Gov. Spencer Cox defended supporting new oil and gas leases slated to be offered on federal public lands in Utah, even as the state is grappling with the effects of an unprecedented drought.
New Mexico is home to some of the worst methane pollution in the country, but new rules aimed at oil and gas operators could be a turning point for hard-hit communities. New Mexico s Environmental Improvement Board has adopted preliminary methane leak-detection rules some hope will serve as a model for the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Diné CARE (Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment) organizer Mario Atencio on the Navajo Nation said the health of local communities will be improved if methane emissions are reduced. .
Conservationists are planting trees on Earth Day to help mitigate the impacts of a warming planet. Urban areas along Colorado s Front Range become concrete ovens during increasingly hotter summers. And Christopher Hawkins - urban conservation program manager with the Nature Conservancy in Colorado - said cities are in a unique position to create more resilient communities, and adapt to a changing climate, by planting trees in neighborhoods with little shade. .