"EPA IG Adds Muscle For Tracking Infrastructure Cash"
"EPA’s internal watchdog is planning aggressive oversight for the billions of infrastructure funds flowing into the agency, warning fraud could follow the influx of cash."
EJToday is a daily weekday digest of top environment/energy news and information of interest to environmental journalists, independently curated by Editor Joseph A. Davis. Sign up below to receive in your inbox. For queries, email EJToday@SEJ.org. For more info, read an EJToday FAQ. Plus, follow EJToday on social media at @EJTodayNews, and flag stories of note by including the @EJTodayNews handle on your posts. And tell us how to make EJToday even better by taking this brief survey.
Want to join the EJToday team? Volunteer time commitments can vary from just an hour a month up to a daily contribution, and would involve helping to curate content of interest. To learn more, reach out to the director of publications, Adam Glenn, at sejournaleditor@sej.org.
Note: Members have additional options to choose from (you'll need your log-in info).
"EPA’s internal watchdog is planning aggressive oversight for the billions of infrastructure funds flowing into the agency, warning fraud could follow the influx of cash."
"A push by Senate Democrats to pass a roughly $2 trillion tax-and-spending measure before Christmas appeared in dire political peril Wednesday, as talks soured between President Biden and Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) over the size and scope of the economic package."
"Water leaders in Arizona, Nevada and California signed an agreement Wednesday to voluntarily reduce their take from the Colorado River to help stave off mandatory cuts in the upcoming years."
"Six environmental organizations on Tuesday called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take more aggressive action in response to reports that an agency office manipulated assessments of chemical safety."
"Sen. Elizabeth Warren called on the country’s top securities regulator to examine the pay practices of large energy companies, citing a report in The Washington Post that revealed how some fossil fuel giants reward executives for meeting environmental goals even in years when their companies caused significant environmental harm."
"So much for Donald Trump’s quest for “perfect” hair. The Biden administration is reversing a Trump-era rule approved after the former president complained he wasn’t getting wet enough because of limits on water flow from showerheads."
"High winds and tornadoes ripped off roofs, knocked down trees and power lines and led to hazardous travel conditions in parts of the Plains and upper Midwest Tuesday."
"Northerners say the federal government's plan to regulate the release of treated oilsands tailings water will be met with opposition by communities downstream."
"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is withdrawing its support for the Yazoo Pumps project."
"Montana wildlife officials on Tuesday advanced plans that could allow grizzly bear hunting in areas around Glacier and Yellowstone national parks, if states in the U.S. northern Rockies succeed in their attempts to lift federal protections for the animals."
"It’s time to agitate the oysters at St. Stanislaus High School on Mississippi’s Gulf coast."
"President Joe Biden on Wednesday is set to tour the damage in Kentucky caused by tornadoes that ripped through the state and several others over the weekend." "Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said 74 people have been confirmed dead and more than 100 are unaccounted for."
"Methane continues to escape at a high rate from oil and gas operations in the Permian Basin, according to an aerial survey released Tuesday that detected major methane plumes from 40% of 900 sites that were measured. The latest research conducted by the Environmental Defense Fund via helicopter during the first two weeks of November found that 14% of those plumes were the result of malfunctioning flares."
"A powerful storm walloped California with heavy rain and snow on Tuesday, as several inches of rain fell in the Los Angeles area and feet of snow were reported the Sierra Nevada." "The storm brought much-needed moisture to the broader region that’s been gripped by drought."
"The changes happening at the top of the planet could unfold elsewhere in the years to come, scientists report." "Across the icy dome that crowns the Earth, rising temperatures are turning the tundra greener and more lush. Beavers are expanding their range. Garbage from passing ships is fouling the shores. Wildfires are scorching the once permanently frozen lands of Siberia."