Weekend Reader for Sunday, Dec. 3

Weekend Reader for Sunday, Dec. 3

Top news and notes for your weekend reading

Oysters, horse-trading the environment for tax bill votes, and much more.


According to the Washington rumor mill, the long-anticipated departure of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson may be at hand. The cruel irony for environmental advocates is that they may long for the day when the ExxonMobil lifer and former CEO was in charge at state.

His potential replacement is CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Tillerson was a voice of relative moderation in the Trump cabinet, though his push to keep the U.S. in the Paris climate accord failed.

In his three-term congressional career, Pompeo earned a 4 percent rating from the League of Conservation Voters. He has close ties to enviros' worst nemeses, the Koch Brothers, and his Wichita, Kansas, district means he was literally the Kochs' congressman.

A clever piece from Angus McCrone, chief editor of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, muses "If only I were a climate and clean energy skeptic. Then I could stop wasting time worrying about the planet." Then he demolishes the most common climate denial memes.

Check out other weekend newspaper editorials on the pesticide chlorpyrifos and pipelines, among others (below).

And from our friends at Living On Earth, a new kind of divided Congress: An interview with the co-founder of the House Climate Solutions Caucus, whose 62 members are equally divided between Republicans and Democrats.

Top Weekend News

The Senate has passed its tax reform bill over criticism that most Americans will lose ground. So might the Alaskan environment: Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski was a late convert to the bill when she attached a rider clearing the way for oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And a piece in the Atlantic mulls how native villages could thrive or suffer if drilling is increased.

Ironic, since other reports show Arctic ice off the Alaskan coast at record early winter lows.

A nice piece for Sunday brunch: Mobile Bay Magazine on oyster farmers and their need for clean, fresh water. Alabama, Georgia, and Florida have been battling for 20 years about water use.

This Week In Trump

From Mashable's Andrew Freedman: The pick for top science advisor sticks out like a sore thumb among other Trump nominees -- he thinks global warming isn't a hoax.

And EPA's program to assess chemical risks is facing the budget chopping block.

EPA dropped an Obama-era rule requiring mining companies to prove that they have the financial means to clean up after themselves.

As if to prove that a lack of self-awareness is a political asset, convicted coal baron Don Blankenship is spending money on a campaign to get elected West Virginia's next U.S. Senator.

Opinions and Editorials

Good News

Generally, we're not the place to come for good news, but we're more than happy to share it when it comes around.

We thought we'd revisit this piece from summer on the promise of satellite technology to help monitor illegal logging, mining, and poaching, as well as offering more reliable data on some wildlife populations and behavior. Richard Conniff's piece for Yale Environment 360 is hopeful, and doesn't even get into the role of satellite monitoring of pirate fishing.

Deniers' Corner

If climate denial were an Olympic event, James Delingpole would be a gold medal contender. But alas, he'll have to settle for a denial merit badge for his linking climate concern to the Nazis. Shameless.

A man and woman in suits shake hands with flags of the United States, USAID and the Environmental Protection. Agency in the background.

EPA staff face pressure to resign as Trump reshapes environmental agency

As the Trump administration aggressively works to overhaul the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, more than 300 career employees have already left, while those remaining face mounting pressure to quit or work under an administration determined to roll back environmental protections.

Sharon Lerner and Pratheek Rebala report for ProPublica.

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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.
California condor with a numbered wing band soaring against a cloud-streaked sky.
Credit: Larry Koester/Flickr

California condors take flight again, but survival isn’t guaranteed

After nearly vanishing from the wild, the California condor is soaring over North America once more, thanks to a decades-long conservation effort spanning the U.S. and Mexico — but keeping the species alive remains an uphill battle.

Iván Carrillo reports for Knowable Magazine.

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A diverse group of protesters holding signs in support of science stand at a barricade.
Credit: Stephen Melkisethian/Flickr

Trump’s EPA shake-up puts pollution controls in jeopardy

The Biden administration tightened pollution rules and expanded air monitoring in toxic hotspots, but Trump’s return threatens to unravel those efforts, leaving vulnerable communities exposed to industrial pollution.

Lisa Song reports for ProPublica.

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A Sámi woman in a fur hat feeds a reindeer from a bucket against a snowy mountain backdrop.
Credit: Lorie Shaull/Flickr

Climate change is erasing Indigenous languages along with biodiversity

A warming world isn’t just changing landscapes—it’s stripping away words. The Sámi people of northern Scandinavia, whose language holds an intricate vocabulary for snow and reindeer, are watching their words vanish alongside their environment.

Julia Webster Ayuso reports for NOĒMA.

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Arctic land and ice on a sunny day.

Arctic temperatures spike far beyond normal, nearing melting point

Temperatures at the North Pole soared more than 20° Celsius above average, briefly nearing the melting point in the dead of winter and alarming climate scientists.

Ajit Niranjan reports for The Guardian.

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Trump EPA rollbacks
Credit: Peg Hunter/Flickr

Trump administration closes environmental offices, reshaping federal policy

The Trump administration is swiftly shutting down environmental initiatives, placing dozens of employees on leave and dismantling key offices within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department.

Maxine Joselow and Amudalat Ajasa report for The Washington Post.

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A snowplow drives down a snow street.
Credit: Metropolitan Transportation/Flickr

U.S. Mid-Atlantic leaders plan for climate disasters as federal funding faces cuts

Pennsylvania saw a record number of billion-dollar weather disasters in 2024, prompting officials and experts to gather in Philadelphia to discuss emergency preparedness as the federal government threatens funding cuts.

Kiley Bense reports for Inside Climate News.

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From our Newsroom
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.

People  sitting in an outdoors table working on a big sign.

Op-ed: Why funding for the environmental justice movement must be anti-racist

We must prioritize minority-serving institutions, BIPOC-led organizations and researchers to lead environmental justice efforts.

joe biden

Biden finalizes long-awaited hydrogen tax credits ahead of Trump presidency

Responses to the new rules have been mixed, and environmental advocates worry that Trump could undermine them.

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Prisons, jails and detention centers are placed in locations where environmental hazards such as toxic landfills, floods and extreme heat are the norm.

Agents of Change in Environmental Justice logo

LISTEN: Reflections on the first five years of the Agents of Change program

The leadership team talks about what they’ve learned — and what lies ahead.

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