Disasters

"More than 200 employees at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have been fired, according to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA. ... The loss is likely to hinder FEMA's ability to respond to disasters, according to several current and former FEMA employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity over concerns of reprisal."

"For the past 25 years, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has helped develop building codes, the construction standards that help houses survive hurricanes, wildfires and earthquakes. Now, the Trump Administration has ordered that to stop, according to people involved with the work."

"One month into the new Trump administration, firings of scientists and freezes to U.S. research funding have caused an unprecedented elimination of scientific expertise from the federal government. Proposed and ongoing cuts to agencies like the National Weather Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, could hobble efforts to keep Americans safe during and after disasters."

"After firing 200 probationary employees this weekend, FEMA was directed “to make a list” of anyone who worked on climate or equity."

"Enbridge Energy’s plans to build a protective tunnel around an aging pipeline that runs beneath a channel connecting two Great Lakes can continue, a Michigan appeals court ruled."

"Staff at the office, a branch of the U.S. housing department that Congress uses to address the worst catastrophes, would be reduced by 84 percent."

"Demonstrators have protested against an expedited cleanup process that would involve using a beloved beach as a toxic waste sorting site"

"Numerous programs aimed at averting violence, instability and extremism worsened by global warming are ensnared in the effort to dismantle the main American aid agency, U.S.A.I.D."

"The agency’s acting administrator directed employees to not engage with the media without “prior authorization.”"

"Just over a mile from where Patricia Flores has lived for almost 20 years, a battery smelter plant spewed toxic elements into the environment for nearly a century."