Weekend Reader:  Read this and weep.
West, Texas explosion via YouTube

Weekend Reader:  Read this and weep.

A snapshot of the progress and opportunities lost on Election Day 2016.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is in the business of making sure we learn from disasters. They found the regulatory and management failures that killed 15 firefighters in the 2013 fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas. The Trump Administration has let the CSB wither, and has recommended that it disappear entirely.


The tiny agency's budget is $12 million -- barely more than the cost of three weekend jaunts from the White House to Mar-a-Lago, according to the Government Accountability Oiffce.

Another oversight body, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), tried to weigh in on another Trump initiative -- the proposed intervention to aid failing coal and nuclear power plants by compelling coal and nuke power sales to the grid. The Administration cited "national security" concerns for such a move, but testifying before Congress this week, FERC commissioners said no such concerns exist.

But just in case we do need more uranium, there's this: An effort afoot to end a moratorium on uranium mining on land adjacent to Grand Canyon National Park. Citing possible risks to Colorado River water quality and to sacred sites, in 2012 the Obama Administration barred new mine leases in the area for 20 years.

And national security is also a premise for Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), who wants to roll back the environmental review process on extracting strategic metals like uranium. One of the major beneficiaries of such a move would be the mining giant Energy Fuels Resources, which holds mining claims near the canyon rim. As luck would have it, EF is owned by our new nemeses to the north: Canada.

One of the greatest bi-partisan advances in ocean protection could also fall in coming years. Both Presidents Obama and George W. Bush set aside massive areas as marine reserves. Trump and Zinke have targeted the Pacific Remote Islands Marine Monument for reduction in both size and scope. Centered around Johnston Atoll, 1,000 miles west of Hawaii, the Monument is nearly twice the size of Texas. Its ban on commercial fishing, including rapacious longline boats, may be revoked soon. Marine reserves are the saltwater equivalents of National Parks -- literally their 21st Century equals.

All from a President who has declared journalists, and our Fake News, to be America's biggest enemies. And all of the above without mentioning the relentless and picayune scandals of EPA's Scott Pruitt.

Top Weekend News

Ready for a little good news? For the first time in 33 years, the annual Chesapeake Bay Report Card shows some strong signs of a recovering Bay.

This summer could see record low water levels in the Colorado River and other western streams. (KUER Radio)y.y.

An AP investigation finds that "locally caught" and "sustainable seafood" are marketing terms that can often be used dishonestly.

Ken Ward, Jr. on conflicts of interest in West Virginia's natural gas deal with China. The West Virginia Gazette-Mail is part of a local reporting project with ProPublica.

Newly-elected President Carlos Alvarado's audacious pledge: A fossil-fuel-free nation by 2021. (MNN)

EHN's Must-Read Series, "Breathless"

EHN's Kristina Marusic has put together an ambitious series on challenges and solutions on asthma and air pollution. "Breathless" visits the schools, hospitals, and factories in the Pittsburgh metro area.

Opinion Pieces and Editorials

The Chicago Sun-Times unloads on climate change, Scott Pruitt, and the Trump Administration.

The Los Angeles Times renews its call for Scott Pruitt's head, but admits that it won't change the Trump Administration's environmental assault.

Dana Nuccitelli has a column in The Guardian criticizing the Wall Street Journal's "Big Oil propaganda."

This Week In Trump

The New York Times team's latest example of Scott Pruitt allegedly using his office for personal gain: Putting the arm on a Big Oil PR firm to score tickets to the Rose Bowl.

Republican opposition to Pruitt may have less to do with his ethical challenges than with his hostility toward ethanol.

Scientists at USGS face an onerous new requirement to get approval to attend science conferences: They must explain how their attendance will further one of Interior Secretary Zinke's goals. (Washington Post).

Podcasts of Note

Peter Sinclair's Climate Crock of the Week: The state of Germany's renewables transition.

On Public Radio International's Living On Earth, host Steve Curwood and EHN/Daily Climate's Peter Dykstra discuss the role of an infamous Superfund site as an open-air classroom; and a caper involving alleged water theft for fracking operations along the Texas-New Mexico border.

Get Ready for the Facepalm on This One:

From NPR: Alaska oil drillers are increasingly investing in technology to keep permafrost frozen to make oil drilling and transport easier. So we can get more oil. To melt the permafrost.

a row of flags in front of a building.
Credit: Mmoka/Unsplash

World climate talks resume without U.S. as global negotiators assess new path forward

The United States skipped a major round of United Nations climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany this week, leaving other nations and U.S. civil society groups to navigate the talks without the world's largest fossil fuel producer at the table.

Bob Berwyn reports for Inside Climate News.

Keep reading...Show less
Smoke billows from an industrial chimney at sunset near several homes.

Judge rules EPA overstepped in cutting pollution grants

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from canceling $600 million in environmental justice grants aimed at helping underserved communities reduce pollution.

Rachel Frazin reports forThe Hill.

In short:

  • The grants stem from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which set aside $3 billion for environmental justice programs.
  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Biden had planned to distribute the $600 million through regional groups, which would fund local efforts, before the Trump EPA terminated the grants earlier this year.
  • Judge Adam Abelson ruled the EPA's cancellation exceeded its authority “precisely because they are ‘environmental justice’ programs."

Key quote:
The move included a “lack of any reasoned decision-making, or reasoned explanation.”

— Judge Adam Abelson, U.S. District Court

Why this matters:
Underserved communities often face the greatest environmental health risks and climate impacts. These grants were designed to help local groups respond to long-standing environmental harms and health risks, and canceling them would have cut off vital support just as cleanup efforts were beginning to gain traction. The Trump administration has also attempted to cancel a similar $20 billion program that would fund climate-friendly projects.

coffee mug near open folder with tax withholding paper.

Senate Republicans move to cut clean energy tax credits despite bipartisan benefits

Congressional Republicans are advancing a tax plan that would slash incentives for clean energy and electric vehicles, drawing criticism from advocates and some GOP members whose districts benefit from green investments.

Alexa St. John reports for The Associated Press.

Keep reading...Show less
A stream running through green forested hills.

Brazil moves to auction vast oil blocks despite climate and Indigenous concerns

Brazil is set to auction off oil and gas exploration rights in a massive offshore and Amazon region sale, prompting backlash from Indigenous groups and environmental advocates just months before it hosts the Cop30 climate summit.

Constance Malleret reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
An image showing a downpour with a caution sign.

New research links stalled jet stream to rising summer weather extremes

The number of extreme summer weather events driven by trapped atmospheric waves has tripled since 1950 due to climate change, new research shows.

Seth Borenstein reports for The Associated Press.

Keep reading...Show less
Farm machinery helping harvest turnips.

How agribusiness lobbying boosts corporate control over food and climate policy

Industrial agriculture companies spent hundreds of millions lobbying Congress ahead of the stalled farm bill debate, further distancing everyday Americans from decisions shaping the nation’s food systems and climate future.

Brian Calvert reports for Civil Eats.

Keep reading...Show less
Steel mill under a cloudy sky.
Credit: Michi/Pixabay

Steelmaker retreats from clean energy plans as hydrogen costs and politics shift

Cleveland-Cliffs is scaling back plans to build the nation's first green steel plant in Ohio, pivoting away from hydrogen and back to fossil fuels as federal incentives face repeal and political winds change in Washington.

Alexander C. Kaufman reports for Canary Media.

Keep reading...Show less
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.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.