"The Biden administration cleared the way Friday for California’s plan to phase out a wide range of diesel-powered trucks, part of the state’s efforts to drastically cut planet-warming emissions and improve air quality in heavy-traffic areas like ports along the coast."
"The Biden administration hopes its guidelines for up to $7,500 in tax credits will encourage automakers to reduce their reliance on China for batteries and raw materials."
For journalists of all stripes, the central pillar of libel law protecting them from damaging defamation suits is Times v. Sullivan. And while at least a couple of Supreme Court justices have indicated an openness to reevaluating the decades-old decision, WatchDog Opinion warns that the real risk to defamation protections may come in the form of legislation, such as from states like Florida.
When it comes to a core data set that just keeps giving for environmental journalists, Reporter’s Toolbox points you to the Toxics Release Inventory. A new year of data has just been released, with much insight to be extracted. And the TRI now also includes PFAS chemicals for the first time. Here’s how to use it for your local stories.
"The Australian Parliament created landmark new laws Thursday that will make the nation’s biggest greenhouse gas polluters reduce their emissions or pay for carbon credits."
"The Mountain Valley pipeline inched toward completion after a three-judge panel Wednesday unanimously denied environmentalists’ challenge to a Virginia water permit for the planned natural gas project."
"Coal industry influence and climate change denial paved the state’s race to the clean energy bottom. As one lawmaker put it: “God created coal for people.”"
"The Cordillera Azul National Park on the eastern flank of the Peruvian Andes takes in a sweep of Amazon rainforest, mountains and waterfalls in a territory about the size of Connecticut, so precious that tens of millions of dollars in carbon credits have been sold in a program that supporters said would protect its trees."
"A widely touted effort to clean up the embattled carbon-offsets market has been met with disappointment among experts."
"The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to add the Lukachukai Mountains Mining District to the Superfund National Priorities List, according to EPA Thursday. The site, located entirely on the Navajo Nation, holds over a hundred waste piles stemming from uranium mining, the agency said."
