Articles by Kate Sheppard
Kate Sheppard was previously Grist's political reporter. She now covers energy and the environment for The Huffington Post. Follow her on Twitter.
All Articles
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Pombo shows up at Colorado mouse hearings
California Rep. Richard Pombo weighs in on mouse debate in Colorado?
Further evidence that this isn't really about a mouse at all, but rather the business interests at stake in protecting crucial habitats. And Pombo's appearance is an election-year bid to reassure property-rights advocates that he will be steadfast in his support for a bill de-clawing the Endangered Species Act.
Have I mentioned yet that the 3-inch Preble's meadow jumping mouse can jump 18 inches high? Boing!
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Canadian climate change challenger taking it to court
Rather than, you know, letting science decide this sort of stuff, Canada's most well-known climate-change skeptic is taking opponents to court.
The case revolves around a letter to the editor that he claims was a "malicious attack" on his credibility.
Tim Ball has made a name for himself as an outspoken challenger to the overwhelmingly accepted (especially in Canada) consensus that humans are causing global climate change. He authored an opinion piece on global warming for the Calgary Herald last April which drew at least one letter to the editor questioning his credentials.
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State mulls fate of meadow mouse as development vultures lurk in the background
I'm not all that concerned about the protection of this particular mouse, nor do I want to enter into the ongoing debate about animal rights, but this piece of news from Colorado concerns me for its wider implications.
A committee in the state House will meet next week to determine whether the Preble's meadow jumping mouse should continue to be protected by the Endangered Species Act. At hand is the question of whether the species is distinct enough to warrant special protections.
The real topic, though, is the 31,000 acres of land in Colorado and Wyoming currently designated as critical habitat for the rodents. Removing the mouse from the endangered species list would open that chunk of land to development in a state besieged by rapid expansion into wetlands.
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Not so lionhearted, eh BP?
More out on the climate of fear and intimidation that prevented BP employees from reporting environmental safety concerns in the North Slope oil fields of Alaska.
As reported last week, a subcommittee of the House Energy & Commerce Committee has been interrogating BP executives on their failure to maintain pipelines, leading to several oil leaks in the past year.
At least one worker was summoned for firing because his bosses suspected he had filed a formal complaint that his inspection crew had been cut by 25 percent despite maintaining the same workload. The worker kept his job after denying any role in the complaint, but clearly this sort of threat sends a message to other employees.
