State
Southern Miss joins consortium to study Tuscaloosa Marine Shale
MBJ
The University of Southern Mississippi has joined a Department of Energy funded university consortium led by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette that will address knowledge gaps connected to the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS).
Oil Spill
City, county and park service prepare for ferries to start passenger service in mid May
PNJ
Gulf Islands National Seashore, the city of Pensacola and Escambia County officials say they should be ready to start passenger ferry service in mid May.
Regional
EPA rejects part of Arkansas anti-haze plan it had set
AP
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Federal regulators said Monday they will let Arkansas enforce a portion of its own haze-reduction program, prompting criticism from environmentalists who say the plan is too weak.
LSU unveils massive Mississippi River model
The Advocate
From their second-story vantage point, the governor and a fleet of scientists, politicians and philanthropists peered down at a basketball court-sized model of southeast Louisiana.
Louisiana caviar? Seafood company wants to raise non-native sturgeon species, but conservationists fear contamination
The Advocate
North Louisiana caviar could be the next boom industry in the Bayou State, according to one seafood company, but conservationists worry non-native fish could escape and disrupt the habitats of homegrown species.
National
Lifting Pollution Curbs Won't Unleash Toxins, U.S. Regulator Says
Bloomberg
A top Environmental Protection Agency official defended the Trump administration’s decision to relax a decades-old air pollution policy, a move that critics said would unleash toxins such as benzene, lead and mercury.
EPA watchdog: Trump budget cuts would be a ‘significant challenge’
The Hill
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) internal watchdog office complained that the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts would create a “significant challenge” to its work.
3 German automakers backed study that exposed monkeys and humans to toxic exhaust fumes
Washington Post
BERLIN - When German car maker Volkswagen acknowledged last year that it was guilty of cheating on diesel emissions tests, the fallout cost the company over $25 billion. But the full extent of the company's willingness to sideline ethics concerns to increase profits is still emerging. Three German car makers appear to have commissioned or supported a study in 2014 which exposed monkeys and humans to exhaust fumes and nitrogen dioxide, according to German media reports on Monday (Jan. 29).
Park Service wants additional review of proposed refinery
AP
DICKINSON, N.D.
The National Park Service wants further review of a refinery proposed near Theodore Roosevelt National Park to see how emergency flaring could affect air quality.
Americans Are Staying Home More. That’s Saving Energy.
NY Times
Despite what you may have learned as a child, sloth isn’t always a sin. A new study in the journal Joule suggests that the spread of technologies enabling Americans to spend more time working remotely, shopping online — and, yes, watching Netflix and chilling — has a side benefit of reducing energy use, and, by extension, greenhouse gas emissions.
School-bus sized 'Holy grail' dinosaur discovered in Sahara desert
Fox News
Paleontologists have discovered a new species of a school-bus sized dinosaur in Egypt’s Sahara desert, marking an important prehistoric link between Africa and Europe.
Press Releases
EPA Approves Revisions to Arkansas Regional Haze Plan
Revised air quality plan created through cooperative federalism
01/29/2018
WASHINGTON – Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt approved revisions to the Arkansas Regional Haze State Implementation Plan (SIP) for nitrogen oxide at electric-generating units within the state.
