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WVPE is your gateway to green and sustainable resources in Michiana. Sustainability is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This is accomplished by finding a balance between businesses, the environment, and our society (people, planet, and profit).State, National and International resources on sustainability include:The Environmental Protection AgencyThe Natural StepSustainability Dictionary45 Sustainability Resources You Need to Know Explore ways to support sustainability in the Michiana area through the Green Links Directory.Sept. 17, 2019 from 2-3:30pm"Global Warming: A Hot Topic"Sept. 17, 19, 24, and 26All sessions are from 2-3:30pmGreencroft Goshen Community Center in the Jennings Auditorium1820 Greencroft Blvd.Goshen, IN 46526The event will look at possible solutions and suffering as well as consequences beyond warmer weather. The event will examine what other civilizations have or haven’t done when faced with environmental problems. Plus there will be an exploration of the biggest unknown in the climate system: What will the humans do? Paul Meyer Reimer teaches physics, math and climate change at Goshen College. The events are presented by the Lifelong Learning Institute. The Institute can be reached at: (574) 536-8244lifelonglearning@live.comhttp://life-learn.org/

Feds May Open Utah National Monuments For Mining And Drilling

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

In southern Utah, the Trump administration has finalized its plan to remove protections from Bears Ears and other land designated as national monuments. The announcement comes despite an ongoing legal challenge by Native American tribes. Those tribes argue the White House acted illegally by dramatically shrinking established boundaries. NPR's Kirk Siegler has this update.

KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE: It's been more than two years since President Trump flew to Salt Lake City and signed an order that became the largest reversal of national monument protections in U.S. history. Located in prized Utah Canyon Country, the Clinton-era Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was cut nearly in half. And Bears Ears, designated by President Obama, went from 1.3 million acres to about 200,000. The monuments were opposed by Utah's influential rural Republican county commissioners, who worried the added protections would stifle ranching and mining. These new management plans restore a balance, says Casey Hammond. He's an acting assistant secretary at the Department of Interior.

CASEY HAMMOND: With these decisions, we are advancing our goals to restore trust and be a good neighbor.

SIEGLER: Many Native American tribes who pushed for protections at Bears Ears in particular see it differently.

HONOR KEELER: We find that this is an ongoing failure to meaningfully consult with tribes.

SIEGLER: Honor Keeler with the group Utah Dine Bikeyah says protections are now going away for land full of sacred artifacts, burial sites and other cultural resources.

KEELER: This seems to be an indicator of the treatment of Indigenous peoples in the United States.

SIEGLER: The president's authority to shrink national monuments under the Antiquities Act remains in dispute. The 1906 law says presidents can designate monuments. But legal experts have widely held that only Congress has the power to abolish or downsize them. Tribes and conservationists say these management plans should be on hold until the courts weigh in. Kirk Siegler, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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As a correspondent on NPR's national desk, Kirk Siegler covers rural life, culture and politics from his base in Boise, Idaho.