Summary:  Earthjustice filed a lawsuit, representing the Sierra Club and Friends of the West Shore, challenging a new regional plan released by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. The plan would hand off development decisions to local municipalities and weaken pollution control. It also fails to meet previously agreed-upon standards by allowing excessive new development, doubling building height limits, and failing to track runoff into the lake.

Earthjustice attorney Trent Orr said, "There is no reason to believe that cash-strapped local governments would adopt and enforce adequate environmental protection measures in the face of lucrative development proposals.”

  Full Article:  http://www.sacbee.com/2013/02/12/5185193/federal-suit-says-new-regs-will.html"

  Summary:  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed federal protections for wolverines in the Rocky Mountains in anticipation of severe habitat loss due to climate change, which could melt enough snow and ice to make two thirds of their current habitat uninhabitable. Wolverines in the United States are already rare and warrant federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.

“Our biological heritage is at risk as we start cooking the planet, as we as a society are doing right now. If we continue on the path we are on right now, burning all the fossil fuels we can get our hands on, it’s going to be too late for a lot of things, the wolverine being the least of them,” said Earthjustice attorney Tim Preso. He added, “Detonating explosives in the middle of wolverine habitat is probably not something that will make wolverines stick around.”

  Full Article:  http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2013/02/wolverine-proposed-listing-threatened-species-could-affect-yellowstone-winter-use22758"

  Summary:  Solar power reached a milestone in Hawaiʻi on Tuesday when Hawaiian Electrical Company announced an agreement to push forward a new solar program that will enable more efficient connection to the state’s electrical grid.

Said Earthjustice attorney Isaac Moriwake, “In a nutshell, the utility is moving past arbitrary limits and taking the initiative to find out how we can enable more rooftop solar to be installed on the energy grid.” He added, “This is cutting edge. No other utility has taken this forward, future-facing approach, I think largely because other utilities haven’t had to deal with it. In having to upgrade the grid, long-term, they can absorb that cost and turn it into a new business model of a two-way power flow, with engaged customers providing their own energy.”

  Full Article:  http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-hawaii-solar-power-20130130,0,5588963.story"

  Summary:  A federal court ruled against the energy industry’s request for it to revisit a 2010 decision upholding the withdrawal of oil and gas leases in Utah. The leases were granted in the dying days of the Bush administration and many would have allowed drilling adjacent to National Parks and Monuments.

“This is a victory for Utah’s wild lands,” said Earthjustice attorney Robin Cooley, who defended the original cancellation of the leases. “As Secretary Salazar recognized, the prior administration was in a ‘headlong rush’ to issue oil and gas leases without concern for the spectacular scenery, pristine air, and outstanding recreational opportunities of these lands.”

  Full Article:  http://summitcountyvoice.com/2013/01/25/court-rejects-energy-industry-challenge-to-oil-lease-withdrawals/"