Environment
The U.S. is undergoing its worst bird flu outbreak ever. Is a poultry vaccine the answer?
WASHINGTON — The deadliest outbreak of bird flu in U.S. history is prompting growing concern in Congress, and Department of Agriculture researchers are awaiting the preliminary results of four trials of vaccines for poultry. Some lawmakers are warming to the idea of a vaccination campaign, long considered a fringe idea due to the cost and […]
Lawyer fees draw scrutiny as Camp Lejeune claims stack up
David and Adair Keller started their married life together in 1977 at Camp Lejeune, a military training base on the Atlantic Coast in Jacksonville, North Carolina. David was a Marine Corps field artillery officer then, and they lived together on the base for about six months. But that sojourn had an outsize impact on their […]
EPA again proposes power plant carbon rules
The Obama administration’s 2015 Clean Power Plan — intended to cut carbon emissions from power plants — was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Trump administration’s much-criticized replacement, the Affordable Clean Energy rule, derided as a “tortured series of misreadings” of the U.S. Clean Air Act, was also tossed by a federal court. […]
Speedier permitting of energy projects gains bipartisan backing on U.S. Senate panel
Members of both parties on the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voiced their support Thursday for reforming the federal process for approving energy projects, saying it should be prioritized to secure domestic energy supply and boost renewable energy. There is bipartisan interest in revising the permitting process and members of both parties have […]
Bad River tribe and allies call for emergency Line 5 shutdown
Next week a court filing by the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa will be brought before a U.S. district court judge in Madison who is presiding over a legal battle between the tribe and the Canadian energy company Enbridge, over the company’s Line 5 pipeline. Since 2019, the tribe has argued that Enbridge […]
Near unanimous public opposition to sewer district cutting flow to Badger Mill Creek
The Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District’s (MMSD) looming deadline to decide how it will reduce the amount of phosphorus it discharges into Badger Mill Creek drew dozens of attendees to a public hearing at Fitchburg City Hall Thursday morning. Unanimously, community members expressed their opposition to the MMSD staff recommendation that the phosphorus be reduced by […]
Gov. Evers signs bill to expand watershed protection programs
Gov. Tony Evers signed a bill on Monday aimed at expanding programs meant to improve water quality in watersheds, lakes and rivers around Wisconsin. The bipartisan bill, introduced with support from more than three dozen Democratic and Republican members of the Legislature, would expand eligibility for watershed protection grants offered through the Department of Agriculture, […]
Gov. Evers makes three appointments to Natural Resources Board
Gov. Tony Evers announced three appointments to the Natural Resources Board (NRB) on Friday, taking another step toward solidifying Democratic control of a body that a Republican appointee attempted to cling to long past his term had expired. The Natural Resources Board is the policy making body of the state Department of Natural Resources. For […]
Biden rule protecting lesser prairie-chicken overturned by U.S. Senate
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Wednesday passed on a 50-48 vote a resolution overturning a Biden administration rule that listed a popular Southwestern game bird under a federal endangered species designation. The White House has vowed President Joe Biden would veto the resolution if it clears Congress. Similar legislation has been introduced in the […]
Locals say Madison sewer district phosphorus decision threatens Badfish Creek
A kayak or canoe trip down the meandering Badfish Creek in Dane County includes some rapids and views of trout, crawfish and turtles in the water below. Now, a pending decision from the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) over where it discharges treated wastewater has local officials, paddlers and watershed groups worried about the creek’s […]
Interior secretary under fire at U.S. Senate hearing over oil and gas leases, public lands
Members of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee used a Tuesday hearing on the Interior Department’s fiscal 2024 budget to voice their displeasure with the administration’s energy production policies to Secretary Deb Haaland. The strongest criticism came from Republicans on the panel, though Chairman Joe Manchin III, a West Virginia Democrat with ties […]
Madison sewer district recommends stopping flow from treatment plant into Badger Mill Creek
The staff of the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) recommended to its governing commission that the flow of treated wastewater, or effluent, into Badger Mill Creek southwest of Madison should be shut off in order to comply with state and federal phosphorus limits. Under MMSD’s permit with the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the […]