Center for Biological Diversity

An oil well in a mountainous and remote part of Utah.

Utah Oil Shale Extraction Dealt Major Setback

The Surface Transportation Board's approval in 2021 of a proposed 85-mile Uinta Basin Railway in Utah that would have enabled increased extraction of the world's largest source of oil shale was partially vacated by a federal appeals court last month.

September 3, 2023 - Progressive Railroading

Car Graveyard

The Beginning of the End of the Internal Combustion Engine Vehicle?

The California Air Resources Board voted unanimously on August 25 to begin a phased ban on the sale of passenger vehicles powered by gasoline or diesel beginning in 2026 when over a third of new vehicles sold in California must be zero-emissions.

August 29, 2022 - The New York Times

California Desert

Desert Species, Endangered by Climate Change and Renewable Energy, Create Controversy

The wind strewn and sunny parts of California are home to many species threatened both by climate change and renewable energy facilities like wind and solar power facilities. What is an environmentalist to do?

August 23, 2020 - Los Angeles Times

Oil Pump in Los Angeles

Trump Administration Reopens California Public Lands to Oil and Gas Drilling

A decision by the Bureau of Land Management on Oct. 3 may reverse the outcome of a 2013 lawsuit against the Obama administration by two environmental groups that effectively halted drilling in Fresno, Monterey and San Benito counties.

October 11, 2019 - The Hill

Fracking

Department of Interior Plans to Open 1 Million Acres in California to Fracking

The Bakersfield Office of the Bureau of Land Management released an environmental study that is the basis for undoing a 2013 de facto moratorium on fracking on federal lands in California. The Supplemental EIS triggers a 45-day public comment period.

April 28, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

Rural Traffic

Rollback of a Different Kind, Ordered by the EPA, Will Benefit Air Quality

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, acting at the behest of the new acting EPA administrator, will keep Obama-era regulation limiting air pollution from heavy trucks in place.

July 30, 2018 - The New York Times

Dakota Access Pipeline

Keystone Pipeline Leaks Oil in Advance of Crucial Decision on Sister Pipeline

Thursday's massive oil spill in South Dakota is not a good omen for TransCanada for a favorable decision on Monday on an application before the Nebraska Public Service Commission on the routing of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

November 18, 2017 - The Washington Post - Energy and Environment

Court Ruling Sides With Regional Officials Over Statewide Climate Goals

The California Supreme Court sided with the San Diego Association of Governments on July 13 in the first court case to decide how regional planning agencies must meet state-required reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.

July 17, 2017 - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Oil

Interior Secretary Issues Order to Expedite Drilling on Public Lands

Secretary Zinke's order is part of the "energy dominance" agenda of the Trump Administration to make the U.S. a major energy exporter. The order will reduce the time needed by the Bureau of Land Management to process permitting for new wells.

July 10, 2017 - The Washington Post

Border Wall

Lawsuit Targets Lack of Public Information on Trump's Border Wall

The Public Information Act has not been sufficient in getting the Trump Administration to divulge information about its plans to build a wall between the United States and Mexico.

June 1, 2017 - Center for Biological Diversity

U.S.-Mexico

Arizona Congressman Sues for Environmental Review of Trump's Border Wall

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), who represents an area covering about 300 miles of the border between Arizona and Mexico, would force the Trump Administration to complete an environmental review before completing its promised border wall project.

April 14, 2017 - Al Día

Stunning Acquittal of Defendants in Standoff with Feds at Oregon Wildlife Refuge

Will the acquittal of seven defendants in a U.S. district court who used force to occupy the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon last January embolden other takeovers of public lands by resentful ranchers or militia?

October 31, 2016 - High Country News

EPA Rejects Southern California Plan to Reduce Fine Particulate Pollution

The South Coast Air Quality Management District is in the news again, this time for going too easy on the region's big polluters—just what staff had warned would happen before the board fired its well-respected executive director.

March 22, 2016 - Los Angeles Times

Oklahoma-Style Earthquakes Now Affecting California

Disposal of wastewater from fracking has long been associated with earthquakes in Oklahoma as well as Ohio and Texas. A new study shows they were likely the cause of a swarm of quakes in 2005 in the capital of oil in California, Kern County.

February 8, 2016 - San Francisco Chronicle

Power Plant

25 Coal Power Plants to Shutter in Michigan in Five Years

Credit EPA emission regulations for the decisions by utilities to close the aging plants. Michigan receives half its power from coal—the most polluting fossil fuel. The new Clean Power Plan rule will cause more remaining plants to close in time.

October 15, 2015 - Power Engineering

Montana Oil Train Derailment: Seventh of 2015

An estimated 35,000 gallons of crude spilled from four of 22 toppled tank cars of a 106-car oil train near Culbertson in northeast Montana on July 16. Unlike other oil train derailments, no fiery explosions occurred.

July 21, 2015 - Common Dreams

A New Era in California for Evaluating Transportation Emissions

An appellate court's rejection of SANDAG's $200 billion sustainable communities plan holds far-reaching implications for how regional planners evaluate greenhouse gas emissions from transportation to meet SB 375 requirements to the year 2050.

December 8, 2014 - San Diego Union-Tribune

Fracking Wastewater Dumped into Protected California Aquifers

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, toxic wastewater from oil industry fracking operations has been illegally injected into Central Valley disposal sites, posing a threat to water supplies of nearby residents.

October 9, 2014 - DeSmogBlog.com

Report: Fracking Doesn't Pose Danger to California Groundwater

The Bureau of Land Management will resume oil and gas leasing in California after a report by a scientific research organization established by the state legislature showed no correlation between fracking and groundwater pollution.

September 3, 2014 - Los Angeles Times

Big Solar: It's Green vs. Green

No form of energy production comes without controversy, including solar, despite it being renewable. In advance of the world's largest solar thermal plant opening in Calif's Mojave Desert, KQED's Lauren Sommer shows both sides of the green debate.

July 17, 2013 - KQED Science

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