"For months, Clovis, New Mexico, dairy farmer Art Schaap has been watching his life go down the drain. Instead of selling milk, he is dumping 15,000 gallons a day – enough to provide a carton at lunch to 240,000 children. Instead of working 24/7 to keep his animals healthy, he’s planning to exterminate all 4,000 of his cows, one of the best herds in his county’s booming dairy industry."
"A federal advisory panel that's supposed to provide scientific information to the National Flood Insurance Program is entering a five-month work stoppage, even as property losses mount against the backdrop of severe inundation related to climate change."
"Climate-related disasters have cost the world $650 billion over the last three years, and North America is shouldering most of the burden, according to a new report from Morgan Stanley."
"President Trump on Friday nominated Jeffrey Byard to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after the previous administrator Brock Long resigned this week."
"Neil Chatterjee, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, yesterday rebuffed calls for mandatory cybersecurity standards for natural gas pipelines, citing improvement in the industry's effort to strengthen its defenses."
"Brazilian police arrested eight employees of mining firm Vale SA on Friday, accused by state prosecutors of covering up weaknesses at a dam that collapsed and likely killed more than 300 people."
"The U.S. Transportation Department on Thursday issued final rules requiring railroads to develop oil spill response plans and to disclose details of shipments to states and tribal governments after a series of high-profile incidents."
"The head of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brock Long, said he would resign on Wednesday, after overseeing the government’s response to a string of record-breaking hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters."
A former head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has written a powder keg of a book, “Confessions of a Rogue Nuclear Regulator.” Author Gregory Jaczko left the post in 2012, far more critical of nuclear power’s safety claims than he came in, his concerns amplified by the Fukushima meltdown in Japan in 2011. Now, he worries that its lessons have not sunk in deeply enough with an industry that he believes is headed toward catastrophe. Read our latest BookShelf review.
It’s a “make or break” year for a range of environmental and energy issues, advise leading journalists at the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual “2019 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment” event in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 25. The gathering also featured a surprise appearance by a top EPA official, who was questioned about administration policy on climate change. Read our coverage of the forum in this SEJ News report.
