Sustainability

PHOENIX - The National Park Service abruptly closed Grand Canyon National Park on Wednesday, bowing to weeks of pressure after health officials expressed "extreme concern" about the potential for spread of COVID-19 in the park.

PHOENIX - The Environmental Protection Agency defended its plans to waive some environmental compliance requirements during the COVID-19 outbreak, insisting the policy chage is "not a license to pollute," but environmentalists were not convinced.

PHOENIX – Metro Phoenix was below average for moderate ozone days for the month of March. ADEQ is studying the reasons for this – including COVID-19 and recent wet weather.

TEMPE - Arizona lawmakers joined local and tribal officials Tuesday calling on the Interior Department to reverse its "reckless" decision to keep Grand Canyon National Park open during the COVID-19 pandemic.

PHOENIX – 5 p.m. Friday is the deadline to request a mail-in ballot to elect members of the board of the Salt River Project, which provides water and or electricity to 2 million residents of metro Phoenix.

PHOENIX – Arizona parks and recreation services are faced with the decision of whether to keep them open or close them down to prevent the spread of COVID-19. So far, most have kept hiking trails open, although some services are curtailed and traffic is being regulated.

WASHINGTON - Grand Canyon National Park is still open, but the same cannot be said for lodging and food services in the park, which will be shuttered for the next two months by concerns over coronavirus. Operations will be suspended from noon Friday through at least May 21.

PHOENIX – A Republican plan to mitigate climate change would permanently grant tax breaks for businesses that reduce carbon emissions and purchase equipment with technology to capture emissions from the atmosphere. But is “direct capture” an effective tool?

GREELEY, Colo. – Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey have found that the Colorado River Basin is extremely sensitive to slight variations in temperature. For each degree that average Celsius temperatures rise, they found, flows in the Colorado are likely to decline more than 9%. It’s a problem that will only get worse as the planet continues to warm.

MARANA — The Bureau of Land Management manages thousands of wild horses and burros across the West, but the population is too high and that has the agency trying something new — an incentive program.

RIO VERDE – Bald eagle breeding season has arrived in Arizona, and an interesting job comes from it: keeping an eye on potential parents and their nests.

CRAIG, Colorado – Coal-fired power plants use millions of gallons of water, but as more of these plants are shut down, what will become of the water they draw from the overallocated Colorado River?