"It may be one of the stranger signs of climate change: the nine-banded armadillo, which is native to Latin America and more recently Texas. Scientists say warmer winters have lured the mammals northwards, bringing with them parasites and diseases."
"This archipelago in the Gulf of Alaska is home to one of the busiest commercial fishing ports in the country. Inside the Ocean Beauty seafood plant in Kodiak, where a maze of conveyer belts carry gutted salmon past workers in hairnets and gloves, manager James Turner ticks off everything that contributes to his monthly electricity bill: canning machines, pressure cookers, freezers lights."
"The State Department has granted Enbridge Energy a presidential permit for the final piece of its project to boost the capacity of its Alberta Clipper oil pipeline."
"More than 350 former National Park Service employees today disparaged Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's recommendations to reduce the acreage of a half-dozen national monuments and alter the management plans of others. They also criticized the agency as 'utterly unconscionable' for failing to release a public report following its review of those sites."
"Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt hinted Tuesday at plans to rid the agency’s scientific advisory boards of researchers who get EPA grants, arguing that the current structure raises questions about their independence."
"President Donald Trump’s administration has approved a company’s plan to build a water pipeline to carry billions of gallons from the Mojave Desert to California cities."
"Records show the coal mining company formerly run by David Zatezalo retaliated against a foreman who complained of harassment and unsafe conditions."
"The coal mining company run by President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the nation’s top mining regulator has already come under criticism for weaknesses in its safety record. It turns out the company was also found by the government to have illegally retaliated against a foreman who complained about sexual and ethnic harassment from supervisors, unsafe conditions and drug use at one of its mines.
The SEJ has written the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to object to its criticism of an Associated Press story about Superfund sites following Hurricane Harvey floods. That, plus a judge rules against EPA for withholding records on the pesticide Enlist Duo, and more, in this month's WatchDog.
As this month's fatal California fires demonstrated, the risk of wildfire at the wildland-urban interface rises as development moves into fire-prone zones. The latest TipSheet explains this complex phenomenon, and provides story ideas and a wide range of resources to help you get ahead of the problem.
"The long and brutal 2017 wildfire season is stressing the state and federal agencies that have to pay for the army of ground crews and machinery required to fight them."
