"The head of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brock Long, said he would resign on Wednesday, after overseeing the government’s response to a string of record-breaking hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters."
"Despite promises to steer clear of his former employer, the disgraced banker who spearheaded EPA's toxic waste cleanup reform efforts communicated extensively while at the agency with the institution he once led, newly released emails show."
Our latest Issue Backgrounder looks at the potentially historic impact of the ambitious climate action agenda known as the Green New Deal — not just on this Congress or the next, or even on the race for the White House in 2020, but for the soul of the Democratic Party. An analysis of a public policy program in the making, the political maneuvering it’s engendering and its prospects to sow division or prompt a united front.
A former head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has written a powder keg of a book, “Confessions of a Rogue Nuclear Regulator.” Author Gregory Jaczko left the post in 2012, far more critical of nuclear power’s safety claims than he came in, his concerns amplified by the Fukushima meltdown in Japan in 2011. Now, he worries that its lessons have not sunk in deeply enough with an industry that he believes is headed toward catastrophe. Read our latest BookShelf review.
The Green New Deal may be just a broad outline, even after the recent introduction of a resolution in Congress. But don’t think the lack of specificity means the Green New Deal won’t be news for the long term. This week’s TipSheet explains the reasons the Green New Deal may endure and why it matters, plus story ideas and resources for journalists covering climate, environmental politics and more.
"Scientific monitoring in the Pacific Ocean, using buoys to take seawater temperatures, screeched to a halt when the government recently shut down for 35 days. But those efforts to monitor El Nino, the warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean that affects global weather patterns, are just some of the shutdown’s impacts on science that Kevin Trenberth describes."
"David Bernhardt, the agency’s acting chief, wants to roll back endangered-species protections on a tiny fish, a change that benefits few outside a California group he once represented as a lobbyist."
If a wood stove seems like a good solution to the winter’s bitter cold, you may want to think again. The unhealthful particulate pollution many such stoves generate has prompted new federal emission standards. But some states are pushing back, and the EPA is now considering a two-year delay in the new regulations. This week’s TipSheet has the latest news and why it matters, plus story ideas and reporting resources.
It’s a “make or break” year for a range of environmental and energy issues, advise leading journalists at the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual “2019 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment” event in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 25. The gathering also featured a surprise appearance by a top EPA official, who was questioned about administration policy on climate change. Read our coverage of the forum in this SEJ News report.
Journalism groups, among them the Society of Environmental Journalists, have raised objections to an under-the-radar plan by the Interior Department that would essentially allow it to turn down almost any Freedom of Information Act requests it chose. SEJ filed comments opposing the proposal on Jan. 28. See what rules change Interior has requested and get more on SEJ’s response in the latest WatchDog Tipsheet.
Advertisement 
