Public Lands Clips: July 17, 2024

 

 

White House Backs BLM Selling Land For Affordable Housing — “The Biden administration is eyeing a 20-acre parcel of Bureau of Land Management land near Las Vegas to kick off a push to develop affordable housing on some public lands as a solution to the West’s growing housing shortage. BLM is proposing to sell the land at a discount — $100 per acre, well below the land’s market value — to allow Nevada’s Clark County to develop thousands of units that would be sold to first-time homebuyers. If the sale is approved, it would be the first parcel for housing development sold under a memorandum of understanding the Interior and Housing and Urban Development departments signed last year. The total proposed cost to Clark County: $2,000. With the push to develop housing on some public lands, the White House is embracing a strategy pushed by various Republicans, including Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, who have both sought for the federal government to open up land to help solve the West’s housing crunch. But conservation groups have opposed many of those GOP proposals, saying they could lead to the development of expensive homes without addressing affordability.” [E&E News, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

 

 

Climate Advocates Fear Picking JD Vance For VP Is ‘A Dangerous Step Backward’ — “JD Vance’s close ties to the fossil fuels industry and eagerness to please Donald Trump pose a major threat to Americans and the planet, environmental advocates have warned. The Republican nominee for vice-president, a wealthy venture capitalist who was elected to the US Senate in 2022, went from voicing concern about the climate crisis before running for political office to voting to roll back environmental protections and to repeal landmark climate legislation boosting renewables and electric vehicles. … Last year, he wrote an unabashedly pro-fossil fuel opinion article calling for an expansion of pipelines and drilling wells that would tie Ohio into oil and gas for decades to come. ‘I believe that right now is the time to double down on the Ohio energy industry,’ Vance wrote in the Marietta Times. ‘We need less red tape and fewer restrictions from the federal government.’ Ohio is the sixth-largest fossil gas producer in the US and among the top 10 states for coal and oil consumption, according to the EIA. ‘In a time of grinding inflation, increasing energy costs and continuing global instability, we Ohioans are lucky to live on top of the Utica Shale oil and gas basin,’ Vance wrote.” [The Guardian, 7/16/24 (+)]

 

 

 

Haaland Proposes Civil Rights Sites For World Heritage List — “Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Tuesday proposed adding 11 sites that honor the nation’s civil rights movement to UNESCO’s World Heritage List. ‘A nomination of these sites to the World Heritage List would further recognize the pain, redemption and healing associated with these historical sites and honor the civil rights heroes who bravely sat, marched and fought to secure equality for all Americans,’ Haaland said in a statement. … Here’s the list of 11 sites: Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama. Bethel Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama. 16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham. Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, Alabama. Greyhound Bus Terminal, Anniston, Alabama. Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas. Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia. Monroe Elementary School, Topeka, Kansas. Medgar and Myrlie Evers home, Jackson, Mississippi. Robert Russa Moton High School/Museum, Farmville, Virginia. Lincoln Memorial and Grounds, Washington.” [E&E News, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

Interior Department Nominates Civil Rights Movement Sites For World Heritage List — “Interior Department Secretary Deb Haaland announced Tuesday that the National Park Service will potentially nominate 11 different sites from the U.S. Civil Rights Movement to be added to the World Heritage List. ‘The U.S. sites that mark the civil rights movement are integral in helping us tell a full and complete story of American history,’ Haaland said in a statement. ‘A nomination of these sites to the World Heritage list would further recognize the pain, redemption and healing associated with these historical sites and honor the civil rights heroes who bravely sat, marched and fought to secure equality for all Americans.’ The sites that will be nominated to the list are churches, schools, bus terminals and bridges pivotal to the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement, the Freedom Riders movement, Brown v. Board of Education and Martin Luther King Jr.’s work. They include sites in Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, Virginia and D.C. If added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, they would join ‘other cultural and natural sites of universal importance’ around the world, like the Grand Canyon and the Taj Mahal.” [The Hill, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

 

