In the fine print of the historic Biden climate bill is a controversial commitment to pass legislation on fossil fuel permitting, a measure deeply opposed by the environmental community and calling for heavy political muscle to move through Congress this month. Issue Backgrounder details what’s in it, and what’s not, and takes the measure of the measure’s prospects.
"New research finds an estimated 25,000 properties in Louisiana could slip below tidal boundary lines by 2050. Florida, Texas and North Carolina also face profound economic risks."
"Sixteen Indigenous Zapotec communities in Mexico have created over 579 water infrastructure projects, including absorption wells, small dams and water pans, to conserve water in the Oaxaca Valley – a region impacted by recurrent droughts."
"An environmental group is seeking Endangered Species Act protections for underwater forests of bull kelp along the West Coast." "Bull kelp is critical to Oregon coastal ecosystems that historically supported sea otters, urchins and sunflower sea stars."
"Trump administration officials frustrated Interior Department career staff by impeding certain grant decisions involving several agencies, auditors found in a review of the department’s wide-ranging grant programs."
"Across Central Europe, companies are clear-cutting forests and grinding up centuries-old trees in the name of renewable energy."
"The ‘highly skilled environmental engineers’ can help to store precious water and rejuvenate land ravaged by climate change. Just don’t dynamite their homes."
"From defensive flooding to buffer zones, using the natural world in conflict is as old as war itself – now academics have given it a name".
"Chileans resoundingly rejected a new constitution to replace a charter imposed by the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet 41 years ago, dealing a stinging setback to President Gabriel Boric who argued the document would have ushered in a new progressive era."
Levels of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, have doubled in the past 150 years due to human activity, particularly from fossil fuels and extensive farming. As part of an ongoing Society of Environmental Journalists special project focused on covering climate solutions, check out a methane resource toolbox and stay tuned for a methane reporting tipsheet in the coming weeks. Plus, watch the recording of an SEJ virtual webinar, Covering Climate Solutions: Containing and Monitoring Methane.
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