One industry seemingly unharmed by the coronavirus-related shutdown is legal cannabis. But the explosion in this infant business could be bad news for the environment, if left largely unregulated. A closer look at the issues. Plus, the story of Smokey’s 420, mom-and-pop pot shop that’s taken a more environmental perspective.
"The plastic industry is asking Congress for $1 billion to bail out plastic recycling during the coronavirus crisis."
"The developers of a proposed plastics manufacturing plant in Ohio on Friday indefinitely delayed a final decision on whether to proceed, citing economic uncertainties around the coronavirus pandemic."
"A common solvent used to dry clean, make refrigerants, and clean muck from industrial equipment appears to have the potential to harm people’s nervous systems, the EPA said on Monday."
"The US Environmental Protection Agency is due in federal court on Tuesday to answer allegations that it broke the law to support a Monsanto system that has triggered “widespread” crop damage over the last few summers and continues to threaten farms across the country."
How do you gain perspective on a widespread public health disaster? Award-winning reporter Apoorva Mandavilli shares valuable lessons on using a small lens to cover a big story — no, not COVID-19, but the deadly 1984 gas leak in Bhopal, India. And as she explains in this Inside Story Q&A, this decades-old story never really went away in the first place.
"The Trump White House has intervened to weaken one of the few public health protections pursued by its own administration, a rule to limit the use of a toxic industrial compound in consumer products, according to communications between the White House and Environmental Protection Agency."
"Christian groups fiercely defend the rights of the unborn but have long neglected to advocate for pollution-free births and childhoods. Some evangelicals are trying to change that."
"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday announced that the cleanup of hazardous waste sites and other pollution spills may be slowed or paused during the coronavirus outbreak."
"The long-standing practice of spreading treated sewage sludge and septage on farm fields has contaminated groundwater in some areas with PFAS, recent sampling shows."
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