A Sacramento, California, court has ruled that bumble bees are included in the definition of “fish” in California’s Endangered Species Act. The court’s May 31, 2022, said: “The issue presented here is whether the bumble bee, a terrestrial invertebrate, falls within the definition of fish, as that term is used in the definitions of endangered…
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Biden’s Plans for Infrastructure Ring Hollow, Thanks to New NEPA Rules
President Biden is tightening up the environmental reviews for major projects—thus weakening the infrastructure act he appears to be so proud of. The White House Council of Environmental Quality has just issued new rules for assessing major projects under the 1969 NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act). The rules end President Trump’s relaxation of regulation and…
No More “Use It or Lose It” in Utah?
The Utah state legislature has passed a law that would bring a bit of free market environmentalism to the state by expanding the right to trade water to protect the Great Salt Lake. Writes Saige Miller for the Salt Lake Tribune: “If the governor signs HB33, the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands…
Unpleasant Truths about Minerals for Electric Vehicles
Will the minerals needed for electric car production come from the U. S . or (more likely) overseas? Maxine Joselow writes in the Washington Post: “Prices of key minerals are skyrocketing amid the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, potentially increasing the cost of electric vehicles and other technologies crucial to the clean energy transition….
Shooting Barred Owls to Save Spotted Owls
On March 4, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (in San Francisco) upheld a policy of the Fish and Wildlife Service that kills barred owls in Oregon. The practice, which goes back to 2013, had been challenged in court by Friends of Animals. An article by Barbara Grzincic of Reuters explains that the northern spotted owl…
Does the State of Oregon Owe $1.1 Billion for Mismanaging Forests?
An extraordinary court case is proceeding in Oregon. In November a jury the state of Oregon should pay $1.1 billion to 13 counties and 151 taxing districts on the grounds that the state has failed to maximize timber harvests as required by a 1941 law. On February 22, the state Court of Appeals heard oral…