Center for Biological Diversity
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Endangered Earth
No. 1,038, May 28, 2020
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After 31 Years, Destructive Nevada Water Pipeline Is Stopped
A three-decade struggle to stop a massive groundwater pipeline project has come to a stunning conclusion: The Southern Nevada Water Authority board just voted to end its pursuit of this disastrous project.
The water authority proposed pumping 28 billion gallons of groundwater every year from aquifers in remote eastern Nevada valleys and piping it 300 miles to Las Vegas for swimming pools and golf courses. The project would have dried up hundreds of springs and thousands of acres of wetlands. Rare and common species alike were threatened, including pronghorn, desert tortoises, Pahrump poolfish and Moapa pebblesnails.
Thanks to all of you who spoke out against this project over the years.
"This is a fight passed from parent to child, from one generation of activists to the next," said Patrick Donnelly, Nevada state director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "Sometimes David beats Goliath."
Get more from The Nevada Independent.
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We're Suing Trump to Fight Rollback of Car Pollution Limits
The Center and allies sued the Trump administration on Wednesday to block a major rollback of fuel-efficiency standards for cars. The rollback — a radical departure from what the Obama administration put in place — will worsen air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. It will cost consumers more at the gas pump without making our roads safer.
We can't let that stand.
The world's top scientists agree that 2010 greenhouse gas emissions levels must be halved by 2030 to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Fuel-efficiency rules are a crucial step because cars are a major emissions source. One solution is switching to zero-emission cars and trucks, or ZEVs.
Get more from Reuters.
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Take Action: Speak Up for Washington's Wolves
Since 2012 the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has killed 31 endangered wolves. The vast majority of killings were on public lands and on behalf of the same for-profit livestock operation, which refuses to adequately monitor its cattle. Science shows that nonlethal measures work best to deter wolf–livestock predations. But the department has ignored this and just keeps killing wolves, sometimes destroying whole packs.
So earlier this month, the Center and allies petitioned the state's Fish and Wildlife Commission to adopt better rules making the department and livestock operators deter and manage conflicts. Killing wolves should be a last resort and never occur on public lands.
Act now to urge the commission to grant our rulemaking petition for Washington's wolves.
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Join Us: A Discussion on Eating to Save the Planet
Our food system has an enormous effect on climate, habitat, water use and wildlife. Eating more plant-based foods and less meat can reduce diet-related greenhouse gas emissions, save land and water, and help fight the extinction crisis.
Join us later today for a Saving Life on Earth discussion about our work to shift the way we eat toward sustainable diets. The presentation will feature the Center's Jennifer Molidor, senior food campaigner; Stephanie Feldstein, population and sustainability director; and a vegan cooking demonstration by J.P. Rose, a staff attorney.
The hour-long webinar will start at 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET. It's free, but you need to sign up.
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And consider supporting the Saving Life on Earth Fund by making a matched gift today.
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Wanted: Poisoner of Wolves and Dogs in Wisconsin
On public lands in northern Wisconsin, two rare gray wolves and other wildlife — along with at least seven dogs including a lab, a German shepherd and two beagles — have recently died by deliberate poisoning. So last week the Center added $2,500 to the reward for information leading to an arrest.
"People should be able to enjoy wildlife and walk their dogs on our public lands without fear of tragic poisonings," said Collette Adkins, carnivore conservation director at the Center. "We hope someone comes forward and brings an end to this senseless, indiscriminate killing of rare wildlife and family dogs."
Learn more.
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Video: Agricultural Antibiotics
The emergence of multiple pandemics in animal agriculture over the past few decades, coupled with COVID-19's suspected origin in a wildlife market, has prompted renewed calls from experts to transform the global food system. One issue we need to address is the widespread use of antibiotics in industrial agriculture, which poses looming health risks to people and the environment. Watch this video on Facebook or YouTube and learn more at The Revelator.
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Win for the Wildlife of Minneapolis City Parks
Last month we learned that the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, had contracted with a federal wildlife-killing program to kill beavers, coyotes and other wildlife in the city's parklands. With our local allies, we rapidly launched a letter campaign to protest the use of leghold traps, strangulation snares and other deadly methods in city parks.
Hundreds of Minneapolis residents voiced their concern — and the city unanimously passed a resolution prioritizing wildlife management using nonlethal methods.
Thank you to those of you who spoke out through our regional action alert against the use of lethal measures. You made a difference.
Get more from City Pages.
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Suit Filed to Save San Francisco's Bay-Delta and Fish
The Center and allies just sued the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to challenge the Trump administration's move to make more than a dozen temporary water contracts, with industrial water users in California's Central Valley, permanent. The water uses in these contracts degrade salmon habitat and kill wildlife with toxic runoff from irrigated farmland.
The Central Valley Project, a huge water storage and delivery system, includes 20 reservoirs and 500 miles of canals and aqueducts and has caused widespread environmental damage by reducing freshwater flows in the San Francisco Bay-Delta.
"David Bernhardt's Interior Department is giving a sweet deal to billionaires and industrial agriculture, but the Delta, salmon and migratory birds will all suffer," said the Center's Jeff Miller.
Learn more.
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Birding While Black
"I'm hoping that soon a black birder won't be a rare sighting. I'm hoping that at some point I'll see color sprinkled throughout a birding-festival crowd. I'm hoping for the day when young hotshot birders just happen to be black like me. These hopes brighten the darkness of past experiences."
Check out this article on race, violence, belonging, and the love of nature by birder and author J. Drew Lanham.
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Revelator: Can Forests Survive Climate Change?
It's not just deserts that suffer from droughts, which are becoming more common and severe due to climate change. This week The Revelator reports on a new study analyzing 10 years of research on how forests react to droughts — and finding, in the words of lead author Tim Brodribb, that "you can easily see 40 to 50% of forests being destroyed in 40 years." That would be devastating for countless species, including humans.
Read more.
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And sign up for The Revelator's weekly e-newsletter.
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Wild & Weird: Penguin Poo Emits Giggle Gas
While studying the effects of glacier retreat and king penguin activity on greenhouse gas emissions, researchers discovered that areas containing large amounts of penguin guano also have extremely high levels of nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas.
After spending several hours near an estimated 150,000 breeding pairs of king penguins on the island of South Georgia, near Antarctica, the lead researcher admitted to feeling "completely cuckoo" due to gas exposure.
But nosing about in bird guano isn't all sh*ts and giggles. The penguin's diet of fish and krill produces so much nitrous oxide and hydrogen sulfide — not to mention stinky farts — that researchers felt ill and suffered headaches.
Get more from Newsweek.
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Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
Tucson, AZ 85702
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