Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Jun 6

This impressive and sobering analysis documents (conservatively) the dreadful human impacts of rolling back environmental regulations. Congratulations to the AP team.

Speak up for protecting our health and our environment!

apnews.com/article/epa-...

Trump EPA rollbacks would weaken rules projected to save billions of dollars and thousands of lives

When the head of the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year announced a massive rollback of environmental regulations, he said it would spark a “Golden Age” for the American economy.

apnews.com

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Jun 4

The Stockholm Declaration on Chemistry for the Future, released 10 days ago, now has almost 1000 signers. It's a visionary call for a "new chemistry for sustainability" that will protect people, prosperity, and the planet. I signed. Will you?

www.stockholm-declaration.org

Home | Stockholm Declaration

www.stockholm-declaration.org

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · May 14

Beautiful essay by @dralicechen.bsky.social and @drvivekmurthy.bsky.social.

"Societies ... require people who are willing to speak up boldly and unapologetically for the dignity and well-being of others. Physicians have the power to be these people."

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

The Power of Physicians in Dangerous Times | NEJM

The current crisis in the United States is bigger than politics, and it deeply affects the health and lives of our patients and communities. Now is the time for physicians to harness their power an...

www.nejm.org

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · May 13

There’s nobody with whom I’d rather build community than you Ed! Thanks for a great ride @maibached.bsky.social

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · May 10

This report documents further devastation of climate and health research at NIH. Among other responses, we need to be planning to restart such critical research once this madness ends--as it will.

@docsforclimate.bsky.social @ecoamerica.bsky.social @apha.org

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Exclusive: documents reveal how NIH will axe climate studies

US agency guidelines nix funding for studies on climate anxiety and more but allow it for those on extreme weather and health.

www.nature.com

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Apr 26

Glad to share this short paper, just published, describing work at the National Academy of Medicine to promote broad system change (beyond the health sector) to confront climate change.

@thirdactorg.bsky.social @katharinehayhoe.com @maibached.bsky.social

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Charting a path to health for all at net-zero emissions

Climate change is the defining health challenge of the 21st century, with record-breaking temperatures and extreme weather events already exacting an unprecedented toll on human health and wellbeing. ...

www.thelancet.com

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Apr 24

Compelling article making the scientific case for legal liability of major fossil fuel companies.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Carbon majors and the scientific case for climate liability - Nature

A transparent and reproducible scientific framework is introduced to formalize how trillions in economic losses are attributable to the extreme heat caused by emissions from fossil fuel companies, whi...

www.nature.com

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Ed Maibach @maibached.bsky.social · Apr 24

What did scientists (who care deeply about leaving a livable world to our children & grandchildren) do when a cheap political stunt derailed their efforts to help? They built a workaround. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/o... @howardfrumkin.bsky.social @katharinehayhoe.com @mason4c.bsky.social

Opinion | We Found a Work Around to Trump Defunding Science

When knowledge is threatened, don’t just mourn it. Build around it.

www.nytimes.com

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Apr 17

What a treat to hear the great Rita Colwell recount the story of Vibrio, human health, and climate here at UW School of Public Health.

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Apr 7

I never imagined a world in which, when an HHS Secretary states that vaccines are the most effective way to prevent measles, it counts as news. A bit like NASA confirming the theory of gravity.

www.statnews.com/2025/04/06/r...

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Apr 7

Did they not think they were going to get what they worked so hard to get?

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Mar 18

Back atcha Phoebe! Hope our paths cross soon in real life.

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Mar 15

This is truly scary.
www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

Trump calls his opponents 'scum' and lawbreakers in bellicose speech at Justice Department

For more than an hour, he delivered an insult-laden speech that shattered the traditional notion of DOJ independence.

www.politico.com

Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Mar 14

Tickets on sale now! (See the link below.)

@seattleparksfoundation.org
@trustforpublicland.bsky.social sky.social
@wpsr.bsky.social

www.classy.org/event/earth-...

Earth Day 2025: Seattle's Innovation and Leadership in Climate Equity

www.classy.org

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Mar 14

Looking forward to joining Hannah Murphy Winter of @thestranger.com, Mickey Fearn, Ashley Townes, and Joycelyn Chui for a wonderful Earth Day event at @townhallseattle.bsky.social. We'll be talking about climate equity, park equity, health equity, and the connections among them.

