"Environmentalists and politicians worry Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts could be weakened, if not doomed, days after the federal official overseeing that work called an agreement to reduce water pollution an “aspirational” goal and not rules to be enforced."
"The potential environmental and economic consequences posed by proposals for fish farming in federal waters dictate that Congress — not a federal agency — must decide how to regulate the industry, an attorney told a federal appeals court Monday."
"The Trump administration's latest National Preparedness Report, which describes the greatest threats and hazards to the country, says nothing about climate change, drought or sea-level rise."
"Climate activists halted a coal train bound for one of New England's last large coal-fired power plants by building a barricade on the tracks and sitting on it for about eight hours this week. The delay was temporary, but it was the fifth time activists had stopped a coal train in the region in less than a month."
"Even a renewable energy leader like Xcel, one of the first to pledge net zero emissions by mid-century, is finding it hard to end coal without adding natural gas."
"U.S. emissions linked to climate change fell last year on a record drop in coal-fired power generation, but further declines are unlikely without rapid policy changes, according to an estimate released on Tuesday."
"The Trump administration on Monday took its first step toward tighter pollution controls on trucks, an anomalous move for a government known for weakening environmental policies but one that would pre-empt tougher state rules."
Sometimes in the face of bad news, it can help to laugh a little. That’s what award-winning environmental writer Craig Pittman may help readers do with his new dispatch from the Sunshine State. Our latest BookShelf reviews Pittman’s upcoming witty, truth-telling volume,“Cat Tale: The Wild, Weird Battle To Save the Florida Panther.”
The Solutions Journalism Network offers travel grants of up to $750 to journalists and news organizations based in the Mountain West (Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico) to report on solutions outside their own community. Next deadline: Jan 31, 2020.
The Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources invites journalists on an expenses-paid learning expedition to Louisiana and Texas, March 15-21, 2020, to explore a host of issues impacting ecological, economic and cultural systems in the Gulf. Apply by Jan 24.
