"Whitebark pine trees can live more than 1,000 years, but in just two decades more than a quarter of the trees that are a key food source for some grizzly bears have been killed by disease, climate change, wildfires and voracious beetles, government officials said as they announced federal protections Wednesday."
"A group of nine rich industrialized nations approved a deal to provide Vietnam with $15.5 billion to help the Southeast Asian nation move faster from coal power to renewable energy, cutting its climate-damaging pollution."
"A Nevada wildflower was declared endangered at the only place it’s known to exist — on a high-desert ridge where a lithium mine is planned to help meet growing demand for electric car batteries, U.S. wildlife officials announced Wednesday."
"The Federal Trade Commission kicked off a review of its “Green Guides” aimed at helping companies avoid misleading and deceptive environmental claims about their products and services.
The FTC’ voted 4-0 on Wednesday to start a regulatory review of its Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims. The public will be able to comment on the 2012 version of the guides and recommend potential updates.
"Hundreds of thousands of Florida property owners face requirements to buy flood insurance under a precedent-setting bill approved Wednesday by the state Legislature. It’s the first mandate of its kind in the country."
"As California faces the prospect of a fourth consecutive dry year, officials with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California have declared a regional drought emergency and called on water agencies to immediately reduce their use of all imported supplies."
"Nomad Tsering Angchuk vows to stay put in his remote village in India’s Ladakh region. His two sons and most of his fellow villagers have migrated to a nearby urban settlement but Angchuk is determined to herd his flock of fine cashmere-producing goats in the treeless Kharnak village, a hauntingly beautiful but unforgiving, cold mountainous desert."
"Dead and dying seabirds collected on the coasts of the northern Bering and southern Chukchi seas over the past six years reveal how the Arctic’s fast-changing climate is threatening the ecosystems and people who live there, according to a report released Tuesday by U.S. scientists."
"Coal workers hope education can help the next generation win cleaner, healthier jobs in a region that has been wedded to dirty, dangerous mining for over a century".
"A shuttered Alabama coal products company with ties to Republican West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice would pay a $925,000 fine as part of a settlement to resolve a Clean Air Act lawsuit brought last year by local regulators."
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