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2009;
2012;
2015; 2016;
2017; 2018; 2019;
"Ellen: Trump Is 'Encouraging
Americans to Kill Elephants' Who Have Abilities 'I Have Yet to See in This
President'
'Elephants Show Compassion, Sympathy, Social Intelligence, Self Awareness'
DeGeneres Says"
Undated: Offshore drilling operations create
various forms of pollution that have considerable negative effects on marine and
other wildlife.
One drilling platform normally drills between seventy and one hundred wells and
discharges more than 90,000 metric tons of drilling fluids and metal cuttings
into the ocean.
Exploration for offshore oil involves firing air guns which send a strong shock
across the seabed that can decrease fish catch, damage the hearing capacity of
various marine species and may lead to marine mammal strandings.
Bird mortality has been associated with physical collisions with the rigs, as
well as incineration by the flare and oil from leaks. This process of flaring
involves the burning off of fossil fuels which produces black carbon.
http://usa.oceana.org/impacts-offshore-drilling
-- 2009 --
Back to top
November 30: The oceans surrounding the
United States hold tremendous oil and natural gas potential, but much of that
potential is not being realized. Nearly 85 percent of these waters -- the
Atlantic, the Pacific, and the eastern Gulf of Mexico -- are off-limits to
exploration and drilling. Government studies estimate that these restricted
areas hold at least 19 billion barrels of oil -- nearly 30 years' worth of
current imports from Saudi Arabia -- and oil estimates are known to increase as
exploration occurs. The greatest untapped potential lies in the Pacific.
Producing this oil would increase oil supplies, lower prices, and generate large
tax revenues -- while creating thousands of jobs in the domestic energy
industry.
http://www.heritage.org/environment/report/how-offshore-oil-and-gas-production-benefits-the-economy-and-the-environment
-- 2012 --
Back to top
August 3: Sprawling across parts of Alaska’s
North Slope, Prudhoe Bay industrial complex is America's largest oil field.
While Prudhoe Bay has its place in meeting U.S. energy needs, there is no doubt
that oil development has caused irreversible changes to the Prudhoe Bay region.
7 ugly facts about Prudhoe Bay, Alaska ...
https://wilderness.org/blog/7-ugly-facts-about-prudhoe-bay-alaska?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItILR2cDB2AIVEdNkCh2I_wKnEAMYASAAEgLXwvD_BwE
-- 2015 --
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Undated: Drilling Is Tragic For Marine Life
... Our coasts are home to stunning wildlife and incredible beaches, from
Florida to the Outer Banks to the Chesapeake Bay. Unfortunately offshore
drilling is putting our natural heritage and marine life at risk. On ‘good’
days, drilling kills and injures wildlife and threatens human health and the
economy. When they happen (which is all too frequently) major disasters such as
the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon blowout are catastrophic.
https://environmentamerica.org/sites/environment/files/AME_offshoretwopager_2015_print-1.pdf?_ga=1.208961042.1894223792.1455642902
May 14:
Here are five reasons offshore
drilling proposals ... have no place in any final energy legislation:
https://www.nrdc.org/experts/franz-matzner/offshore-drilling-dirty-dangerous-and-unnecessary
January 29: ... very little is known about how
much oil and gas there is—or just how big a threat extracting the resources
might pose.
"It's a big
open question at this point," said
Peter Auster, of the University of Connecticut's Northeast Underwater
Research Technology and Education Center. "Many of these things go on with
nothing bad happening most of the time. But with these sorts of things, we have
to always assume there's going to be an accident at some point. And that can
have impacts that last years or even decades."
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/01/150129-ocean-atlantic-offshore-drilling-oil-environment-animals/
-- 2016 --
Back to top
January: ... Africa faces an unprecedented
wildlife catastrophe. Many iconic species, especially those favoured by trophy
hunters, are in a sharp decline mainly due to widespread poaching and habitat
loss but an analysis of six African countries – South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia,
Mozambique, Namibia and Tanzania – where trophy hunting has long been regarded
as an effective conservation tool, shows that trophy hunting, contrary to the
common view, not only is having negative impacts on wild populations, but that
there is also an extremely close link between legal hunting and poaching.
... elephants, rhinoceroses, leopards, cheetahs and lions – were selected for
this report primarily because they are facing an unprecedented decline in their
populations and because they are some of the most targeted trophy species.
https://conservationaction.co.za/resources/reports/effects-trophy-hunting-five-africas-iconic-wild-animal-populations-six-countries-analysis/
June 2: The
federal government will enact a near total ban on the domestic sale of African
elephant ivory under federal regulations issued Thursday.
Back to top
It’s been illegal for decades to import African elephant ivory for commercial
use and to export raw ivory. The final rule largely focuses on sales inside the
U.S. It restricts the sale of elephant ivory across state lines.
Fish and Wildlife Service officials said that once illegal ivory enters the
market, it becomes nearly indistinguishable from the legal ivory used in
products such as knife handles, billiard cues and furniture, so it was necessary
to put more restrictions in place. The rule also prohibits the export of ivory
products, with exceptions for antiques.
https://apnews.com/a66ff821943643cf96860a8cc7c44824/feds-issue-rule-restrict-ivory-sales-across-state-lines
June 15: It’s been nearly a year since a
Minnesota dentist bled out and killed Zimbabwe’s Cecil the lion. In the wake of
it, there was a bright spotlight shined on trophy hunting. More than ever, the
world is seeing trophy hunting in its true light: as a senseless hobby of the
0.1 percent who spend their fortunes traveling the world in head-hunting
exercises.
