Greenwire

The shortnose sturgeon -- bony, brown, slightly sinister-looking -- does not often draw much public attention or controversy. But the fish's fate recently became tied to another endangered species that elicits far more passion: the gray wolf. When a federal judge overturned the delisting of wolves in the western Great Lakes last year, she also set new parameters for when an agency can delist a so-called distinct population segment. The Fish and Wildlife Service is appealing the case. But the ruling could affect current and future efforts to remove groups of animals from Endangered Species Act protections.

Following Dane County, Wis.'s vote to require Enbridge Corp. to take out $125 million in insurance against a possible spill for its proposed pipeline expansion of Line 61, how could community-based interception affect the future of pipeline projects nationwide? During today's OnPoint, Howard Learner, executive director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center, explains why he believes Dane County has the legal authority to require Enbridge to take out insurance. He also talks about how this case could tee up future community-based action.

An environmental initiative in Kenya aims to use an unusual barter system to trade chickens, goats or solar panels in exchange for tree planting.

Leaking, rusted barrels of toxic materials at a shuttered chemical plant in Hungary pose a grave threat of environmental damage, according to advocacy group Greenpeace.

Firefighters in Ukraine say they have contained a large forest fire that threatened the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Beijing officials have levied a record-breaking pollution fine against a McDonald's french fry supplier for releasing dirty wastewater.

When Rhode Island resident Nancy Page returned to her home yesterday and found water pouring from her garage ceiling, she assumed a pipe had burst.

Three men yesterday faced criminal charges for animal cruelty, wanton waste of big game and tampering with evidence for allegedly stabbing a yearling moose to death in a park in Alaska's largest city.

The Manhattan skyline may get dimmer for the sake of going green.

Freddie Gray, the Baltimore man who died in police custody this month, sparking protests and riots in the city, was a victim of lead poisoning earlier in his life.

A conservation group expressed concern this week about a Canadian company's copper exploration project in central Montana.

The Department of Labor Office of Workers' Compensation Programs published a proposed rule this week meant to protect miners trying to obtain black lung benefits.

U.S. EPA defended North Dakota's authority in carrying out pesticide inspections, rebutting an Office of Inspector General report that said the agency puts human health and the environment at risk by not conducting its own investigations.

Hollywood studios are rethinking advertising campaigns for upcoming disaster films after the earthquake in Nepal left thousands dead and tens of thousands homeless.

Customers who pay their electricity bills automatically are less likely to be energy efficient than those who don't, according to a new study in The Review of Economics and Statistics.

Oregon's Land Use Board of Appeals sided with Clatsop County, upholding a decision to deny a land-use permit to a 41-mile section of liquefied natural gas pipeline.

Former U.S. EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman visited a nearly complete nuclear plant in Tennessee yesterday to urge government action on climate change.

Critics of the Obama administration's program for leasing federal coal to mining companies this morning called on the Interior Department to implement deeper reforms than those already planned.

Eleven states and environmental groups yesterday pushed back on assertions from challengers to U.S. EPA's proposed greenhouse gas power plant standards that recent comments by Administrator Gina McCarthy warrant blocking the rule from finalization.

The creator of the hugely popular Angry Birds game is joining forces with conservationists to help save endangered birds in the South Pacific.

Latest Images