"As temperatures rise in the U.S. West, so do the flames. The years with the most acres burned by wildfires have some of the hottest temperatures, an Associated Press analysis of fire and weather data found. As human-caused climate change has warmed the world over the past 35 years, the land consumed by flames has more than doubled."
"The Interior Department canceled a proposal to potentially sell public land that was once protected inside the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument before its boundary was redrawn, saying it contradicted Secretary Ryan Zinke’s assurance last year that he would not do so."
"Prominent US climate scientists have told the Guardian that the Trump administration is holding up research funding as their projects undergo an unprecedented political review by the high-school football teammate of the US interior secretary."
"As a corporate lawyer, William L. Wehrum worked for the better part of a decade to weaken air pollution rules by fighting the Environmental Protection Agency in court on behalf of chemical manufacturers, refineries, oil drillers and coal-burning power plants. Now, Mr. Wehrum is about to deliver one of the biggest victories yet for his industry clients — this time from inside the Trump administration as the government’s top air pollution official."
"The Trump administration next week plans to formally propose a vast overhaul of climate change regulations that would allow individual states to decide how, or even whether, to curb carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants, according to a summary of the plan and details provided by three people who have seen the full proposal."
"In another major court loss for the Trump administration, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today [Friday] tossed out a rule delaying Obama-era safety standards for chemical facilities."
The USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism invites journalists to apply for the 2025 fellowship, Oct 7-10, an online training on how to “interview the data” as if it were a human source. Fellows receive a grant and mentoring to work on an ambitious reporting project. Deadline: Aug 12.
"Bright blue, older than dinosaurs and weighing as much as an average-sized man, coelacanths are the most endangered fish in South Africa and among the rarest in the world." "Just 30 of the prehistoric fish known to exist, raising fears oil wells will push it to extinction".
"While most of the 21 youths suing the federal government in Eugene over climate change were on summer break, attorneys for the Trump administration worked at all levels of the federal judiciary to prevent the case from getting to trial this fall."
"The Trump administration is proposing to dispose of federal land in Utah that was protected within the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument until its boundary was redrawn by the Interior Department earlier this year — despite Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s assurance last year that he would not sell public lands."
