After years of deadly interactions with humans, the North American right whale has been reclassified as “critically endangered,” the most serious designation for any animal that still exists in the wild. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which since 1964 has tracked and categorized animals’ risks of global extinction on its Red List of Threatened Species, upgraded the right whale’s status on Wednesday.
RICHMOND, Va. -- Gov. Ralph Northam announced Wednesday that Virginia is officially the first southern state to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a consortium of Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states which has worked together for more than a decade to successfully cut pollution from power plants.
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Monday that its COVID-19 “non”-enforcement policy will end on August 31. The decision follows a three-month campaign by Environment America Research & Policy Center and others urging the agency to rescind the policy, which suspended the EPA’s enforcement of key environmental protections, including reporting of pollution, during the pandemic.
In January 2020, California became the first state to require all new houses to be built with solar panels. Today, Environment America is launching a first-of-its-kind campaign calling on additional states across the country to set similar standards for solar power on new homes. The coordinated national campaign will advocate for a solar homes requirement in at least ten states: Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas. While each state may have slightly different goals, the campaign’s intention is to introduce bills in 10 states in the next two years.
As slaughterhouses reopen after outbreaks of COVID-19, their high volumes of pollution pose other risks to our health and drinking water. According to a new analysis by Environment America Research & Policy Center and Clean Water for All, these industrial facilities dumped more than 55 million pounds of toxic substances directly into the nation’s rivers and streams in 2018.
Environment America Research and Policy Center is part of The Public Interest Network, which operates and supports organizations committed to a shared vision of a better world and a strategic approach to social change.
