It just wouldn’t be the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference recap without the waggish tales of SEJ’s resident wit, David Helvarg, who once again this year skewers the lot of us, sparing not a jot of our five days in Philadelphia. Read on and prepare to snicker.
"Europe removed a record number of dams and other barriers from its rivers in 2023, a report has found, helping to restore its disturbed waterways to their natural states."
"Community solar helps people who can’t get rooftop solar access the benefits of solar ownership. Developer Nexamp just raised a boatload of money to build more of it."
"A new memo from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is raising concern about the infrastructure at the Glen Canyon Dam and its ability to deliver water downstream should levels at Lake Powell continue to decline."
"The Biden administration on Monday finalized a new rule it says will reduce taxpayer responsibility for the process of decommissioning offshore oil and gas platforms."
"It’s a major contributor to climate change — the way buildings and roads are made with concrete. It’s also a problem that’s growing as more of the world develops. So the race has been on to find solutions for a material that’s responsible for roughly 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions."
"With just over six months before the election, at least one major Biden proposal appears to be stalled: an update to the federal housing rules that agency experts estimate would save homeowners nearly three times more money on energy bills than it would add to construction costs, spread out over a 30-year mortgage."
"Water utilities will face costly challenges meeting the EPA’s new limits on PFAS in drinking water, making litigation nearly inevitable, lawyers and analysts say."
"Oil companies will have to lay down significantly more money to drill on public lands following a sweeping final rule published by the Biden administration Friday that also increases federal royalty rates and aims to shrink the future footprint of the nation’s oil program."
"One of the biggest obstacles to expanding clean energy in the United States is a lack of power lines. Building new transmission lines can take a decade or more because of permitting delays and local opposition. But there may be a faster, cheaper solution, according to two reports released Tuesday."
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