Trump administration considers charging for popular Earth-observing data as scientists object – “It would be just a huge setback”

By Gabriel Popkin 24 April 2018 (Nature) – The US government is considering whether to charge for access to two widely used sources of remote-sensing imagery: the Landsat satellites operated by the US Geological Survey (USGS) and an aerial-survey programme run by the Department of Agriculture (USDA).Officials at the Department of the Interior, which oversees […]

Trump’s next NASA administrator is a Republican congressman with no background in science who denies global warming – “I just think it could be devastating for the space program”

By Brian Resnick 19 April 2018 (Vox) – The US Senate on Thursday confirmed Jim Bridenstine, a Republican Congress member from Oklahoma, to be the next administrator of NASA. The post has remained vacant since January 2017, when Charles Bolden, the space agency’s leader under President Barack Obama, stepped down. Bridenstine, 42, brings some odd […]

EPA insiders bemoan low point in agency’s history: “The relentless tide of bullshit from Pruitt and his cronies is tough to deal with”

By Oliver Milman 7 April 2018 (The Guardian) – The week at the Environmental Protection Agency has been a brutal low point in what many staff members refer to as the most difficult year in its near half-century history. An avalanche of allegations of ethical misconduct by the EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt, has heaped embarrassment […]

“Children’s” constitutional climate lawsuit gets trial date in October – “The court clearly recognizes the urgency of the climate crisis”

EUGENE, Oregon, 12 April 2018 (Our Children’s Trust) – During a public case management conference today, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Coffin set 29 October 2018 as the trial date for Juliana v. United States, the constitutional climate lawsuit brought by 21 young people and supported by Our Children’s Trust. The trial will be heard before […]

Human role in global warming censored from official National Park Service science report – “Censorship of this kind is something you’d see in Russia or some totalitarian regime. It has no place in America.”

By Elizabeth Shogren 2 April 2018 (Reveal) – National Park Service officials have deleted every mention of humans’ role in causing climate change in drafts of a long-awaited report on sea level rise and storm surge, contradicting Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s vow to Congress that his department is not censoring science. The research for the […]

Scott Pruitt’s attack on science would paralyze the Environmental Protection Agency

By Gina McCarthy and Janet G. McCabe 26 March 2018 (The New York Times) – Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, has announced that he alone will decide what is and isn’t acceptable science for the agency to use when developing policies that affect your health and the environment.It is his latest […]

Leaked memo: EPA shows workers how to downplay global warming

By Alexander C. Kaufman 28 March 2018 (Huffington Post) – The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday evening sent employees a list of eight approved talking points on climate change from its Office of Public Affairs ― guidelines that promote a message of uncertainty about climate science and gloss over proposed cuts to key adaptation programs. […]

Trump environment head expected to limit science used to make EPA pollution rules – “It really hamstrings the ability of the EPA to do anything, to fulfill its mission”

By Scott Waldman and Robin Bravender 16 March 2018 (E&E News) – U.S. EPA chief Scott Pruitt is expected to roll out plans soon to restrict the agency’s use of science in rulemakings, pitting him against critics who say it would threaten public health and environmental protections. In a closed-door meeting at the Heritage Foundation […]

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry says moving from fossil fuels to renewables is “immoral”

By Joe Romm 8 March 2018 (ThinkProgress) – Energy Secretary Rick Perry said on Wednesday that it was “immoral” to help poor nations shift off of fossil fuels.“Look those people in the eyes that are starving and tell them you can’t have electricity,” said Perry in remarks after his big speech to the oil and […]

FEMA strips mention of “climate change” from its strategic plan

By Christopher Flavelle 15 March 2018 (Bloomberg News) – The Federal Emergency Management Agency, responsible for dealing with the effects of disasters like hurricanes and floods, has stripped the words “climate change” from the document meant to guide its actions over the next four years.FEMA on Thursday released its strategic plan for 2018-2022. It replaces […]

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