Natural Resources

Abandoned Oil Gear Blocks Sand Needed To Rebuild Louisiana Coast

"A Houston-based energy company is asking a federal bankruptcy court for permission to walk away from its aging infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico. Fieldwood Energy is attempting to shift responsibility for removing 1,715 wells, 276 platforms and 281 pipelines to oil and gas companies that previously held leases for the same area, according to court documents."

Source: Washington Post, 08/06/2021

Address Risky Human Activities Now Or Face New Pandemics: Scientists

"Globally, numerous infectious diseases are being transmitted between wildlife, livestock and humans at escalating rates, including outbreaks of COVID-19, Ebola, dengue, HIV and others, as the threat of new emergent zoonotic diseases grows ever greater. The cost is huge in lives lost and ruined economies. The driver: human activities, particularly intrusion into wild landscapes and eating and trading wild animals."

Source: Mongabay, 08/06/2021

Louisiana Trying To Save Island Used By Jean Lafitte

"Once the headquarters of Jean Lafitte and later the site of a U.S. military fort, West Grand Terre island now hosts a fleet of modern excavators and sand-pumping pipelines rather than smuggled treasure or cannon. The $102 million restoration of West Grand Terre, adjacent to Grand Isle, marks a milestone in Louisiana’s effort to fortify its first line of defense against hurricanes."

Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 08/03/2021
August 5, 2021

Drought in the American West: "The Everything Disaster"

Join a roundtable of experienced journalists and subject-matter experts for a virtual discussion on the drying of the American West, what it means and how to report it. Hosted by SEJ and Circle of Blue. 1:00 p.m. ET.

Visibility: 
September 6, 2021

DEADLINE: NPF Fellowship on Biomass and Climate Change Ahead of COP26 Conference

Join the National Press Foundation for an all-expenses-paid fellowship for 20 U.S. and Canadian journalists to look at the economic, climate and conservation issues posed by biomass. The training will be held Oct 10-13, 2021 in North Carolina (or online if pandemic worsens). The deadline to apply is Sep 6.

Visibility: 

25-foot Lummi Totem Pole Arrives In D.C. After A Journey Across U.S.

"Douglas James stood Thursday on the Mall in front of the 25-foot totem pole he and a team had spent three months hand-carving and painting from a 400-year-old red cedar tree. James, a member of the Lummi Nation in Washington state, and a group of supporters and volunteers from his tribe hauled the pole on a flatbed truck more than 20,000 miles along the West Coast and across the Midwest before arriving in the other Washington, where the pole will stay as part of a campaign to protect sacred tribal lands."

Source: Washington Post, 07/30/2021

La. Researcher Says She Was Fired For Raising Alarm About Dolphin Deaths

"Gulf Coast researchers are raising alarms about a $1.4 billion coastal restoration project’s potential to kill and injure bottlenose dolphins. Now, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries employee whose job it was to count dolphin deaths in the state says she was fired in 2019 because her work reaffirmed the potential of the project to devastate a dolphin population."

Source: La. Illuminator, 07/30/2021

Canadian Miner Looms Large As Nauru Expedites Key Deep-Sea Mining Rules

"Nauru, which sponsors a company to mine the seabed for minerals in ungoverned waters, has triggered a rule with the International Seabed Authority that requires it to allow seabed mining in two years, regardless of whether regulations have been written."

Source: Mongabay, 07/28/2021

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Natural Resources