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"A powerful group that boasts 28 Republican attorneys general, including many who have sided with oil and gas firms to block states seeking compensation for weather disasters caused by climate change, has raked in millions of dollars from fossil fuel giants and a dark money fund tied to Federalist Society co-chair, Leonard Leo."
"State lawmakers, responding to a report that the agency charged with ensuring worker safety in California has sharply cut back on enforcement of outdoor heat protection laws, said new legislation is needed to protect employees amid escalating periods of extreme heat."
"Extreme weather alerts for dangerous heat, wildfires, storms, flooding and other hazards have affected nearly everyone in the United States over the past few months."
"A U.S. judge at the urging of environmental groups has thrown out an assessment by a federal agency governing how endangered and threatened marine species should be protected from oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico."
"Twenty-four brain samples collected in early 2024 measured on average about 0.5% plastic by weight"
"A growing body of scientific evidence shows that microplastics are accumulating in critical human organs, including the brain, leading researchers to call for more urgent actions to rein in plastic pollution.
Studies have detected tiny shards and specks of plastics in human lungs, placentas, reproductive organs, livers, kidneys, knee and elbow joints, blood vessels and bone marrow.
"New analyses reveal that 4.4 billion people across low- and middle-income countries — over half of the world’s population — don’t have safe household drinking water."
"The 2024 Democratic Party platform makes a case for action against climate change as economic populism, a sharp contrast to Republican arguments that it would hurt the middle class."
"Experts meet in Bangkok this week to advance what would be the first international treaty to tackle the surging problem of plastic pollution. Final treaty negotiations take place in South Korea in November. Yet most of the people who have been closely tracking the negotiations — environmentalists, tribal leaders and residents from communities hard-hit by plastic production and waste — are shut out of the talks in Bangkok."
"Recycled plastic can be more toxic than virgin plastic, yet the federal approval process to use it in food packaging is lax and leaving consumers at risk, researchers say."
"Nearby residents have been sounding the alarm about Coffin Butte Landfill for years. Now Sen. Jeff Merkley and other members of Congress are demanding action."
Alexandria, Va., is almost finished digging a 2.2-mile tunnel to fix its combined sewer overflow problem..
"While Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin has warned that climate change threatens “our very way of life,” GOP challenger Eric Hovde compared clean energy tax credits to “corporate welfare.”"
"The Democratic caucus is divided over whether to support legislation that seeks to speed up the nation’s energy build-out — largely based on disagreements about what its actual climate impacts would be."
"One of the nation’s largest coal-fueled electric plants is being replaced with thousands of acres of solar panels and a test of long-duration batteries."
"A chemical reaction involving emissions from cars and buildings can negate their environmental benefits. New research shows what big cities can do about it."
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