"The Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General has referred one of its probes into the conduct of Secretary Ryan Zinke to the Justice Department for further investigation, according to two individuals familiar with the matter."
The vulnerability of critical U.S. infrastructure to cyberattacks has been a growing worry for years, as electric utilities, drinking water systems, chemical plants, nuclear plants, pipelines and more are the target of a burgeoning cadre of hackers. But for environmental and other journalists focused on the story, another problem has emerged: The secrecy that has long been part of the U.S. cybersecurity policy. In this comprehensive Backgrounder, SEJournal takes a look at the risk, the response and the resources to let reporters go deep on cyber warfare as an energy and environment story.
Long-standing tensions between hunting and conservation mean stories for environmental reporters, especially as hunting season gets underway. But as this week’s TipSheet points out, much hunting also takes place in one of the nation’s most protected habitats — its national wildlife refuges. A look at why, and where, plus a scan of the landscape of sources and resources to tell the story more richly.
"Steven Chancellor, an Indiana coal executive who raised more than $1 million for President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, has obtained permits to import the heads and hides of at least three male lions from Africa since being tapped last year to advise Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke about the benefits of international hunting."
"China unveiled new rules on Monday that would allow the use of rhino horn and tiger parts for some medical and cultural purposes, watering down a decades-old ban in a move conservation group WWF said could have “devastating consequences”."
"When former Texas Gov. Rick Perry took the stage to campaign for Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas earlier this month, he did so walking a fine ethical line."
"This is the era of deregulation in the nation’s capital: President Trump is rolling back Obama-era climate change regulations that would have cut planet-warming pollution from smokestacks and tailpipes, and he has vowed to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement, the 2015 accord under which nearly every nation pledged to limit greenhouse gas pollution. At the state level, though, advocates and lawmakers around the country are fighting back."
"Alaska is in the midst of a divisive civil war over a ballot initiative that pits the state's revered wild salmon fisheries against its powerful oil and mining industries."
"In the first such use of his executive powers, President Trump on Friday designated a national monument, establishing a 380-acre site in Kentucky to honor African Americans’ role as soldiers during the Civil War."
"A group of 20 U.S. states and several major cities on Friday urged the Trump administration to abandon a proposal to freeze fuel efficiency standards after 2020 and strip California of the ability to impose its own vehicle emissions rules."
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