Back to top
They are not hunting animals for meat or for wildlife management, but to amass
the biggest and rarest collections of some of the world’s most majestic species.
Many of these trophy-mad hunters are competing for awards from Safari Club
International and other membership organizations like the Dallas Safari Club. To
win SCI’s coveted “Africa Big Five” award for example, a trophy hunter must kill
an African lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros, and Cape buffalo.
http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2016/06/congressional-report-to-trophy-hunters-show-me-the-money/
September 20: Donald Trump might appoint an
oil executive and anti-animal rights activist to head the Interior Department.
https://grist.org/briefly/donald-trump-may-appoint-an-oil-executive-and-anti-animal-rights-activist-to-head-the-interior-department/
Back to top
October 11: Judge rules religious rites
trump animal rights, for now
Just as the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur began Tuesday night, a federal judge
lifted a temporary restraining order against a California synagogue performing a
ritual where chickens are twirled in the air before they're slaughtered.
http://www.chicoer.com/article/zz/20161011/NEWS/161019739
October 16: Trophy Hunting and
Sustainability: Temporal Dynamics in Trophy Quality and Harvesting Patterns of
Wild Herbivores in a Tropical Semi-Arid Savanna Ecosystem (scientific study by
National Institutes of Health)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5063477/
October 19: Animal Rights Philosopher Peter
Singer on Sustainable Agriculture and Trump
https://innotechtoday.com/animal-rights-peter-singer/
-- 2017 --
Back to top
February 2:
U.S. Animal Abuse Records Deleted—What
We Stand to Lose ... By hiding online records
of welfare violations, U.S. agency robs journalists, investigators, and the
public of timely information—and takes pressure off abusers.
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/02/wildlife-watch-usda-animal-welfare-trump-records/
March 31:Manatees Escape The Endangered List — But Maybe Too
Soon
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/31/522228960/manatees-escape-the-endangered-list-but-maybe-too-soon
May 14: Great Pacific Garbage
Patch..........cleanup to begin
A Dutch foundation aiming to rid the world's oceans of plastic waste says it
will start cleaning up the huge area of floating junk known as the Great Pacific
Garbage Patch within the next 12 months, two years earlier than planned.
The Ocean Cleanup aims to use long-distance floating booms that act like
coastlines to gather plastic bag, bottles and other waste as it drifts on or
near the surface of the water while allowing sea life to pass underneath.
Back to top
The Ocean Cleanup, founded by Dutch university dropout Boyan Slat, announced
that testing of the first system will start off the US West coast by the end of
the year and barriers will be shipped to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch between
California and Hawaii in the first half of 2018, two years ahead of the
organization's earlier schedule.
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/great-pacific-garbage-patch-cleanup-to-begin.233298/
May 22:
Wounded Elephant Crushes, Kills Trophy Hunter
The deadly incident highlights how dangerous elephants can be when
threatened and casts further scrutiny on the practice of trophy hunting.
...
elephants often
fare much worse in their interactions with humans; some
33,000 are killed each year by poachers ..
Proponents argue that some of the money trophy hunting groups make from wealthy
foreigners goes toward local communities and elephant conservation.
But the
benefits that trickle down to communities are often small: The industry
doesn’t employ many people, government corruption affects available trophy
hunting land, and the practice of trophy hunting isn’t stopping poachers.
Poaching for ivory is the biggest threat to elephants in southern Africa.
Back to top
This isn't the first time trophy hunts in this part of
Zimbabwe have caught international attention. In 2015, Cecil the lion was killed
by Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer, a trophy hunter, outside of the same
national park, sparking
international outrage and greater scrutiny of trophy hunting. Charges
against the local professional who guided Palmer in the hunt
have since been dropped.
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/05/elephant-crushes-kills-trophy-hunter-zimbabwe/
May 29:
Lara Trump’s controversial pet issue
... First-daughter-in-law advocates for beagles, but her partner’s past tactics
cause concern.
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/29/lara-trump-pet-problem-238906
September 15: The Trump administration is
quietly moving to allow energy exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge for the first time in more than 30 years, according to documents obtained
by The Washington Post, with a draft rule that would lay the groundwork for
drilling.
Back to top
Congress has sole authority to determine whether oil and gas drilling can take
place within the refuge’s 19.6 million acres. But seismic studies represent a
necessary first step, and Interior Department officials are modifying a 1980s
regulation to permit them.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-administration-working-toward-renewed-drilling-in-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge/2017/09/15/bfa5765e-97ea-11e7-87fc-c3f7ee4035c9_story.html?utm_term=.b0e1f1e8c57b
October 13: 7 ways Trump’s NAFTA threatens
our health, family farmers, animal welfare and the environment
https://foe.org/7-ways-trumps-nafta-threatens-health-family-farmers-animal-welfare-environment/
Back to top
October 20: Conservationists, hunters and
politicians are concerned about Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Some see oil exploration and drilling on a 1.5 million-acre slice of the refuge
as a boon to the economy and a way to wean the U.S. off foreign oil dependence.
Critics of the plan see it as a threat to the numerous wildlife species that
take shelter there and to migration patterns that take them around the world.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2017/10/20/congress-budget-oil-drilling-risk-harm-arctic-wildlife-refuge-migratory-birds-land/747274001/
October 27:
The Trump administration scored a victory against Mexico this week in a
longstanding trade battle.
The U.S. and Mexico have been locked in a dispute over how tuna is fished in
Mexico. The U.S. claims that Mexican fishermen allow dolphins to be netted and
killed when they fish for tuna. Therefore, U.S. officials say that Mexican tuna
fish can't be labeled "dolphin safe."
