Climate Change

"From easing regulations on coal mining to opening more federal land to oil drillers, President Donald Trump has kept a laser focus on bolstering the U.S. fossil fuel industry to achieve what he calls “energy dominance.” Time and time again, federal judges have gotten in the way."

"The issue of what to do with the hundreds of millions of acres of federally controlled lands usually does not get much attention in presidential elections — despite the vastness of the U.S. government’s holdings. But the 2020 contest for the Democratic nomination seems to be different."

"The Environmental Protection Agency published a 150-page document this past week with a straightforward message for coping with the fallout from natural disasters across the country: Start planning for the fact that climate change is going to make these catastrophes worse."

"The Antarctic’s second-largest colony of emperor penguins collapsed in 2016, with more than 10,000 chicks lost, and the population has not recovered, according to a new study."

"The White House scrubbed language about how climate change fuels more extreme weather events from draft EPA guidance, newly released documents show."

"Minnesota House members revealed Wednesday whether they believe humans are causing climate change. It broke largely along party lines: 79 lawmakers, including all 75 Democrats, voted yes, and 50 Republicans voted no. Five Republicans did not vote."

"U.S. senators are fighting over the details of an approximately $13 billion disaster aid package to help these states and Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory. But congressional feuding over disaster aid is unlikely to stop even after the current impasse is resolved. In a typical year, taxpayer spending on the federal disaster relief fund is almost 10 times higher than it was three decades ago, even after adjusting for inflation, according to a Washington Post analysis of federal data."

"AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said yesterday that the largest group of U.S. unions does not support the Green New Deal in its current form, a potential blow for activists hoping to get labor on board with the progressive climate plan."

"Another tropical cyclone is expected to make landfall on Mozambique’s coast on Thursday, just over a month after a more powerful storm struck the Mozambican port city of Beira further south and killed hundreds of people."

"A continental divide of geography, language, culture and tradition separates the Gullah/Geechee Nation of the south Atlantic coast and the U.S.-Mexico border city of Imperial Beach, Calif. But their elected leaders are bound by a common cause. They are trying to keep rising seas from destroying their ways of life."