Start with a bit of self-promotion. It’s been six weeks since I started my boiling point podcast. If you haven’t heard it, you missed a great conversation.
Some highlights:
- I spoke with environmental activist Bill McKibben, acclaimed environmental activist Bill McKibben about fossil fuel advertising in sports and how “sport washing” in the oil and gas industry utilizes national entertainment in America. ()
- I hiked at the Chuckwalla National Memorial designated by former President Biden. Wildlife biologists have spent years balancing renewable energy and conservation on public lands. ()
- Comedian Esteban Gust can also use humor to discuss climate anxiety and tell jokes that can make clean energy and other climate solutions more appealing. ()
These episodes are also available.
This Thursday, I will be talking to my LA Times colleague, Ian James. Ian James reports on water and the environment. We talk about false claims involving President Trump’s California water supply and LA wildfires. Ian is one of the country’s best climate journalists. I’m proud to work with him. you can .
In the meantime, here’s what’s happening in the West:
Trump’s report
Let’s start with the water ahead of our conversation with Ian James this Thursday. The demolition of federal agencies by the Trump administration, led by Elon Musk, is beginning to create disruption due to Western water supply.
- California Rep. Mike Levin burned the Army generals about why the army dumped a lot of water from two Central Valley Dams into the ground. The general seemed unable to say, “Because President Trump told us.” That was the exchange. (Lisa McEwen, SJV Water)
- Federal officials have stopped compensating for the Colorado River water rights. Money is. (Alex Hager, NPR)
- Congress also mandated $50 million for repairing and watering Great Salt Lake habitat. Trump administration. (Kyle Dunfee, Utah News dispatch)
As you would expect to see the White House hold back on funds designated by Congress (probably not legal), in the water world, I wasn’t worried about me this week as much as a New Mexico blog post.
John Fleck, a water expert who writes for his Inkstein blog, says that the Army Corps of Engineers accidentally released a large amount of water from the Rio Grande dam, leading to the risk of flooding. He didn’t know if the mistake had anything to do with the massive federal agency shooting. However, the incident made me wonder what would happen if the federal government became an “unreliable partner” in Western water management.
“What do you have to do to prepare? What does that look like?” asked Fleck.
A scary question with no easy answer.
Meanwhile, Trump and Musk are ramming through core science institutions that predict weather and study climate change. Experts say that, as reported by Times’ Grace Toohey, about 650 unemployment in the National Maritime and Atmospheric Administration. In related news, CNN reports that US government scientists are the most prestigious world climate science report.
The National Park Service is also struggling:
- Over 700 Park Service employees shopped each year. So, the agency lost in February is almost a tenth of the total workforce. (Jack Dolan, LA Times)
- What does cut mean for Channel Island National Park and Santa Monica Mountain National Recreation Area? And a less healthy landscape. (Jaclyn Cosgrove, LA Times)
- They gathered at the National Park Service in Southern California to oppose the Trump administration’s attack on public lands. (Alex Wigglesworth and Jaclyn Cosgrove, LA Times)
At the end of the tunnel, if you’re working hard enough, there may be some light. A U.S. District Court judge in San Francisco ruled that this was the case with mass shootings of workers at many agencies. However, the trial continues.
Other locations on the Trump Administration’s Climate Denial Agenda:
- Federal officials may try to overthrow A, which gives US government authority control over carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act. (Maxine Joserow, Washington Post)
- Trump has directed authorities to consider disposing of the “social costs of carbon.” This means suppose it comes from actions that lead to climate pollution. (Abrahm Lustgarten, Propublica)
- The new head of the US Forest Service will be a. (Rachel Frasin, Hill)
The council is also taking part in the action. Republicans voted, but this would almost certainly bring about the release of more powerful climate pollutants.
To avoid being left behind by throwing out sound science, the Republican-controlled state Capitol in Utah passed the bill by adding fluoride to drinking water, according to Anumita Kaur of the Washington Post.
Despite Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the misinformation of Trump’s health and welfare secretary, medical experts say he had fluoride in drinking water. Unfortunately, RFK Jr. Era has begun.
Around the west
The good news is first: California’s water supply is in decent condition. Ian James said state and federal officials are promising as mountain snowpacks and reservoir levels continue to improve after the recent storm. That being said, Ian writes that it will snow in Sierra Nevada.
In the spirit of Wildfire Recovery Front and the Oscars held on Sunday, my colleague Mary McNamara wrote about the teacher who won the grand piano for “A Star Is Born,” played by Lady Gaga at the 2019 Academy Awards. Sadly, the piano burned on Eaton’s fire.
Miraculously, another Hollywood artifact – the iconic bench where Tom Hanks from “Forest Gump” sat, survived the Palisade Fire. Chris Erskin wrote the Times about the survival of the bench.
Several other wildfire stories:
- Those who died in the California fire once twisted white. However, demographics have changed as the flames spread across urban areas. (Summer Lynn and Terry Castleman, LA Times)
- The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted between 5 and 0 to allow Calabasas landfills to accept more potentially toxic wildfire debris. (Tony Brisco, LA Times)
- The Riverside County landfill sought approval and received approval to accept debris from the Pallisard and Eton fires, despite it being handled. (Tony Brisco, LA Times)
- Researchers are studying how Lamb’s Tuesday debris will add to global warming and other stressors, affecting the coast of Southern California. (Corinne Purtill, LA Times)
If you are thinking about the next fire, you should be and want to prepare, my colleague Karen Garcia has a new newsletter in the case of a fire. Climate change is part of the story. you can .
Two more fire-related stories. One was what made me hopeful and what made me crazy.
Before we put together, we have a glove bag of news from the West:
- Australian companies are searching for rare earth minerals needed for clean energy technology at Mohab National Reserve in California, a long-term gold and silver mine. But the National Park Service says the new mining operations are like that. (Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles)
- Rich people are more likely to hate coyotes, and it is based on where coyotes stroll around in the city of Los Angeles County, new research finds. (LILA SEIDMAN, LA TIMES)
- An analysis by the Republic of Arizona and USA Today shows that bills with a high probability of passing through the Arizona Legislature would ban wind farms. (Joan Meiners, Ignacio Calderon)
One more
Apparently, you can now fight anti-Semitism by investing in big oil.
At least according to the Prevention League. The New York-based nonprofit has been bothered by forward Arno Rosenfeld to read about the new stock market fund created by ADL, as it is widely cited as an anti-Semitism authority. The group said it was considered in a “study that follows Jewish values.” The ADL states that the fund “supports investors against anti-Semitism, supports Israel and embody Jewish values.”
The fund includes stakes in oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron. Personally, I don’t know how investment in fossil fuels for planetary spraying, heart and lung damage is good for Jews and Israel. As I am in Yom Kipur’s column, selling from oil and gas follows me much closer to the Jewish values I have been taught.
This is the latest in Boiling Point, a newsletter on climate change and the environment of the US West. . Listen to the boiling point podcast .
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