Back to top
Mexican leaders deny that the country's fishing industry isn't in compliance
with rules imposed by the World Trade Organization and they demand their tuna
get the "dolphin-safe" labeling. If it doesn't get that label, several major
U.S. supermarkets, like Walmart, won't sell it, even though it can still legally
cross the border.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/27/news/economy/us-mexico-trade-dolphin-safe-tuna/index.html
October 30: Advocates for animals from
shelter dogs to wild burros are being welcomed in federal agencies, Congress and
even the Oval Office thanks to their new friend and secret weapon, Lara Trump,
the president’s daughter-in-law and a lifelong champion of critters.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/lara-trump-leads-fight-for-animal-advocates/article/2638955
Back to top
November 15: US authorities will remove
restrictions on importing African elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia.
That means Americans will soon be able to hunt the endangered big game, an
activity that garnered worldwide attention when
a Minnesota dentist took Cecil, perhaps the world's most famous lion, near a
wildlife park in Zimbabwe.
A US Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman said the move will allow the two
African countries to include US sport hunting as part of their management plans
for the elephants and allow them to put "much-needed revenue back into
conservation."
http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/15/politics/elephant-trophies-us-restrictions-zimbabwe-zambia/index.html
November 15: The Trump administration is
reversing an Obama administration ban on bringing to the United States the heads
of elephants killed in two African countries.
Back to top
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) said it has determined that hunting
African elephants in Zimbabwe and Zambia “will enhance the survival of the
species in the wild,” which is the standard by which officials judge whether to
allow imports of parts — known as trophies — of the animals.
Imports will be allowed for elephants killed between Jan. 21 and the end of
2018.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/360614-trump-to-allow-imports-of-african-elephant-trophies
November 15: The United States and
international authorities say the African elephant is a threatened species, and
the Obama administration argued that allowing trophy imports would harm the
animals by encouraging killing them.
Animal rights groups slammed the Trump administration.
“Let’s be clear: elephants are on the list of threatened species; the global
community has rallied to stem the ivory trade; and now, the U.S. government is
giving American trophy hunters the green light to kill them,” Wayne Pacelle,
president of the Humane Society of the United States,
wrote in a blog post.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/360614-trump-to-allow-imports-of-african-elephant-trophies
Back to top
November: We are at a precipice, and could
see the end of elephants in our lifetime. Every 15 minutes an elephant is
hunted. Wild elephants lost a third of their population between 2007 and 2014.
The only way to end the illegal ivory trade is to end the demand for all ivory,
as hundreds of countries have agreed to do.
In 2016 the governments of 183 countries agreed to adopt protections for
elephants as part of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES) at the COP17 conference.
https://www.change.org/p/rep-don-young-r-ak-rep-paul-ryan-r-wi-house-committee-on-natural-resources-rep-rob-bishop-stop-american-trophy-hunters-abroad-reject-h-r-226-legalization-of-ivory-in-the-us
November 14: Animal rights group slams
President Trump over shark-fin soup report ...
President Trump is in hot water with animal rights activists over
shark-fin soup that they claim he ate during
his visit to Vietnam over the weekend.
Back to top
“We are dismayed at the news that President Trump was served and ate shark-fin
soup during the recent state visit to Vietnam," Azzedine Downes, president and
CEO of IFAW, said in a statement. "Dozens of shark species are listed as
vulnerable or endangered worldwide. Actions like this undermine global
conservation efforts and signal to world leaders that the US is abandoning its
leadership role."
http://www.ksdk.com/article/news/nation-now/animal-rights-group-slams-president-trump-over-shark-fin-soup-report/465-52c9e1e3-499b-4fcc-a8a0-50d61430c437
November 16:
On November 15, 2017, the
Senate added a measure to allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge. It would add $1.1 billion in revenues over 10 years. But drilling isn't
cost effective until oil prices reach $70 a barrel.
https://www.thebalance.com/trump-s-tax-plan-how-it-affects-you-4113968
November 16: Animal activists outraged by Trump lifting big game trophy ban
https://nypost.com/2017/11/16/animal-activists-outraged-by-trump-lifting-big-game-trophy-ban/
Back to top
November 17: Ellen: Trump Is 'Encouraging
Americans to Kill Elephants' Who Have Abilities 'I Have Yet to See in This
President'
'Elephants Show Compassion, Sympathy, Social Intelligence, Self Awareness'
DeGeneres Says
http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/ellen_trump_is_encouraging_americans_to_kill_elephants_who_have_abilities_i_have_yet_to_see_in_this_president
November 17: President Donald Trump said
Friday that he has decided to put a decision about big-game trophies on hold.
"Put big game trophy decision on hold until such time as I review all
conservation facts," Trump said on Twitter. "Under study for years. Will update
soon with Secretary Zinke. Thank you!"
http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/17/politics/donald-trump-hunting-big-game-trophy/index.html
December 2: Republicans vote to allow
drilling in Arctic National Wildlife refuge as Senate rejects Trump tax plan
amendment ... 'It has value far beyond whatever oil might lie beneath it,' says
conservationist ...
Back to top
The US Senate has passed a bill allowing oil drilling in
Alaska's Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge, fulfilling a priority for a number of conservatives.
