More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
The Biden administration's Interior Department on Thursday proposed a new program that would allow it to offer leases of public land for conservation purposes, in much the same way as it currently offers acreage for drilling, mining, and grazing.
The plan would aim to protect landscapes from the impacts of climate change and enable industries to offset their environmental footprints elsewhere, it said. The move is consistent with the administration's stated goal to put climate change at the centre of agency decisions.
President Joe Biden has pledged to set the U.S. on a path to decarbonizing the economy by 2050 in part by preserving lands whose trees and other vegetation can absorb carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas that drives global warming.
The Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management manages 10% of U.S. lands, or 245 million acres, primarily in western states. Uses range from grazing and recreation, to mining and energy development. The Biden administration believes conservation is among the uses of federal acreage permitted under the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act.
On a call with reporters, Interior officials said the idea to establish "conservation leases" responds to requests by states and companies seeking ways to mitigate the environmental impact of development projects on public lands.
For instance, a solar energy project on public lands could compensate for the loss of wildlife habitat by restoring habitat in another area. Leases could also be used to restore migration corridors for big game or to generate tradable offsets for carbon markets by preserving forests.
Asked how the rules would impact Interior's oil and gas leasing program, an agency official said the proposal would ensure that current activities on public lands could continue for decades to come.
Interior's leasing programs for oil, gas and mining add billions of dollars in revenue to federal coffers every year. The agency said conservation leases would also generate revenue.
BLM will accept public comments on the proposal for 75 days.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; editing by David Gregorio)
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.