Our latest Issue Backgrounder looks at the potentially historic impact of the ambitious climate action agenda known as the Green New Deal — not just on this Congress or the next, or even on the race for the White House in 2020, but for the soul of the Democratic Party. An analysis of a public policy program in the making, the political maneuvering it’s engendering and its prospects to sow division or prompt a united front.
A former head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has written a powder keg of a book, “Confessions of a Rogue Nuclear Regulator.” Author Gregory Jaczko left the post in 2012, far more critical of nuclear power’s safety claims than he came in, his concerns amplified by the Fukushima meltdown in Japan in 2011. Now, he worries that its lessons have not sunk in deeply enough with an industry that he believes is headed toward catastrophe. Read our latest BookShelf review.
The Green New Deal may be just a broad outline, even after the recent introduction of a resolution in Congress. But don’t think the lack of specificity means the Green New Deal won’t be news for the long term. This week’s TipSheet explains the reasons the Green New Deal may endure and why it matters, plus story ideas and resources for journalists covering climate, environmental politics and more.
"The Supreme Court is halfway through its current term, but the bulk of its environmental issues are still awaiting resolution."
"Solar power has long been a pet issue for progressives and environmentalists. But in Florida, utilities are starting to embrace the technology for economic reasons."
"In a case with ramifications for the Chesapeake Bay, environmental groups have joined with several Northeastern states to challenge the lack of federal action to reduce interstate air pollution."
"Energy Transfer, the company behind the Dakota Access pipeline and other controversial projects, has failed to fix problems that were uncovered after an explosion on one of its projects in Pennsylvania, state regulators said."
"A federal judge in Alaska is expected any day now to issue a ruling that could finally decide whether the people of the remote city of King Cove, Alaska, get to build a highly contentious single-lane road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge."
"Scientific monitoring in the Pacific Ocean, using buoys to take seawater temperatures, screeched to a halt when the government recently shut down for 35 days. But those efforts to monitor El Nino, the warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean that affects global weather patterns, are just some of the shutdown’s impacts on science that Kevin Trenberth describes."
"The Congressional Leadership Fund, a political action committee with ties to House Republicans, launched ads today against two Democrats over the 'Green New Deal.'"
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