Utah, Wyoming Ask Court To Block BLM Public Lands Rule — “The states of Utah and Wyoming are asking a federal court to issue an order blocking the Bureau of Land Management from implementing its recently finalized public lands rule and causing ‘irreparable injury’ to both states. The request for an injunction was made after the two states filed a joint federal lawsuit last month in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah that says BLM violated federal law by not conducting a detailed analysis of the rule before finalizing it. The states say in the preliminary injunction petition filed with a magistrate judge late last week that they are likely to win the case on its merits and that ‘the States will suffer irreparable injury if the Final Rule is not enjoined or stayed’ until the case can be more fully heard in court. The states argue that BLM knew it was required under the National Environmental Policy Act to conduct an analysis of the rule. They contend BLM ignored numerous objections during the public comment period last year and chose instead to rely on a so-called categorical exclusion that exempted the bureau from conducting an environmental impact statement or other study.” [E&E News, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

Wyoming Lawmakers Urge Haaland To Reverse Coal Limits — “The Wyoming congressional delegation on Tuesday urged Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to reverse a decision to block new leases in the nation’s most prolific coal basin. The delegation — comprised of Republican Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis and Rep. Harriet Hageman — said in a letter that the Interior Department’s move would ‘severely affect the people of Wyoming and the state’s economy,’ while also putting ‘electric reliability across the country at risk.’ The department in May unveiled Bureau of Land Management plans that would overturn Trump-era decisions and effectively end new federal coal leases in the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming. The proposal would not end coal production in the basin because existing leases would be allowed to continue producing. Still, the move does reflect the Biden administration’s longstanding goal to wean the nation off coal. ‘Revenue from federal coal leases funds K-12 public education, infrastructure, and other essential services. BLM’s own analysis acknowledges that ending coal leasing jeopardizes thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars to the state,’ the lawmakers wrote.” [E&E News, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

Wyoming Lawmakers Push Back On PBR Leasing Ban — “Wyoming’s congressional delegation wrote to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Tuesday demanding she withdraw the Bureau of Land Management’s May proposal ending new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin. Ending federal coal leasing in Wyoming, which produces around 40 percent of U.S. coal and could continue producing off existing leases until 2041, would devastate the state’s economy and risk electric reliability around the country, GOP Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis and Rep. Harriet Hageman wrote.” [Politico, 7/17/24 (=)]

 

 

 

Fourteen Attorneys General Ask FEMA To Make Wildfire Smoke, Extreme Heat Eligible For Major Disaster Aid — “Thirteen Democratic state attorneys general and their counterpart in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday wrote to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to voice support for rules making extreme heat and wildfire smoke events eligible for major disaster declarations. The letter is in support of a June petition by a coalition of unions and green advocacy groups that called for expanding the regulatory definition of ‘major disasters’ to include smoke and heat. This move by FEMA would make the federal agency’s funds and resources available to communities dealing with their effects. The attorneys general, led by California’s Rob Bonta and Arizona’s Kris Mayes, noted that extreme heat killed an estimated 2,300 Americans last year, as well as more than 1,000 Arizonans in 2022, while research from the California Department of Insurance indicates seven recent heat events caused a total of 460 deaths in California and cost the state nearly $8 billion.” [The Hill, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

Attorney General Petitions For Federal Disaster Recognition For Arizona’s Extreme Heat, Wildfire Smoke — “Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes joined 14 of her counterparts from other states to ask the federal government to change rules and allow for disaster declaring due to extreme heat and wildfire smoke. The petition submitted on Tuesday calls for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to update its regulations and recognize extreme heat and wildfire smoke as eligible events for major disaster declarations under the Stafford Act. It also seeks to clarify that wildfire smoke events are eligible for Fire Management Assistance Grant funding. ‘Extreme heat and wildfire smoke events are devastating because of their severe impact on public health and the environment, yet they are not currently recognized as major disasters by FEMA,’ Attorney General Mayes said. ‘Updating FEMA’s regulations to include these events will provide much-needed resources and help us better protect our residents.’” [AZ Family, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

