Disasters

"The Trump administration shelved a document created by the nation’s top disease investigators with step-by-step advice to local authorities on how and when to reopen restaurants and other public places during the still-raging coronavirus outbreak."

"New York City has suspended its composting program because of the coronavirus. Here’s an alternative that’s easy, clean and good for the climate."

"The Treasury Department announced Tuesday that it would begin distributing some of the coronavirus stimulus intended for Native American tribes, irking lawmakers who say the administration took far too long to dole out partial funding."

"Since 2000, the West has been stricken by a dry spell so severe that it ranks among the biggest "megadroughts" of the past 1,200 years. But scientists have found that unlike the decades-long droughts of centuries ago, this one has been supercharged by humanity's heating of the planet."

"When the coronavirus pandemic finally ebbs, John Wetmore plans to commute by bus and train. ... But Wetmore, who hosts a public television show called "Perils for Pedestrians," recognizes that not everyone feels the same way."

"Renewable electricity will be the only source resilient to the biggest global energy shock in 70 years triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, according to the world’s energy watchdog."

"At least 13 people have been killed by a massive gas leak at a chemical plant in southern India, with hundreds of others taken to hospital."

"Britain should use economic stimulus measures to speed a shift away from fossil fuels and take advantage of low oil prices to raise revenues from carbon taxes without hurting consumers, state-appointed climate advisers said on Wednesday."

"Greta Thunberg and a group of other children have pushed forward their legal complaint at the UN against countries they accuse of endangering children’s wellbeing through the climate crisis, despite attempts to have it thrown out."

"In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic that's shaken the global oil sector, oil states fighting to restart their economies may face another kind of crisis: orphaned wells. The pandemic could add thousands of wells to already-strapped programs to reclaim old oil infrastructure in the West and Appalachia."