Zahra Hirji
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zhirji.bsky.social
Zahra Hirji
@zhirji.bsky.social
Bloomberg News climate reporter. Past BuzzFeed News, InsideClimate News. Mom. She/her. Views are my own.

Email: [email protected]
Signal: zhirji.51
Pinned
Trump's EPA is proposing rule changes that if approved would result in fewer ponds, streams and wetlands being protected from development and pollution under clean water rules.

Read all about this proposal and what it means @bloomberg.com (w/a gift link): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
How Trump EPA's Rewrite of US Water Definitions Would Affect Climate Change
The agency wants to change the definitions of waterways protected under the Clean Water Act.
www.bloomberg.com
Reposted by Zahra Hirji
A federal judge threw out the criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, ruling that the prosecutor who brought the cases had been illegally appointed. Latest from Chris Strohm: buff.ly/ts6mEOa
www.bloomberg.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Reposted by Zahra Hirji
On Friday, Washington reported that the person hospitalized with the bird flu H5N5 has died.

The CDC's bird flu tracker hasn't updated to include the death. I haven't seen a press release. Last year, that would have at least been scheduled by now. doh.wa.gov/newsroom/gra...
Grays Harbor County resident dies from complications of avian influenza
For immediate release: November 21, 2025 (25-140) Contact: DOH Communications The person was infected with the H5N5 virus; the risk to the public remains low OLYMPIA – A Grays Harbor County resident w...
doh.wa.gov
November 24, 2025 at 5:18 PM
“We’re facing the reality of a no deal scenario,” said Wopke Hoekstra, the EU’s climate commissioner. “How can anyone who is reading that across the world not be deeply disappointed?”

Story @bloomberg.com, sharing w/gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Climate Summit Proposal Omits Plan for Exiting Fossil Fuels
The COP30 climate talks are set to run into overtime after a draft deal proposed by host nation Brazil caused widespread anger across the world for omitting any reference to winding down the use fossi...
www.bloomberg.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Zahra Hirji
Superior Court intern mistakenly targeted by ICE in PVD today, per RI Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Suttell
November 20, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Reposted by Zahra Hirji
NEW: A federal judge ruled that Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in DC was likely unlawful, the latest setback to the president’s military mobilizations in Democrat-led cities. She delayed the order taking effect for 21 days to avoid disruption pending any appeal buff.ly/50Q2LeM
November 20, 2025 at 9:21 PM
👀 Roughly a quarter of advertisers reviewed "promoted the 'Make America Healthy Again' agenda or pushed health and wellness products that they framed as natural or an alternative to conventional medicine," per the story.

bsky.app/profile/did:...
NEW: For months, my colleagues and I dug into YouTube's conservative airwaves and found a flourishing network of host-read ads on right-leaning podcasts. This phenomenon has enriched hosts, YouTube, and businesses that use ideology to sell. bloom.bg/3Kaio9w
November 20, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Reposted by Zahra Hirji
NEW: For months, my colleagues and I dug into YouTube's conservative airwaves and found a flourishing network of host-read ads on right-leaning podcasts. This phenomenon has enriched hosts, YouTube, and businesses that use ideology to sell. bloom.bg/3Kaio9w
November 20, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Reposted by Zahra Hirji
New: California Governor Gavin Newsom seized the mantle of US climate leadership at COP30 in Brazil in the face of Trump hostility to climate action. Here's the data on how the world's fourth-largest economy is decarbonizing and slashing emissions. Free link.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
What California's Record Shows About Newsom’s Claims to Climate Leadership
As the US retreats on climate policy, the governor is pitching himself as a global leader.
www.bloomberg.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Reposted by Zahra Hirji
NEW: ProPublica has found multiple cases of women with underlying health conditions who died when they couldn’t access abortions.

Tierra Walker, a 37-year-old mother, was told by doctors there was no emergency before preeclampsia killed her.
“Ticking Time Bomb”: A Pregnant Mother Kept Getting Sicker. She Died After She Couldn’t Get an Abortion in Texas.
Walker is one of several women ProPublica found with underlying health conditions who died when they couldn’t access abortions.
www.propublica.org
November 19, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Trump's EPA is proposing rule changes that if approved would result in fewer ponds, streams and wetlands being protected from development and pollution under clean water rules.

