"The Trump administration has taken a series of extraordinary steps to attack California’s position as a national leader in environmental protection, enlisting at least a half-dozen federal agencies to undermine the state’s efforts to pivot away from fossil fuels."
As wildfires rage in the U.S. West, Canada and other hot spots around the globe, reporters covering this environmental hazard in the United States can access high-quality data of exceptional timeliness via the Watch Duty app, finds the latest Reporter’s Toolbox. The tool offers everything from emergency notifications to data deep dives, all smartly integrated in its mapping interface.
"State regulators face calls to better protect low-income, Spanish-speaking immigrants from pesticide exposure in agricultural communities."
"Pesticide manufacturers have voluntarily cancelled registrations for products containing paraquat in California — kickstarting a statewide phase-out of the controversial herbicide linked to Parkinson’s disease, according to a California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) announcement on Monday."
"As a wildfire in May approached the site of one of the worst nuclear meltdowns in U.S. history, state and local officials scrambled to respond to the blaze and to establish proper real-time radiation and air monitoring to protect Southern California families, internal emails show."
"A federal appeals court signaled that it might not allow a lawsuit brought by fishing industry businesses and trade groups against a California aquarium to proceed because of the case’s potential impact on free speech."
"A pioneering California law meant to sharply limit use of the familiar “chasing arrows” recycling symbol has been blocked by a federal judge who said it probably violates the First Amendment."
The U.S. freight system delivers significant environmental impacts nationwide, especially in states that host major rail-and-road hubs and seaports. Meanwhile, new federal laws and policies are making it harder to curtail pollution generated by freight trucks, trains and warehouses. Journalist John Lippert looks at how the public, private and nonprofit sectors are rising to this challenge.
"Solar panels produced 51% of California’s electricity in May, the first time the clean energy source surpassed the halfway mark for an entire month. The data counts both large-scale installations and the state’s bounty of rooftop arrays."
"California’s wildfires are destroying forests faster than the state can replant them, and federal cuts are making the gap worse. One expert says the crisis is barely known — even though it could reshape half the state’s forests by 2071."
