Graph of the Day: U.S. measles cases, 2010 to 24 May 2019

24 May 2019 (CDC) – From 1 January 2019 to 24 May 2019, 940 individual cases of measles have been confirmed in 26 states. This is an increase of 60 cases from the previous week. This is the greatest number of cases reported in the U.S. since 1994 and since measles was declared eliminated in […]

U.S. environment agency cuts funding for kids’ health studies – “It works out perfectly for industry”

By Sara Reardon 13 May 2019 (Nature) – The Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health has tracked the lives of hundreds of children in New York City since 1998. Scientists have collected samples of blood, urine and even the air in children’s homes, starting when their subjects were in the womb, to tease out the […]

Texas state bill would make protesting pipelines a felony on par with attempted murder – “It’s an anti-protest bill, favoring the fossil fuel industry, favoring corporations over people”

By Eoin Higgins 17 May 2019 (Common Dreams) – A bill making its way through the Texas legislature would make protesting pipelines a third-degree felony, the same as attempted murder. H.B. 3557, which is under consideration in the state Senate after passing the state House earlier this month, ups penalties for interfering in energy infrastructure […]

Power companies have a plan to save the earth, but it probably won’t work – “In the absence of some kind of national program or policy, we shouldn’t expect to see some dramatic decline in emissions”

Power companies have a plan to save the earth, but it probably won’t work – “In the absence of some kind of national program or policy, we shouldn’t expect to see some dramatic decline in emissions”

By Neil Katz and Joe McCarthy 9 May 2019 (The Weather Channel) – Last month, a thousand well-heeled bankers, scrappy startups and energy CEOs sat down at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance conference in a swanky New York hotel to discuss the billions they would spend over the next 20 years to build cleaner energy […]

Trump border wall to go up in national monument, wildlife refuge – Department of Homeland Security waives dozens of environmental and other laws

By Astrid Galvan and Nomaan Merchant 14 May 2019 PHOENIX (AP) – The U.S. government plans on replacing barriers through 100 miles (161 kilometers) of the southern border in California and Arizona, including through a national monument and a wildlife refuge, according to documents and environmental advocates. The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday again […]

Trump Interior chief indifferent to record carbon dioxide levels – “I haven’t lost any sleep over it”

By Nichola Groom; Editing by Lisa Shumaker 15 May 2019 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt told a panel of U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday that he has not lost sleep over record amounts of carbon dioxide recorded in the Earth’s atmosphere, which scientists warn are altering the global climate. “I haven’t lost […]

Global fossil fuel subsidies hit record $5.2 trillion – Efficient pricing would lower global carbon emissions by 28 percent and fossil fuel air pollution deaths by 46 percent

By Nick Cunningham 12 May 2019 (OilPrice.com) – The world spent a staggering $4.7 trillion and $5.2 trillion on fossil fuel subsidies in 2015 and 2017, respectively, according to a new report [pdf] from the International Monetary Fund. That means that in 2017 the world spent a whopping 6.5 percent of global GDP just to subsidize the […]

A decade after the recession, 40 percent of U.S. families still struggling – No improvement in first years of Trump administration

A decade after the recession, 40 percent of U.S. families still struggling – No improvement in first years of Trump administration

By Aimee Picchi 13 May 2019 (CBS News) – Four in 10 Americans sometimes face what economists call “material hardship,” struggling to pay for basic needs such as food and housing, according to a new study from the Urban Institute. Even middle-class families routinely struggle financially and are occasionally unable to pay their bills.  The finding is […]

Wettest 12 months in U.S. history in April 2019 – “Tremendous rainfall” in southern Texas 300-600 percent of normal May

By Bob Henson 8 May 2019 (Weather Underground) – The 12 months ending in April 2019 were the wettest year-long period in U.S. records going back to 1895, according to the monthly U.S. climate summary issued Wednesday by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Averaged across the contiguous U.S., the total of 36.20” made the period from May […]

U.S. Secretary of State says melting Arctic sea ice presents “new opportunities for trade” – Cancels trip to Greenland to observe melting glaciers – Denies climate change at Arctic Council meeting

U.S. Secretary of State says melting Arctic sea ice presents “new opportunities for trade” – Cancels trip to Greenland to observe melting glaciers – Denies climate change at Arctic Council meeting

By Conor Finnegan 9 May 2019 (ABC News) – Two days after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cut a stop from his trip to Germany, his office announced that he was canceling another visit — this time to Greenland, where Pompeo was to see melting glaciers at the forefront of climate change. Pompeo had to […]

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