No. 1315, September 18, 2025 |
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Protect Sea Life From Another Oil Spill |
In 2010 BP's Deepwater Horizon oil-drilling rig exploded, killing 11 people. The resulting spill poured up to 205 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and harmed thousands of animals, from seabirds and sea turtles to marine mammals. Now BP has proposed a risky new drilling plan in even deeper Gulf waters, where oil is under extreme pressure. Reaching that oil will test technological limits and threaten key habitat for critically endangered Rice's whales. With only around 50 of these whales left, another oil spill could drive the species extinct.
Thanks to public opposition to the initial plan — including nearly 14,000 comments from Center for Biological Diversity supporters — the U.S. Department of the Interior sent BP's proposal back for modifications. But the changes don't make BP's new plan safe — and Interior is considering granting it anyway.
Offshore oil drilling devastates the environment, and spills can have long-lasting consequences. With so much at stake, we can't let BP drill in the Gulf again.
Speak up for sea life: Tell Interior to fully reject this dangerous drilling plan. |
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Suit Targets Trump Axing of Slaughterhouse Rules |
The Center and allies filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the Trump administration’s recent decision to abandon rules that would have stopped slaughterhouses and meat-processing plants from dumping of millions of pounds of pollutants into American waterways.
“The Trump administration’s decision to withdraw these lifesaving pollution-reduction measures isn’t just unlawful — it’s incredibly nasty,” said the Center’s Hannah Connor. “The U.S. meat industry slaughters some 18,000 animals a minute, creating a waste stream full of blood, fecal bacteria, and disease-causing pathogens. This lawless administration is putting industry profits ahead of protecting kids from swimming in gross pollution.”
Help our fight by giving to the Center’s Health for the Wild Fund. Do it now and your donation will be doubled. |
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Advocating for Mexican Wolves’ Genetic Diversity |
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Court Says Offshore Drilling Suit Can Go Forward |
A judge has just denied a bid by Sable Offshore Corp., an oil-drilling company, to dismiss a lawsuit by the Center and allies challenging a federal decision to allow aging oil platforms off the California coast to restart production under outdated development plans.
Drilling would threaten sea otters, blue whales, piping plovers, and countless other species with the risk of oil spills. “I’m glad the court saw through Sable’s attempt to shut this lawsuit down,” said Kristen Monsell, our oceans legal director. “Conditions have changed dramatically since these drilling plans were approved in the ’80s. We look forward to speaking up for the coast and presenting our arguments in court.” |
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Pine Rocklands Conservation Team Wins Award |
South Florida’s critically endangered pine rocklands ecosystem is home to more than 20 species listed under the Endangered Species Act, from Key deer to Miami tiger beetles — and it sits in one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States.
This month the Pine Rocklands Conservation Team, a public-private partnership that includes the Center, just won a Regional Recovery Champion Award in recognition of our collaborative work to protect and recover this incredible ecosystem that’s threatened by population pressure, invasive species, sea-level rise, and storms.
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That’s Wild: The Dark DNA of Dancing Spiders |
The glamorously colored, dancing peacock spiders of Australia — who make up their own genus — come in more than 100 species, many only the size of a pin head.
That diversity, scientists now believe, may be linked to mysterious parts of the animals’ genetic code biologists call their “dark DNA.” Peacock spiders have three times as much of it, according to the BBC, as humans.
Watch a video of one of their dances. |
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