An Abelardo de la Espriella Presidency Threatens Colombia’s Climate Policies

Right-wing businessman Abelardo de la Espriella holds a razor-thin lead in Colombia’s preliminary presidential vote count, positioning the Donald Trump ally to clear the way for expanded fossil fuel extraction, including controversial fracking projects. A de la Espriella presidency would mark a sharp reversal for one of the world’s most ambitious experiments in fossil fuel phaseout.
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Feds Plan Biggest Lease of Land in Colorado History to Oil and Gas Companies

A federal agency will offer tens of thousands of acres in northwestern Colorado that the nation’s largest elk herd relies upon for migration, foraging and winter habitat to oil and gas companies for lease in the state’s biggest such sale in modern history. More than 100 parcels included in a June 16 lease sale by the Bureau of Land Management encompass elk, pronghorn and mule deer migration…
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Trump Convenes “God Squad” Committee in Move That Could Annihilate Whale Species

On March 31, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum will convene a rare meeting of the Endangered Species Committee. Sometimes referred to as the “God Squad,” the panel could effectively roll back existing environmental protections by exempting companies from the Endangered Species Act (ESA), paving the way for oil and gas projects throughout the Gulf of Mexico.
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Regulators Didn’t Act on Nearly 600 Oil Wells Operating Illegally in Oklahoma

Five years ago, Oklahoma oil regulators took on a project with an impressive name: the Source of Truth. State officials wanted a comprehensive database capturing all vital information about the more than 11,000 wells in Oklahoma that shoot the toxic byproduct of oil production back underground. I’d heard about this project from several people during the 18 months I had spent reporting on the…
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Drinking Water for Millions Is Threatened as Trump Targets National Monuments

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. The 31 national monuments designated since the Clinton administration, which could be downsized as the Trump administration pushes to open more public lands to extractive industries, safeguard clean water for…
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Ecuador Ordered to Pay Amazon-Polluting Chevron $220 Million

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. Over a quarter century in the Ecuadorian Amazon, oil giant Texaco (now Chevron) perpetrated an ecological disaster: It dumped 3.2 million gallons of toxic waste, spilled 17 million gallons of crude oil and flared…
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