"When a huge floating gyre of plastic waste was discovered in the Pacific in the late 1980s, people were shocked. When whales died and washed ashore with stomachs full of plastic, people were horrified. ... Though some of it came from ships, most, presumably, was from land. But how much was coming from where?"
"The House is expected next week to pass legislation to extend the nation’s troubled flood insurance program until the end of of November, after lawmakers failed once again to reach a deal on reforming the program."
"Hoover Dam helped transform the American West, harnessing the force of the Colorado River — along with millions of cubic feet of concrete and tens of millions of pounds of steel ... . Now it is the focus of a distinctly 21st-century challenge: turning the dam into a vast reservoir of excess electricity, fed by the solar farms and wind turbines that represent the power sources of the future."
"Rep. Carlos Curbelo rolled out the first Republican carbon pricing bill in nearly a decade this morning, a rare political risk that quickly earned rebukes from conservatives and tepid praise from environmental groups."
"In a resounding win for EPA, a federal court today upheld a contentious Obama-era rule aimed at protecting fish and other aquatic life endangered by water intakes of power plants and other industrial facilities."
"Industrial chemicals dumped long ago still haunt Minden, W.Va., a community beset by cancer and fear. Like her father, physician Ayne Amjad is trying to track the links."
"In a quest to shrink national monuments last year, senior Interior Department officials dismissed evidence that these public sites boosted tourism and spurred archaeological discoveries, according to documents the department released this month and retracted a day later."
This International Association for Impact Assessment Special Symposium in Malaysia will examine the competing challenges of sustainability and economic development, with issues around income and social inequality, a growing gap between rich and poor, and continued environmental degradation across developing Asia — and how voluntary impact assessment tools and techniques could help achieve sustainable development goals.
"For 45 years, young interns with Audubon's Project Puffin have summered on remote islands in Maine, making a real impact on the species' recovery. Today, their work may be more critical than ever."
"Three days since an underground steam pipe burst in Manhattan’s Flatiron district, spewing asbestos-laced muck across several blocks, many residents were still barred from their homes on Sunday, coping not only with sudden homelessness, but fear about what the exposure could do to their health."
