Environmental News Network - Environmental Policy

Worldâ€™s Protected Areas Not Protecting Biodiversity
Scientists from James Cook University, the Wildlife Conservation Society, the University of Queensland, Stanford University, BirdLife International, the International Union for Nature Conservation, and other organizations have warned that the world's protected areas are not safeguarding most of the world's imperilled biodiversity, and clear changes need to be made on how nations undertake future land protection if wildlife is going to be saved. These findings come at a time when countries are working toward what could become the biggest expansion of protected areas in history. The authors of the new study found that 85 percent of world's 4,118 threatened mammals, birds, and amphibian species are not adequately protected in existing national parks, and are therefore vulnerable to extinction in the near term. The new study appears in the esteemed international journal PLOS Biology. >> Read the Full Article
Why can't we recover precious metals from landfills?
Mining for precious metals like gold, silver, and copper is extremely costly. Not only does it require a huge amount of energy and have a devastating impact on the environment, it also puts human life at risk. Still, these metals are what enable our precious smartphones and tablets to work so efficiently, so we have to get them from somewhere. But what if that somewhere was old gadgets we no longer want instead of deep within the Earth? >> Read the Full Article
Endangered Species Act may be significantly weakened by new policy
The Center for Biological Diversity will file a legal challenge to an Obama administration policy, finalized today, that severely limits when a species qualifies for protection under the Endangered Species Act - a change that ignores both broad legal precedent and congressional intent. Under the Act a species qualifies for protection when it is "in danger of extinction in all or a significant of portion of its range." Both Congress and the courts have explained that the "significant portion of range" provision is vital for important conservation because it allows federal wildlife agencies to protect species before they are at risk of going extinct globally. But the newly finalized policy sharply restricts the use of this part of the Act, defining "significant" to mean that only when the loss of a part of a species' range threatens the survival of the whole species would wildlife agencies protect that species under the Act. >> Read the Full Article
EPA Proposes Approval of New Climate-Friendly Refrigerants
In support of President Obama's Climate Action Plan, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to increase the options for refrigerants in the United States that offer better climate protection without harming the ozone layer. This is the agency's first action that addresses refrigerants under the Climate Action Plan, which calls on EPA's Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) Program to identify and approve additional climate-friendly chemicals. >> Read the Full Article
Choosing the Right Path: How Air Travel Affects Climate Change
It has been well documented that one negative of air travel â€“ besides the food â€“ is the emission of CO2 from jet engines. But what about contrails? Dr. Emma Irvine, Professor Keith Shine, and Professor Sir Brian Hoskins, at the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading have linked contrails to global climate change in a study published in IOP Publishingâ€™s journal Environmental Research Letters. According to their report, contrails may have a greater radiative forcing (the capacity for an agent to enact climate change via warming) than CO2. >> Read the Full Article
Solar Power Meets Half of Germany's Energy Demand
A core facet of Chancellor Merkel's historic "Energiewende" clean energy transition, Germany has led the world in driving adoption of solar energy technology and systems. Although it is now pulling back hard on incentives, the market momentum created by its precedent-setting solar energy feed-in tariff (FiT) persists. >> Read the Full Article
Bio-fuel from Whisky distilling in Scotland
Edinburgh-based biofuel company Celtic Renewables has signed an agreement with Europeâ€™s foremost biotechnology pilot facility to undergo next-stage testing of its process to turn whisky by-products into biofuel that can power current vehicles. The partnership, which will allow the company to develop its technology at Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant (BBEPP) in Ghent, has been made possible by second round funding worth â‚¬1.5million, including more than â‚¬1million from the UK Government, to help meet its ambition of growing a new â‚¬125 million-a-year industry in the UK. >> Read the Full Article
The economic risks of climate change
New independent report identifies challenges facing U.S. businesses and policymakers; describes strategies to avoid significant, unequally-spread economic disruptions. The American economy faces major risks from climate change, including damaging coastal storms, growing heat-related mortality, and declining labor productivity, according to an independent report released today by business, education and political leaders. >> Read the Full Article
For healthy oceans, end illegal fishing: WWF
Last week, Secretary of State John Kerry brought together some of the world's leading thinkers to chart a path for securing the future of our planetâ€™s oceans and the communities and economies they support. Leaders from more than 80 countries delved into the most pressing issues facing our oceans, including marine pollution, climate change and unsustainable fisheries. >> Read the Full Article
Coal mines to Solar PV in UK
Energy specialists Anesco is to undertake a major regeneration of a number of former colliery sites with the development of a 30MW solar portfolio. The ground-mounted solar installations will be operational for 25 years and, once completed, will generate enough low-carbon energy to provide powerfor around 10,000 homes, while saving up to 15 tonnes of carbon per year. >> Read the Full Article