Mayes Pushes FEMA To Prioritize Fires, Heat — “Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes wants the Federal Emergency Management Agency to place a higher priority on wildfires and high temperatures. Mayes sent a letter to FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and FEMA Chief Counsel Adrian Sevier co-signed by 13 other attorneys general around the country to push for ‘extreme heat and wildfire smoke events’ to be considered allowable reasons for a disaster declaration, citing the Stafford Act. Specifically, they want wildfire smoke incidents to qualify for the Fire Management Assistance Grant. The letter is meant to show they’re proponents of a new rulemaking petition on the topic. ‘Extreme heat and wildfire smoke events are devastating because of their severe impact on public health and the environment, yet they are not currently recognized as major disasters by FEMA,’ Mayes said in a statement on Tuesday. ‘Updating FEMA’s regulations to include these events will provide much-needed resources and help us better protect our residents.’” [The Center Square, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

Disaster-Struck Cities Fight For Aid As FEMA Funding Runs Low — “A once in 200-years storm dumped 11 inches of rain over four hours on the central Massachusetts town of Leominster in September, washing away culverts, creating a sinkhole that swallowed cars at a dealership and flooding the city council chambers with sewage. Damages to public infrastructure in Leominster exceeded $24 million, but the federal government denied a request for reimbursement to fix everything from dams to sanitation mains, and rejected Governor Maura Healey’s bid for a major disaster declaration for impacted counties in the center of her state. And last month, Healey said the US Federal Emergency Management Agency turned down her appeal. ‘The perception of most is FEMA is there when you get into large scale events — they are going to help you,’ said Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella, who is now weighing how to pay for both a new elementary school that was planned before storms hit and the damage they caused. ‘Practice self reliance. If you are waiting for the federal government to help, lower those expectations.’” [Insurance Journal, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

Arizona Attorney General Joins Calls For FEMA Heat, Wildfire Smoke Disaster Declarations — “A coalition of 14 attorneys general, including Arizona’s Kris Mayes, are supporting a petition for FEMA to make disaster assistance available to communities affected by extreme heat and wildfire smoke. The petition also seeks to clarify that wildfire smoke events would be eligible for federal fire management assistance funding. Last month, multiple organizations including the Arizona Public Health Association and Center for Biological Diversity sent the request to FEMA to make those changes. In a letter to FEMA on Tuesday, the AGs argue the Stafford Act would include extreme heat and smoke from wildfires as being major disasters, but that FEMA has never issued a declaration for such events. They argued wildfire intensity has increased in recent decades due to climate change and that heat has caused thousands of deaths nationwide. And because of climate change, these events will only get worse.” [KJZZ-Radio, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

Mayes Urges FEMA To Classify Extreme Heat And Wildfire Smoke As Major Disasters — “Attorney General Kris Mayes is among more than a dozen state attorneys general who want extreme heat and wildfire smoke to be eligible for major disaster declarations. In a letterto the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the attorneys general said climate change is driving increased heat and smoke impacts that threaten public health and create financial burdens for communities. ‘Extreme heat and wildfire smoke events are devastating because of their severe impact on public health and the environment, yet they are not currently recognized as major disasters by FEMA,’ says Mayes. ‘Updating FEMA’s regulations to include these events will provide much-needed resources and help us better protect our residents.’ The letter mentions the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat dome that caused hundreds of deaths and widespread power outages, as well as the numerous large wildfires in Canada last year that blanketed parts of the Midwest and East Coast in smoke. In 2022 more than 1,000 people died in Arizona from heat-related causes and there were more than 4,000 confirmed hospital and emergency room visits to treat illnesses associated with the heat.” [KNAU-Radio, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

Attorneys General Urge FEMA To Reclassify Extreme Heat And Wildfire Smoke — “Attorney General Kris Mayes led a coalition of 14 attorneys general in urging FEMA to update its regulations to classify extreme heat and wildfire smoke as eligible for major disaster declarations under the Stafford Act. The petition also requests clarification that wildfire smoke events qualify for Fire Management Assistance Grant funding. The attorneys general emphasized the rising frequency and severity of these events, driven by climate change, which pose serious public health risks and financial challenges for local communities needing federal support to respond effectively. ‘Extreme heat and wildfire smoke events are devastating because of their severe impact on public health and the environment, yet they are not currently recognized as major disasters by FEMA,’ said Attorney General Mayes. ‘Updating FEMA’s regulations to include these events will provide much-needed resources and help us better protect our residents.’” [KVOA-TV, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

