Disasters

"President Trump announced on Monday that he planned to relax limits on pollution from cars, saying that the move wouldn’t “mean a damn bit of difference to the environment.” But decades of science show that the pollution from automobile tailpipes has harmed the environment and public health, from the days when leaded gasoline sent neurotoxins into the air and soil to the carbon dioxide emissions that are heating the planet right now."

"When Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin made a defiant reference to “climate change religion” in order to justify a plan to roll back environmental protections, American faith leaders and scholars reacted with confusion, sadness and anger."  "Jewish and Christian faith leaders responded to Lee Zeldin’s comments with “righteous anger” and called for policies that support a more just, livable world."

"In a continued effort to expedite rebuilding after Los Angeles' devastating firestorms, Gov. Gavin Newsom this week suspended California environmental laws for utility providers working to reinstall key infrastructure."

"While repairs to storm-battered sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway are underway, it will "take years" to repair some of the damage, according to the National Park Service."

"Homeowners in Los Angeles have started the long process of rebuilding after the destructive wildfires in January. Some are constructing homes that are much less likely to burn when the next wildfire hits." "Still, thousands of other homeowners in the urban center of Altadena are about to rebuild without wildfire-resistant materials, because they live outside a state-designated wildfire zone."

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency has frozen nearly $10 billion in disaster aid for nonprofits including hospitals as it seeks to identify funding that could be used to help undocumented migrants, according to agency documents obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News."

"The Trump administration is canceling billions of dollars in grant funding to state and local health departments without warning, throwing their programs into disarray."

"Six Michigan tribes have withdrawn from federal discussions over the controversial Enbridge Line 5 project after learning that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are fast-tracking approval for the massive oil tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac."

"A North Carolina college, ravaged by Hurricane Helene, can’t rebuild unless federal money starts flowing. A nonprofit in Florida that helped Hayley Riotto and her children after Hurricane Ian may have to start cutting staff. A Hawaii group that helps survivors of the Lahaina fire says it can only go another month or two before eliminating workers."

"The Guardian has recreated a searchable climate future risk tool developed by Fema but then deleted"