The 52-48 vote was an achievement for Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of
Alaska, who is chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Democrats in the Senate have criticised the process, saying it is an unfair way
to dismantle protections for an area safeguarded since 1960.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/arctic-alaska-republicans-national-wildlife-refuge-senate-tax-plan-polar-bears-donald-trump-a8088151.html
December 2: While public
opinion has always previously halted the opening of the ANWR, in today's
supersaturated news environment, Senate Republicans have slipped the
drilling provision into the tax-reform bill without attracting the same
outcry.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/12/senate-tax-bill-indigenous-communities/547352/
Back to top
December 15: Should ‘USDA Organic’ animals
be treated more humanely? The Trump administration just said no.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/12/15/should-usda-organic-animals-be-treated-more-humanely-the-trump-administration-just-said-no/?utm_term=.47a8b6e345b5
December 18: The New Reality Of Animal
Testing In Trump's America
... animal testing is still alive and well in the United States. While 38+
global economies, including the E.U., Israel, and India have banned cosmetics
testing, we have not. An
estimated 500,000 mice, rats, guinea pigs, and rabbits suffer and die from
cosmetics animal testing each year in the U.S. alone (a stat that doesn’t
include the millions of animals used for biomedical, pharmaceutical, and
military research).
Compound those jarring figures with the fact that zero regulatory bodies
actually require animal tests for cosmetics in the U.S., and it’s enough to have
you shaking your fists and screaming "why?!" into the void. The answer?
Just the usual hypnotic cocktail of money, business, and political influence, of
course.
Back to top
... the Trump campaign has received tremendous monetary support from some of the
biggest, most unapologetic animal testers in the biz.
http://www.refinery29.com/animal-testing-cosmetics-trump-policies
December 19: There are
few places left on the planet that remain unscathed by the heavy footprint of
humanity. The 19.6-million-acre
Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge, in the northeast corner of Alaska, is one of them—a vast primordial
wilderness that stretches from spruce forests in the south, over the jagged
Brooks Range, onto gently sloping wetlands that flow into the ice-curdled
Beaufort Sea. ANWR is the summer breeding ground of nearly
200,000 caribou,
the winter den of dozens of
polar bears, and the
gathering place of millions of
migratory birds
that descend upon it each spring from every flyway in North America.
Now it may
soon be home to oil wells, gravel roads, air strips, oil camps, and all the
infrastructure they entail.
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/12/arctic-wildlife-refuge-tax-bill-oil-drilling-environment/
Back to top
December 20: [The bill] would lift an almost
40-year old ban on prospecting for oil and natural gas in the refuge’s coastal
plain, where endangered polar bears, caribou and other species roam.
“We view the Trump approach as really a wholesale assault on America’s Arctic,”
said Nicole Whittington-Evans, Alaska Regional Director for The Wilderness
Society. The tax bill “will certainly be a setback for us, but it will only
heighten our resolve to defend America’s last great wilderness.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-20/arctic-refuge-just-the-start-as-trump-moves-to-unlock-alaska-oil
December 21:
Lawsuit Targets Trump Administration's Failure to Act to Save
Vanishing Porpoises
https://awionline.org/press-releases/lawsuit-targets-trump-administrations-failure-act-save-vanishing-porpoises
Undated:
Seven ways oil and gas drilling is bad news for the
environment ...
Oil and gas drilling can be a dirty business. Drilling projects
operate on a 24-hour basis, disrupting wildlife, water sources, human health,
recreation and other purposes for which public lands were set aside and held in
trust for the American people.
https://wilderness.org/seven-ways-oil-and-gas-drilling-bad-news-environment
-- 2018 --
Back to top
January 2: How Trump is licensing animal
cruelty at organic farms
Consumers who buy organic meat, milk, and eggs are being misled, and Trump's
USDA wants to keep it that way.
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/trump-licensing-animal-cruelty-organic-farms-article-1.3733732
January 4:
Trump aims to open
California, Florida, Atlantic waters for oil drilling
... The Interior Department's proposed plan would put up for auction the right
to drill in areas that in some cases had been off limits for decades.
But it would put the administration — and oil and gas drillers —
in direct opposition to state lawmakers who don’t want to see oil rigs dotting
their coastline.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/04/trump-drilling-coasts-pacific-atlantic-florida-324025
Back to top
January 4: The U.S. ... had major
corporations and private and public leaders step up to the challenge in the wake
of President Trump 's
withdrawal [from the Paris Climate Accord] . At COP23 in Germany,
20 companies promised to phase out coal including BT, Engie, Kering, Diageo,
Marks & Spencer, Orsted and Storebrand. In October, New York City's former Mayor
Michael
Bloomberg pledged
$64 million to shut down coal plants in the U.S. And in June, California
Gov. Jerry Brown signed a
nonbinding agreement with China to cooperate on renewable energy technology,
including zero-emissions vehicles and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
https://mahb.stanford.edu/breaking-news/ecowatch/
January 4: Pacific Coast Governors Condemn
Federal Decision to Expand Offshore Drilling
https://www.gov.ca.gov/2018/01/04/news20123/
January 12: [This article is linked here
because of the Trump administration's attacks on the environment, which of
course affects animals]
Back to top
Switzerland bans boiling lobsters alive ... In a new law, the Swiss government
has banned the common culinary practice of throwing the crustaceans into boiling
water while they are still conscious.
http://www.cnn.com/travel/article/switzerland-lobster-boiling-banned/?iid=ob_travel_core_homepage
January 13:
'Big Organic' Egg Producers Poised to Feather Their Nests If USDA Scuttles
Animal Welfare Rule ... The USDA plans to ditch rules that would have given hens
more space and outdoor access.