Heating Up — “More than a dozen state attorneys general urged top Federal Emergency Management Agency officials to initiate a rulemaking to ‘recognize that extreme heat and wildfire smoke events are eligible for major disaster declarations’ in a letter on Tuesday. The top law enforcement officials from states including California, Arizona, Illinois, New York and Maryland wrote that heat and wildfire smoke events take a toll on public health, driving up hospitalizations and even deaths. Declaring these events eligible could unlock funding for air filters and outreach programs for vulnerable populations, the officials wrote. The letter follows a similar petition for rulemaking from a coalition of environmental, labor and public health groups last month led by the Center for Biological Diversity.” [Politico, 7/17/24 (+)]

 

 

 

Enbridge Seeks 6th Circ. Rehearing In Venue Dispute — “Enbridge Energy LP has asked the full Sixth Circuit to rehear an appellate panel’s decision to send the company’s pipeline dispute with Michigan’s attorney general back to state court, arguing that the opinion creates a conflict within the circuit over when the removal clock starts running. Attorney General Dana Nessel wrongly seeks to litigate in state court what is an international controversy, since the case stems from the state’s efforts to shut down the pipeline that provides energy to millions of people in the Midwest and central Canada, according to Enbridge’s petition Monday for a rehearing en banc. As for the three-member circuit panel’s reversal of a lower court decision to remove the suit to federal court from state court, based on plaintiff Nessel’s argument that the removal was untimely under the U.S. Code’s procedures for civil actions, Enbridge said it created ‘an intracircuit conflict on when the statutory removal clock starts to run.’ The energy giant and related entities pointed to the Sixth Circuit’s 2015 decision in Berera v. Mesa Medical Group PLLC , which held that a 30-day removal period under the law starts to run only if an initial pleading contains ‘solid and unambiguous information that the case is removable.’ In Nessel’s case, Enbridge argued, that standard does not exist.” [Law360, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

 

 

Emails Raise Questions About County Monument Poll's Objectivity — “When Aaron Weiss requested internal emails from Mesa County related to a public opinion poll on a proposed national monument for the Dolores River region, he wasn’t expecting them to reveal that monument opponents were involved in suggesting poll questions. But that and other revelations produced by the emails request have him contending the poll the county conducted didn’t objectively measure residents’ views about the monument proposal.” [Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, 7/17/24 (+)]

 

 

Massachusetts

 

State House News Service | Feds Halt Vineyard Wind Operations After Weekend Turbine ‘Incident’ — “Operations at Vineyard Wind, the first offshore installation to provide clean power to Massachusetts and the region, are suspended after an incident over the weekend spread wind blade debris across Nantucket beaches. Three days after a turbine being tested south of the islands experienced some kind of still-unspecified ‘incident,’ federal safety officials said Tuesday that work at Vineyard Wind is ‘shut down until further notice.’ Vineyard Wind, a joint venture of Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, has 10 operational turbines delivering about 136 megawatts of power to the regional grid. Project overseers eventually plan to scale up to 62 turbines providing 806 megawatts. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said it was notified of a ‘turbine blade failure incident’ at the Vineyard Wind 1 site on Saturday, an incident that Vineyard Wind publicly disclosed on Monday afternoon. ‘There were no injuries reported, but operations are shut down until further notice,’ a spokesperson for the federal agency said Tuesday afternoon. ‘BSEE is coordinating with the United States Coast Guard and state officials to ensure information sharing. A team of BSEE experts is onsite to work closely with Vineyard Wind on an analysis of the cause of the incident and next steps.’” [WGBH-Radio, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

