Posts tagged with ‘environment’
Climate change is driving average temperatures upward, and the unmistakable long-term trend is toward a warmer, drier West. Firefighting alone can’t contend with growing fire danger; investment in strategic fuel reduction is the key.
Federal legislation that would enhance the Environmental Protection Agency’s role in protecting our most valuable resource advances to the Senate.
The Bush Administration has proposed new rules that allow federal agencies to assess on their own threats to endangered species, side-stepping scientific review of environmental impacts for regulatory decisions. Here’s what some experts have been saying in the mainstream media and blogosphere over the past few days about the proposed rule change.
Two new reports highlight impacts on western trout streams and propose constructive steps to take in response.
Don’t look now, but we’re peering down yet another possible threat to Americans’ ability to drive their cars in a way that they can remotely afford—an active Atlantic hurricane season.
The old Office of Technology Assessment had answers to Pennsylvania’s shad problem today. That’s only one reason why efforts to revive the congressional office are gaining traction.
Ramping up computing power for climate modeling can help researchers better understand and predict meteorological phenomena around the world, answer policy questions about the impact of climate change, and save lives from natural catastrophes.
“The future is likely to be very similar to the past, regardless of who the President is,” said Dr. John Marburger, the President’s science advisor at the AAAS S&T Policy Forum last Thursday. He was talking about funding, but let’s hope things are very different for scientific integrity under the next administration.
Part 3 of coverage of Tuesday’s House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the Renewable Fuel Standard, with the perspectives of witnesses on biofuel production and rising food prices.
Part 2 of a break down of Tuesday’s House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the Renewable Fuel Standards, with a look at what witnesses had to say about the economic and environmental concerns.
Tuesday’s House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing pitted environmentalists, corn producers, oil refiners, grocery manufacturers, and renewable fuel advocates against one another in a contentious debate over the future of the Renewable Fuel Standard.
Science Progress tries to make sense of it all. First up, what’s right with the RFS and ways to make it better.
Death tolls continue to rise, a product of poverty, poor infrastructure, and a negligent government. Better forecasting for the North Indian region would be a start for protecting citizens from future cyclones. Democracy in Burma probably wouldn’t hurt, either.
The Environmental Protection Agency continued its fall from grace at a Senate hearing earlier this week that investigated political meddling with the Agency’s toxic chemical policies. But in the midst of a rain of criticism, there were suggestions of future policy that could better allow the EPA to protect citizens from hazardous materials.
We desperately need to adapt our coastal infrastructure to climate change.
Progressive thinking takes a new turn in western water management, as states across the region, in cooperation with federal agencies, act to fix damaged rivers, lakes, and wetlands.
On Wednesday, the House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight held the first of what could be more hearings on the CDC’s failure to protect public health when it released a scientifically flawed report on formaldehyde levels in post-Katrina FEMA trailers, understating the health risk of extended exposure to the gas.
The Bush administration appeals court ruling on mercury pollution; the EPA faces congressional subpoena in wrangle over emissions regulations; Greenwire profiles CDC whistleblower; Tech companies call for increased H-1B visa cap; Al Gore launches new climate awareness campaign.
The LA Times has several recent stories on the latest Los Angeles green energy initiatives and contention over a proposed cap-and-trade system for California emissions.
A House Select committee hearing examines whether the government should protect polar bears before or after making a decision to allow oil drilling in their habitat.
Bush exemption for Navy sonar use; farmer loses to Monsanto; SLAC loses to budget; Japan hikes budget for stem cell research; Supreme Court opening arguments for patent case.
Greenland glaciers melting faster than previously thought; new money to fight African Sleeping Sickness; do plastic drinking bottles leech harmful chemicals?
The Water Resources Development Act of 1986 grants the governors of the eight Great Lakes states the power to veto plans to divert water outside the Great Lakes Basin. But with drought conditions in the Southwest and Southeast showing no signs of abatement, talk of moving water to dry areas of the country has the lake states scrambling to better protect their resources.
The National Research Council of the National Academies convened a symposium Wednesday to explore approaches among “Future Directions in Research at the Intersection of the Physical and Life Sciences.” The intersections up for discussion ranged across the research spectrum: from synthetic biology to geoengineering to bioterrorism.
The Minnesota legislature recently approved funding for biomonitoring research, which will track environmental contaminants found in the tissue of children and adult volunteers. In related news, the EPA eased reporting requirements for companies that dump toxic chemicals into the environment.