The Organic
Livestock and Poultry Practices (OLPP) Rule was the result of a 14-year
effort by the National
Organic Standards Board (NOSB) to tighten up animal welfare rules for
organic egg producers. The OLPP was set to be enacted in January 2017. But under
the incoming Trump administration’s regulatory freeze, the rule was delayed
multiple times. Now the USDA wants to throw it out completely.
https://www.alternet.org/animal-rights/big-organic-egg-producers-poised-feather-their-nests-if-usda-scuttles-animal-welfare
Back to top
January 17:
An animal rights group has asked Lara Trump to fight trophy hunting—although her
husband, Eric Trump, is an avid trophy hunter himself.
Trump's husband, Eric, and her brother-in-law, Donald Jr., both sons of
President Trump, sometimes hunt wild animals. Their kills, as seen in hunting
photographs that hit the internet in 2012, include an elephant, a jaguar, a
civet, a cape buffalo and a large antelope called a kudu.
http://www.newsweek.com/animal-rights-group-asks-lara-trump-denounce-trophy-hunting-783588
January 19: Today the Trump administration
released a proposed rule to privatize food safety inspection in hog slaughter
plants
According to national advocacy organization Food & Water Watch, this plan would
put worker safety, humane slaughter compliance and food safety performance at
risk.
https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/news/trump-releases-proposed-rule-privatized-inspection-scheme-hog-plants
Back to top
March 7: In reversal, Trump administration
won’t ban import of African elephant trophies
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/reversal-trump-administration-won-t-ban-import-african-elephant-trophies-n854121
March 16: Botswana's Ian Khama: Trump
encouraging elephant poaching
The outgoing president of Botswana has attacked his US counterpart Donald Trump
for "encouraging poaching" by overturning a ban on importing hunting trophies.
Speaking at an anti-poaching summit in Botswana, two weeks before he steps down,
President Ian Khama told the BBC it wasn't just Mr Trump's attitude towards
wildlife he was concerned about, but his "attitude towards the whole planet".
"We have actually banned hunting in this country," said Mr Khama.
Back to top
"So when you say that now we will allow trophies - elephant trophies - to come
into the United States, what is he suggesting? He is going to be encouraging
poaching in this country.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43435013
March 21: San Francisco’s fur ban pleases
animal rights groups, concerns business leaders
San Francisco has officially become the largest city in the nation to ban the
sale of fur, following a unanimous vote by the city’s Board of Supervisors.
http://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/2018/03/21/san-francisco-s-fur-ban-pleases-animal-rights-groups-concerns-business-leaders.html
March 22: Congress moves to block border
wall in key wildlife refuge
Overall, the bill includes $1.6 billion for border barriers and technology --
including new construction for the first time since Trump took office.
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But Santa Ana was one of the first places Trump's wall was set to be built,
something the bill would halt. The bill would also restrict the kind of
construction that can be done to only existing fencing -- allowing Democrats to
claim they blocked the President's "wall" and Republicans to claim they have
begun the wall. Most of the allocated monies go to replacement fencing, as well.
... the refuge is 2,000 acres of protected federal land home to nearly 200
species, including some that are endangered, like the ocelot. There are only 50
of the small jaguar-like cats left in the United States, and the remaining
population is entirely in Southeast Texas.
Trump sought to use the political gridlock to his advantage, casting Republicans
as the true defenders of the subset of undocumented immigrants -- who are
protected by a program that Trump ended.
Back to top
"I do want the Hispanic community to know and DACA recipients to know that
Republicans are much more on your side than the Democrats who are using you for
their purposes," Trump said.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/22/politics/border-wall-omnibus-santa-ana-wildlife-refuge/index.html
March 23: 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch' is
massive floating island of plastic, now 3 times the size of France
The giant accumulation of plastic called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
contains at least 79,000 tons discarded plastic, covering an area of about
617,800 square miles (1.6 million square kilometers), according to a study
published Thursday in Scientific Reports.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/great-pacific-garbage-patch-massive-floating-island-plastic/story?id=53962147
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Undated:
OVER 5 TRILLION PIECES OF PLASTIC CURRENTLY LITTER THE OCEAN
Trash accumulates in 5 ocean garbage patches, the largest one
being the
Great Pacific Garbage Patch, located between Hawaii and California. If left
to circulate, the plastic will impact our ecosystems, health and economies.
Solving it requires a combination of closing the source, and cleaning up what
has already accumulated in the ocean.
https://www.theoceancleanup.com/
North Atlantic right whales may be on edge of
extinction. There's been zero births this year
Fewer whales have been seen in their traditional feeding spots off the coasts of
New England and Canada (because warming ocean temperatures are affecting their
traditional prey).
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A sperm whale that washed up on a beach in Spain had 64 pounds of
plastic and waste in its stomach
May 5:
Approximately 191 feral horses have been found dead in a stock pond on Navajo
land in northern Arizona, according to Navajo leaders, who attributed the death
to ongoing drought and famine.
"These animals were searching for water to stay alive. In the process, they
unfortunately burrowed themselves into the mud and couldn't escape because they
were so weak," Navajo Nation Vice President Jonathan Nez said in a
statement on Thursday.
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Drought and dryness as of Thursday was affecting more than 6 million people in
Arizona, which is almost the entire population of the state, according to the
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's
National Integrated Drought Information System program. About 50% of the
state is under extreme drought conditions.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/05/us/arizona-navajo-dead-horses/index.html
May 24: First Yellowstone Grizzly Hunt in
40 Years Will Take Place This Fall
In a unanimous vote, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission approved the
controversial hunt for Yellowstone grizzlies this fall. The move will allow the
killing of up to 22 grizzlies, half of which can be females.
