Disaster cleanup from Hurricane Harvey is now bound up in Washington's brewing budget-related brouhaha, as Congress tries to fix the National Flood Insurance Program before authorization runs out at the end of September. The latest TipSheet explains, plus offers ideas and resources for localizing flood insurance stories.
"In a move that's drawing fierce criticism, the acting head of the National Park Service has rescinded a 2016 order by the Obama administration that called for a focus on climate change in managing natural resources in U.S. parks."
"Hurricane Harvey is sure to add more crushing debt to the National Flood Insurance Program, which is already $25 billion in the red. So when Congress resumes on Tuesday, will it immediately act to fix this troubled program? Don’t count on it."
"The U.S. Energy Secretary has approved the release of up to 4.5 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in response to the impact from Hurricane Harvey, the Department of Energy said on Friday."
"HOUSTON - Two key fuel pipelines were set to start up on Monday after certain segments in Texas were shut because of Hurricane Harvey, helping alleviate concerns about rising retail prices and the domestic distribution of gasoline and distillates."
"The Trump administration violated the law when it tried to delay a fossil fuel regulation that had already taken effect, a federal court ruled yesterday."
"The French company that says its Houston-area chemical plant is spewing "noxious" smoke — and may explode — successfully pressed federal regulators to delay new regulations designed to improve safety procedures at chemical plants, according to federal records reviewed by International Business Times."
"In a Friday night news dump, the White House announced that President Donald Trump Plans to nominate Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), a climate science denier to be administrator of NASA."
"President Donald Trump on Saturday indicated he has chosen as the nation’s top mine safety official the former chief executive of Rhino Resources, a coal company that repeatedly clashed with federal regulators when the Obama administration Labor Department tried to step up industry-wide enforcement in the wake of the worst U.S. coal mining disaster in a generation."
"WASHINGTON, D.C. – When Ceon Dubose Palmore got thirsty at school, an administrator had to escort the 15-year-old past trash-bag-covered fountains to a faucet two floors down."
