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Tell the Feds: Don’t OK This Flawed Pipeline |
In 2015 a pipeline ruptured along California’s Santa Barbara shore, spilling 450,000 gallons of crude oil that coated 150 miles of coastline, devastated Refugio State Beach, and killed hundreds of marine mammals and birds.
Now oil and gas company Sable Offshore Corp. wants to restart that same old, defective pipeline — without making repairs that state regulators say it needs. Instead of complying with California’s safety rules to prevent corrosion and more oil spills, Sable has asked the Trump administration to simply waive those rules. Such a step would put the coast at risk again — threatening wildlife like endangered blue whales, Pacific leatherback sea turtles, sea otters, and California red-legged frogs.
And it would have nationwide implications: If the Trump administration lets Sable dodge California regulations, that will set a dangerous precedent of stripping away states' ability to protect their environment.
Tell the U.S. Department of Transportation not to waive California's safety requirements for Sable’s pipeline. |
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Colorado Wolf Petition Seeks Better Conflict Rules |
This week the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned Colorado Parks and Wildlife to update regulations outlining when wolves can be killed. Our petition asks the agency to clarify what nonlethal steps must be taken to reduce livestock-wolf conflict before the agency considers allowing wolf-killing.
“Colorado can protect livestock and uphold science-based wolf management at the same time,” said the Center’s Southern Rockies Director Alli Henderson. “This petition is about clarity, fairness, and prevention — and making sure lethal control is truly a last resort.” Be part of our work for wolves with a gift to the Future for the Wild Fund. |
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Court Win for Sturgeon and Sea Turtles on Cadmium |
In response to a suit by the Center, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court’s decision on cadmium pollution. The court agreed that the Environmental Protection Agency violated the law when, in 2016, it approved tripling the level of the heavy metal cadmium allowed in U.S. waters without properly studying how that could harm endangered species.
Cadmium, a dangerous pollutant, builds up in the body and can cause cancer in wildlife and people at any level of exposure. Industrial and agricultural activities account for more than 90% of the cadmium found in surface waters. “This landmark ruling will make our waters safer for people and protect Atlantic sturgeon, leatherback sea turtles, and other wildlife from cadmium pollution,” said the Center’s Hannah Connor. |
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Suit Takes on Trump Gutting of Grouse Protections |
The Center and our allies just sued President Donald Trump’s U.S. Bureau of Land Management over its plan to strip protections from greater sage grouse across 71 million acres of federal lands in nine western states. The plan will give oil and gas producers carte blanche to destroy the birds’ habitat.
The protections were put in place a decade ago to avoid Endangered Species Act listing for these charming, showy birds and their disappearing habitat — but have proven too weak to stop the species’ decline. Trump’s plan will make things even worse. “The Trump administration could nail the coffin shut on our country’s incredible dancing birds unless the courts intervene,” said Randi Spivak, our public lands policy director. |
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Colorado Advances Our Wildlife-Fur-Sale Petition |
A win for furry wildlife across the Centennial State: The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission has voted 6-4 to move forward on our petition to ban the commercial sale of pelts from wild “furbearing” animals. This kicks off the process of making new regulations. “I’m thrilled,” said the Center’s Samantha Miller. “Furbearers like beavers, ringtails, bobcats, and imperiled swift foxes have incredibly valuable roles in nature and shouldn’t be wastefully killed.” We thank all our Colorado supporters who spoke up on this issue. You made a difference. |
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The Revelator: Dr. Green’s Emotional Rescue |
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That's Wild: The Little Drummer Fish |
A tiny fish called “the rockhead poacher” or sometimes the “deep-pitted poacher” is about the size of an index finger yet has a pit in its head the size of a pea, which has puzzled scientists for generations. Now CT scans and modeling of the creature’s bones have prompted biologist Daniel Geldof to speculate that it may be able to beat out a rhythm on its own head with its first set of ribs, which aren’t attached to the spine but to muscle and tendons.
Rockhead poachers live off the Pacific Coast of Canada and the United States, in shallow intertidal waters where waves move constantly. Possibly, according to Geldof’s study, the little drummer fish uses its percussion skills to communicate over the loud sounds of rolling surf and sand. Check it out. |
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Center for Biological Diversity | Saving Life on Earth
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Photo credits: Sea otter by Lisa Hupp/USFWS, California red-legged frog courtesy NPS; gray wolf by A. Falgoust/NPS; Atlantic sturgeon courtesy Virginia State Parks, leatherback sea turtle courtesy NOAA; greater sage grouse by John Carlson/USFWS; beaver by Emily Mesner/NPS, bobcat by Neal Herbert/NPS; art by John R. Platt/The Revelator; rockhead poacher by Rhinopias/Wikimedia Commons. View our privacy policy. |
Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
Tucson, AZ 85702
United States
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