skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Monday, May 12, 2025

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

Trump administration poised to accept 'palace in the sky' as a gift for Trump from Qatar; 283 workers nationwide, including 83 in CO, killed on the job; IL health officials work to combat vaccine hesitancy, stop measles spread; New research shows effects of nitrates on IA's most vulnerable.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The Pentagon begins removing transgender troops as legal battles continue. Congress works to fix a SNAP job-training penalty. Advocates raise concerns over immigrant data searches, and U.S. officials report progress in trade talks with China.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Volunteers with AmeriCorps are reeling from near elimination of the 30-year-old program, Head Start has dodged demise but funding cuts are likely, moms are the most vulnerable when extreme weather hits, and in California, bullfrogs await their 15-minutes of fame.

Report: Reclaiming Degraded Lands Could Help Fight Climate Change

play audio
Play

Wednesday, September 21, 2022   

Thousands of former mines, brownfield sites, and orphaned oil and gas wells are scattered across West Virginia, and a new report from the National Wildlife Federation highlights how cleaning up the land could help fight climate change.

Reforesting just 25% of abandoned mine lands could potentially trap around 232 metric tons of carbon each year, according to the report.

Anger Rosser, executive director of the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, said in addition to curbing greenhouse gas emissions, it would help protect homes by reducing flood and landslide risks.

"The better we restore those lands, the better we're protecting our communities from those types of costs and disasters," Rosser contended.

Ongoing research pointed to the biomass and soil on reclaimed lands as a sink for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. One West Virginia study found reclaimed mine soils captured 75% of carbon within the first decade of cleanup.

Rosser pointed out the unoccupied and once-hazardous land has the potential to help diversify local economies in the Mountain State after it is restored, through renewable energy development and outdoor recreation and tourism.

"What this comes down to is re-envisioning and transforming a community liability into a community asset," Rosser explained.

Jessica Arriens, program manager for climate energy policy at the National Wildlife Federation, predicted a surge of recent funding for cleaning up degraded lands will benefit both the health of communities and the climate.

"There's really historic investments coming to degraded lands reclamation," Arriens emphasized. "It's largely from the bipartisan infrastructure law that passed last year, that has something like $21 billion for abandoned mine lands, for orphan oil and gas wells, for Superfunds, and for brownfields."

The report calls on Congress to increase annual funding for nationwide Superfund site cleanup, emergency response and removal, and brownfield redevelopment.

Disclosure: National Wildlife Federation contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Endangered Species and Wildlife, Energy Policy, and Water. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
The California Parent and Youth Helpline has helped almost 113,000 people since its inception in 2020. (kieferpix/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

The California Parent and Youth Helpline turns five years old today - just in time for a brand new study that confirms its effectiveness. The study…


Environment

play sound

The Mississippi River is the drinking water source for 20 million people and its starting point in northern Minnesota has new protections following co…

Environment

play sound

A new mapping tool shows South Dakota is a big player on the farm conservation scene. The online feature coincides with a new poll, revealing most …


Environment

play sound

Nevada clean-energy proponents have launched a new website to help connect Nevadans to energy and cost-saving programs. One of the nonprofits behind …

P.J. Brock, a 5th grader at Middlesboro Middle School, with his family and teacher, Sandy Evans, alongside Kentucky Retired Teachers Association and AARP Kentucky representatives. (AARP Kentucky)

Social Issues

play sound

Ahead of Mother's Day, one Kentucky middle-school student has received recognition for honoring his grandmother in a "Grandparent of the Year" essay …

play sound

Indiana residents now have a new way to track pollution from coal plants across the state. The Sierra Club's new online national dashboard shows how …

Health and Wellness

play sound

Despite uncertainty about Medicaid funding in Congress, Tennessee is moving ahead to help improve people's health outcomes with a program for …

 

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