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Trump lashes out at 'weaklings' who believe Epstein 'B.S.' amid building GOP pressure to release documents; environmental groups say new OR groundwater law too diluted to be effective; people in PA to take action for voting rights, justice at "Good Trouble" protests.

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Trump is pressed to name a special counsel for the Epstein case. Speaker Mike Johnson urges Senate not to change rescissions bill, and undocumented immigrants are no longer eligible for bond before deportation hearings.

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Cuts in money for clean energy could hit rural mom-and-pop businesses hard, Alaska's effort to boost its power grid with wind and solar is threatened, and a small Kansas school district attracts new students with a focus on agriculture.

Proposed Methane Waste Rule Change "Eviscerates" Regulation, Critics Say

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Friday, April 20, 2018   

HELENA, Mont. – The public has a few more days to comment on a change to the Bureau of Land Management's methane waste prevention rule. Critics say the change will leave the regulation toothless.

The current rule, which took half a decade to create, was designed to cut down on the venting, flaring and leaking of natural gas from oil and gas operations on federal and tribal lands. It's estimated Obama-era rules would have saved taxpayers $330 million a year, the estimated value of the gas that escapes into the atmosphere.

Pat Wilson is a retired rancher who used to live near an oil operation in Montana. He says efforts to undo this rule are part of the new administration's short-sighted approach to land management.

"It's part of the current culture of thumbing one's nose at science, and thumbing one's nose at any possibility that human action can result in environmental harm," says Wilson. "It's just so wrong-headed."

The BLM, under the direction of Ryan Zinke's Interior Department, says the rule as it stands now is too cumbersome for companies.

Wilson is a member of the Northern Plains Resource Council, which delivered a petition with more than 1,000 signatures opposing changes to Montana's congressional delegation in early April. The public has until Monday to comment on the rule change at 'regulations.gov.'

Wilson ended up moving out of Montana because his wife's asthma was exacerbated by an oil-drilling operation less than a thousand feet from his front door. He says her condition became so bad over the last decade that she once fainted.

"It became increasingly apparent to her especially, and also to me, that if she's going to live through this thing, we're going to have to move” he says. “So we did."

In six western states, including Montana, more than 74,000 people live within a half-mile of an oil or gas facility on public lands.


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According to CalRecycle, 2.6 million tons of plastic packaging and foodware end up in California landfills every year. (Erik/Adobe Stock)

Environment

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California receives high marks in a report on the fight against plastic pollution. This is Plastic-free July and the United States of Plastics report…


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Environmental groups say Oregon's new groundwater law, meant to curb pollution, has been diluted to the point they can no longer support it. …

Social Issues

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Groups working to end hunger in Nebraska are reaching out to all parts of the state to train food insecure people to advocate for others facing simila…


For the second month in a row, protestors will take to the streets nationwide to oppose Trump administration policies they said threaten democracy. (photo: courtesy Bud Branch)

Social Issues

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New Mexico demonstrators will join nationwide protests today to oppose policies of the Trump administration. The "Good Trouble Lives On" nonviolent …

Social Issues

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More seniors in Washington state are facing financial strain or even losing their homes and seven local organizations will expand support for them wit…

Northern pike spawning habitats require roughly a foot of water in grassy marshland. (Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Assoc.)

Environment

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An effort to restore Northern pike habitat in Green Bay is also benefiting other wildlife species and raising local awareness about the effects of cli…

Environment

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Conservation groups, including the National Wildlife Federation and Oceana, are calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining for minerals until more …

Social Issues

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It has been about three weeks since the Rowena Fire in Oregon's Columbia Gorge was put out, and the local food bank remains vital to recovery efforts…

 

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