Earth Protect Blog

Water sources across state contain potentially hazardous levels of toxins under new plan By Conrad Swanson This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Dozens of water sources across Colorado previously thought to be safe would now violate the federal maximum contaminant level for PFAS, or toxic “forever chemicals,” ...

The virus has claimed geese, ducks, even 2 Chilean flamingos, data shows By Conrad Swanson This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The highly pathogenic avian influenza — or bird flu — sweeping across the globe has killed more than 12,000 wild birds in Colorado, and the virus is jumping into mammal populations a...

  By Julie Bielenberg Aspen Times On the last day of February and the last Aspen City Council meeting before the upcoming elections, the current council unanimously approved the strictest composting ordinance of their term and one of the most stringent in the state or the nation. The city w...

As Colorado River shrinks, water-saving practice on the table By Suman Naishadham The Associated Press WASHINGTON>> Tom Brundy, an alfalfa grower in California’s Imperial Valley, thinks farmers reliant on the shrinking Colorado River can do more to save water and use it more efficiently. Th...

By Tom Krisher and Mark Thiessen The Associated Press TOK, Alaska>> Alaska’s rugged and frigid interior, where it can get as cold as minus 50 Fahrenheit, is not the place you’d expect to find an electric school bus. But here is Bus No. 50, with a cartoon horse decal on its side, quietly tra...

COMPOSTING No more pizza boxes By Noelle Phillips This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The primary company accepting compostable materials across Colorado’s Front Range plans to stop taking packaging and service ware such as carryout containers, plates, paper towels, greasy pizza boxes, cups and utensils — ...

U.S. to focus on bison restoration By Matthew Brown The Associated Press U.S. officials will work to restore more large bison herds to Native American lands under a Friday order from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland that calls for the government to tap into Indigenous knowledge in its efforts to co...

By Michael Levenson The New York Times The ethanol-fueled fungus known as whiskey fungus has thrived for centuries around distilleries and bakeries. It’s been the source of complaints from residents who live near Kentucky bourbon distilleries, Canadian whisky makers and Caribbean rum manufacturers...

WASHINGTON>> For the first time, United Nations members have agreed on a unified treaty to protect biodiversity in the high seas — representing a turning point for vast stretches of the planet where conservation has previously been hampered by a confusing patchwork of laws. The U.N. Conventio...

The member states of the UN have reached an agreement to protect the high seas from climate change, overfishing, seabed mining, and other dangers that threaten marine life. The world’s ocean covers nearly three-quarters of the planet, but there has never been a comprehensive international treaty to ...

COMPOSTING What goes in bins to change No more pizza boxes; firm trying to get rid of contaminated products By Noelle Phillips This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The primary company accepting compostable materials across Colorado’s Front Range plans to stop taking packaging and service ware such as carry...

By Amy Taxin The Associated Press FRESNO, Calif.>> Mabu saunters across a grassy field and raises his long, gray trunk to wrangle food from a hole carved inside a large boulder, captivating the attention of a girl propped up on her father’s shoulders. At this zoo in a central California far...

WILDLIFE By Susan Montoya Bryan The Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE>> Endangered Mexican gray wolves are making more strides, as more breeding pairs and pups have been documented since reintroduction efforts began in the southwestern U.S. more than two decades ago, federal wildlife manager...

By Tracey Tully and Winston Choi-Schagrin The New York Times First, a North Atlantic right whale, a critically endangered species, washed ashore in Virginia. Then, a humpback floated onto a beach in New Jersey. Not long afterward, a minke whale, swept in on the morning tide, landed on the Rockaway...

By Clifford Krauss The New York Times HOUSTON>> Emma McConville was thrilled when she landed a job as a geologist at Exxon Mobil in 2017. She was assigned to work on one of the company’s most exciting and lucrative projects, a giant oil field off Guyana. But after oil prices collapsed durin...

  Youth Service America (YSA) is searching for Heartwarming Young Heroes with creative ideas to foster meaningful connections, promote inclusion, and teach empathy. With support from Hershey’s Heartwarming Project, YSA will award up to $50,000 in grants for youth-led service projects and commu...

MARSHALL FIRE Most rebuilds following energy-efficient codes Stricter standards prompted protests; now, homeowners in Louisville, Superior choosing to go “green”  By Noelle Phillips This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. A year ago, Audrey DeBarros led a protest outside Louisville City Hall to demand the C...

By Michael Phillis and Kathleen Ronayne The Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif.>> In its latest ambitious road map to tackle climate change, California relies on capturing carbon out of the air and storing it deep underground on a scale that’s not yet been seen in the United States. The pla...

By Raymond Zhong The New York Times It sounds like an obvious fix for California’s whipsawing cycles of deluge and drought: Capture the water from downpours so it can be used during dry spells. Pump it out of flood-engorged rivers and spread it in fields or sandy basins, where it can seep into th...

WHALE SONG Scientists: Humpbacks wail less as population grows A humpback whale breaches off the coast of Port Stephens, Australia, in June 2021. MARK BAKER — ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE WASHINGTON>> Those melancholy tunes sung by humpback whales may really be a sign of loneliness. S...