Environmental Studies

"In a move that could shake up scientific publishing, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) last week proposed specific limits on how much it would reimburse grantees who pay publishers to make their articles open access, or free to read. The suggested limits, which include possible caps of $2000 to $6000 per paper, may block scientists from publishing in top-tier journals with much higher fees, unless they or their institution come up with the difference."

"The newest draft of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement lacks meaningful pollution reduction targets and allows states to evade legal accountability, according to concerned environmental advocates and experts who have reviewed the document."

"Plastics are a “grave” danger to humans and the planet, responsible for an estimated $1.5 trillion annually in health-related costs, and nations need to center human health as they finalize the global plastics treaty, scientists said in a new report released Monday."

"“This is a very baffling moment in time,” said one researcher. “I never would have thought we had to advocate for science.”" 

"Fireflies are lighting up summer evenings across the U.S. Northeast, putting on dazzling shows in backyards and city parks."

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will close its flagship, but deteriorating research site in Maryland as part of a major reorganization aiming to shift 2600 employees away from the nation’s capital area, the agency announced this week. At the same time, USDA said it plans to shutter most of its forest research stations around the country. "

"In one of its most significant reversals on climate policy to-date, the Trump administration on Tuesday proposed to repeal a 2009 scientific finding that human-caused climate change endangers human health and safety, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced." "The repeal was based in part on a hastily produced report — authored by five researchers who have spent years sowing doubt in the scientific consensus around climate change — that questions the severity of the impacts of climate change."

"The proposal is President Trump’s most consequential step yet to derail federal climate efforts and appears to represent a shift toward outright denial of the scientific consensus." 

"Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said on Tuesday the Trump administration would revoke the scientific determination that underpins the government’s legal authority to combat climate change.

"The Trump administration is planning to release a proposal Tuesday that would overturn a 16-year-old scientific finding that has allowed three administrations to regulate climate pollution."

"As the climate warms, new data shows huge swaths of land across the globe are quickly drying, threatening humanity’s supply of fresh water."