Natural Resources

"Financial institutions rarely provide such loans and with oil prices at rock bottom, the Arctic is not a priority for the energy industry."

"From the vast plains of the Masai Mara in Kenya to the delicate corals of the Aldabra atoll in the Seychelles, conservation work to protect some of the world’s most important ecosystems is facing crisis following a collapse in ecotourism during the Covid-19 pandemic."

"William Perry Pendley will serve for at least another month as acting director of the Bureau of Land Management, despite activist groups warning Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to expect a lawsuit should he extend Pendley’s assignment running the agency."

"National parks are starting to reopen as they seek to balance public safety concerns about the coronavirus with responding to the White House's push to start reopening sites."

"A coalition of 17 Democratic-leaning states sued the Trump administration on Friday for rolling back Obama-era protections for waterways, arguing the move ignores science on the interconnectivity of water."

"US fossil fuel companies have taken at least $50m in taxpayer money they probably won’t have to pay back, according to a review of coronavirus aid meant for struggling small businesses by the investigative research group Documented and the Guardian. A total of $28m is going to three coal mining companies, all with ties to Trump officials, bolstering a dying American industry and a fuel that scientists insist world leaders must shift away from to avoid the worst of the climate crisis."

"A federal judge, rapping the Trump administration for its weak environmental assessments, has vacated hundreds of oil and gas leases across a large swath of Montana."

"Two advocacy groups are threatening to sue Interior Secretary David Bernhardt if he allows the acting directors of the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service to remain in place after their terms expire next week."

"The latest front in the war against drilling for oil in Alaska’s rugged wildlife refuge isn’t Washington -- it’s Wall Street."

"House Democrats are questioning the Trump administration over its plan to reopen 'as rapidly as possible' certain national parks that closed amid concerns over the coronavirus pandemic."