AP | Cape Cod’s Topography Makes It A Trouble Spot For Dolphin Strandings — “The recent stranding of more than 100 dolphins on Cape Cod, the largest such event involving dolphins in U.S. history, is partly due to the peninsula’s geography, with its gently sloping sand flats, tidal fluctuations and proximity to productive feeding grounds, experts said. The elements, along with the hook-like shape of the cape itself, make Cape Cod a global hot spot for dolphin mass strandings. Rescuers who helped free more than a hundred dolphins from the shoreline last month said Friday that they confirmed the mass stranding that began June 28 was the largest in the U.S. A final review of data and aerial imagery last week revealed that 146 dolphins were involved in the stranding, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare. The group estimated that 102 dolphins survived the multiday event. There were 37 natural deaths, and seven dolphins had to be euthanized. Brian Sharp, director of marine mammal rescue for the group, said dolphins strand more frequently along Cape Cod than along any other shoreline in the U.S.” [E&E News, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

Cape Cod Scientists Want To Dump 60,000+ Gallons Of Sodium Hydroxide Into Ocean In Climate Change Experiment — “Environmentalists and fishermen are pushing back against a plan from a group of scientists who want to dump more than 60,000 gallons of sodium hydroxide, more commonly known as lye, into the ocean off Cape Cod to gain an understanding of how to slow climate change. Scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Falmouth are seeking a federal permit for their project, which would start sometime this summer with a field trial program that would disperse roughly 6,600 gallons 10 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. Woods Hole says there are two central goals to its so-called LOC-NESS project, short for ‘Locking away Ocean Carbon in the Northeast Shelf and Slope.’ The first is to ‘understand potential environmental impacts of using ocean alkalinity enhancement to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.’ The other is to ‘verify and report the amount of carbon dioxide this method might realistically remove if deployed at scale.’” [WGBH-Radio, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

Nevada

 

This Land Has Been Identified For Las Vegas Affordable Housing — “Land for affordable housing projects is what local governments need, but how will neighborhoods react when that housing ends up closer than they bargained for? President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced an effort to sell public land for $100 an acre to build affordable housing, which is about to meet ‘not in my backyard’ sentiments. The first plot of land targeted for affordable housing is on 20 acres in the middle of a Mountain’s Edge neighborhood in the southwest Las Vegas valley. 8 News Now has reached out to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for maps showing where all of the 525.5 acres identified as places for 15,000 units of affordable housing. In Mountain’s Edge, backyards bordering the open land have mature trees and landscaping. More than 10 houses have backyard pools and some rooftop decks overlook the site. The paved Tenaya Paseo trail lies on the east edge of the property. A channel cuts through the property, likely requiring a small bridge from the larger of the two open areas.” [KLAS-TV, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

Federal Land Sale Planned For Vegas Affordable Housing — “The Bureau of Land Management is moving ahead with plans to sell 20 acres of public land to the Clark County Department of Social Services for an affordable housing development. It would be the first sale of public land below fair market value under a new agreement between the Department of Interior and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The property, on Cactus Avenue between Buffalo Drive and Rainbow Boulevard, would be sold below market value for $100 per acre. The development would require 80 percent of the units be sold to first-time homebuyers with household incomes at or below 80 percent of median for the Las Vegas area, with the remaining properties going to first-time homebuyers with median household incomes — around $69,000. Public comment on the sale will be accepted through Aug. 30.” [The Daily Indy, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

New Mexico

 

Permian Basin Drilling Driving Ozone Pollution In New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns: Study — “Excessive ozone pollution at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southeast New Mexico may be linked to oil and natural gas development in and around the Permian Basin, a new study has found. Eight-hour ozone concentrations at the park often exceed the Environmental Protection Agency’s health standard of 70 parts per billion in the summer, according to the study, published on Tuesday in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres. During the same season, the park also frequently sits downwind from the Permian Basin — massive oil and natural gas production territory, where development has increased fivefold over the past decade. After exploring various potential sources of ozone precursors — compounds that indicate the presence or future formation of ozone — the authors found that oil and gas extraction is a major contributor. ‘Our measurements confirm that activity such as drilling and natural gas flaring is a major driver of the high ozone levels we see,’ first author Andrey Marsavin, a PhD candidate at Colorado State University, said in a statement.” [The Hill, 7/16/24 (+)]

