A key U.S. federal agency tasked with investigating the nation’s industrial chemical accidents has been limping along for years. Now, the latest Issue Backgrounder reports that replenished staffing and a funding boost may mean it’s found its footing. But as the pace of chemical accidents accelerates and safety regulations stagnate, will it make a difference?
A new book makes the case that U.S. cities have had their environments, their housing and their businesses warped by parking policies. BookShelf contributor Jennifer Weeks, who shares her own parking-related frustrations, explores the arguments made in “Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World,” and also takes a look at what the author sees as “parking-light” solutions.
A new Spill Tracker website is a good source of information on chemical spills, albeit one with an agenda. But according to the latest Reporter’s Toolbox, it’s just one among a set of powerful resources for covering dangerous releases, large and small. More on Spill Tracker, plus another half-dozen-plus government and nonprofit data sources on petrochemical incidents.
"Flaco spent a year defying expectations, an owl born into captivity who quickly learned to hunt and fend for himself in the wilds of New York City. That ended on Friday when he flew into a building near Central Park. What went wrong?"
"A cargo ship abandoned in the Gulf of Aden after an attack by Yemeni rebels is taking on water and has left a huge oil slick, in an environmental disaster that US Central Command said Friday could get worse."
"Proponents of the de-extinction movement press on with little research and lots of fanfare"
"Rain used to be rare in the Arctic, but as the region warms, so-called rain-on-snow events are becoming more common. The rains accelerate ice loss, trigger flooding, landslides, and avalanches, and create problems for wildlife and the Indigenous people who depend on them."
"Global food insecurity has risen substantially since pre-pandemic times, exacerbated by extreme weather, climate change, war and conflict."
"So far this year upward of 2 million livestock animals have died, according to official statistics."
"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) raised concerns in a letter to its Georgia counterpart about the state utility’s storage of coal ash."
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