By Sarah Kaplan 4 May 2017 (The Washington Post) – In wintertime, the sounds of nature are so subtle they’re almost imperceptible: The whistling of the wind though craggy mountaintops, the whispering branches of the trees; the soft, delicate patter of an unseen animal’s paws across snowy ground. “It’s a really quiet experience,” said Rachel […]
4 May 2017 (RSF) – The 2017 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reflects a world in which attacks on the media have become commonplace and strongmen are on the rise. We have reached the age of post-truth, propaganda, and suppression of freedoms – especially in democracies. Читать по-русски / Read […]
By Timothy Cama5 May 2017 (The Hill) – The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is recusing himself from matters involving numerous major lawsuits he filed against his own agency. Scott Pruitt filed a recusal statement Thursday, saying that he will stay away from cases challenging the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, the Clean Water […]
By David A. Lieb7 May 2017 (Associated Press) – For the first time in nearly 30 years, Tennessee will soon tax motorists more to fill their tanks. So will California, Indiana, and Montana. Lawmakers across the U.S. have approved new proposals this year to pay for transportation improvements, including tax hikes, vehicle fee increases and […]
By Joe Sutton and Susannah Cullinane9 May 2017 (CNN) – Three people are missing and a man has reportedly died after after heavy flooding covered parts of the Canadian provinces of Quebec and British Columbia. The man was driving with his 2-year-old child in the Gaspésie area of Quebec when powerful flood waters pushed their […]
By Lauren Frisch5 May 2017 (UAF) – In one year, sea stars have almost disappeared from Kachemak Bay, Alaska. This is likely the aftermath of a sea star wasting disease episode. The disease causes lesions, and may result in the loss of arms, making a sea star look as if it is melting or decomposing. […]
By Bob Berwin8 May 2017 (InsideClimate News) – Soaring temperatures in the Arctic have triggered a huge seasonal surge in carbon dioxide emissions from thawing permafrost and may be tipping the region toward becoming a net source of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, a new study shows. Even into early winter, when the ground would have been […]
By Joe Ryan and Jennifer A Dlouhy8 May 2017 (Bloomberg) – A group of retired senior military officers is urging U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis to remain firm in their support for combating global warming as White House officials consider exiting the Paris climate accord. The 17 veterans argue […]
By Coral Davenport7 May 2017 WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency has dismissed at least five members of a major scientific review board, the latest signal of what critics call a campaign by the Trump administration to shrink the agency’s regulatory reach by reducing the role of academic research. A spokesman for the E.P.A. administrator, […]
By Juliet Eilperin 6 May 2017 (The Washington Post) – The Environmental Protection Agency has sidelined a website aimed at teaching schoolchildren about climate change, a public watchdog group has determined, as part of the agency’s efforts to align online content with the new administration’s values. When the EPA announced on April 28 that its […]
