A Biden administration initiative that commits to allocating 40% of federal investments to disadvantaged communities plagued by overpollution is an environmental justice breakthrough, writes columnist Yessenia Funes. But it’s also a program with weaknesses, such as how it factors in race or keeps track of impacts. What is Justice40, what has it missed and what is its future?
What was once benignly dubbed biosolids is more accurately tagged toxic sludge. And some of it may be finding its way into our food. The latest TipSheet reports how that came to be despite (or perhaps because of) Clean Water Act regulation, and how hard it is to calculate the potential harms. Plus, more than a dozen reporting ideas and resources for this highly localizable story.
"Meteorologists tracking the advance of Hurricane Milton have been targeted by a deluge of conspiracy theories that they were controlling the weather, abuse and even death threats, amid what they say is an unprecedented surge in misinformation as two major hurricanes have hit the US."
When Hurricane Helene ravaged a swath of the Southeast in September, leaving at least 230 people dead, it also temporarily took out a critical repository of climate data in Asheville, North Carolina. That got Reporter’s Toolbox thinking about the risks to some of the nation’s other important storehouses of environmental information, whether from extreme weather, hackers or politics. Here’s a shortlist.
Yes, press freedom advocates worry over the prospects of a Trump administration that considers journalists “the enemy of the people.” But the new WatchDog Opinion column argues the Harris campaign has, for its part, been uncomfortably quiet on those same issues. So it’s time for the Democratic presidential hopeful to answer some questions. WatchDog has 10 we should all be asking.
"Vice President Harris called into CNN on Wednesday to talk about Hurricane Milton as it approaches Florida, bashing former President Trump for his comments about the federal government’s response to the latest storms."
"Former President Donald Trump has delivered a barrage of lies and distortions about the federal response to Hurricane Helene."
"The cash-strapped US Federal Emergency Management Agency is set to be tested by back-to-back major disasters as Hurricane Milton barrels toward Florida’s Gulf Coast less than two weeks after Helene devastated the Southeast."
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