(AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN)
"Coal industry influence and climate change denial paved the state’s race to the clean energy bottom. As one lawmaker put it: “God created coal for people.”"
"A bill that would make it harder for Kentucky’s utility regulator to allow utilities to retire coal plants on the state’s electricity grid became law Friday without Gov. Andy Beshear’s signature."
With the federal government now requiring that states pay closer attention to cybersecurity risks in their regular audits of public drinking water systems, environmental journalists should be doing the same, suggests the latest TipSheet. Here’s how to gauge the cyber risk and to understand the current safe drinking water regulatory regime, plus story ideas and resources to bolster your local reporting.
"Rescuers combed through rubble on Saturday after a powerful storm tore across Mississippi late on Friday, killing at least 25 people there and one person in Alabama as it leveled hundreds of buildings and spawned at least one devastating tornado."
"Scientists for the federal government say documents that Georgia state regulators relied upon to conclude a proposed mine won’t harm the nearby Okefenokee Swamp and its vast wildlife refuge contain technical errors and “critical shortcomings” that render them unreliable."
"‘People need housing now,’ says the head of one local nonprofit. ‘They need to know there’s a light at the end of this tunnel.’"
"St. James Parish community groups are calling for a ban on new petrochemical plants to halt what they say is a history of racist land use decisions that have concentrated polluting industries in Black neighborhoods, according to a federal lawsuit."
"A study from the U.S. Geological Survey called the state’s python problem “one of the most intractable invasive-species management issues across the globe.”"
"A Washington Post investigation has found that some policyholders had their claims cut by more than 80 percent".
"The harmful "red tide," which has been known to discolor coastal waters and kill marine life off the coast of Florida, has returned for another year.
The toxic organism that paints the waters red was detected in February and was found at higher-than-normal levels in several Southwest Florida counties in recent days, state officials said.
Since it returned, grisly photos of dead fish washing up on Florida beaches have proliferated, and federal authorities are warning people of the possibility of respiratory irritation from contaminated air."
