Latest Environment News

FILE - In this July 30, 2019, file photo, a red-cockaded woodpecker looks to a biologist as it is released back into in a long leaf pine forest at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. A bird declared endangered in 1970 -- the red-cockaded woodpecker, which taps pine sap to protect babies from snakes and gets its sons to help care for the next clutch of nestlings -- has recovered enough to relax federal protection, officials said Friday, Sept. 25, 2020. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

Feds: Relax protections for woodpecker endangered since 1970

Sep. 25, 2020 2:17 PM EDT

The red-cockaded woodpecker, a bird declared endangered in 1970 and surviving today in the scattered longleaf pine forests that remain in 11 U.S. states, has recovered enough to relax federal protections on the species, officials said Friday. But not all wildlife advocates agree. Ben Prater, southeastern director...

In this Sept. 2019, photo provided by the White Oak Conservation, Asian elephants, Kelly Ann, born Jan. 1, 1996, and Mable, born April 6, 2006, are seen at the Center for Elephant Conservation in Polk City, Fla. A Florida wildlife sanctuary is building a new 2,500-acre home for former circus elephants. The White Oak Conservation Center announced Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, that it's expecting to welcome 30 Asian elephants starting next year. (Stephanie Rutan/White Oak Conservation via AP)

Florida wildlife refuge to take 30 former circus elephants

Sep. 25, 2020 2:16 PM EDT

YULEE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida wildlife sanctuary is building a new, spacious home for former circus elephants. The White Oak Conservation Center north of Jacksonville is expected to welcome 30 Asian elephants to a 2,500-acre (1,010-hectare) refuge starting next year, the center announced Wednesday. The...

In this photo made from UNTV video, Uhuru Kenyatta, president of Kenya, speaks in a pre-recorded message which was played during the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, at UN Headquarters. This year's annual gathering of world leaders at U.N. headquarters will be almost entirely

The other issues: Pandemic focus at UN pushes out key topics

Sep. 25, 2020 1:10 PM EDT

At the United Nations this week, Kenya's president lamented the loss of animal species and called for measures to combat climate change. Slovenia's president spoke of eliminating land mines, legacies of bygone wars that still maim and kill. And leaders of Iran, Cuba and Libya asked for a lifting of sanctions,...

Cal Fire air tankers help stop the spread of a brush fire in Larkfield Calif, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020. (Kent Porter/The Press Democrat via AP)

Largest California wildfire threatens marijuana-growing area

Sep. 25, 2020 1:06 PM EDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s largest wildfire is threatening a marijuana-growing enclave, and authorities said many of the locals have refused to evacuate and abandon their maturing crops even as weather forecasters predict more hot, dry and windy conditions that could fan flames. The...

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and others protest in front of the Swedish Parliament Riksdagen in Stockholm Friday, Sept. 25, 2020. ( Janerik Henriksson/TT News Agency via AP)

Greta Thunberg and youth climate protests make a return

Sep. 25, 2020 8:53 AM EDT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg is back. She joined fellow demonstrators outside the Swedish Parliament on Friday to kick off a day of socially distanced global climate protests. “The main hope is, as always, to try to have an impact on the level of awareness and...

A little girl holds palm oil fruit collected from a plantation in Sumatra, Indonesia, Nov. 13, 2017. An Associated Press investigation has found many palm oil workers in Indonesia and neighboring Malaysia endure exploitation, including child labor. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

Palm oil labor abuses linked to world’s top brands, banks

Sep. 24, 2020 10:32 PM EDT

PENINSULAR MALAYSIA (AP) — Jum’s words tumble out over the phone, his voice growing ever more frantic. Between sobs, he says he’s trapped on a Malaysian plantation run by government-owned Felda, one of the world’s largest palm oil companies. His boss confiscated and then lost his...

Visitors wearing face masks to protect against the coronavirus look at a Tesla vehicle on display at the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020. Auto executives are flying in early to wait out a coronavirus quarantine ahead of the Beijing auto show, the year's biggest sales event for a global industry that is struggling with tumbling sales and layoffs. Organizers say they will impose intensive anti-disease controls on crowds and monitor visitors and employees for signs of infection. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

China auto show forging ahead under anti-virus controls

Sep. 24, 2020 9:12 PM EDT

BEIJING (AP) — The first event for the CEO of Swedish electric car brand Polestar at this month’s Beijing auto show: A two-week quarantine in a hotel. The auto show, the first major in-person sales event for any industry since the coronavirus pandemic began, opens Saturday in a sign the ruling...

Groups decry proposal to roll back Alaska forest protections

Sep. 24, 2020 8:51 PM EDT

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service is proposing to exempt the country’s largest national forest from a ban on timber harvests and road building in roadless areas, a move conservation groups denounced Thursday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, under which the Forest Service falls,...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a press conference on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, at Cal Expo in Sacramento where he announced an executive order requiring the sale of all new passenger vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035, a move the governor says would achieve a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. California would be the first state with such a rule, though Germany and France are among 15 other countries that have a similar requirement. (Daniel Kim/The Sacramento Bee via AP, Pool)

California is ready to pull the plug on gas vehicles

Sep. 24, 2020 8:30 PM EDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California will ban the sale of new gasoline-powered passenger cars and trucks in 15 years, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday, establishing a timeline in the nation's most populous state that could force U.S. automakers to shift their zero-emission efforts into overdrive. The...

In this UNTV image, Evariste Ndayishimiye, President of Burundi, speaks in a pre-recorded video message during the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, at UN headquarters in New York. The U.N.'s first virtual meeting of world leaders started Tuesday with pre-recorded speeches from heads-of-state, kept at home by the coronavirus pandemic. (UNTV via AP)

The Latest: UN panel says corruption hits the poor hardest

Sep. 24, 2020 8:16 PM EDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Latest from the U.N. General Assembly (all times EDT): 8:08 p.m. A U.N. panel says tax abuse, corruption and money laundering are draining hundreds of billions of dollars from governments that could help the world’s poor. A report from the high-level panel on International...

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