Federal agencies are targeting mature and old-growth forests for logging despite these trees’ extraordinary ability to curb climate change and President Joe Biden’s directive to preserve them, according to a new report spotlighting the 10 worst logging projects in federal forests across the country.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday signed a memorandum to clarify the U.S. Forest Service’s direction on climate policy. The memo, "Climate Resilience and Carbon Stewardship of America's National Forests and Grasslands," follows a recent White House executive order highlighting the importance of conserving mature and old-growth forests on federal lands as a climate solution. The memo, which lays out “actions to restore forests, improve resilience, and address the climate crisis”, falls short in meeting the ambition outlined in President Joe Biden’s order on old forests and trees. Secretary Vilsack acknowledges the role that older trees play in absorbing and storing carbon and supporting biodiversity. But he fails to outline a plan for his agency to protect mature and old-growth forests and trees from commercial logging.
The Rhode Island legislature has passed legislation that would set the fastest timeline for any state in the nation to procure 100% of its electricity from renewable energy sources.
Eighty-two organizations, including Environment America and U.S. PIRG, delivered a letter Wednesday to the U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee calling for comprehensive federal legislation to protect Americans’ drinking water from contamination by the toxic class of chemicals known as PFAS. The organizations, which hail from 30 states, asked the EPW Committee to designate all PFAS as hazardous substances, prohibit their use in firefighting foam, and direct the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue drinking water standards and stop the dumping of PFAS into our nation’s waterways.
Environmental and community organizations from across the nation Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the longstanding scope of the Clean Water Act and reject industry attempts to eliminate federal clean water protections that have kept families, communities, and rivers and lakes safe from pollution for decades. Environment America and several of its state affiliates are among the 113 groups signed onto the brief filed by Natural Resources Defense Council and the Southern Environmental Law Center, in support of the Environmental Protection Agency in the case, Sackett v. EPA.
WASHINGTON --- Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland issued an order on Wednesday, World Oceans Day, to phase out single-use plastic products on lands managed by the Department of the Interior by 2032. The order is intended to reduce -- and eventually eliminate -- plastic and polystyrene food and beverage containers, bottles, straws, cups, cutlery and disposable plastic bags at national parks and on other public lands.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is unveiling its historic, $5 billion Clean School Bus Program on Friday.
WASHINGTON – Taking action to protect ocean wildlife and U.S. coasts, the Biden administration on Wednesday ditched plans for three offshore oil and gas lease sales.
The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands will hold a hearing on Wednesday to consider the Roadless Area Conservation Act. Introduced in 2021 by Reps. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Diana DeGette of Colorado, this bill would reinforce the landmark 2001 Roadless Rule, which was enacted under the Clinton administration. Indigenous leaders and conservation advocates expressed support for the Roadless Area Conservation Act because it will establish more permanent protections for critical forests, including the Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska.
Environment America joined conservation groups and advocates to deliver more than 83,000 public comments to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Friday in support of the agency’s proposed mineral withdrawal for the federal lands within 10 miles of Chaco Culture National Historical Park. T
