Natural Resources

"BLM is narrowing reviews for proposed mining projects in states like Nevada and Utah. Critics say the agency is on shaky legal ground."

"The Trump administration has approved more oil and gas drilling across Alaska’s Arctic national wildlife refuge (ANWR), prompting widespread criticism from environmental conservation organizations." "National Petroleum Reserve lease sales and permitting for road through Izembek wildlife refuge were also approved"

"As dawn broke over San Juan Island, a team of scientists stood on the deck of a barge and unspooled over a mile of fiber-optic cable into the frigid waters of the Salish Sea. Working by headlamp, they fed the line from the rocky shore down to the seafloor — home to the region’s orcas."

"U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed Ukraine-related sanctions on Russia for the first time in his second term, targeting oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft as his frustration grows with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war."

"A U.S. Senate committee hearing Tuesday revealed the dramatically differing views regarding the potential benefits of the Fix Our Forests Act, a bipartisan proposal that critics say would lead to logging of old-growth trees and weaken the country's environmental laws."

"Brazil’s government approved on Monday exploratory drilling by state-run oil-giant Petrobras near the mouth of the Amazon River. The decision comes only weeks before the United Nations climate conference in Belem, COP30, where efforts to reduce the use of fossil fuels will be discussed."

"The Interior Department plans to lay off more than 2,000 employees, including hundreds of National Parks Service (NPS) workers, according to a Monday court filing."

"The Department of Interior is preparing mass layoffs beginning Monday despite a federal judge’s order prohibiting firings due to the shutdown, a federal employee union said Thursday."

"The sky above us is a complex ecosystem, just like the land and sea. A new field of research is bringing a fresh understanding of the birds, bugs and other species that live there"