"The California Department of Public Health has unveiled an online dashboard that tracks cases of the lung disease silicosis among fabricators of artificial-stone countertops in the state."
"One bill that would have required oil companies to help pay for damages from climate-driven disasters failed and another that would levy heavy fines on refineries that release toxic air contaminants was watered down."
"What was once the world’s largest solar power plant of its type appears headed for closure just 11 years after opening, under pressure from cheaper green energy sources. Meanwhile, environmentalists continue to blame the Mojave Desert plant for killing thousands of birds and tortoises."
"A new strain of bird flu — H5N9 — has been detected in California’s Merced County at a commercial duck operation."
"California water officials said this week there’s no truth to President Donald Trump’s assertion that the U.S. military has entered California and “turned on the water.”
"Global warming caused mainly by burning of fossil fuels made the hot, dry and windy conditions that drove the recent deadly fires around Los Angeles about 35 times more likely to occur, an international team of scientists concluded in a rapid attribution analysis released Tuesday."
"The Trump administration is weighing how to take control of water in California — including setting aside endangered species protections — framing its mission in a new executive order as necessary to prevent future wildfires like those that recently swept across Los Angeles."
"Here's what you need to know about toxic fallout from a major wildfire"
To many, plants are a merely green backdrop, indistinguishable and inconsequential. But, freelancer Karen Mockler says that such “plant blindness” belies an urgent need for our notice. More than a third of the world’s trees and thousands of other plant species face extinction. Their plight — and their many blessings — offer perceptive journalists a wealth of reporting and storytelling opportunities. Mockler on why to write about plants.
"The LA fires have left domestic workers and day laborers jobless. They may soon be hired for wildfire cleanup work, where they can be exposed to ash and other toxins."
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