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Suit Filed to Save Habitat From Toxic Pesticides |
The Center for Biological Diversity just sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect endangered species from pesticides in critical habitat.
The federal government has repeatedly found that pesticides harm most plants and animals protected by the Endangered Species Act. These poisons are driving species like rusty patched bumblebees and California spotted owls — both recently protected after years of Center legal work — toward extinction.
Yet the Service hasn’t set up any on-the-ground measures to save species from any pesticides, even in habitat the agency itself set aside to protect them. Our lawsuit aims to fix that.
“The Service can’t keep ignoring its duty to protect habitat that’s crucial to our most endangered wildlife and plants,” said Center lawyer Stephanie Parent.
Like critical habitat, national wildlife refuges were created to protect imperiled species — but the Service allows pesticides in refuges, too. You can help: Speak up to protect these wildlife sanctuaries from chemical poisons. |
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Feds to Be Sued Over Manatees After 2,000 Die |
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Rare Plant Wins 78,000 Acres |
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Saving Species From Slaughterhouse Pollution |
It’s official: For the first time in 20 years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must update rules curbing water pollution from slaughterhouses and rendering plants (which process animal byproducts). Following a lawsuit by the Center and allies, in March the EPA agreed to propose new rules by the end of 2023. Now a court has approved that agreement.
In killing and processing more than 9 billion animals every year, these facilities spew millions of pounds of nitrogen, phosphorus and other pollutants into U.S. waterways — harming people and aquatic life, including endangered species like Neuse River waterdogs. |
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Bald Eagle Killings: Reward Offered for Info
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In February four bald eagles were discovered fatally shot in northern Arkansas. We grieve the senseless and illegal killing of these majestic birds and want the perpetrator brought to justice. So on Monday the Center increased the reward for information leading to a conviction for their killing by $10,000. The reward is now $15,000.
Anyone with information about this crime should contact the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Conway Office of Law Enforcement at (501) 513-4470 or the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission at (833) 356-0824. |
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Center Op-Ed: Population Decline Is Good for Us |
Contrary to what many economists tell us — to say nothing of tweeters like Elon Musk — a planet with fewer people will be a healthier one, writes the Center’s Stephanie Feldstein in Scientific American. Infinite growth just isn’t tenable, and the sooner we shift toward degrowth and equity, along with lower fertility rates, the more successful we’ll be fighting climate change and mass extinction — as well as improving human wellbeing. |
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Revelator: What Nature’s Sounds Tell Us |
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That’s Wild: The Silent Screaming of Plants |
Humans can’t hear it — because the frequencies are too high for our ears — but plants make sounds when they’re thirsty or have their stems cut, according to a new study published in the journal Cell. The research subjects ranged from tomato and tobacco plants to corn, grapes and pincushion cacti.
Stressed plants make more sounds, and louder sounds, than unstressed plants, researchers found. Not only that, but the sounds differ depending on the stressors. It’s possible that animals and other plants have evolved to hear these sounds, but that will require even more listening. |
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Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
Tucson, AZ 85702
United States |
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