• Land

Trump Team Rushes to Drill In Arctic — But Will They Fall Flat?

• ANWR
• drilling
• endangered species
• oil and gas

On Monday the Interior Department took the next step toward opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas drilling — they are rushing the process to auction off oil and gas drilling rights there before President Trump leaves office on January 20th, numerous outlets reported. 

Why This Matters:  A Biden spokesperson said that this move “will not deter him from fulfilling his commitment to preserving America’s national treasures and the local economies and communities they support,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

• Animals

The Arctic Is Literally On the Move

• #30x30
• Arctic
• caribou
• CBC
• eagle
• endangered species
• wildlife

A new study published last week in the journal Science, in which scientists took an extensive look at Arctic wildlife, found that animals are on the move — dramatically changing where and when they breed, migrate and forage.

Why This Matters:  The dramatic changes in the Arctic will have very significant impacts on the people who live and work there.

• Ocean

NOAA Extends Protections for Endangered Right Whales 

• endangered species
• fishing
• NOAA
• North Atlantic Right Whale
• ship strikes
• whales

AA announced this week that it is extending its ship speed protections for the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale until Nov. 15 in waters off of southern New England and east of Long Island, New York.  

Why this Matters: Earlier this year, even before the updated population count, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List downlisted North Atlantic Right Whales to “critically endangered,” just one step away from extinction.

• Animals

Supreme Court Hears FOIA Case About Endangered Species

• endangered species
• Endangered Species Act
• Environmental Protection Agency
• science
• Supreme Court

On Monday, which seems like a millennium ago, the newly constituted Supreme Court heard its first environmental case — which was a case about the secrecy of government deliberations.  In this case, those deliberations involve the science behind endangered species protections.

Why This Matters:  The case has ramifications beyond endangered species — it goes to scientific integrity and government transparency.

• Climate Change

Prince William On A Mission to Save Nature and Catalyze Climate Action

• A Planet For Us All
• endangered species
• Prince William
• rhino
• tusks

On October 5th, a new film on climate change will make its debut — with a royal touch. It’s called “A Planet for Us All,” and in it, Prince William makes a plea for conserving nature and taking climate action.  Cameras followed him for two years as he studied conservation and environmental issues. In one scene, Prince […]

• Animals

Climate Change and Arctic Drilling Threaten Polar Bears’ Extinction

• Arctic
• climate change
• drilling
• endangered species
• oil and gas
• polar bears
• science

The Trump Administration finally released the results of a long-awaited study on the cumulative impacts of oil and gas development in the Arctic on the endangered polar bear population and, not surprisingly, it was bad news for the bears. 

Why This Matters: The head of an agency should review a major work product before it is released to the public.  But delaying the release of a scientific report for months because it does not square with the administration’s policy viewpoint is another matter altogether.