Conservation News ~ 26 February 2021

• North Dakota officials block wind power in effort to save coal
• Biden halts Trump rule that gutted a landmark bird protection law
• Norway continues whale slaughter with 2021
• Arctic ice loss forces polar bears to use four times as much energy to survive
• Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, containing healthiest coral reefs in the world, just tripled in size
• Kenya emerges as a leader in managing plastic pollution
• Paleontologists discover new insect group after solving 150-year-old mystery
• Cattle stranded at sea for two months are likely dead or suffering hell
• NYC mayor’s office urges New Yorkers to slash beef by 50 percent
• Record high Arctic freshwater will flow to Labrador Sea, affecting local and global oceans
• Ancient art reveals extinct goose
• Farmers fight back – making animal feed from a locust plague
• Texas freeze led to release of tons of air pollutants as refineries shut
• 52 wolves killed on first day of Wisconsin wolf hunt
• Biden administration says Texas power crisis shows US unprepared for extreme weather
• Robot measures air-sea carbon dioxide exchange in Southern Ocean
• Freshwater fish in catastrophic decline
• Effort underway to reestablish oysters in Alamitos Bay
• Mongabay founder wins environmental journalism award
• UN Chief warns that human destruction of nature is senseless and suicidal
• Getting to net Zero is surprisingly feasible and affordable
• New species of snail is named after Greta Thunberg
• Four new trapdoor spider species identified
• Greenville Zoo’s giraffe Autumn gives birth
• Cat corridors between protected areas is key to survival of Cerrado’s jaguars
• Pillagers of tropical forests can’t hide behind clouds
• Mississippi wood pellet plant that supplied UK electricity grid fined $2.5m over air pollution
• Cincinnati Zoo names new penguin hatchlings
• The pandemic taught us how not to deal with climate change
• Norway’s $47 billion floating highway explained
• Scientists successfully wake microbes that had remained dormant for 100 million years
• Florida wildlife agency to add rarely seen eastern black rail to endangered species list
• Florida plan to ban owning pythons and many other high-risk reptiles
• Scientists and indigenous people unite to save Colombian condor
• Human settlements make coral reefs react unpredictably to climate change
• Global study of 48 cities finds nature sanitizes 41.7 million tons of human waste a year
• Zambia’s Wildlife Ranger, Solomon Chidunka, passes away
• Prominent redwood forest preserved in $24.7 million deal
• UN report lays out blueprint to end suicidal war on nature
• Indigenous Standing Rock Activist imprisoned for resisting Grand Jury
• For is investing $1 billion in Germany as it goes electric in Europe
• New orca baby born to southern resident L-pod
• Wildlife photographer capture never before seen yellow penguin
• Three rare giraffes electrocuted by power lines in conservation area        
• Manatees May Carry Half a Million Microscopic Hitchhikers
• Our earliest primate ancestors rapidly spread after dinosaur extinction
• Delay in logging old-growth area helps endangered spotted owls in southern BC
• Lawsuit Filed to Protect Endangered Wildlife, Plants From Dangerous Smog
• Climate Change Is Weakening Ocean Currents That Shape Atlantic Weather
• "Giant N.C. Spill Shows Gaps In Pipeline Safety"
• "Environmental Group Charges EPA With Ignoring Evidence of Cancer"
• "Former Michigan Gov. Granholm Confirmed As Energy Secretary"
• "Tribes Flex Political Muscle In Quest To Co-Manage Parks"
• Annapolis Sues 26 Oil And Gas Companies For Role In Climate Change
• "How A Billion-Dollar Gold Racket Wrecks The Jungle, Enriches Narcos"
• Amid Lawsuits, Delaware R. Basin Commission Makes Fracking Ban Permanent
• "Biden Urged To Back Water Bill Amid Worst US Crisis In Decades"
• "Monarch Butterflies Down 26% In Mexico Wintering Grounds"
• Haaland, With a Key Vote in Her Column, Appears Headed for Confirmation
• "Texans’ Frozen Pipes Are Warnings of Yet Another Climate Threat"
• "China Confirms Xie Zhenhua Appointed As New Special Climate Envoy"
• "An Ever-Moving, Unloved Fish Is Stirring Chaos in the North Atlantic"
• "Postal Service Stirs Ire by Buying Gasoline Trucks and a Few EVs"
• "Corporate Climate Disclosures to Get Aggressive Scrutiny by SEC"
• "New Evidence Shows Fertile Soil Gone From Midwestern Farms"
• "Minnesota Supreme Court Hands Victory To PolyMet Copper Mine"
• "RCMP Patrol Wet’suwet’en Territory Despite UN Calls For Withdrawal"
• Hot Houses: The Race To Save Bats From Overheating As Temperatures Rise
• Clemson using coastal research tower to study carbon and water cycling in pine forests
• Humans have severely affected fish biodiversity in half of all rivers
• Black-browed babbler found in Borneo 180 years after last sighting
• Canada announces new 2021 measures to protect endangered right whales
• "Haaland Stresses Bipartisan Outreach During GOP Grilling"
• How Texas Froze: Neglect Of Grid And Climate Warnings Set The Stage
• Five ERCOT Board Members Who Live Outside of Texas Resign After Outage
• Kerry, at U.N., Likens Global Inaction to a ‘Suicide Pact’
• "White House Urges Passage Of House Public Lands Package"
• "Global Freshwater Fish Populations At Risk Of Extinction, Study Finds"
• Indian Judge Grants Bail To Climate Activist Charged With Sedition
• FERC To Examine Climate Change's Threat To Power Reliability
• "What’s Really Behind Corporate Promises on Climate Change?"
