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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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