"Environmental groups yesterday asked a federal appeals court to reconsider a ruling that struck down part of a high-profile removal plan for four dams in California and Oregon, saying it set a precedent that would exempt dozens of dams nationwide from meeting water quality standards."
An environmental documentary that follows a risk-laden effort to save a rare and elusive porpoise won over audiences at the recent Sundance Film Festival. Correspondent JoAnn Valenti takes a look at the film, along with other documentaries that explore the role of journalists and journalism.
The vast Colorado River, recently in the news over a troubled drought deal, is at the heart of numerous environmental problems in the American West, where water is scarce and the legal complexities of water rights voluminous. The latest Issue Backgrounder offers an explainer on the story, which involves at least seven states, the federal government, Native American tribes, a hornet’s nest of irrigation districts and even Mexico.
Hundreds of coal ash ponds and landfills around the United States pollute drinking water supplies, and now a newly released report helps localize the problem for environmental reporters. This week’s TipSheet explores the new data source, provides the back story on coal ash regulation (or lack thereof) and the potential health risks, while offering numerous questions to ask and resources to track down.
"President Donald Trump is making another attempt to slash federal funding that goes toward cleaning up major U.S. waterways including the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay, even though Congress has thwarted his previous attempts, according to budget documents released Monday."
"As infrastructure talks progress on Capitol Hill, Democrats are calling for any legislative package to address climate change."
"Pulses of melting linked to rainfall doubled in summer and tripled in winter, a new climate change study found. That's a problem for sea level rise."
"When a frozen snowflake falls on the Greenland Ice Sheet, it lands with a whisper and stays frozen, sometimes for months.
But raindrops splat down, making little craters and melting some of the adjacent snow crystals. Multiplied across thousands of square miles, they can trigger widespread melting and runoff, which can lead to more sea level rise.
"OLYMPIA, Wash. — A ban on single-use plastic bags passed the state Senate Tuesday, progress for an idea proposed in the Legislature as early as 2013."