... the bears had received federal protection since 1975, when there were just
136 of the creatures left in the greater Yellowstone area. By last year, that
number swelled to 700 individuals.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/first-yellowstone-grizzly-hunt-40-years-could-take-place-next-fall-180969161/
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May 27: Authorities in Oregon this week
announced charges against 11 people accused of participating in a 'kind of
demented social club' that would kill animals "for the thrill."
“For some of these people, it was kind of a demented social club. For some, it
was about ego and bravado — who could kill the biggest? The most?” said
Gunderson. “For some people, it’s what their family did.”
“The scope of what we can prove and what actually happened, there’s a real gap
there,” Gunderson said. “We’ll never have the whole story, but the stuff we can
prove is pretty gross.”
The members in Oregon are allegedly responsible for the death of seven bobcats,
four cougars, five bear, 35 deer and one silver gray squirrel, Gunderson said,
citing evidence.
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Some of the alleged poachers charged Tuesday in Oregon are also facing charges
in Washington, according to the paper. In Washington, those accused of spree
killing face felony chargers, whereas in Oregon it is only a misdemeanor.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/05/18/more-than-hundred-charges-filed-against-alleged-poachers-in-demented-social-club.html?intcmp=ob_article_footer_text&intcmp=obnetwork
May 29: Hunters in Alaska could be allowed
to kill black bear cubs and wolf or coyote pups in their dens, set bait for
brown bears, and kill caribou while they are swimming on national wildlife
preserves in the state.
The proposal represents a
National Park Service push to defer to states in situations where there is
conflict between state and federal regulations.
The issue ultimately comes down to a difference between state and federal
policies. The National Park Service
proposed a rule last week that would reverse a ban on the hunting practices
that Alaska wanted to allow on the state level, even though national wildlife
groups have called the effort "inhumane."
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-admin-push-expand-access-public-lands-leads/story?id=55392471
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May 30:
Wyoming's Grizzly Bear Hunt Won't Happen Without a Fight
... today’s grizzly populations represent a shadow of the predator’s former
glory. Before Anglo-Americans came on the scene and began shooting them with
abandon, there were an estimated
50,000 grizzlies ranging everywhere from the Ohio River Valley to the Sierra
Nevada to northern Mexico to Alaska.
https://earther.gizmodo.com/wyomings-grizzly-bear-hunt-wont-happen-without-a-fight-1826372791
June 13: How an anxious, lost raccoon
conquered a Minnesota skyscraper — and our hearts
https://www.vox.com/2018/6/13/17460826/raccoon-ubs-mpr-skyscraper-minnesota
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June 15: It’s Not About the Raccoon ...
There’s an irony to all the love for Minnesota’s famous furry climber.
... another story that made the news recently, of two raccoons, and also a
possum,
drowned by a Florida high-school teacher in front of his agriculture class.
Their crime: eating food that didn’t belong to them. A student captured the
drowning on video, and the sight of a caged raccoon paralyzed with fright being
lowered into a water-filled garbage bin rippled through animal-welfare circles
and caused some public dismay.
... the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services agency
killed more than 10,000 farmer-bothering raccoons last year. That’s likely
but a small fraction of the number killed by municipalities and private
pest-controllers and hunters, who don’t need to keep stats.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/06/minnesota-raccoon/562913/
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June 26: Activists apply for Wyoming grizzly
licenses in effort to keep hunters out of the field
https://trib.com/lifestyles/recreation/activists-apply-for-wyoming-grizzly-licenses-in-effort-to-keep/article_d0ffc300-5b53-563f-9e77-727c448f17af.html
July 16:
Jane Goodall Joins Wyoming Protestors in Buying Up Grizzly Hunt
Tickets
As the state prepares for its first legal grizzly
hunt in years, animal advocates clash with hunting interests and state wildlife
managers.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/07/jane-goodall-joins-wyoming-grizzly-bear-hunt-protest-lottery/
Support for the Endangered Species Act remains high as Trump
administration and Congress try to gut it
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July 26: Court grants ban of fish imports
from Mexico caught with nets that hurt endangered porpoise
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/398995-court-grants-ban-of-fish-imports-from-mexico-caught-with-nets-that
September 18: Trump
target Bruce Ohr remembered in Oak Ridge as part of special family
Bruce Ohr,
the focus of recent attacks by President Donald Trump, is an Oak Ridge
native remembered for his family's brains and kindness to a dog.
The White House announced in early August that Trump was considering revoking
Ohr's
security clearance because of his involvement with former British
intelligence officer Christopher Steele and Ohr's wife's employment by the
company that hired Steele to prepare a controversial dossier on the president's
ties
"They were a very musically inclined family and he was very, very smart," said
Melanie Fillauer, who lived two doors down from the Ohrs growing up. "They were
no different than anyone else, they were just very very intelligent."
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"I remember them being very involved in everything in our neighborhood," she
said. They were just an extremely nice family."
Fillauer said the Ohr's adopted a blind dog named Prince that became a sort of
neighborhood mascot.
https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/2018/09/18/trump-target-bruce-ohr-remembered-oak-ridge-part-good-family/1201765002/
September 19: As [hurricane]
Florence battered the Carolinas this past week, dozens of heartwarming
animal-rescue stories made national headlines ―
dogs sprung from flooding homes,
pets packed into a school bus,
cats plucked directly from the water.
But millions of animals would not be so lucky.
