracking. The rallies will precede each of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s public hearings in Bakersfield, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara.
Read more.Pipeline Shutdown Prevented 27 Million Tons of Carbon Pollution in California
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.— The closure of Plains All American Pipeline’s coastal California oil pipeline after it ruptured four years ago has prevented massive emissions of climate pollution. If the seven offshore drilling platforms served by the pipeline had not gone idle, they would have added 27 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution to the atmosphere. That’s roughly equivalent to operating two coal-fired power plants in California over the same period — or burning almost 30 billion pounds of coal.
Read more.Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration Approval of Massive Utah Oil Shale Development
BONANZA, Utah— Conservation groups today sued the Trump administration to challenge what would be the nation’s first commercial-scale oil shale mine and processing facility. The lawsuit says officials failed to protect several endangered species when they approved rights-of-way across public lands to provide utilities to the proposed oil shale development.
Read more.Report: Trump Fracking Leases Top 1 Gigaton of Potential Climate Pollution in Lower 48
TUCSON, Ariz.— A new Center for Biological Diversity report shows that the Trump administration is dramatically ramping up oil and gas leases, offering nearly 5 million acres of public lands in the lower 48 states ― most of it in Wyoming and Utah. Those leases, offered as scientists warn that fossil fuels should be rapidly phased out, contain 1 gigaton of potential greenhouse gas pollution.
Read more.Trump Finalizes Plan to Open 725,500 Acres of California's Central Coast to Drilling, Fracking
MARINA, Calif.— The Trump administration today finalized a plan to open 725,500 acres of public lands and mineral estate across California’s Central Coast and the Bay Area to new oil and gas drilling. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management plan is an increase of nearly 327,000 acres from the draft proposal prepared under the Obama administration.
Read more.Oregon Denies Key Permit for Proposed Jordan Cove Natural Gas Project
SALEM, Ore.— The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality today issued a resounding denial of the proposed Jordan Cove LNG project and the Pacific Connector fracked gas pipeline, which have faced fierce opposition from a grassroots coalition for more than a decade. The denial effectively stops the project from moving forward.
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