Arctic Needs Protection From Resource Rush as Ice Melts: UN Body. The Arctic needs to be better protected from a rush for natural resources as melting ice makes mineral and energy exploration easier, the United Nations' Environment Programme (UNEP) said. The UNEP Year Book 2013 was released on Monday to accompany the opening of talks in Nairobi attended by environment ministers or senior officials from around 150 nations, aimed at making the world economy greener at a time of weak economic growth. "What we are seeing is that the melting of ice is prompting a rush for exactly the fossil fuel resources that fueled the melt in the first place," said Achim Steiner, U.N. Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director. Reuters  

Link to UNEP report

EPA Faces Pressure to Invoke New Authority to Restrict Greenhouse Gases. Liberal academics on Tuesday will urge the EPA to assert broad powers to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. The New York University School of Law's Institute for Policy Integrity will petition the EPA to invoke section 115 of the law (PL 90-148) to control greenhouse gases. That section allows the EPA administrator to require reductions of pollutants that endanger public health or welfare in a foreign country. Congressional Quarterly 

Climate Change Poses Rising Threat. For Pentagon officials, the warming planet could translate into more regional instability, more conflicts around the world, more humanitarian crises to respond to and 30 military installations becoming more vulnerable to flooding. At the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the number of declared disasters in recent years shot up 50 percent - from 65 in 2004 to 98 in 2011 - and shows no signs of abating. Already, the agency is struggling to fund recovery efforts and is burdened by billions of dollars of debt. Federal Times

'Juice Is Not Worth the Squeeze' of Merging Two Wildlife Agencies, Report Finds. Merging two marine life oversight entities would not be worth the trouble, stakeholders told a watchdog agency, despite the possibility of improving collaboration and saving money. The National Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service provide many similar functions, including protecting endangered marine species and restoring fish and wildlife habitat, according to a Government Accountability Office report. The two agencies are distinct enough, however, to warrant their current separation, the watchdog suggested. NMFS is a division of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration -- which itself is housed in the Commerce Department -- while FWS is part of the Interior Department. The primary difference between the two organizations is in habitat types they oversee, as the FWS often deals with species found on land and fresh water, while NMFS is more involved with animals in other marine environments. GAO conducted interviews with 97 former and current agency stakeholders, who found both benefits and drawbacks to merging the two organizations. Government Executive

Agency Critics Bash Environmental Regulations at House Hearing. The United States has reached the point of diminishing returns when it comes to many environmental regulations, U.S. EPA critics told the House Science Environment Subcommittee yesterday. The environmental problems that plagued the nation in the mid-20th century -- from burning rivers to acid rain -- have largely been addressed, and costs of additional federal regulations far outweigh the benefits, witnesses argued at a hearing titled "The State of Environment: Evaluating Progress and Priorities." E&E News

No formal legislative action was taken on Arctic legislation Friday.