"Fighting Coal Was Supposed to Lift Bloomberg. Here’s Why It Didn’t."
"Climate change was supposed to be one of Michael R. Bloomberg’s greatest strengths in the Democratic presidential primary."
Source: NY Times, 03/02/2020
EJToday: Top Headlines
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New NOAA Dorian Emails Show Tenuous Trump Scientific Credibility
"New emails released from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) show how much concern there was within the agency, and how much questioning and anger from the outside, regarding the credibility of its critical-to-life hurricane forecasts as a result of actions taken during Hurricane Dorian last fall."
Source: Washington Post, 03/02/2020"Lake Erie Bill Of Rights Ruled Invalid By Judge Zouhary"
"The Lake Erie Bill of Rights was invalidated Thursday night by U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary, who said in an eight-page ruling that his decision was “not a close call” because he believes the citizen-led referendum — though approved by a majority of Toledo voters in a special election last year — “is unconstitutionally vague and exceeds the power of municipal government in Ohio.”
Source: Toledo Blade, 03/02/2020"Pence Will Control All Coronavirus Messaging From Health Officials"
"The White House moved on Thursday to tighten control of coronavirus messaging by government health officials and scientists, directing them to coordinate all statements and public appearances with the office of Vice President Mike Pence, according to several officials familiar with the new approach."
Source: NY Times, 02/28/2020Whistle-Blower: Virus Health Workers Lacked Training and Protective Gear
"Federal health employees interacted with Americans quarantined for possible exposure to the coronavirus without proper medical training or protective gear, then scattered into the general population, according to a government whistle-blower who lawmakers say faced retaliation for reporting concerns."
Source: NY Times, 02/28/2020Oil And Gas: BLM Lost $12.4B From 'Grossly Outdated' Royalties — Report
"Taxpayers are losing billions of dollars in potential revenue from oil and gas drilling on federal lands, according to two reports released this week."
Source: EnergyWire, 02/28/2020Judge Voids 1 Million Acres Of Oil And Gas Leases Over Public Input
"A federal judge in Idaho ruled Thursday that a Trump administration policy limiting public input on oil and gas leasing decisions was “arbitrary and capricious,” overturning the 2018 directive and voiding nearly 1 million acres of leases out West as a result."
Source: Washington Post, 02/28/2020"Studies Sound Alarm On 'Badly Out-Of-Date' FEMA Flood Maps"
"The federal government must spend up to $12 billion to improve the nation's flood maps and should do more to steer development out of flood-prone areas, according to two recent studies that warn about increasing flood damage from climate change."
Source: ClimateWire, 02/28/2020"Heathrow Third Runway Ruled Illegal Over Climate Change"
"Plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport have been ruled illegal by the court of appeal because ministers did not adequately take into account the government’s commitments to tackle the climate crisis."
Source: Guardian, 02/28/2020"Murkowski, Manchin Introduce Major Energy Legislation"
"Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Thursday introduced a long-awaited energy package that's shaping up to be the best chance this year for passing legislation to expand the use of cleaner forms of energy."
Source: The Hill, 02/28/2020"House: Dems Roll Out Sweeping Environmental Justice Bill"
"House Democrats this morning unveiled a long-awaited environmental justice bill, a novel collaborative effort between lawmakers and local groups that have long been ignored on Capitol Hill."
Source: Greenwire, 02/28/2020"Trump EPA Chief To Congress: Cut My Funding"
"President Donald Trump’s U.S. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler wants Congress to deeply cut funding for his own agency in the next fiscal year."
Source: States Newsroom, 02/28/2020"Oil Industry Tool to Spare Polar Bears Is More Miss Than Hit"
"A new study casts doubt on the effectiveness of what is considered a state-of-the-art tool to help industry avoid injuring or disturbing polar bears by detecting their dens in the snow. Over more than a decade on the North Slope of Alaska, the study found, oil companies located fewer than half of the known dens of maternal bears and their infant cubs using airborne instruments called forward-looking infrared, or FLIR, cameras."
Source: NY Times, 02/28/2020Trump Downplays Risk, Places Pence In Charge Of Coronavirus Response
"President Trump announced Wednesday that Vice President Pence will lead the administration’s response to the deadly coronavirus in an attempt to reassure the public amid growing concerns of a global health crisis and criticism that the United States has been slow to respond to the fast-moving outbreak."
Source: Washington Post, 02/27/2020"Tribal Nation Condemns ‘Desecration’ to Build Border Wall"
"Construction of a wall on the Arizona border is endangering sacred Indigenous sites — including an oasis that has supported human beings for the last 16,000 years."
Source: NY Times, 02/27/2020
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