• "Yellowstone Bison Slaughter Sets Up Tribal Conflict At Interior"
• New alpine plant species discovered in Arunachal Pradesh           
• Partisan Fight Over Deb Haaland, First Native American Cabinet Pick
• "Long Road, Tough Choices Ahead for Biden Car-Charging Pledge"
• "Supreme Court Weighs Blame in Georgia, Florida Water War"
• "New Data Reveal Where Flood Damage Is An Existential Threat"
• As Cities Grapple With Climate, Gas Utilities Fight To Stay In Business
• "EPA Changes Stand, Sides With Ethanol Industry In Court Case"
• "Biden Energy Dept Orders Sweeping Review Of Trump Energy Rules"
• "Seismic Survey of Alaskan Arctic Refuge Won’t Move Forward"
• "20% Of Wisconsin Wolves To Be Killed After Court Sides With Hunters"
• Beavers: "Native Americans Promote Resurgence Of 'Nature's Engineers'"
• Scientists extract from Siberian mammoth molars the oldest DNA ever recovered
• Zero convictions as impunity blocks justice for victims of Brazil’s rural violence
• Getting to Net Zero – and Even Net Negative – is Surprisingly Feasible, and Affordable    
• New funds could help grow Africa’s Great Green Wall. But can the massive forestry effort learn from past mistakes?
• New snake species and genus discovered in Myanmar
• 4 Indigenous youth Braided Warriors violently arrested at AIG insurance occupation and ceremony to CALL on all Insurance companies to stop UNDERWRITING TMX PIPE
• Japanese joint venture to deploy all-electric shoreline tanker
• The Jane Goodall Act Was Recently Introduced In Canada And Will Become One Of The Strongest Animal Welfare Bills In History!
• 4 More States Propose Harsh New Penalties For Protesting Fossil Fuels
• Cyprus urged to ban hunting at coast to protect flamingoes from shotgun pellets
• Mediterranean Oil Spill Injures Wildlife, Closes Israel's Beaches
• "Texas Blackouts Point to Coast-to-Coast Crises Waiting to Happen"
• Abbott Appointees Cut Power Reliability Team Before Deadly Storm
• Texas Freeze Led To Release Of Tons Of Air Pollutants As Refineries Shut
• "Oil Spill Off Israel Reaches South Lebanese Beaches"
• Interior’s To-Do List? A Full Plate of Public Lands Issues for Haaland
• Climate Change Cost? Biden Expected to Raise Carbon’s Dollar Value
• "Water Leaks Indicate New Damage At Fukushima Nuclear Plant"
• "4 More States Propose Harsh New Penalties For Protesting Fossil Fuels"
• 'Piecing Together A Broken Heart': Tribes Rebuild Territories They Lost
• Seagrass Is A Vital Weapon Against Climate Change, But We’re Killing It
• Here goes nothing: Male spiders found giving females silk-wrapped zilch
• Gold and diamonds fail to shine as drivers of Amazon development
• ‘Everything on this planet is connected’: Q&A with WWF’s Marco Lambertini
• Mongabay founder wins environmental journalism award
• Study reveals how species once extinct in the wild have bounced back
• Open Space Institute Launches $18 Million Appalachian Landscapes Protection Fund to Accelerate Land Conservation to Fight Climate Change
• Banks Are Greenwashing Themselves. Don’t Believe It.
• New bills would exclude non-native species from ESA protections
• India's endangered lion prides conquer disease to roam free
• New European wildlife comeback study kicks off
• The Kalunga digitally map traditional lands to save Cerrado way of life
• Only 1 of 52 pilot whales survives mass stranding in Indonesia
• Agroforestry and land reform give Brazil cacao farmers sweet taste of success
• When seas turn rough, gleaning keeps the fish on the table for some communities