An estimated 5,500 pigs and 3.4 million chickens and turkeys in North Carolina
have died as a result of the storm,
according to the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Aerial
photos of the state from earlier this week showed
multiple industrial barns almost completely submerged in water.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pigs-chickens-killed-hurricane-florence_us_5ba15035e4b046313fc0213f
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Federal judge restores grizzly protections, canceling bear hunt
"This case is not about the ethics of hunting, and it is not about solving
human- or livestock-grizzly conflicts,” the judge [U.S. District Judge Dana
Christensen] wrote.
The agency didn’t consider the impact of hunting the Yellowstone grizzly on five
other bear populations in the Lower 48 States — as it was required to — and its
analysis of threats to the species was "arbitrary and capricious," Christensen
wrote.
October 10: Huge reduction in meat-eating
‘essential’ to avoid climate breakdown
Major study also finds huge changes to farming are needed to avoid destroying
Earth’s ability to feed its population
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/10/huge-reduction-in-meat-eating-essential-to-avoid-climate-breakdown
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October 10: Trump suggests the climate may
actually be 'fabulous' after an ominous UN report on looming disaster
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-doubt-un-climate-change-report-2018-10
October 16:
Julian Assange ordered by Ecuador to curb speech, clean bathroom, look after cat
if he wants internet
In a nine-page memo, published by
Ecuadorean website Codigo Vidrio, the WikiLeaks founder is prohibited from
"interfering in the internal affairs of other states" or from activities "that
could prejudice Ecuador's good relations with other states".
Mr Assange, who was granted asylum in the Ecuadorean embassy in London in 2012,
was also told in the memo his pet cat would be confiscated and taken to an
animal shelter if he did not look after it.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-16/ecuador-asks-julian-assange-to-curb-speech-look-after-cat/10382992
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October
18: Audubon Vows to Fight Trump Administration’s Rollback of Bird
Protections
Calls Plan to Rewrite Rules Bad for Birds and Business
“There is zero demand or desire from the American people for gutting bird
protections and putting nearly every bird in this country at greater risk,” said
David O’Neill, National Audubon Society’s Chief Conservation Officer. “But the
Administration is doubling down on its efforts to weaken a law that has
motivated businesses to adopt simple practices that have saved billions of
birds. The hundred year old law is part of Audubon’s legacy and it is our
responsibility to mobilize our more than one million members to protect it.”
https://www.audubon.org/news/audubon-vows-fight-trump-administrations-rollback-bird-protections
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November 14: President Donald Trump has
nominated handbag designer Lana Marks to be the next US ambassador to South
Africa.
Marks, a Florida resident and member of Trump's exclusive Mar-a-Lago resort,
according to a source familiar with the club, was born and raised in South
Africa, where she attended the University of the Witwatersrand and the Institute
of Personnel Management in Johannesburg, the White House said in a statement.
Marks is photographed and quoted giving a warm testimonial on the website of
Mar-a-Lago's official photographer, saying she had captured her daughter's
wedding at the club "in a very special way."
Marks is known for luxury handbags in exotic animal skins, such as ostrich and
alligator, with prices that can hover above $19,000.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/14/politics/trump-lana-marks-south-africa/
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November 16:
https://www.countryliving.com/uk/news/g25043982/california-fires-pictures-of-animals/
November 20: Dead whale in Indonesia had
swallowed 1,000 pieces of plastic
https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/20/asia/indonesia-whale-plastic-scli-intl/index.html
November 25: The shores of Cape Cod, Mass.,
have seen a spike in the number of debilitated and dead sea turtles, with nearly
600 animals washing up so far this year, according to wildlife officials.
Scientists say that the naturally migratory turtles are heading farther north as
climate change warms the planet's oceans. Some are now summering in the Cape Cod
Bay, where they become trapped "by the Cape's hook-shaped geography," according
to the sanctuary.
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"Stranding season" typically lasts from about Thanksgiving to Christmas. This
year's numbers have already passed what's typical for a year — and the total
might climb to 1,000 sea turtles before the end of December.
In the last four decades, cold-stunned sea turtles have been on the rise,
peaking with 1,250 animals in 2014, according to the sanctuary.
https://www.npr.org/2018/11/25/670705681/more-than-200-sea-turtles-stunned-by-cold-wash-up-off-cape-cod-this-week
November 30: Dozens Of Pilot Whales Die In
New Zealand's 3rd Mass Stranding In A Week
"Pilot whales have probably been stranding in New Zealand since before people
lived there. It's probably not anything to do with what humans have done,"
Ingram said. "It's a very dynamic ecosystem that these animals are in, so I
would be very cautious in making any connection between these examples and
climate change."
https://www.npr.org/2018/11/30/672263152/dozens-of-pilot-whales-die-in-new-zealands-3rd-mass-stranding-in-a-week
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December 3: Sully, the service dog of former
President George H.W. Bush, spent Sunday night lying before Bush's flag-draped
casket in Houston.
Jim McGrath, spokesman for the Bush family,
tweeted out a
photo on Sunday night, captioning it "mission complete."
Sully became the late president's service dog in June, a couple of months after
former first lady Barbara Bush died.
The yellow Lab was trained by America's VetDogs, which places service dogs and
guide dogs with veterans, active-duty service members and first responders.
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/03/672852640/george-h-w-bushs-service-dog-stays-by-his-casket
The Trump administration has released plans to lift or alter habitat
protections for the greater sage grouse across millions of acres of Western
land.
The long-anticipated
proposals, released Thursday by the Bureau of Land Management, would revise
a sweeping conservation effort made under the Obama administration, allowing for
more development in the chicken-sized bird's vast habitat.
