Trump Attacks Puerto Rico Ahead of the Storm—When the Island Is More Vulnerable Than Ever
Jorge Ortiz works to tie down his roof as he prepares for the arrival of Tropical Storm Dorian, in the Martín Peña neighborhood of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2019.Gianfranco Gaglione/AP Hurricane Dorian is set to make landfall today in Puerto Rico, with the potential of winds up to about 75 mph and…
Anglers Don’t Know How to Stop the Hordes of Hungry Sea Lions
Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty This story was originally published by High Country News and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. With the lights of Moss Landing, California, twinkling in the distance, Captain Porter McHenry stood on the top deck of the Merva W, a large commercial fishing boat. Ocean water sprayed his face and dampened his thick brown beard.…
Look No Further Than Brazil’s Amazon Fire for the Dangers of Deregulation
This story was originally published by HuffPost and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took power this year promising to open the Amazon rainforest to industry, roll back environmental and indigenous protections, and stack his Cabinet with ideologues who dismiss climate change as a Marxist hoax. But the record wildfires now raging…
Democratic National Committee Rejects Call for Official Climate Debate
Justin Sullivan/Getty The Democratic National Committee on Thursday voted not to hold an official debate dedicated to discussing global warming, once again rejecting a longstanding demand from activists who argue that the climate crisis has gotten short shrift during the presidential primary campaign. But the DNC’s resolutions committee also voted to advance a measure that—if…
Jay Inslee Wants to Pay Farmers to Pull Carbon from the Atmosphere
Caroline Brehman/Associated Press True to his fixation on battling climate change, today Washington governor and Democratic presidential hopeful Jay Inslee released a rural policy platform centered on encouraging farmers to pull carbon from the atmosphere and trap it in soil. For decades, United States farm policy has pushed farmers in the nation’s Midwestern states to…
“God Told Me To Fight”—Inside the Battle to Stop Another Petrochemical Plant in “Cancer Alley”
Mother Jones illustration; Alejandro Davila Fragoso/Earthjustice Sharon Lavigne has lived all of her sixty-seven years in St. James Parish, Louisiana. She can tell you about a time when the fig and pecan trees in her neighborhood produced plenty to eat and to sell, and when her grandfather caught fish and shrimp in the Mississippi River.…