Gov. Jim Justice is expected to sign legislation to allow private leasing of the state s public parks and forests, but critics worry there are not enough safeguards to protect West Virginia s public lands. Ken Caplinger, former superintendent of West Virginia State Parks, explained the current law does not require upfront environmental assessments for development. .
The Michigan Legislature approved a resolution this week backing energy independence, and asking Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to call off attempts to shut down the Line 5 dual pipelines. With gas prices surging amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, lawmakers who supported this resolution say domestic oil production should be a priority. .
Conservation groups say it was a close call last week when a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) contractor began clearing a site near Moab which contained dinosaur tracks believed to be 112 million years old. A wooden boardwalk was removed from a portion of the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Tracksite and some ground cover was cleared before work was stopped. The Center for Biological Diversity heard about the incident on social media and fired off a cease and desist letter to the BLM to halt work. .
Illinois has more lead pipelines than any other state in the nation, but a new plan from the Biden-Harris administration could boost the state s lead-line removal efforts. The Biden-Harris Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan calls for $15 billion over the next decade to replace all the country s lead pipelines. Angela Guyadeen, director of the Safe Water Initiative for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), said financing lead-line removal projects is a major barrier for most communities. .
Development prevents marshes from naturally moving inland, as the tidelands would under normal conditions. As a result, vulnerable marshes can shrink, eventually disappearing beneath the rising water.