By Lisa Friedman 12 August 2019 WASHINGTON (The New York Times) – The Trump administration on Monday announced that it would change the way the Endangered Species Act is applied, significantly weakening the nation’s bedrock conservation law credited with rescuing the bald eagle, the grizzly bear and the American alligator from extinction. The changes could […]
By Jason Samenow and Andrew Freedman 9 August 2019 (The Washington Post) – A week after a punishing heat wave torched the eastern two-thirds of the country, setting numerous records, AccuWeather chief executive Joel Myers cast doubt on the scientific finding that heat waves in the United States and elsewhere are worsening because of climate change. […]
By Mike Roddy and Ian Murphy 29 December 2009 (The Buffalo Beast) – The science of climate change is pretty basic: humans dig up fossilized carbon to fuel power plants and internal combustion machines, releasing CO2 into the atmosphere. Result: greenhouse effect global heating. Around 50% of all the species on the planet are predicted […]
NEW YORK/GENEVA, 15 July 2019 (UNICEF) – 20 million children worldwide – more than 1 in 10 – missed out on lifesaving vaccines such as measles, diphtheria and tetanus in 2018, according to new data from WHO and UNICEF. Globally, since 2010, vaccination coverage with three doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3) and one […]
12 July 2019 (Desdemona Despair) – Desdemona readers have been requesting this feature for years, and it’s finally here: Also, you can check out Desdemona on Facebook: See you in the social media trenches. Aux barricades!
By Scott Waldman 8 July 2019 (Science) – A March news release from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) touted a new study that could be useful for infrastructure planning along the California coastline. At least that’s how President Donald Trump’s administration conveyed it. The news release hardly stood out. It focused on the methodology of […]
24 June 2019 (CBC News) – The federal government is pumping $275 million into LNG Canada’s $40 billion liquefied natural gas project in Kitimat, B.C. Finance Minister Bill Morneau made the announcement Monday in Kitimat, announcing the $220 million will be directed toward buying energy-efficient gas turbines for the project, with the additional $55 million […]
By Michael Skapinker 26 June 2019 (Financial Times) – The richer countries are, the less their citizens believe that vaccines are safe. In the US and Canada, only 72 per cent believe vaccines are safe. In the northern European arc from Ireland and the UK through the Nordic countries, the figure is about 73 per […]
By Gaby del Valle 22 June 2019 (Vice News) – Attorneys who work with migrant children recently visited two Border Patrol processing centers along the U.S.-Mexico border — and what they saw paints a bleak picture of the Trump administration’s treatment of child migrants. [It seems Desdemona’s worst fears are being realized: Children of Men, […]
By Nicole Einbinder 22 June 2019 (Insider) – Oregon lawmakers have shut down the state capitol after receiving threats from militia groups who are vowing to protect Republican senators who bolted earlier this week to prevent the passage of climate change legislation. Conflict first arose on Thursday when 11 GOP senators went into hiding to block the […]