Read all about this proposal and what it means @bloomberg.com (w/a gift link): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
How Trump EPA's Rewrite of US Water Definitions Would Affect Climate Change
The agency wants to change the definitions of waterways protected under the Clean Water Act.
www.bloomberg.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by Zahra Hirji
Outgoing FEMA leader David Richardson told @bloomberg.com he "agreed to be the acting administrator through hurricane season when others wouldn’t." As season ends, "I can now leave for other opportunities." From @zhirji.bsky.social, Myles Miller + me: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
FEMA Chief Resigns After Six Months, Criticism Over Floods
The Trump administration’s top official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, David Richardson, resigned on Monday after about six months on the job.
www.bloomberg.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Reposted by Zahra Hirji
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Around 150 countries will gather in Brazil for the COP30 climate summit. What are the key results negotiators are aiming for — and how could talks break down?

Bloomberg journalists answer your questions today at 1 p.m. EST. Stream: bloom.bg/3Ji78rn
November 3, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Zahra Hirji
I recently went to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska w/US scientists to study the effect of saltwater on fast-thawing permafrost. 1st in a series by @bloomberg.com on the world's natural carbon sinks with @hayleywarren.bsky.social and @eroston.bsky.social

A thread follows: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
The Biggest Arctic Carbon Sink Is Increasingly Unstable
Scientists at the top of the world are racing to uncover how rapidly the Arctic’s permafrost is thawing.
www.bloomberg.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Zahra Hirji
Trump said he was going to make the Kennedy Center “hot."

Occupied seats are down 36% since last fall. Sales are the worst they’ve been in years.

Trump's "actions have been worse for business at the Kennedy Center than the aftermath of a global pandemic." www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
October 31, 2025 at 11:59 AM
After Hurricane Beryl devastated Jamaica’s grid last year, officials at the island’s sole utility vowed to fortify it. But the company’s initiatives were only in the planning + early implementation stages when Hurricane Melissa hit.

Story @bloomberg.com, gift link:
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Jamaica’s Grid Was Not Ready for Hurricane Melissa
The massive storm underscores the challenges in keeping up with the quickening pace of climate change.
www.bloomberg.com
October 29, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Zahra Hirji
A stat we don't talk about enough: Newspapers have lost 77% of their jobs over the last 20 year, more than any of the 532 other industries tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
October 27, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Reposted by Zahra Hirji
Breaking: Extreme ocean heat has eradicated key coral species in Florida from a 350-mile-long reef that protects coastal cities from storms, provides fisheries habitat. Scientists say reef-building elkhorn & staghorn corals are now "functionally extinct." Free link www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Heat Shock Tips Florida Corals to Extinction
Extreme ocean temperatures triggered the demise of coral species key to the health of a reef that protects the state’s cities from climate-driven storms.
www.bloomberg.com
October 23, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Zahra Hirji
The EPA says cutting a pollution reporting program will save the oil and gas industry millions. Some companies are pushing back, saying they need it
Why Big Oil Is Asking EPA Not to Cut its Polluter Reporting Program
The oil and gas industry says it needs the program’s data to conduct business.
bloom.bg
October 23, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Zahra Hirji
"EPA says its proposal to stop greenhouse gas reporting for big polluters could save oil and gas companies up to $256 million a year. Some of them are countering that it could hurt their business instead."

🎁🔗 @zhirji.bsky.social www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Why Big Oil Is Asking EPA Not to Cut its Polluter Reporting Program
The oil and gas industry says it needs the program’s data to conduct business.
www.bloomberg.com
October 23, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Companies, industry trade groups & others warn that Trump EPA's bid to axe the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program could immediately jeopardize energy firms’ ability to claim highly valued tax credits, as well as impact future LNG exports.

New story @bloomberg.com: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Why Big Oil Is Asking EPA Not to Cut its Polluter Reporting Program
The oil and gas industry says it needs the program’s data to conduct business.
www.bloomberg.com
October 23, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Trump's EPA says its proposal to stop greenhouse gas reporting for big polluters could save oil and gas companies up to $256 million a year. Some of them are countering that it could hurt their business instead.

Tagteam w/Ruth Liao @bloomberg.com, gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Why Big Oil Is Asking EPA Not to Cut its Polluter Reporting Program
The oil and gas industry says it needs the program’s data to conduct business.
www.bloomberg.com
October 23, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Exclusive: FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund hit ~$9.5 billion at the end of September, according to an internal report reviewed by Bloomberg News.

Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Disaster Relief Fund Hits Critical Low as Shutdown Endures
As the US government shutdown hurtles through a fourth week, the main source of federal funding for disaster relief efforts is running critically low, according to people familiar with the matter and ...
www.bloomberg.com
October 23, 2025 at 12:15 AM