Weekend Reader: #GreenToo
MTA/flickr

Weekend Reader: #GreenToo

We sometimes think of scientists, environmental communicators, and others as being above the human failings shown by others. They're not.

The #metoo movement has taken down Hollywood icons and power players; news media superstars; standup comics; politicians.

Here we cover science and environmental news. Don't think for a minute that this realm is walled off from reprehensible behavior.


New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, felled by four accusers who told their stories to the New Yorker, was arguably the nation's leading environmental law enforcer in the Age of Trump.

Schneiderman, along with Massachusetts A.G. Maura Healey, sued Exxon to determine the depths of its private knowledge of climate change while it publicly supported climate denial. He was one of multiple state A.G.'s who battled Trump Administration rollbacks.

He made no delay in resigning, announcing his departure three hours after the New Yorker piece was released, saying he "strongly" contest(ed) the allegations against him. Conservatives made no delay in pouncing on Schneiderman's apparent hypocrisy. Just days before his resignation, he praised the #metoo movement as "extraordinary" in an interview. And his interim successor as New York A.G., vowed that Schneiderman's work would continue without him.

Then there's Rachendra Pachauri, the charismatic head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He resigned in 2015 after allegations, and police charges, that he harassed, stalked, and intimidated a female employee at his Indian nonprofit. The case is still unresolved.

Trevor Fitzgibbon, a high-powered PR consultant for progressive groups like NARAL and Move-On and environmental NGO's including the Sierra Club and Greenpeace, shuttered his PR firm in late 2015 after allegations that he propositioned and groped female employees and job candidates. Fitzgibbon denied the most serious charges, and prosecutors dropped an investigation into them.

University of Illinois anthropologist Kathryn Clancy has made a detailed study of what she sees as sexual harassment in space-related sciences.

Investigative work by High Country News revealed widespread harassment in the National Park Service last year. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has promised action to address the problems.

We sometimes think of scientists, environmental communicators, and others as being above the human failings shown by others. They're not. We're not. It's Us Too.

Top Weekend News

As close ties between fossil fuel billionaires Charles and David Koch and the Trump Administration come more to light, a group of Democratic Senators led by Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is demanding answers about how much influence the Koch brothers have had in shaping key federal policies. (PRI's Living On Earth.)

Carlos Alvarado, newly-inaugurated President of Costa Rica, announces his country will be the first to ban fossil fuels. (The Independent).

The wind isn't what it used to be. Scientists say surface wind speeds across the planet have fallen by as much as 25% since the 1970s. The eerie phenomenon – dubbed 'stilling' – is believed to be a consequence of global warming, and may impact everything from agriculture to the liveability of our cities. (Cosmos).

From the New Orleans Advocate: Utility giant Entergy tries to deflect blame for hiring actors to pose as supporters at a key public meeting.

Veteran science reporter Miles O'Brien that U.S. audiences are starved for information on climate change. (The National, UAE)

It's only one plastic bag, but.....

It was found at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest spot in the world's oceans (National Geographic).

Podcasts of Note

PRI's Living On Earth: EHN's Peter Dykstra and Steve Curwood on a report that shows the US is now the globe's biggest oil producer, and US transportation emits more greenhouse gases than electricity generation. The pair also discuss how mercury from coal-fired power plants is polluting rice in China, and take a trip back to 1872 and a landmark mining law that has had a profound and lasting impact on the American West.

Opinion Pieces & Editorials

Former Clinton Interior Dept. official Paul Bledsoe in the NYT: Trump's fuel efficiency rollback will hurt drivers.

An op-ed in the Wilmington (N.C.) News-Star calls out the state legislature's obeisance to Big Pork.

Trumpweek

A brief dissertation by Kevin Drum of Mother Jones on why EPA's Scott Pruitt still has a job.

From Science Magazine: Trump Admin. quietly cancels a NASA climate science program.

In a move that seems out of character for the anti-regulatory Pruitt EPA, the agency said it's moving to regulate a paint stripping product linked to consumer deaths.

Oops. Scott Pruitt dined with a Catholic Cardinal accused of sexual abuse, and it was omitted from his published schedule.

Stencil of an electric vehicle on a brick pavement.

EU shifts course on climate policy as deregulation accelerates

The European Union has begun scaling back major environmental protections under the Green Deal, sparking concern among campaigners who say the bloc is rapidly losing its climate leadership.

Ajit Niranjan reports for The Guardian.

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Car tailpipe up close.

Republicans push to eliminate fines for carmakers that violate fuel economy rules

Senate Republicans are backing a proposal that would strip penalties from federal fuel economy standards, a move critics say could drive up gasoline use and tailpipe pollution.

Brad Plumer and Jack Ewing report for The New York Times.

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View of the U.S. capitol building
Credit: Jacqui/Pixabay

Proposed tax rules risk choking U.S. clean energy projects over China supply links

A budget bill moving through Congress could block most U.S. clean energy projects from receiving tax credits if any part of their supply chain includes ties to China.

Dan Gearino reports for Inside Climate News.

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Weight scales on an image of a smokestack.

EPA faces class action lawsuit over canceled environmental justice grants

A coalition of nonprofits, tribes, and local governments is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency after it abruptly canceled $3 billion in environmental justice grants awarded under the Biden administration.

Tracy J. Wholf reports for CBS News.

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Flooded river with bare trees in distance against a cloudy sky.

Vermont defends landmark climate law as Trump administration and oil industry sue

Vermont is preparing for a drawn-out legal fight after President Trump’s Justice Department joined fossil fuel interests in suing to block the state’s new Climate Superfund law, which seeks to make oil companies pay for decades of greenhouse gas emissions.

Nina Sablan reports for Inside Climate News.

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Graphic image of two human heads facing away from one another.

New AI tool raises concerns over industry's ability to sow doubt on pollution research

A chemical-industry-backed researcher is using artificial intelligence to question links between pollution and health risks, prompting concern among scientists about bias and regulatory delay.

Dharna Noor reports for The Guardian.

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a car that is sitting upside down on top of a pile of debris after a tornado.

FEMA delays and funding cuts leave state emergency programs in limbo

State and local emergency management agencies are facing growing uncertainty as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) delays major grant programs and President Trump signals plans to dismantle the agency.

Jennifer Berry Hawes reports for ProPublica.

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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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