 

North Carolina

 

As North Carolina Gears Up For Offshore Wind Energy, Virginia Provides Some Pointers — “The Coastal Virginia Offshore Project includes two pilot wind turbines that tower 600 feet above the surface of the water. A tour boat carrying engineers, regulators, and reporters cut through choppy water 15 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. The North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association and a group representing a network of economic development organizations chartered the boat to give the North Carolina crowd a close-up view of wind energy. North Carolina has a few offshore wind projects on the horizon — and more are expected — as utilities like Duke Energy retire coal plants and look to fill the void with renewable energy. It takes many years of planning and construction for these wind farms to go up. Justin Fuller, a naturalist with Rudee Tours, the company that owns the boat, pointed out the Chesapeake Light Tower as we passed it. ‘People were complaining that the turbines would ruin the view from the beach and we just asked, ‘Can you see the light tower from the beach?’ Fuller said. ‘[The turbines] are 10 nautical miles out further.’” [WFAE-Radio, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

Washington

 

Pollution Settlement Will Work To Restore Wash. River Habitat — “An agreement between the federal government, Washington state and two tribes, on one side, and a pair of recycling companies and a metal fabricator on the other will put in place a three-acre habitat restoration project along the Lower Duwamish River in Seattle, resolving claims that oil and hazardous were released into the waters for a decade. U.S. District Judge Barbara Jacobs Rothstein, in an order on Monday, approved the 71-page consent decree outlining the roles Nucor Steel Seattle Inc., its subsidiary General Recycling of Washington, and the David J. Joseph Co. will have in the agreement that will allow for the early recovery of natural resources in the river. The project will restore marsh, riparian, intertidal and subtidal habitats to support juvenile salmon and other injured resources in a high-priority area of the river, according to the consent decree. ‘The project is configured to optimize critical off-channel habitat for salmonids and other fish species to feed and rest, and riparian habitat for birds to nest and forage,’ the decree states.” [Law360, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

 

 

Boreal Forest Fires Spike, Spreading Smoke Far And Wide — “Wildfires in the boreal forest region, a vast biome ringing the Arctic Circle, have erupted and reached unusually intense levels in Russia, Alaska and parts of Canada, scientists reported. Why it matters: Fires in this region threaten to turn a carbon sink into a net carbon source through their emissions. Zoom in: Wildfires have increased in number and intensity in the boreal, particularly in eastern Russia, Alaska and Canada. This is in line with climate change-related trends in recent years. According to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), as of Monday, the estimated carbon emissions from wildfires in June and July had already exceeded the emissions during the same period during the last two years. The CAMS has been detecting thick smoke, particularly in eastern Russia. Smoke has also affected eastern Mongolia, northeastern China and northern Japan. In Canada, the June-July wildfire emissions in British Columbia and Alberta are below the record-shattering fire season in 2023, but well above most other years.” [Axios, 7/17/24 (+)]

 

Canada’s Wildfires Are Back After $10 Billion Economic Blow — “Wildfires are erupting again in western Canada during a suffocating heat wave in the province of Alberta, forcing evacuations and causing one of Canada’s largest oil companies to curb production. The blazes, fueled by the hot and dry weather, are spiraling out of control, even as the country is still reeling from last year when 6,132 fires across Canada burned through more than 45 million acres, an area larger than Florida, and cost the Canadian economy close to $10 billion. ‘These conditions are conducive to extreme fire behavior,’ said the government of Alberta in an online update Friday, noting that it had to pull firefighters out of the forest Thursday night because of heavy smoke. As of Tuesday, 25 out-of-control wildfires were burning in the province, including a 200,000 acre blaze that has forced Suncor Energy, one of Canada’s largest oil producers, to curb production at an oil field close to the fire and evacuate nonessential workers.” [The Wall Street Journal, 7/16/24 (=)]

 

 

 

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