The Interior Department says the changes are being made to enhance cooperation
with Western states, some of which were critical of the Obama-era plans, and
that protections for the bird will remain intact.
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Trump EPA Proposes Major Rollback Of Federal Water Protections
Vast amounts of wetlands and thousands of miles of U.S. waterways would no
longer be federally protected by the Clean Water Act under a new proposal by the
Trump administration.
The proposal, announced Tuesday at the Environmental Protection Agency, would
change the EPA's definition of "waters of the United States," or WOTUS, limiting
the types of waterways that fall under federal protection to major waterways,
their tributaries, adjacent wetlands and a few other categories.
With lawsuits likely and a 60-day public comment period ahead, the
administration's proposal is far from becoming law.
-- 2019 --
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January 10: A
federal judge on Wednesday struck down an Iowa law that made it illegal to get a
job at a livestock farm to conduct an animal cruelty undercover investigation
U.S. District Court Judge James Gritzner sided with opponents of the 2012 law
that was intended to stop organizations like People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals from doing animal abuse investigations at farms and puppy mills. Iowa
lawmakers approved the measure, which threatened up to a year in jail to those
who conducted an undercover operation, after several high-profile cases in which
animal welfare advocates recorded questionable animal treatment and then
publicized the images through the media.
“Ag gag clearly is a violation of Iowans’ First Amendment rights to free
speech,” ... “It has effectively silenced advocates and ensured that animal
cruelty, unsafe food safety practices, environmental hazards, and inhumane
working conditions go unreported for years.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/iowa-ag-gag-law-struck-down_us_5c375c1fe4b045f676898ab0
March 6:
Trump’s Interior Department To Scrap Federal Protections On The
Gray Wolf
https://dailycaller.com/2019/03/06/gray-wolf-endangered-species-list/
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April 9:
Big game hunter who has killed more
than 5,000 elephants says he is 'totally unrepentant' after being named in
investigation into plummeting numbers – and admits killing 60 lions, 50 hippos,
and 40 leopards
An African hunter who claims to have killed more than 5,000 elephants says he is
'totally unrepentant' about the deaths he has caused.
Ron Thomson, 77, who worked in Africa's national parks for almost six decades,
claims he was not hunting the animals for pure sport but was managing population
that would otherwise have got out of control.
However, animal rights campaigners point out that elephant numbers are in steep
decline and say 'management culling' is often used as a cover for trophy
hunting.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6902739/African-big-game-hunter-killed-5-000-elephants-totally-unrepentant.html
April 26:
Trophy hunter ‘slaughters second rare
large-tusked elephant in Zimbabwe’
Same man reportedly killed record-breaking elephant ‘in its prime’ in 2015
According to
AfricaGeographic.com the hunter is the same person who shot dead a
bull elephant in 2015 estimated to be the largest killed since 1986.
At the time, the hunters reportedly claimed the hunt was ethical as the elephant
was past his breeding years. However, elephant experts later said the bull was
35-40 years old and was of prime breeding age.
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There is concern regarding the loss
of the genes that such a large tusker carries.
Elephants are now believed to be growing smaller tusks because poaching and
hunting has removed so many big-tusked elephants from the gene pool, the
National Geographic said in 2015.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/elephant-shot-killed-zimbabwe-tophy-hunting-big-tusker-a8887376.html
April 29: The Russian Navy Might Be
Recruiting Whales as Spies
A group of fishermen in Norway found a whale wearing a harness from St.
Petersburg. It wouldn't be the first time a navy relied on animals for
reconnaissance.
A group of Norwegian fishermen
made a strange discovery last week: a beluga whale wearing a harness
floating in the waters just off the side of their boat. The whale seemed
incredibly tame and comfortable in the presence of humans, but the harness it
was wearing looked far too tight. The fishermen were concerned with the whale’s
safety, so they contacted a group of scientists to see if they could try and
save it.
The scientists located the whale and managed to remove the harness. When they
did, they spotted some text: "Equipment of St. Petersburg." The scientists
believe that this whale was part of a Russian Navy project using tamed whales
for reconnaissance.
At first the Norwegian scientists suspected the whale and the harness could have
been some experiment at the University of St. Petersburg, but researchers at the
university confirmed they had nothing to do with it. That led the researchers to
suspect the Russian Navy at Murmansk. Of course, it’s tough to know if the
Russian Navy really is behind this, as they have yet to confirm anything and
likely never will.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a27311420/beluga-whale-russia-spy/
May 7:
A million species are at risk of extinction. Humans are to blame.
It will likely take millions of years for the Earth to recover from the
biodiversity crisis.
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/5/7/18531171/1-million-species-extinction-ipbes-un-biodiversity-crisis
May 19:
Ships coming to Bay Area slowing down to avoid hitting,
killing whales
A campaign to slow ships steaming toward San Francisco and other California
ports so they are less likely to injure or kill whales is beginning to pay off,
with 22 local and international shipping companies agreeing to reduce speeds
voluntarily, federal officials said Thursday.
The effort is all the more important this year, given the carnage caused by
large vessels, which often have to travel through national marine sanctuaries to
get to their destination ports.
Four of the 10 gray whales found dead near San Francisco this year were killed
by ships, and nearly 140 whales have died after being struck since 1988
https://www.sfchronicle.com/science/article/Ships-coming-to-Bay-Area-slowing-down-to-avoid-13852203.php
May 22:
Botswana lifts ban on elephant hunting
After five years, hunting will now be allowed in Botswana, home to about
a third of Africa’s savanna elephants.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/05/botswana-lifts-ban-on-elephant-hunting/
-- 2020 --
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