"For half a century, millions of workers have repeated a task across the deserts in northern China: inserting forearm-length sticks into shifting sand, ... The technique, known as “straw checkerboards,” is a simple yet widely used method to stabilize sand dunes against the wind and help plants take root by using water supplied through an irrigation system."
"A surf camp buses kids to other beaches, and junior lifeguards travel up the coast from this California beach town plagued by cross-border sewage."
"The Trump administration has signed off on a company’s plan to convert an oil and gas pipeline to pump groundwater from the Mojave Desert to thirsty California cities for the first time, a lucrative venture that critics say threatens natural springs and wildlife."
"The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has decided to ban collaborations between every U.S. scientist it funds and nearly all Chinese research institutions and their employees."
"The Trump administration’s decision to use the US Supreme Court’s unraveling of Chevron deference to delete the word “harm” from the Endangered Species Act is likely to expose the government to swift legal challenges seeking to restore environmental protections for endangered habitats."
"Justice Elena Kagan told lawmakers she hadn’t read a chapter on climate science that drew objections from conservative attorneys general before writing the forward for a reference manual for federal judges."
"The Trump administration is moving to approve a controversial program in Alabama that could allow millions of tons of toxic coal ash to remain buried in place alongside the state’s rivers, even though much of that material is sitting in groundwater where it can leach into the environment."
"Trump administration policies that scaled back federal support for clean energy have led to the cancellation or delay of $83 billion in investment across hundreds of projects, according to a report released on Tuesday by labor and environmental coalition BlueGreen Alliance."
"It’s already been a deadly year for firefighters, and authorities have been putting resources where they can more quickly pounce on wildfires before they get out of hand and increase the possibility of additional loss of life and property. Fire managers try to anticipate nature’s next move, placing thousands of firefighters, hundreds of engines, batteries of bulldozers, and fleets of helicopters and air tankers where they’ll make the biggest difference."
"New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) is imposing the nation’s first-ever statewide freeze on new “hyperscale” data centers. Hochul is pausing state-level environmental permits for “up to” a year to give the state time to put together a framework to protect the environment, the energy grid and New Yorkers’ electric bills, her office said."
