“Hell to pay” over water, food deliveries, Puerto Rico governor warns

WASHINGTON, 9 October 2017 (Reuters) – Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossello said on Monday he ordered an investigation of water distribution on the hurricane-battered island and warned that there would be “hell to pay” for mishandling of the supplies. In an interview with CNN, Rossello said drinking water supplies have been restored to roughly 60 […]

Dutch regulator warns banks and insurers to factor in climate change

By Alessandro Speciale and Eric Roston ‎5‎ ‎October‎ ‎2017‎ (Bloomberg) – Banks, insurers, and other financial institutions must do more to take into account the risks posed by climate change to their business, a Dutch Central Bank study said. As global warming increases the risk of extreme weather events, regulators are giving more attention to […]

Ex-FEMA Director: Rebuilding Puerto Rico requires acknowledging climate change

By Rebecca Leber 3 October 2017 (Mother Jones) – The former Federal Emergency Management Agency chief has some advice for the Trump administration after back-to-back hurricanes in the past month: You have to look at climate change science if you want smarter disaster relief.Drawing on eight years of experience leading FEMA under President Barack Obama, […]

UN chief urges global solidarity, accelerated climate action after visit to hurricane-stricken Barbuda – “I have just witnessed a level of devastation that I have never seen in my life”

7 October 2017 (United Nations) – Having seen first-hand the destruction wrought by the recent hurricanes in the Caribbean, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday called for the full mobilization of the international community to support the people of the affected areas, while stressing the need to accelerate climate action.“I have just witnessed a […]

Beyond Harvey and Irma: Militarizing homeland security in the climate-change era

By Michael T. Klare 17 September 2017 (TomDispatch) – Deployed to the Houston area to assist in Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, U.S. military forces hadn’t even completed their assignments when they were hurriedly dispatched to Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to face Irma, the fiercest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. […]

Florida’s poop nightmare has come true – Hurricane Irma caused massive sewage overflows, highlighting the twin dangers of an aging infrastructure and climate change.

By Emily Atkin 14 September 2017 (New Republic) –  In the days and hours before Hurricane Irma slammed into Florida, its residents were treated to copious media speculation about nightmare scenarios. This monster storm, journalists said, could bring a 15-foot storm surge, blow roofs off of buildings, and cause tens of billions of dollars in […]

A year after Hurricane Matthew, Haiti’s children still incredibly vulnerable to disasters – UNICEF

5 October 2017 (United Nations) – One year has passed since Hurricane Matthew made landfall in southwest Haiti – leaving terrible destruction in its wake – but children and adolescents on the island still remain highly vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters and extreme weather events, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned.“Hundreds […]

Weather extremes, fossil fuel pollution cost US $240 billion – “The evidence is undeniable: the more fossil fuels we burn, the faster the climate continues to change”

By Alister Doyle 27 September 2017 OSLO (Reuters) – Weather extremes and air pollution from burning fossil fuels cost the United States $240 billion a year in the past decade, according to a report [pdf] on Wednesday that urged President Donald Trump to do more to combat climate change. This year is likely to be […]

Fake news posts blame Puerto Rico truck drivers for refusing to ship relief supplies – “There’s no strike, and union truck drivers have been trying to move aid shipments across Puerto Rico”

By Joshua Gillin 3 October 2017 (Politifact) – Conservative news outlets have been spreading a false story online that wrongly says aid to Hurricane Maria victims isn’t being distributed in Puerto Rico because union truck drivers have gone on strike.The headline on a 30 September 2017, post on The Gateway Pundit read, “San Juan Teamsters […]

Oxfam slams U.S. response in Puerto Rico as “slow, inadequate” – “Clean water, food, fuel, electricity, and health care are in desperately short supply and quickly dwindling”

By Avery Anapol 3 October 2017 (The Hill) – Oxfam America is stepping in to help Puerto Rico, saying the Trump administration’s response has been “inadequate.”The global nonprofit’s president, Abby Maxman, said in a statement Tuesday that the group is “outraged” at the U.S. government’s slow response in Puerto Rico, where more than half of […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial