"Watchdog groups call the change a "baby step" toward reform, while UN chief Antonio Guterres says climate action must start with the fossil fuel industry, “the polluted heart of the climate crisis.”"
"The EPA doesn’t seem to have a firm grip on a $162 million pot of money meant for water infrastructure grants, the agency’s inspector general said in a Tuesday memo to department officials.
The findings are the latest in a string of reports from the Environmental Protection Agency’s inspector general raising red flags about how the agency is doling out its grant money.
The EPA’s drinking water division admitted it “encountered challenges” in trying to provide a list of grants issued under the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, according to the memo."
"The name of National Geographic's new host for a show about birds may ring a bell: Christian Cooper, a Black man who was flung into the spotlight when a white woman called the police with false accusations against him, will now take viewers “into the wild, wonderful and unpredictable world of birds."
"A scorching heat wave in two of India’s most populous states has overwhelmed hospitals, filled a morgue to capacity and disrupted power, forcing staff to use books to cool patients, as officials investigate a death toll that has reached nearly 170."
"Opponents of offshore wind energy projects in New Jersey are gathering force legally and politically as they seek to snuff out the nascent industry."
"Brazilian authorities said on Monday they had seized 28.7 metric tonnes of illegally obtained shark fins that would be exported to Asia, in what they called the world's largest confiscation of its kind at the origin."
"The National Hurricane Center declared Tropical Storm Bret formed at 5 p.m. Eastern Monday, the second of the young Atlantic season. Located about halfway between the coast of Africa and the eastern Caribbean Sea, the system is likely to intensify, and it could approach or impact the Lesser Antilles as a hurricane by the weekend."
"A century ago, a well-ventilated building was considered good medicine. But by the time Covid-19 arrived, our buildings could barely breathe. How did that happen? And how do we let the fresh air back in?"
"The Senate will take its first swing this week at fiscal 2024 appropriations bills, with Democrats vowing to keep current spending levels as agreed in last month’s fiscal accord."
"As the federal government starts negotiations on long-term plans for the overtapped Colorado River, leaders of tribes are pushing for more involvement in the talks, saying they want to be at the table in high-level discussions among the seven states that rely on the river."
