Pennsylvania is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse-gas pollution in the U-S, and the Environmental Protection Agency wants input on a plan to do more to reduce methane emissions in oil and gas development. The EPA proposal would require curbing methane emissions at existing oil and gas wells in addition to new sites. Barbara Jarmoska, a board member for the Responsible Decarbonization Alliance, said methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and regulating it can be one of the primary ways to slow global warming. .
The new year brings a new legal challenge to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, asking it to reconsider its decision to dredge year-round on the Georgia coast. The group One Hundred Miles said year-round hopper dredging impedes the recovery of loggerhead sea turtles as well as other species. .
The Environmental Protection Agency s enforcement of federal pollution rules has plummeted. In 2022, the agency referred 88 cases to the Justice Department for civil prosecutions, the second-lowest number in more than two decades, according to an analysis by the Environmental Integrity Project. The EPA has said it s doing the best it can, amid chronic understaffing and funding cuts. .