12 December 2018 (Center for Biological Diversity) – On Tuesday the Trump administration offered more than 150,000 acres of public lands for fossil-fuel extraction near some of Utah’s most iconic landscapes, including Arches and Canyonlands national parks. Dozens of Utahns gathered at the state Capitol to protest the lease sale, which included lands within 10 […]
By Alastair Gee and Dani Anguiano 20 December 2018 PARADISE, California (The Guardian) – William Goggia awoke to a poisonous orange atmosphere so thick with smoke he couldn’t see the sun.It was 8am on Thursday 8 November. He heard the piercing metallic clang of propane tanks exploding in the distance. His sister, who lived […]
By Michael Halpern 19 December 2018 (UCS) – CNN had a scoop this past weekend: the U.S. Department of Transportation recently removed several climate change pages from its website. The changes are indicative of a greater trend within the federal government when it comes to climate information: when in doubt, take it out.The DOT is […]
14 December 2018 (RSF) – A total of 80 journalists were killed this year, 348 are currently in prison, and 60 are being held hostage, according to the annual worldwide round-up of deadly violence and abusive treatment of journalists released today by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which shows an unprecedented level of hostility towards media […]
By Robert Stavins 18 December 2018 (The Conversation) – The global climate change conference in Katowice, Poland, that wrapped up on Dec. 15 had a challenging mission. Three years ago in Paris, 196 countries and regions agreed to curb global greenhouse gas emissions Now they had to agree on rules and guidelines for how to […]
By Leslie Hook 18 December 2018 (Financial Times) – At about 10pm on Saturday evening, 15 December 2018, a cheer went up among the delegates at the UN climate talks in Katowice, Poland. A deal had been struck on the rules for implementing the Paris climate accord, breathing new life into a pact that aims […]
By Emily Holden 16 December 2018 WASHINGTON, D.C. (The Guardian) – Ryan Zinke’s exit as interior secretary elevates a former lobbyist to the job, meaning the top two US environmental agencies will now be run by people previously paid by industry.The deputy secretary, David Bernhardt, will take over at least temporarily when Zinke steps down […]
By Julia Fair 15 December 2018 (Staunton News Leader) – A federal court has vacated an environmental permit that would have allowed The Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cross two national forests, according to a court opinion filed Thursday with the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. The opinion quotes Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, saying: “We trust […]
By Juliet Eilperin, Josh Dawsey, and Darryl Fears 15 December 2018 (The Washington Post) – Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke submitted his resignation to the White House Saturday, facing intense pressure to step down because of multiple probes tied to his real estate dealings in his home state of Montana and his conduct while in […]
Dr. Jeff Masters 8 December 2018 (Weather Underground) – Preliminary research by precipitation expert Dr. Kenneth Kunkel of the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies, announced in September 2018, found that the three highest-volume rainfall events in the U.S. in the last 70 years have occurred since 2016: Hurricane Harvey in Texas/Louisiana in 2017, Hurricane […]
