skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, July 11, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Federal judge issues new nationwide block against Trump's order seeking to end birthright citizenship; TX flood Death toll at 121 as search continues for the missing; Hoosier businesses face fallout from tariff shake-up; Sick of moving, MN senior worries about losing federal rental aid; Second mobile unit for helping formerly incarcerated launches in NC.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

NOAA nominee says he supports cutting the agency's budget. Many question why Ukraine's weapons aid was paused. And farmers worry how the budget megabill will impact this year's Farm Bill.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural Americans brace for disproportionate impact of federal funding cuts to mental health, substance use programs, and new federal policies have farmers from Ohio to Minnesota struggling to grow healthier foods and create sustainable food production programs.

Study: Navajo Nation Bears Brunt of Oil, Gas Methane Pollution

play audio
Play

Friday, May 7, 2021   

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency is considering adopting an air-permitting program to address methane emissions - and it could be a lifesaving decision for 300,000 Indigenous people who live there.

A new report shows methane waste and pollution is a growing problem for residents of the country's largest Indian reservation.

Joseph Hernandez, an organizer with the NAVA Education Project, said air pollution from extractive industries no longer affects only one area of Navajo lands, but is found everywhere.

He added it's common to know many families who have lost loved ones to cancer.

"Health disparity in the region is known," said Hernandez. "I have many family members who suffer from asthma, and it's something that is not normal in other communities."

The analysis shows pollution isn't the only problem - as 5% of the natural gas produced is wasted annually through methane leaks, venting and flaring. Curbing the waste would add more than $1 million to tribal royalties each year.

The Environmental Defense Fund report follows a recent vote in the U.S. Senate to restore federal rules to reduce methane pollution in oil and gas operations.

In addition to New Mexico, the Navajo Nation stretches across portions of northeastern Arizona and southeastern Utah. The resource-rich land has made many Native economies dependent on extraction in the past century, starting with coal and uranium.

Hernandez noted a recent government report showed almost 30% of the Native population had 'poor' or 'fair' health status in 2018, compared to about 16% of the white population.

"What is common between all of us," said Hernandez, "is that we all live in this area that's being extracted by not just one industry, but many industries here in the Four Corners region."

The report was prepared by the Environmental Defense Fund, Diné C.A.R.E., the NAVA Education Project, Grand Canyon Trust and Western Leaders Network.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Close to half of all American whiskey, bourbon and rye is sold internationally, primarily to Canada, Mexico and the European Union. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Hoosier businesses across the state are feeling the ripple effects of rising tariffs and shifting trade policies, especially in farming, …


Social Issues

play sound

Some 15 community and faith-based organizations gathered again this week outside the Geo Group ICE detention facility in Aurora where longtime Denver …

Social Issues

play sound

By Garrett Bergquist for WISH-TV.Broadcast version by Joe Ulery for Indiana News Service reporting for the WISH-TV-Free Press Indiana-Public News Serv…


Students at the 2024 Arts Advocacy Day spent time networking and discussing policy issues affecting arts education. (Skye Morse-Hodgson/Snap Yourself)

Social Issues

play sound

More than 400 teen artists will gather this Saturday in Southern California to learn about equity in arts education. The 3rd annual Arts Advocacy Day …

Environment

play sound

New Mexico farmers finding it more difficult to grow historic crops are taking up conservation techniques to meet the challenge. Drought, water …

Places like rural Dutch Harbor, Alaska, rely heavily on diesel powered generators for a majority of their power production. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Despite last-minute concessions in the Trump administration's budget, which removes alternative energy tax incentives, rural Alaska power providers …

Environment

play sound

"Don't go into the water" is a warning Illinoisans may want to heed. A 2024 study released this week found all state-border beaches on Lake Michigan …

Social Issues

play sound

The Trump administration has made it clear it will cut funding from schools continuing diversity, equity and inclusion programs and with record …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021