Interior Department
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Critical List: EU bans Iranian oil; snowy owls descend from Arctic
The European Union won’t be importing any more oil from Iran. President Obama’s going to lay out an energy agenda on Tuesday at the State of the Union. Thousands of snowy owls are descending from the Arctic to fly over places like Kansas and Missouri (and to deliver messages from Arctic Circle-based wizards, of course). […]
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Critical List: 2011 was pretty darn warm; dams could exacerbate climate change
2011 will be the tenth or eleventh warmest year on record, depending on who you ask. All but one of the nine or ten warmer years were in the last decade. (The only exception is 1998.) The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs is required to approve renewable energy projects on Native American-owned […]
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Critical List: Judge rules on polar bears’ status; Cain’s wrong on wind and solar
A new ruling on the polar bear's status as a threatened species gives the Obama administration the power to decide the species' fate.
Amtrak carried more passengers last year than ever before.
The E.U. is wondering whether it should just give up its GHG reduction plans since no one else in the world seems be doing their part to decrease emissions.
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After North Sea oil spill, Shell plans to continue Arctic drilling
The Interior Department acknowledges the effects of climate change in the region but approves more drilling for fossil fuels there.
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GOP: Why can't we mine for uranium in the Grand Canyon?
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has extended the moratorium on uranium mining near the Grand Canyon through the end of the year, and House Republicans are grumpy. I mean, there's uranium there ... the hole is already mostly dug ... it's basically a perfect mining opportunity! So they're sticking a rider onto an Interior Department appropriations bill that would open the land back up.
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Critical List: $6 billion ethanol subsidy to end; Wyoming wolves screwed by Senate politics
The Senate is ending a $6 billion subsidy program for ethanol; anti-ethanol food and environmental groups say it's "not a perfect comprise" but that they're "encouraged" by the step.
Carbon captured from coal plants can feed biofuel-producing algae. Which is awesome because nobody else wants to eat it.
Put that tuna burger down! Overfishing could extinguish five out of eight tuna species. -
Critical List: Arizona wildfire spreads; Roundup causes birth defects
The wildfire in Arizona is now the second-largest in the state's history and is growing. Enviros are turning on Obama. Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said yesterday the president hadn't parried Republican attacks and lacked vision on the conservation. And this was in advance of a speech he's giving today that fleshes out this argument. […]
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Not So Starry-Eyed Anymore
Oh why can’t you see It’s my life that’s at stake When you sell out our world You are stealing my future. Can you look in my eyes As you gamble our lives? When will you stop the lies So that we can survive? If you represent me Not the fossil fuel industry You must […]