"Communities with large minority populations are among the most vulnerable in the U.S. to the effects of climate change and could become more threatened as the coronavirus pandemic weakens their resilience to disasters, according to experts and federal data."
Mishandling of vital information by the U.S. government worsened the COVID-19 pandemic, argues the latest WatchDog. The no-holds-barred opinion piece, which notes that coronavirus is as much an environmental story as a public health one, points the finger at the White House and the “Silent CDC,” sifts the wreckage of the testing program and speculates about the dearth of data as the nation reopens.
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, there’s another respiratory disease to worry about. Legionnaires’, which attacks the lungs, is already the deadliest waterborne illness in the United States. And the dangerous bacteria may now be breeding in the plumbing systems of buildings shut down during the outbreak. Contributor Brett Walton asks: Is the nation prepared for a safe reopening?
Commuters seeking social distancing want them. City dwellers drawn to nearly car-free streets want them too. But the boom in bikes long pre-dates the COVID-19 outbreak, and their eco-friendly reputation offers environment reporters numerous smart local story angles, per the latest TipSheet. Get context, plus numerous story ideas and resources.
"For five years, Zay Lopez tended vegetables, hayfields and cornfields, chickens and a small flock of sheep here on the western edge of Colorado's Grand Valley—farming made possible by water from the Colorado River."
"This week, amid a surge of protests over police violence against black Americans, there’s been renewed scrutiny on the links between racism and environmental degradation in the United States."
"A slow-moving Tropical Storm Cristobal made landfall just east of Grand Isle at 5 p.m. Sunday as it moved slowly north at 7 mph, guaranteeing more time for its outer bands to rake the Louisiana coastline with heavy rain and tropical storm-force winds and for its storm surge to push ashore."
"President Trump signed a proclamation Friday that opened the Atlantic Ocean’s only fully protected marine sanctuary to commercial fishing, dismissing arguments that crab traps, fishing nets and lines dangling hooks can harm fish and whales."
"A bipartisan group of senators is trying to make it easier for farmers and forest managers to make money from reducing greenhouse gas emissions from their land."
"Green groups are expressing full-throated support for demonstrators protesting the killing of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis police custody — even as they struggle with their own long-standing issues with addressing racial inequality and a lack of diversity in their ranks."
