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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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.

A thermometer in the middle of green and orange contrasting earth's surfaces

Scientists plow ahead with research needed for a key climate report scrapped under Trump

Some of the ousted climate scientists have just published their own research paper, identifying changes in the research field.
A close up of cracked surface on the earth

‘For Panama, it is life or death’: how drought is choking the canal that feeds a nation

Failed rains and a dire El Niño threaten the waterway that sustains the country, with farmers selling cattle to survive.

A large industrial area with smoke coming out of the stacks

After a decade of efforts to regulate methane, the Trump administration promises new rules

In both terms, Trump has rolled back or blocked attempts to reduce highly warming methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.
View of Texas capitol in Austin

Texas continued permitting data centers after Abbott’s pause, report finds

FracTracker and Public Citizen identified 35 permitting actions taken by regulators in Texas in the weeks after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered a moratorium.
A forest filled with tall trees

The overlapping plagues quietly devastating American forests

Trees are suffering one devastating epidemic after another, unleashed by insects and bacteria that enter the country because of global trade.
industrial power grid infrastructure

Pennsylvania study aims to identify power plant sites that can be reactivated

Funded with a $2 million federal grant, the program involves utility regulators and the nonprofit Team Pennsylvania.
A view of downtown Los Angeles, California with palm trees in the forefront

Latest climate report warns of major upheaval to California way of life

The dire projections come from the state’s Climate Change Assessment, which analyzes the impacts of changing weather patterns on the nation’s most-populous state.
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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