Environmental Health

"EPA published a proposal in the Federal Register yesterday that critics described as an assault on minority communities coping with the public health legacy of structural racism."

"In northern Cambodia, giant ibis, white-winged ducks and other rare species have helped ecotourism take flight in recent years. Just two decades after their near extinction, the population of giant ibis has grown to about 300 birds, bringing in thousands of visitors to remote areas of the country. This tourism has provided an important economic catalyst, generating critical revenue for rural communities and conservation initiatives."

"When the U.S. Congress passed a $2.2 trillion stimulus package back in late-March without a cent devoted to green industries, clean energy companies were understanding."

"Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards on Friday vetoed a bill that would have stiffened penalties for trespassing on pipelines, levees and a long list of other facilities in the state. The veto handed a victory to civil liberties advocates and local organizers, who said the bill would have trampled on their right to protest industrial development."

"A coalition of environmental groups is taking legal action against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the agency’s alleged failure to update requirements for an industrial process for burning pollutants."

"Scientists who served on a now-disbanded EPA advisory panel are again accusing the agency of slighting public health, this time in the pages of a top national medical publication."

"The EPA’s analysis of asbestos underestimates the extent to which people are exposed to the mineral and its potential to cause cancer and other diseases, an agency science advisory panel said."

"As rates of coronavirus infections ease in places such as New York and Illinois and onetime hot spots move into new phases of reopening, parts of the country that had previously avoided being hit hard by the outbreak are now tallying record-high new infections."

"Some of the country's most polluting industries have flooded state regulators with requests to ease environmental regulations, according to an NPR review of hundreds of state environmental records.

Companies across the country say the pandemic is interfering with their ability to comply with laws that protect the public from pollution.

"Senators pressed federal fire officials to ramp up preparations for a potentially catastrophic wildfire season, amid challenges of protecting firefighters and the public from coronavirus exposure."