Natural Resources

"San Francisco is the latest U.S. city preparing to receive a pair of pandas from China, in a continuation of Beijing’s famed “panda diplomacy.”"

"President Joe Biden is marking Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal grants for residential solar projects serving 900,000-plus households in low- and middle-income communities. He also plans to expand his New Deal-style American Climate Corps green jobs training program."

"The administration has blocked a proposed industrial road needed to mine copper in the middle of the state, and has banned oil drilling on 13 million acres in the North Slope."

"The faithful gathered in an imposing modernist building, thousands of men in skullcaps and women in veils sitting shoulder to shoulder. Their leader took to his perch and delivered a stark warning. “Our fatal shortcomings as human beings have been that we treat the earth as just an object,” Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar said. “The greedier we are toward nature, the sooner doomsday will arrive.”"

"The Senate on Wednesday passed legislation to aid conservation efforts for migratory birds."

"An estimated 20 million people in southern Africa are facing what the United Nations calls “acute hunger” as one of the worst droughts in more than four decades shrivels crops, decimates livestock and, after years of rising food prices brought on by pandemic and war, spikes the price of corn, the region’s staple crop."

"For decades, the federal government has prioritized oil and gas drilling, hardrock mining and livestock grazing on public lands across the country. That could soon change under a far-reaching Interior Department rule that puts conservation, recreation and renewable energy development on equal footing with resource extraction."

"Water scarcity, overuse and development are among the reasons why 10 waterways across the nation were ranked this year’s most endangered rivers by the advocacy group American Rivers."

"A group of scuba diving experts and enthusiasts are setting up coral nurseries in a popular dive spot south of Philippine capital Manila to help in the propagation and recovery of damaged coral."

"Becky Genia has spent most of her 67 years on the Shinnecock Reservation, 800 acres on the far eastern side of Long Island’s Shinnecock Bay. Sandwiched between multimillion-dollar mansions and yacht clubs that serve as a playground for uber-rich New Yorkers, it may be hard to imagine a bigger threat to the tiny spit of land than encroaching development. But climate change looms even larger."