Politics & Policy Archives - Inside Climate News

Texas Quietly Moves to Formalize Acceptable Cancer Risk From Industrial Air Pollution. Public Health Officials Say it’s not Strict Enough.

By Dylan Baddour — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Without public hearings, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is proposing to adopt its 17-year-old standard that scientists and public health officials say fails to account for cumulative air pollution.

By Dylan Baddour

State of Denial: Third in a series about Texas’ environmental regulators.

As Alabama Judge Orders a Takeover of a Failing Water System, Frustrated Residents Demand Federal Intervention

By Lee Hedgepeth — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 20:02:41 +0000

The majority Black city of Prichard loses much of its purchased drinking water to leaking pipes, with water pressure so low firefighters have sometimes watched homes burn.

By Lee Hedgepeth

An Alabama judge on Wednesday ordered that the municipal water utility in Prichard, a Mobile suburb, be placed under receivership after witnesses described crisis conditions in the majority Black city due to failing water infrastructure that loses nearly 60 percent of its capacity each month to leakage.

Fish and Wildlife Service to Consider Restoring Manatee’s Endangered Status

By Amy Green — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 01:32:47 +0000

Nearly 2,000 manatees died in Florida in 2021 and 2022 as water pollution killed the seagrass they feed on. The manatee was downlisted in 2017 from endangered to threatened, over the objections of scientists, environmentalists and citizens.

By Amy Green

ORLANDO, Fla.—The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will consider tightening protections on the West Indian manatee after concluding that a petition demanding that the animal’s endangered status be restored presented substantial scientific evidence, the agency said Wednesday.

Vessel Strikes on Whales Are Increasing With Warming. Can the Shipping Industry Slow Down to Spare Them?

By Kiley Price — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Rising ocean temperatures and marine heat waves are pushing whales closer to busy shipping lanes. Flexible speed reduction areas could help prevent ship collisions, scientists say.

By Kiley Price

Last March, a California giant perished. The 49-foot humpback nicknamed Fran washed up on a beach in the coastal city of Half Moon Bay. Fran had visited these waters for the entirety of her 17-year life, easily recognized by Californians due to the distinctive markings and shape of her tail.

Tensions Rise in the Rio Grande Basin as Mexico Lags in Water Deliveries to the U.S.

Sun, 08 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000

In 2020, rebellious Mexican farmers occupied a dam in parched Chihuahua state to prevent the federal government from sending its reservoir water to Texas under a 1944 treaty. With the clock ticking toward another treaty deadline, the two sides are struggling for a solution.

By Martha Pskowski, Inside Climate News, and photos by Omar Ornelas, El Paso Times

This story, reported with a grant from The Water Desk at the University of Colorado Boulder, is published in partnership with the El Paso Times.

Q&A: A Reporter Joins Scientists as They Work to Stop the Killing of Cougars

Interview by Aynsley O’Neill, “Living on Earth” — Sat, 07 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Inside Climate News’ Liza Gross had her own thrilling brush with a cougar kitten in a den discovered deep in the forest on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state.

Interview by Aynsley O’Neill, “Living on Earth”

From our collaborating partner “Living on Earth,” public radio’s environmental news magazine, an interview by Producer Aynsley O’Neill with Liza Gross of Inside Climate News.

The Danger Upstream: In Disposing Coal Ash, One of These States is Not Like the Others

By Lee Hedgepeth — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 09:30:00 +0000

Toxic coal ash has polluted Alabama’s waters for years. Is the state doing enough to stop it?

By Lee Hedgepeth

MONTGOMERY, Ala.—At an EPA meeting in Montgomery, a cup of water took center stage.

Pope Francis: ‘Irresponsible’ Western Lifestyles Push the World to ‘the Breaking Point’ on Climate

By James Bruggers — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 09:15:00 +0000

The 86-year-old leader of the 1.3 billion-member Catholic Church bluntly urges more aggressive action to curb emissions at the next U.N. climate meeting in eight weeks.

By James Bruggers

Taking aim at the United States and an “irresponsible lifestyle” with some of the world’s highest carbon emissions per capita, Pope Francis on Wednesday doubled down on his earlier call for urgent action to tackle climate change, while also criticizing a failing global response to the crisis.

Kentucky’s Democratic Governor Steers Clear of a Climate Agenda in His Bid to Fend Off a Mitch McConnell Protege

By James Bruggers — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 14:38:13 +0000

Andy Beshear, the popular coal state governor, is trying to navigate a red wave that has overtaken Kentucky in recent years and defeat a Republican challenger, Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

By James Bruggers

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Gov. Andy Beshear, looking for another four years in the governor’s mansion, bucks Democratic Party conventional wisdom on handling climate change, by securing endorsements from coal mining interests while, according to Sierra Club leaders, rejecting a potential nod of approval from the environmental group’s Kentucky chapter.

Apple Goes a Step Too Far in Claiming a Carbon Neutral Product, a New Report Concludes

By Phil McKenna — Tue, 03 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000

The maker of the iPhone is a leader in efforts to reduce the climate impact of its products, but a recent claim about its new line of Apple Watches may be “climate-wash,” a Chinese environmental research organization says.

By Phil McKenna

Apple’s recent announcement of its first-ever “carbon neutral” product was questioned in a new report by a Chinese environmental research organization that gathers and tracks data on greenhouse gas emissions from China’s manufacturing sector, which makes the majority of Apple products.