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.

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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.

Yellow and white wind turbine towers waiting to be installed
Credit: Engineered Solutions/Unsplash

Judge reverses Trump order halting Revolution Wind

Suspending the lease for the Orsted project off Connecticut and Rhode Island was "unreasonable," the federal judge ruled Monday.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright speaking at CPAC
Credit: Gage Skidmore/https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Trump cuts to energy projects in blue states were unlawful, judge rules

The Energy Department canceled $7.5 billion in Biden-era energy spending, largely in Democratic-led states, during last year’s government shutdown.
Coal fired electricity power plant along a river with a barge.
Photo Credit: Copyright: joshuaacarr/BigStock Photo ID: 82932053

Coal power generation falls in China and India for first time since 1970s

‘Historic’ moment in biggest coal-consuming countries could bring decline in global emissions, analysis says.

Yellow excavator loading rock truck in open pit coal mine
Photo Credit: Copyright: timofeev/BigStock Photo ID:

Coal communities accuse Congress of breaking its promise to clean up abandoned mine lands

The House passed a bill last week that would “repurpose” $500 million meant for cleaning up environmental and safety hazards caused by decades of coal mining.
Smokestacks from a factory spewing smoke and pollution into the air.
Credit: eric1513/Big Stock Photo

U.S. carbon emissions were falling. Why did they go up in 2025?

The rise comes even before the Trump administration’s pro-fossil fuel policies fully take hold, the authors of a Rhodium Group analysis found.
A group of people silhouetted against an orange sun-tinged sky

Europeans’ ‘psychological bias’ to climate change risks slowing down progress, warns study

A new analysis of global research suggests most people believe climate change will affect others more than themselves, a cognitive bias scientists say could slow climate action.

A large drill making a hole in dry earth

Corpus Christi drills wells to prevent looming water crisis

After an industrial building boom on Corpus Christi Bay, the city is drilling wells to meet water demand, and rural Nueces County residents say their own wells are being impacted.
From our Newsroom
Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

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