"Joleah Lamb began her career as a coral biologist on the Great Barrier Reef. Every now and then she’d note a scrap of plastic as she swam through. But when she started studying reefs in Asia, she came across a completely different level of detritus."
"The U.S. region most vulnerable to tsunamis - the massive waves of water unleashed by undersea earthquakes - is dangerously under-prepared, experts and officials in Oregon and Washington state said after a magnitude 7.9 earthquake this week."
"By 2050 many of the world's major cities will face surface water shortages, spurring regional conflict and competition for scarce resources".
"A fledgling water infrastructure loan program at the EPA is experiencing an unusual problem in Washington: It may enjoy too much political support."
"Nearly 5 million gallons of sewage spilled into the ocean on California’s Central Coast after a filter at a water treatment plant got clogged and the computer system failed to sound an alarm, an official said Monday, forcing several popular beaches to close."
This is a decisive time on the energy and environment front, with challenges and confrontation expected over the consummation of the Trump deregulatory agenda. Our second annual issues guide provides a roadmap for covering the big stories. The guide's formal launch took place at an SEJ event in Washington, D.C. on January 26. If you missed it, the webcast is archived here.
The effectiveness of Trump administration governance looms large in environment stories for 2018, and this week's TipSheet looks at flash points like an Interior Department reorg and the reshaping of the EPA, plus budgets and shutdowns. Ideas to help you cover the story.
"The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin today filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency claiming the agencies have failed to take 'primary responsibility' for wetland permitting on a controversial proposed open pit mine in Michigan's Upper Peninsula."
In its 9-0 unanimous opinion today [Monday], the Supreme Court found that while it may not be the most efficient use of judicial resources, there was no question in the law about where challenges to the Clean Water Rule belong."
"In a surprise statement undercutting Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s announcement last week that he would exempt Florida from President Trump’s offshore drilling plan, a senior Interior Department official said Friday that Florida’s coastal waters had not been excluded after all."
