"For years, North Carolina has bet against a storm like Hurricane Florence. Even as nationally known insurance companies pulled out of the state’s coastal communities, development boomed along the shore, despite the threat from a megastorm like Harvey or Maria."
"The Environmental Protection Agency is shifting money away from a congressionally mandated program meant to get harmful asbestos out of schools, even though the threat of contamination remains, the agency’s internal watchdog said on Monday."
"Devastating flooding in North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence has raised concerns about whether dams across the state, some of them already in poor condition, will be able to hold up under the strain."
"In rejecting health concerns from Maryland and Delaware, the acting EPA head, a former coal lobbyist, is continuing Scott Pruitt's pro-fossil-fuel policies."
"NEW BERN, N.C. — Before the river rose and the water trespassed into her little public housing unit, ruining her black sectional sofa and her children’s clothes, leaving her walls moist to the touch — indeed, before she even knew that the river could be her enemy — Keisha Monk thought she had found something better than basic shelter at Trent Court."
"Surging floodwaters from Florence, now a tropical depression, have swept away part of a retaining wall holding back a pond of coal ash – which contains mercury, arsenic and other toxic substances – and have also overrun several lagoons of pig waste in North Carolina."
From #enemyofnone to #DefendPressFreedom, the Society of Environmental Journalists has joined numerous other journalism groups in campaigns to support news media. That, plus the latest WatchDog looks at a new report on widespread public support for a free press, a study on the extent of science censorship in the Trump Administration, and an improved database for tracking drinking water stories.
Local pesticide bans that go beyond federal restrictions may be a growing trend, but it’s one that has brought on a backlash by GOP politicians and farmers. The conflict may soon be resolved — or not — by Congress, as it closes in on a new U.S. Farm Bill. Meanwhile, this week’s TipSheet helps explain the dispute and provides resources and signs to watch.
"Researchers and scholars are exploring the plight—and the power—of urban communities struggling to meet their nutritional needs and asking hard questions about how the debate is framed."
"Something is killing bigleaf maples — Washington's biggest broadleaf tree — and scientists can't stop it. They don't even know what's causing it."
