"A California farmer decides it makes better business sense to sell his water than to grow rice. An almond farmer considers uprooting his trees to put up solar panels. Drought is transforming the state, with broad consequences for the food supply."
"The House Appropriations Committee proposed funding increases for the Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday, but at slightly lower levels than those proposed by the Biden administration for Interior."
As the solar panel business resurges, the wide scope of possible regional and local story angles — climate, tech, consumer, business, jobs, air quality and grid reliability — make bright prospects for journalists. The latest TipSheet sets out recent political and market developments, along with more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.
Environmental journalists around the world sometimes pay for their work with their freedom, safety or even their lives. The Forbidden Stories network continues the reporting of some of those journalists, and a team there recently produced an award-winning collaboration to investigate troubles at mining giants in Central America, South Asia and East Africa. “The Green Blood Project” in this month’s Inside Story.
"A deal reached Thursday between President Biden and a bipartisan group of senators for $579 billion in new spending to repair the nation’s roads, rails and bridges does relatively little to fight climate change, an issue that the president has called an “existential threat.”"
"The Government Accountability Office (GAO) called on the Department of Defense (DOD) this week to detail its cleanup expenses for “forever chemicals” from water supply sources near military bases."
"Miami is scheming for ways to become the U.S. bitcoin capital. Mayor Francis Suarez told CNBC last week that his city would welcome bitcoin miners with open arms, as China picks up its nationwide crackdown on miners."
"Limetree Bay, a massive oil refinery in the Caribbean, announced Monday that it is ceasing operations following a number of catastrophic errors that rained oil droplets on St. Croix, sent residents to emergency rooms after noxious gas releases and raised fears among homeowners that their drinking water was laced with toxic chemicals."
For reporters covering the long-standing conflict over offshore drilling, which erupted again this month after a federal judge blocked a halt to new leases, an Interior Department database offers a wealth of data about offshore wells. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox walks you through the maze of bureaucracy behind the database, and then provides detailed guidance on how to make the most of its info.
"The head of climate change at the UN has warned that world leaders are still “far away” from securing a deal to limit the disastrous effects of global heating, with less than five months to go before a key summit in Glasgow."
