EJToday is SEJ's selection of new and outstanding stories on environmental topics in print and on the air, updated every weekday. SEJ also offers a free e-mailed digest of the day's EJToday postings, called SEJ-beat. SEJ members are subscribed automatically, but may opt out here. Non-members may subscribe here. EJToday is also available via RSS feed. Please see Editorial Guidelines for EJToday content.
Earth Day: "Moral Climate-- Beyond Science and Politics"
Salt Lake Tribune, 04/22/2013"Rob Gillies and his team gather data on Nepal’s changing climate for a research project. They log temperatures, raindrops and snow. They pump the numbers into powerful computers and read the trend lines the computers spit out. Gillies sees the numbers in human terms, too. Global warming is likely to mean less water, putting crops and livestock in peril, along with nourishment for children who already don’t get enough to eat. That leaves the climate scientist with questions instruments can’t answer. About fairness. Justice. And life and death."
"Keystone XL Pipeline Would Hasten Climate Change: Report"
ENS, 04/17/2013"WASHINGTON, DC -- In a new report, 'Cooking the Books: How The State Department Analysis Ignores the True Climate Impact of the Keystone XL Pipeline,' environmental groups and scientists opposed to the pipeline warn of 'climate disaster' if President Barack Obama allows it to cross the Canada-U.S. border, carrying tar sands bitumen from Alberta to Nebraska."
Eyebrows Are Raised as Interior Aces Scientific Integrity Tests
Greenwire, 04/11/2013"When it comes to scientific misconduct, the Interior Department has a troubled past."
"New Teaching Standards Delve More Deeply Into Climate Change"
LA Times, 04/10/2013"Under proposed new national science standards, students would learn concepts more thoroughly, including how human activity is driving global warming."
"High-Altitude Ice Reveals a Climate on the Rocks"
Daily Climate, 04/09/2013"Ohio State scientist Lonnie Thompson tests the limits of science -- and his health -- to unlock climate secrets frozen at the top of the world's highest mountain ranges."
"Canada Shutters Research Lakes Facilities"
Nature, 04/08/2013"The Canadian government has barred scientists from entering the Experimental Lakes Area in Ontario starting on 1 April and has begun dismantling some of its buildings. As funding for the internationally admired freshwater research station dried up this week, scientists with on-going projects at the facility were left wondering about the future of their research."
"Marcia McNutt Bringing Her 'Intellectual Energy' to Science"
Science, 04/04/2013"Rumors of Scripps begone -- geophysicist Marcia McNutt, who stepped down as head of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in February, is returning to Washington, D.C., as the new editor-in-chief of Science. McNutt will take over the editorship on 1 June from Bruce Alberts, who announced his retirement last year."
James Hansen To Retire from NASA, Intensify Climate Campaign
NY Times, 04/02/2013"James E. Hansen, the climate scientist who issued the clearest warning of the 20th century about the dangers of global warming, will retire from NASA this week, giving himself more freedom to pursue political and legal efforts to limit greenhouse gases."
"Kiwi Scientists Rally Against Climate Change Sceptic"
New Zealand Herald, 04/02/2013"New Zealand's top climate change scientists have rallied together to slam a visiting sceptic who is touring the country to proclaim global warming as a myth that should be ignored."
Information Commissioner To Probe 'Muzzling' of Government Scientists
Toronto Star, 04/01/2013"Wide-ranging investigation, which will look into six different federal departments, is to review incidents in which the media was thwarted when trying to speak to Canadian government scientists about their work."
"Chemical Industry Clout Delays EPA Regulation of Hexavalent Chromium"
PR Watch, 03/29/2013The story of hexavalent chromium, a carcinogen, in drinking water is not over, even though Erin Brockovich's legal victory was vaunted in a film 13 years ago. Groundwater near Hinkley, Calif., is still polluted. The story of how industry clout has kept EPA delaying regulation of chromium in drinking water is a tale of the chemical industry's ability to manipulate regulation by sowing doubt. But recent highly dramatized stories on chrome-6 in drinking water may not have helped much, to the extent that they downplayed natural background levels, the importance of dose, and the statistical problems in identifying cancer clusters. The whole saga raises key issues about public relations, lobbying, regulatory politics, the legal system, environmental journalism, and the protection of public health.
"A Hot Topic: Climate Change Coming To Classrooms"
NPR, 03/27/2013"By the time today's K-12 students grow up, the challenges posed by climate change are expected to be severe and sweeping. Now, for the first time, new federal science standards due out this month will recommend that U.S. public school students learn about this climatic shift taking place."
"Obama Energy Pick’s Gas Study Faulted Over Industry Ties"
Bloomberg, 03/22/2013"President Barack Obama’s nominee for energy secretary is drawing criticism for leading a study that minimized risks of natural gas while failing to disclose that some of its researchers had financial ties to the industry."
Senate Bill Would Boost Funding for NOAA Weather Satellites
Climate Central, 03/13/2013"Key weather and climate satellites would get a boost under a new Senate spending proposal."
"Canadian Government Gag Order for Scientists?"
Living on Earth, 03/11/2013"Canada's Harper Administration is allegedly restricting what environmental information government scientists can share with journalists, according to academics and media watchdogs. Host Steve Curwood learns more from Tyler Sommers, coordinator of Democracy Watch."

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