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Feb 28

An incisive commentary about a gut-wrenching moment in US history.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

It Was an Ambush

Today marked one of the grimmest days in the history of American diplomacy.

www.theatlantic.com

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Ed Maibach @maibached.bsky.social · Feb 28

Our latest survey finds that Americans are becoming increasingly aware that climate change harms people's health. Check out our full report: www.climatechangecommunication.org/all/climate-... @docsforclimate.bsky.social @lisapatel.bsky.social @howardfrumkin.bsky.social @katharinehayhoe.com

Climate Change in the American Mind: Public Perceptions of the Health Harms of Global Warming, Fall 2024 - Center for Climate Change Communication

Report Summary This report is based on findings from a nationally representative survey – Climate Change in the American Mind – conducted jointly by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication an...

www.climatechangecommunication.org

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Dr. Jonathan Foley @globalecoguy.bsky.social · Feb 22

Shutting down existing EV charging hardware, which has already been paid for, is the definition of government waste.

But I don't hear DOGE doing anything about this… 🙄

electrek.co/2025/02/21/t...

Trump to shut down all 8,000 EV charging ports at federal govt buildings

The Trump administration is shutting down all federal government buildings' EV chargers and expected to sell off the GSA's newly bought EVs.

electrek.co

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Feb 21

Had the honor and pleasure of coffee with the phenomenal @govjayinslee.bsky.social today. We talked about standing with science, communicating the climate crisis, resisting the abuses and lies of the administration. Then we both biked home!
@docsforclimate.bsky.social @thirdactorg.bsky.social

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Feb 20

Thank you Georg. Maybe just a temporary glitch here. One hopes!

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Feb 20

Wow. The PubMed site is down. Is this just a temporary glitch or have they killed it too?

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Feb 17

When @govjayinslee.bsky.social lends his support, you know you're doing something right!

Governor Jay Inslee @govjayinslee.bsky.social · Feb 17

In the best tradition of Copernicus and Galileo, our courageous scientists are enlightening the public about our environment, undaunted by Trump’s attempted suppression. Courage is contagious.

www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

www.seattletimes.com

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Feb 17

Thank you Governor Inslee. The courage and leadership you've shown throughout your career are inspiring. Stay tuned as we deliver a rigorous, timely, and much-needed report on America's nature to the nation.

Governor Jay Inslee @govjayinslee.bsky.social · Feb 17

In the best tradition of Copernicus and Galileo, our courageous scientists are enlightening the public about our environment, undaunted by Trump’s attempted suppression. Courage is contagious.

www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

www.seattletimes.com

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Feb 10

Here's a small contribution on climate fiction, through a health lens:
www.bmj.com/content/387/...

Cli-Fi—helping us manage a crisis

> The great Indian heat wave broke all records. It scorched a vast swath of the country, from Gujarat and Rajasthan in the west, eastward across Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to West Bengal. In rural areas ...

www.bmj.com

Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Feb 10

But the NNA was driven almost entirely by volunteer effort--over 150 experts from academia, civil society, and the private sector. It has strong momentum. It WILL move forward.

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Feb 10

If you have something of great value, but you haven't fully tallied its value, and you haven't taken stock of where it is or how it delivers value, and you haven't assessed the trends affecting it...then you can't properly care for it. That's why we need the NNA.

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Feb 10

The irony is that Americans across the political spectrum love and value our natural heritage. Ecosystem services are invaluable to both red and blue places. Outdoor recreation is an economic powerhouse "from sea to shining sea." There was no rational political reason for killing the NNA.

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Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · Feb 10

As I shared last week, the US's first National Nature Assessment has been shut down: but the authors, led by @phillevin.bsky.social, are determined to continue. Read more: www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/c...

Trump Killed a Major Report on Nature. They’re Trying to Publish It Anyway. (Gift Article)

The first full draft of the assessment, on the state of America’s land, water and wildlife, was weeks from completion. The project leader called the study “too important to die.”

www.nytimes.com

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Howard Frumkin @howardfrumkin.bsky.social · Dec 16

Thanks Dan for raising the health side of the equation. Health impacts of climate change of course fall heavily on the poor Wright claims to care about. If he really cares about the poor, that's commendable, but his self-interest has blinded him to the clean, healthy energy solutions now available.

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