"A federal judge on Tuesday ruled the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was liable for damage caused by its decision to retain floodwaters upstream of the Addicks and Barker reservoirs during Hurricane Harvey, a move that caused severe and widespread flooding to homes and businesses on the far-west outreaches of the Houston region."
"U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Tuesday called for more federal money and oversight to shore up the nation’s aging dams following an Associated Press investigation that found scores of potentially troubling dams located near homes and communities across the country."
"House Democrats introduced sweeping climate legislation Tuesday that would halt fossil fuel production on public lands for at least a year as the nation prepares to drastically cut climate-warming pollution from its own land holdings."
"LONDON - Shipping associations have proposed creating a research fund with $5 billion raised by the industry to develop technology to help the sector meet U.N. targets on cutting emissions."
"In a world where warming seas, pollution, and predation are killing coral around the world, an extensive survey of French Polynesia has found a ray of hope. On some atolls there, live coral covers 70% of the reef’s surface; on others, big fish such as grouper and barracuda that have almost disappeared elsewhere are thriving."
"Congress is providing a little more budgetary heft to EPA's inspector general, which has been fighting with the agency's leadership over access to staff and information."
"As his coal mining company hurtled into bankruptcy, Robert E. Murray, the former chief executive, paid himself $14 million, handed his successor a $4 million bonus and earmarked nearly $1 million for casting doubt on man-made climate change, new court filings show."
"Deadly heat waves, wildfires and widespread flooding in 2019 punctuated a decade of climate extremes that, by many scientific accounts, show global warming kicking into overdrive."
"A coalition of twelve mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states and the District of Columbia on Tuesday released a draft plan for an ambitious cap-and-trade program to curb tailpipe emissions from cars, trucks and other forms of transportation, tackling what has fast become the largest source of planet-warming gases."
SEJournal looks ahead to key issues in the coming year with the launch of its annual "Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment." Check out year-ahead Backgrounders, TipSheets and a WatchDog, and stay tuned as we add to the special report in early 2020. Plus, watch for the guide's formal presentation Jan. 24 at an annual roundtable organized by the Society of Environmental Journalists and hosted by National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C.
