A hurricane's storm surge is an unpredictable and fast-moving killer, a phenomenon reporters must prepare to cover before it hits. This week's TipSheet explains how, with background on the complex factors that lead to storm surge, and resources to help you report on this very real risk in real time.
"A little more than a year after determining that greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft are a threat to public health, the EPA has stopped working on developing new standards for the air industry."
"An internal Interior Department memo has proposed lifting restrictions on exploratory seismic studies in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a possible first step toward opening the pristine wilderness area to oil and gas drilling."
"Rising sea levels and fierce storms have failed to stop relentless population growth along U.S. coasts in recent years, a new Associated Press analysis shows. The latest punishing hurricanes scored bull's-eyes on two of the country's fastest growing regions: coastal Texas around Houston and resort areas of southwest Florida."
"The United States could remain in the Paris climate accord under the right conditions, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Sunday, signaling a shift in tone from the Trump administration, which angered allies with its decision to pull out of the agreement."
"Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is recommending that six of 27 national monuments under review by the Trump administration be reduced in size, with changes to several others proposed."
"When asked on Air Force One if the two recent storms have changed his view on climate change, Trump told reporters: 'We’ve had bigger storms than this.'"
"Climate skeptics may soon join a key science advisory panel at U.S. EPA. A number of people who reject the findings of mainstream climate science are being considered by the Trump administration for spots on EPA's Science Advisory Board, a voluntary but influential panel that reviews science used in environmental regulations."
"The House [Thursday] approved a wide-ranging fiscal 2018 spending package that makes cuts in funding to U.S. EPA and the Interior Department, among other agencies, while adding several policy provisions aimed at limiting Obama-era environmental and energy policies."
"Hurricanes Harvey and Irma may have hit white and non-white families alike, but it will be people of color who will have the toughest time getting their homes back, which is by design."
