Trump and Social Media Could Be An Even More Dangerous Combination in 2019
Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. A country riven by ethnic tension. Spontaneous organizing fueled by viral memes. Hateful fake-news posts about “terrorism” from marginalized groups inciting violence and riots. It’s a story we’ve seen play out around the world recently, from France and Germany to Burma, Sri Lanka, and Nigeria.…
Six Times the Environment Won in 2018
George Rose/Getty Images Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. This story was originally published by Grist. It appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. By all accounts, 2018 had its share of big environmental bummers. Scientists calmly explained that our current rate of warming will cause geological changes akin to a meteor striking the Earth.…
The Senator Who Wants to Keep Silicon Valley From Reading Your Messages
Tom Williams/Congressional Quarterly/NC via ZUMA Press Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. Senator Brian Schatz wants to make powerful technology companies more like banks, law firms, and hospitals—at least in terms of how they handle data. In late December, the Hawaii Democrat, one of big tech’s most vocal critics on Capitol…
The Crisis on the Border You Didn’t Learn About in School
US soldiers on the Mexican border in 1915.Library of Congress Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. Antonio Rodriguez was burned at the stake. Jesus Bazan was shot in the back. Macedonia Herrera was executed on a hill overlooking his home. Between 1910 and 1920, historian Monica Muñoz Martinez writes in her…
The EPA’s Latest Move Risks Exposing the Public to More Mercury
Aaron Lavinsky, Zuma Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. Children and pregnant women hear the warnings against eating too much fish because of potential exposure to mercury. But where does that mercury come from? Coal and oil-burning plants are the number one source of mercury in the US, and they leech not just that neurotoxin but arsenic, acid gasses, and…
Power Plant Explosion Casts New Light on New York’s Addiction to Dirty Fuel
This story was originally published by HuffPost. It appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. ASTORIA, NY—The transformer explosion that illuminated the New York City skyline late Thursday night came from one of the state’s dirtiest plants, casting new light on the city’s dependence on antiquated oil-burning power stations and bolstering calls for cleaner electricity. This…