Department of the Interior news stories on Newser

US to Pay Indian Tribes $1B Over Mismanagement

Mark Russell — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 06:08:03 CDT

The White House has settled with 41 Indian tribes to the tune of $1.023 billion in disputes over the federal mismanagement of trust funds and resources, reports Indian Country . Some of the disputes are more than 100 years old. It's among the largest financial settlements to Indian tribes in...

Climate Change Will Snatch West's Dwindling Water

Rob Quinn — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 03:03:00 CDT

Climate change is going to make the western US an even thirstier place in decades to come, according to a new report from the Interior Department. The report predicts that water flow in major river basins including the Colorado and Rio Grande could drop by up to 20% this century,...

Feds: Big Oil Not Using the Leases They Have

Kevin Spak — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 09:37:53 CDT

With oil companies and Republicans criticizing the Obama administration for being too slow to issue new offshore drilling permits in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Interior Department hit back with a report yesterday revealing that the industry isn’t using the majority of the leases it already has....

Montana Gov OKs Shooting Endangered Wolves

Kevin Spak — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 08:44:40 CST

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has all but declared open season on gray wolves, ordering wildlife officers not to investigate or prosecute ranchers who shoot the endangered animals to protect their livestock, CNN reports. He’s also directed them to kill entire packs if they endanger the state’s elk or livestock. Schweitzer,...

Walruses Short-Changed on Fed Protection

Rob Quinn — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 02:19:34 CST

The Interior Department has decided that walruses are endangered enough to warrant protection—but it's not going to give it to them. The threat to the Pacific walrus from global warming reducing Arctic sea ice is very real, officials say, but limited government resources mean protection will have to wait...

Study: Gulf's Carcinogen Levels Explode 40-Fold

Kevin Spak — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 10:45:00 CDT

Researchers have detected a 40-fold increase in potentially cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons off the coast of Louisiana’s Grande Isle. The study is especially scary because it only measured PAHs that could seep through a biological membrane, the Huffington Post explains. “This is a measure of what would enter into an...

Only 10% of Gulf Oil Cleaned Up

Kevin Spak — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 07:41:47 CDT

Only 10% of the oil that spewed from the Deepwater Horizon well has been "actually removed from the ocean," a leading oceanographer will tell Congress today. Ian MacDonald's testimony throws cold water on a cheerful federal report earlier this month that declared 75% of the oil had either been cleaned...

Judge Blocks Drilling Ban; White House Will Appeal

M. Morris — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:29:23 CDT

The Obama administration may not impose a 6-month moratorium on deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, a federal judge in New Orleans ruled today. The White House immediately said it plans to appeal the decision, CNN reports . The Interior Department imposed the ban in the wake of the...

Obama Crew Flouts Own Drilling Ban

Kevin Spak — Mon, 24 May 2010 07:58:13 CDT

President Obama declared a moratorium on new oil drilling permits and environmental waivers two weeks ago, but his administration hasn't actually stopped giving out those permits and waivers. Since the May 14 declaration, it has granted at least seven drilling permits and five environmental waivers, the New York Times reports....