11-4: Five quick things for your Saturday

11-4: Five quick things for your Saturday

Winter's coming. We all have chores to do. Let's make this simple: Five quick hits to keep you up to date on our environment and health.



Gov't climate report at odds with Trump and his team

Coverage of the federal climate assessment takes Trump to task:

AP's Seth Borenstein:

As President Donald Trump touts new oil pipelines and pledges to revive the nation's struggling coal mines, federal scientists are warning that burning fossil fuels is already driving a steep increase in the United States of heat waves, droughts and floods.

Our new look and feedback

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It's time to be loud: We deliver news that drives the discussion on environmental health and climate change.

Drop us a line at feedback@ehn.org ("Attaboys" always welcome).

Three top stories for Saturday

  1. New Jersey sets new PFOA level below Vermont standard. New Jersey last week set its safe drinking water standard for the chemical PFOA at 14 parts per trillion, 30 percent lower than Vermont's standard. (Vermont Public Radio)
  2. Louisville neighborhoods use trees to fend off heart disease. The poets were right all along: Trees are a drug, in ways marvelous and often misunderstood. We underestimate at our peril the powers of a walk in the woods. (USA Today) (thanks to Univ. of Louisville's Alex Carll for pointing us to that story)
  3. Will the bird that dodged a bullet pay the price of peace? "Armed conflict is good for preventing deforestation." (Mike Shanahan, Under the Banyan)

One must-read opinion

As ice shelves crumble and the Twitter president threatens to pull out of the Paris accord, author Jonathan Franzen reflects on the role of the writer in time of crisis (The Guardian)

One beautiful thing

Those are my kids (and dog), at 6:30 a.m. on a Saturday. Eleven inches of snow fell overnight in Bozeman, Montana.

It's ski swap weekend here, and people are already to find a sweet deal on winter gear. I told my kids we weren't moving the car until the driveway was clear.

Amazing how much energy a motivated kid has.

Today's gift in Bozeman is reminder for us all: Get outside and enjoy the weather. It's beautiful out there.

SCOTUS power plant emissions

Supreme Court allows Biden's EPA to limit emissions, but the fight isn’t over

The Supreme Court has provisionally allowed the Biden administration's Environmental Protection Agency to enforce limits on carbon emissions from power plants, despite ongoing legal challenges from Republican-led states.

Abbie VanSickle reports for The New York Times.

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Senator Whitehouse & climate change

Senator Whitehouse puts climate change on budget committee’s agenda

For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch.
people protesting during daytime

Governments and corporations are intensifying pressure on environmental defenders

Environmental activists around the world face escalating threats, legal retaliation, and violence, with a new report calling for stronger protections as the climate crisis deepens.

Keerti Gopal and Mathilde Augustin report for Inside Climate News.

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nuclear cooling towers

Nations face growing challenges in reducing emissions as global electricity demand increases

Global electricity use is projected to grow significantly faster than expected, complicating efforts to reduce carbon emissions and limit global warming.

Brad Plumer reports for The New York Times.

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oil well

EU climate goals lack clear deadlines ahead of key global summit

The European Union will push to limit global warming to 1.5°C at the upcoming COP29 climate summit but faces criticism for vague timelines on phasing out fossil fuels and funding the transition.

Robert Hodgson reports for Euronews.

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hydrogen tank with wind turbines

Europe's blue hydrogen projects could cause emissions equivalent to Denmark's output

Planned blue hydrogen projects in Europe may produce emissions on the scale of Denmark's annual output, raising concerns over their environmental impact as EU officials debate whether to subsidize this technology as a low-carbon solution.

Aline Nippert reports for DeSmog.

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boat and a building damaged from a storm

Small Business Administration runs out of disaster loan funds after back-to-back hurricanes

The Small Business Administration has exhausted its disaster loan program funds following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, halting new loans until Congress allocates more money.

Jacob Bogage reports for The Washington Post.

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person holding white smartphone sitting on stair
Photo by Chad Madden on Unsplash

Opinion: Focusing on disinformation is stalling climate action

The climate movement’s fixation on disinformation overlooks practical challenges communities face in adopting green energy, missing opportunities to drive real change on the ground.

Holly Buck writes for Jacobin.

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From our Newsroom
clean energy transition

Op-ed: Labor and environmental groups can both win in the clean energy transition. Here’s how.

Groups are choosing to repair broken lines of communication and visualize the transition for its true potential to mitigate climate change – the common enemy.

environmental defenders

‘Living under this constant threat’: Environmental defenders face a mounting mental health crisis

Environmental activists are struggling with paranoia, panic attacks, and depression. Now, a growing network of mental health shelters in South America hopes to fill a void in care.

fracking opposition

Opposing fracking cost one Colombian activist her mental health. She’s fighting to win it back.

"At some point, they will kill you and kill all of us," environmental leader Yuvelis Natalia Morales Blanco was told.

Houston area has more than 100 unauthorized air pollution events already this year

Houston area has more than 100 unauthorized air pollution events already this year

An EHN analysis finds nearly half were related to flaring.

environmental justice

LISTEN: Mokshda Kaul on making the clean energy transition work for all

“Coalitions become this interesting way to create buy-in.”

climate week NYC

Op-ed: Is plastic the biggest climate threat?

A plastics treaty for the climate and health must address overproduction of plastics and head off the petrochemical and plastic industry’s planned expansion.

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