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Nov. 18, 1971:  The U.S. Congress passes the Airborne Hunting Act, banning the shooting of wildlife from aircraft.  Considered inhumane by animal activists and un-sporting by many hunters, the practice continues in some places due to legal loopholes.  Aerial hunting of wolves in Alaska becomes a Presidential election issue in 2008 when Vice Presidential candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin defends the practice.

 

Nov. 18, 1988:  U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs the Ocean Dumping Act, outlawing virtually any direct dumping of pollutants into U.S. ocean waters.

 

Nov. 18, 2008:  California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger convenes the Governors’ Climate Summit, in which U.S. governors meet with their counterparts from developing nations.   The U.S. contingent meets with governors from Indonesia and Brazil to forge a pact on reducing deforestation.

 

Nov. 18, 2012:  The online publication Greenwire reports that the CIA has disbanded its Center on Climate Change and National Security. The three year-old Center had studied possible security risks from climate change.  Its creation sparked an outcry from Congressional climate skeptics.

 

Photo: NOAA/Flickr

This feature is compiled by Peter Dykstra, an MNN contributor and publisher of Environmental Health News and The Daily Climate.