By Alonso Abugattas – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The wild turkey has made an incredible comeback. Not that long ago, wild turkeys were all but wiped out by a combination of overhunting and habitat loss. By the early 1900s, none remained in the District of Columbia and very few remained in the woods of Maryland, Virginia,…
ENVIRONMENT
New National Climate Assessment Documents Far-Reaching Perils of Global Warming
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Massive changes in the climate due to global warming from the burning of fossil fuels for energy and transportation is deadly and expensive, but some of the most extreme impacts could be prevented if there was the political will to take on the challenges, according to the new…
Biden Administration Accelerates Removal of Lead Pipes With $15 Billion in New Spending
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Are you better off than you were three years ago? That’s a perennial question that pops up like a weed every four years in Washington politics, or at least the media coverage of it. Think about it. Three years ago, in November 2020, the global Covid-19 pandemic was at…
PEPCO to Pay More than $57 Million for Polluting the Anacostia River
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — In one of the largest and most significant corporate pollution settlements in the history of electric power and the law, Potomac Electric Power has agreed to pay more than $57 million to help mitigate contamination of the Anacostia River from its power plants. We just received the press…
National Parks Set Visitation and Economic Impact Record: Biden Administration Addresses Funding Shortfalls
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — While the American public appears to be divided on political issues these days and sometimes disagree on the role of government, there is one federal program most people love no matter what political party they vote for at election time: National Parks. Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns called this “America’s…
New Report Shows Major Emissions Reductions in Electricity Sector from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new report claims that President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, billed as “the largest climate investment ever,” spurs major carbon dioxide emission reductions from the electricity sector and across the economy in the United States. The report, released Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency, finds that the Inflation Reduction…
Summer 2023 Ranks as the Hottest on Record ‘By a Large Margin’
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s so hot in the middle of the day that the birds are not even moving around in the windless woods. The only thing moving are the yellow jackets and European hornets, looking for other bees to kill, the occasional blue-tailed lizard, going after the flies too hot…
Biden Administration Bans Oil and Gas Drilling on Millions of Acres in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — I remember the first time I heard a presentation on the need to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It was 1989, and an activist had traveled all the way from Alaska to Mobile,…
Concerns Mount as Japan Initiates Release of Fukushima Nuclear Water into the Pacific Ocean
Special Report – By Valentina Francis – LOS ANGELES, Calif. — In a pivotal move that has ignited international debate, workers in Japan have commenced the release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. This decision, stemming from the aftermath of the…
Rebuilding American Infrastructure With Millions in Grants
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. â There was a time in a previous reality when creating tens of thousands of good paying jobs while rebuilding America would have been big news in newspapers and on television news channels. Not anymore. Social media sensationalism and silly memes and videos have replaced the grocery store checkout…
New Wilderness Scenic Areas Proposed by Shenandoah Mountain Act
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s understandably difficult for the American public to get excited very often about legislation proposed in Congress, especially considering all the crazy crap coming out of the House since the extremist Republicans took over this year, like a new plan to cut Social Security that is dead on…
NASA Records Show July as the Hottest Month on Record Since 1880
President Biden Vows to Protect Native American Lands Around Grand Canyon from Uranium Mining
Biden Administration Moves to Fund Reduction in Methane Emissions, a Greenhouse Gas
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden administration announced new funding options Monday to reduce methane emissions, a major greenhouse gas that leads to climate change due to global warming from the burning of fossil fuels for energy and transportation. Methane is the primary contributor to the formation of ground-level ozone, a hazardous air…
Biden Administration Announces $188 Million in New Spending to Protect Forests
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Biden administration recently announced another $188 million in new spending to protect and preserve private forestland through the U.S. Forest Service, a move that will help prevent the loss of forests that help prevent more severe climate change due to global warming from the burning of fossil fuels…
The Future of Humanity on Planet Earth
Superorganism: Toward a New Social Contract for Our Endangered Species – Published online by Cambridge University Press – June 23, 2023 – Editor’s Note: As I’ve been writing for many years, the future of humanity on planet Earth is in jeopardy and there is no guarantee we will survive for much longer. Like many naysayers,…
Was This Fourth of July Earth’s Hottest Day on Record?
Staff Report – Tuesday was the hottest day on Earth since at least 1979, with the global average temperature reaching 62.92 degrees Fahrenheit (17.18 degrees Celsius), according to data from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction. As a result, some scientists believe July 4 may have been one of the hottest days on Earth…
EPA Announces New Standards for Renewable Energy Sources, Reducing Reliance on Foreign Oil Imports
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden administration made moves this week to strengthen the nation’s energy independence, advance low-carbon fuels and support agricultural communities as well as fight climate change due to global warming from the burning of fossil fuels for energy and transportation. The Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule under…
Up to Four Major Hurricanes Predicted for Hurricane Season 2023
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — For residents of low-lying coastal areas in the United States, the beginning of Hurricane Season on June 1 is nothing to celebrate. From now until November 30, there is always the threat of a major hurricane coming ashore and the dreaded order to evacuate. There’s nothing in the long-term…
Conservative Supreme Court Rules to Limit EPA’s Power in Regulating the Destruction of Wetlands
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — In another disastrous ruling destroying decades of established legal precedents, the conservative majority on the United States Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of Idaho farmers and against the Environmental Protection Agency in a case involving the protection of wetlands near waterways. In response to the decision…