Canada | Oil giant allowed to drill exploratory well in MPA; if production starts, MPA would be cut

Energy giant BP is standing by its decision to drill an exploratory well in a marine refuge off Newfoundland's east coast, while the federal natural resources minister says the bounds of the protected area could be redrawn if enough oil is discovered and the company wishes to start production.

On May 8, using the Stena IceMax drillship, BP began drilling within the Northeast Newfoundland Slope Closure, a marine refuge about 10 times the size of Prince Edward Island.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/bp-oil-well-marine-refuge-1.6865985

Biden issues long-sought order banning O&G activity near Chaco Culture NHP for 10 years

WASHINGTON — Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland took action today to protect the cultural and historic resources surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park from new oil and gas leasing and mining claims. President Biden first announced efforts to protect the greater Chaco landscape at the White House Tribal Nations Summit in November 2021. A new public land order withdraws public lands within a 10-mile radius of the park for 20 years, subject to valid existing rights, and responds to decades of efforts from Tribes, elected officials, and the public to better protect the sacred and historic sites and Tribal communities currently living in northwest New Mexico.

https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-harris-administration-protects-chaco-region-tribal-cultural-sites-development

France | D-Day beaches, testament to epic battle, now disappearing through sea level rise

POINTE DU HOC, France — Even filled with grass and wildflowers, the craters remain so deep and wide that you can still sense the blasts of bombs that carved them 79 years ago.

At the pockmarked entrance of an old German bunker, you can almost feel the rattle of machine-gun fire. Peering over the 100-foot-cliff to the ocean below, you see clearly how exposed the young American men were as they climbed up grappling ropes early that morning of June 6, 1944.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/06/world/europe/d-days-beaches-climate-change.html