** Trump’s water attack goes into effect—but not in Colorado
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MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2020
EPA ([link removed])
One of the Trump administration’s signature environmental rollbacks, which reduces protections for wetlands and waterways, goes into effect in every state but Colorado today ([link removed]) . On Friday, a federal judge in California rejected a request for a nationwide injunction blocking the EPA rule, which replaced the Obama-era Clean Water Rule. Hours later, however, a second judge temporarily blocked the rule in Colorado in response to a lawsuit ([link removed]) from state Attorney General Phil Weiser.
The rule that goes into effect today ([link removed]) significantly limits the definition of what the federal government considers water that is subject to federal pollution rules. In rejecting the request for a temporary nationwide injunction, Judge Richard Seeborg wrote ([link removed]) that while states had not met the bar to delay the rule from going into effect, “were the court tasked with the question of whether the new rule represents wise environmental policy... the result might be different.”
** Interior consulted anti-science troll on “transparency” rule
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Documents obtained by HuffPost ([link removed]) reveal that a prominent climate science denier, Steve Milloy, attended an invitation-only policy roundtable with Interior Secretary David Bernhardt before mingling with top department officials at a government holiday party in Washington.
Milloy later sent emails that said he and Bernhardt discussed Interior's "transparency" plan to significantly limit peer-reviewed academic studies from being used in government rulemaking and give more weight to industry-backed research. Two months after Milloy's appearance at the Interior Department party, the agency forwarded its science-limitation rule to the Office of Management and Budget for review.
Quick hits
** Rep. Neguse introduces bill to create 21st Century Conservation Corps, help Western economies recover from pandemic
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])
** House Republicans demand amendments in attempt to derail parks maintenance, conservation funding
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E&E News ([link removed])
** Trump administration approves oil well and pipeline inside Carrizo Plain National Monument
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed])
** Utah national parks at risk from upcoming oil and gas lease auctions
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National Parks Traveler ([link removed])
** Opinion: Trump administration’s oil industry handouts hurt Western states
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])
** Trump rollback of water protections halted in Colorado, goes into effect elsewhere
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Bloomberg ([link removed]) | Politico ([link removed])
** Former NPS employees “appalled” by plan to allow killing of Alaska bear cubs and wolf pups
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The Hill ([link removed])
** American Museum of Natural History to remove statue of Teddy Roosevelt that subjugated Black and Indigenous people
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New York Times ([link removed])
Quote of the day
Drilling for oil has long been a boom and bust industry. The Trump administration should not intervene to prop up corporations that made bad business decisions, nor force taxpayers to shoulder the cost of cleaning up ([link removed]) abandoned oil wells for bankrupt energy corporations.”
—Robert Weissman, Public Citizen
The Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])
Picture this
** @KatmaiNPS ([link removed])
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Bear 128 arrives today at #BrooksCamp ([link removed]) with two spring cubs. #bearcams ([link removed]) #Explore ([link removed]) #bears ([link removed]) #Katmai ([link removed])
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