Author: Matthew Brown
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Deal bans trap in Colorado, agency says it’s not used anyway
An agreement approved Monday between U.S. officials and environmentalists would ban the use of predator-killing cyanide traps on Colorado public lands, but a government agency said federal workers already had stopped using the devices except on the state’s private lands. Public pressure for a nationwide ban on the traps — meant to protect livestock from…
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California, China sign climate deal after Trump’s Paris exit
BEIJING — With President Donald Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord, China and California signed an agreement Tuesday to work together on reducing emissions, as the state’s governor warned that “disaster still looms” without urgent action. Gov. Jerry Brown told The Associated Press at an international clean energy conference in Beijing…
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EPA delays rule for miners to give cleanup assurances
BILLINGS, Mont. — Facing pushback from industry and Republicans in Congress, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency delayed on Friday a proposal that would require mining companies to show they have the financial wherewithal to clean up their pollution so taxpayers aren’t stuck footing the bill. Contaminated water from mine sites can flow into rivers and…
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A look at recent disputed environmental actions under Obama
BILLINGS, Mont. — Republicans and business groups pledge to reverse or block a string of recent and pending actions from the administration of President Barack Obama. President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on promises to reverse course on some of Obama’s environmental initiatives, including a moratorium on new federal coal sales. November 18: Arctic drilling leases shelved…
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Former SEAL Zinke tapped to lead Interior Department
BILLINGS, Mont. — Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana made no secret of his ambitions to join a Donald Trump Cabinet, and yet his nomination as interior secretary is in some ways an unlikely fit for the retired U.S. Navy SEAL. Zinke, 55, was an early supporter of the president-elect and publicly expressed his interest in…
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Trump’s vow to revive coal country is met with measured hope
WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — The hard-eyed view along the Tug Fork River in West Virginia coal country is that President-elect Donald Trump has something to prove: that he’ll help bring back Appalachian mining, as he promised time and again on the campaign trail. Nobody thinks he can revive it entirely — not economists, not ex-miners, not…
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U.S. declines prosecution of government worker in Colorado mine spill
DENVER — U.S. prosecutors have declined to pursue criminal charges against an employee of the Environmental Protection Agency over a massive mine wastewater spill that fouled rivers in three states, a federal watchdog agency said. The EPA’s Office of Inspector General disclosed Wednesday that it recently presented evidence to prosecutors that the unnamed employee may…
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APNewsBreak: 63 Indian reservations join land program
BILLINGS, Mont. — U.S. officials are adding 63 American Indian reservations across the Midwest and West to an initiative that seeks to return millions of acres of land to tribal ownership. The move comes as the Interior Department warns the $1.9 billion effort to return up to 3 million acres of land to tribes is…
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Interior secretary: No criminal acts in Colorado mine spill
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save BILLINGS, Mont. — Interior Secretary Sally Jewell says she’s seen no evidence of criminal negligence in a toxic wastewater spill triggered by federal workers at an inactive Colorado gold mine. Jewell said during congressional testimony…
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Recovery plan for lynx could take until 2018
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. wildlife officials revealed Monday that they expect to complete a recovery plan for imperiled Canada lynx in early 2018 — almost two decades after the snow-loving wild cats first received federal protections. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service laid out that timetable in court documents filed as part of a…