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A Much-Needed Win for Wildlife: Senate Introduces Bill to Improve Endangered Species Act Implementation
Senators Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Pete Rickets (R-NE) today introduced the Improving Species Recovery Act, an important bipartisan bill that would improve implementation of the Endangered Species Act.
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Enough is Enough: Senate Blocks Yet Another Attempt to Prioritize Drilling in the Arctic
The Senate today blocked an attempt to pass S. 5438, introduced by Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK). The bill would have ratified and approved all authorizations, permits, verifications, extensions, biological opinions, incidental take statements and any other approvals or orders issued pursuant to federal law necessary for the establishment and administration of the Coastal Plain oil and gas leasing program, among other purposes.
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Senate Permitting Deal Threatens Bedrock Endangered Species Protections
Defenders of Wildlife today strongly condemned Endangered Species Act provisions reportedly included in a Senate permitting package, warning they would weaken critical protections for imperiled wildlife.
Press Releases
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Vessel Strikes to Blame for Series of Whale Deaths?
On a cold winter beach in New Jersey, onlookers huddled around a 30-foot dead humpback whale lying on the sand. This was one of more than a dozen whales that have washed up on beaches along the U.S. East Coast since the beginning of December 2022. Five of these whales washed up in New Jersey, two in New York and others on the coasts of states from Maine to Florida. A total of 178 humpback whales have washed up along East Coast beaches since 2016, leading the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to declare an “unusual mortality event.” An investigation is underway.
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Biden Administration Sinks Emergency Petition to Shield Right Whale Moms, Calves From Vessel Strikes
NOAA Fisheries today denied an emergency petition that sought to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales from being struck and killed by vessels in their calving grounds off the coast of the southeast United States. The species is down to about 70 reproductive females.
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Defenders Urges Georgia to Reject Okefenokee Mining Permits as Comment Period Opens
Today, Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division opened a 60-day comment period on Twin Pines Minerals’ application to mine near the Okefenokee Swamp.
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Right Whale Calves Bring Hope for the Species, but They Face an Uncertain Future
The birth of 11 North Atlantic right whale calves this breeding season so far is an encouraging sign for one of the most endangered whale species in the world. However, this time of year is one of the whales' most vulnerable, as ship strikes account for many calf deaths.
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Alaska Receives One Bid On Cook Inlet Lease Sale
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM) opened and read the bids this morning for Cook Inlet federal offshore oil and gas lease sale #258. After offering close to one million acres for lease, there was only one bid. Hillcorp Alaska LLC bid $63,983 for one block.
jcovey@defenders.org
