"EPA and the agency’s inspector general are at odds over whether federal oversight is sufficient to ensure U.S. water operators are protected against hackers and other saboteurs."
"In conflict-ravaged nations like Yemen and Somalia, devastating floods and droughts kill hundreds of people and uproot tens of thousands from their homes. .... But they have little or no access to climate financing."
"Newly elected Democratic lawmakers are planning bolder climate action in states where their party wrested legislative majorities and governors’ mansions from Republicans."
"Global emissions associated with coal burning are on track to hit a new record in 2022, underscoring the challenge of phasing out the world’s most carbon-intensive fuel."
"The world’s most climate-threatened countries won an historic first at climate talks here Sunday — securing a fund that would pay them for the damage wrought by global warming. But the victory came at a price."
The Department of Justice’s new regulations around reporter’s privilege — the protection of journalistic sources and notes — is a noteworthy advance. But the WatchDog Opinion column calls for more: a federal shield law that is less vulnerable to weakening by subsequent administrations. A take on the new regs, the state of current law and prospects for congressional action.
Obama-era regulation of the toxic waste product coal ash, which was watered down in the face of resistance from coal and electric utilities and further weakened by the Trump administration, has meant many coal-fired power plants simply ignore disposal requirements. That’s per a new report that the latest TipSheet writes can offer journalists useful ways to report an overlooked environmental story in their area.
Rachel Nuwer is an award-winning freelance journalist who regularly writes about conservation, ecology and wildlife trade, and is the author of "Poached: Inside the Dark World of Wildlife Trafficking."
"The gas line was punctured by shrapnel. Plastic sheets now hang where the windows were. A single electric heat lamp is all there is to keep the home from freezing."
"West Virginia regulators accuse American Electric Power of driving up costs with skimpy use of its coal plants. Others say the high costs of those aging plants are a growing burden to citizens in one of the nation's poorest states."
