"Rejecting the advice of its scientific advisers, the federal government has released new dietary recommendations that sound a familiar nutritional refrain, advising Americans to “make every bite count” but dismissing experts’ specific recommendations to set new low targets for consumption of sugar and alcoholic beverages."
As global warming worsens, effects like extreme heat, drought, wildfires, coastal flooding and inland flooding will have an outsized impact in the Southern United States. The latest entry in our ongoing “Covering Your Climate: The South” special report looks at those effects. Plus, read an introductory overview and watch for additional entries on climate mitigation and adaptation in the South.
Most Southern state leaders are doing the least to fight the climate crisis, despite having the most to lose environmentally and economically. When will that begin to change? The latest entry in our “Covering Your Climate: The South” special report looks at the politics of the climate crisis, the dominance of utilities, and the transportation and forestry sectors, along with the few climate breakthroughs.
The South is ground zero for the climate crisis in the United States, yet little is being done to prevent impacts or protect communities. Will the South tap its potential to be part of the solution? Our special report, “Covering Your Climate: The South,” helps reporters cover the region, starting with a backgrounder on climate concerns from Texas to Virginia.
"Despite significant breakthroughs, sales of electric vehicles were largely stagnant, and the cost of the cars puts them still out of reach for most Americans."
"State prosecutors have announced they will not pursue felony charges against two New Orleans environmental activists who left plastic pellets on the doorstep of a chemical industry lobbyist."
"For the first time in three decades, the federal government on Tuesday overhauled a rule aimed at reducing lead in drinking water across the country — a long-standing scourge made worse by the nation’s weathered and crumbling infrastructure." "But the government is allowing many of the nation’s 6 million lead water pipes to remain in service, and health advocates say risks remain".
It’s been a half-century since the first Earth Day in 1970 and a new book from an old hand catalogues the advances and the setbacks in the decades since. BookShelf contributor Francesca Lyman reviews “You Can’t Fool Mother Nature: The Once and Future Triumph of Environmentalism,” and explores how a long view from a veteran environmentalist informs the field of environmental reporting.
"News that President-elect Joe Biden has picked former Obama administration Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to run the agency anew has drawn disappointment from some who felt he was too aligned with major agriculture corporations during his previous stint."
"A new survey shows arsenic levels in public water are disproportionately high in certain U.S. communities, despite national regulatory standards designed to protect people from the harmful chemical."
Advertisement 
