A critical logjam is emerging for post-disaster aid to U.S. states, $11 billion or more, according to some calculations. At the same time, FEMA, which dispenses much of it, is in the Trump administration’s crosshairs. TipSheet explores how this looks on the ground and how politics play into the backlog, plus offers 10 story ideas and resources for local reporting.
"Billions of American chestnut trees once covered the eastern United States. ... But by the 1950s, this venerable tree went functionally extinct, culled by a deadly airborne fungal blight and lethal root rot. A new study out Thursday in the journal Science provides hope for its revitalization, finding that the genetic testing of individual trees can reveal which are most likely to resist disease and grow tall, thus shortening how long it takes to plant the next, more robust, generation."
"The US Supreme Court has set an April hearing in a closely watched case brought by Bayer that seeks to make the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the ultimate arbiter of warning labels on pesticides such as the company’s popular Roundup weed killer."
"A wastewater spill into the Potomac River that began last month now appears to be one of the largest in American history."
"A year ago, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he wanted to rebuild trust in federal health agencies, and vowed to employ “radical transparency” to do it. But many types of health information that steadily flowed from the government for years or decades has been delayed, deleted and in some cases stopped all together."
"President Donald Trump has nominated a hotel and food management executive to be director of the National Park Service."
"Lawyers for residents say that zoning that concentrates pollution in Black districts is a violation of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery."
"A new Republican House bill proposes sweeping changes to US toxic chemical laws that would gut protections for consumers, workers and the environment, public health advocates mobilising against the legislation warn."
"President Donald Trump’s campaign to quash climate change policies notched its biggest win yet Thursday, as EPA eliminated the legal basis for regulations aimed at restricting greenhouse gas emissions from tailpipes and smokestacks that are heating the planet."
"Many people already understand that climate-warming pollution is rising globally and that it’s caused by human activities like burning fossil fuels and releasing methane gas. But do you know if there are major climate polluters near you?"
