Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Carlos Martín @carlosonhousing.bsky.social · 8d

Carrying my passport on the daily

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 8d

U.S. citizens, many of them Latino men, have been stopped and in some cases taken into custody by law enforcement officers who are carrying out President Trump’s immigration crackdown.

‘I’m From Here!’: U.S. Citizens Are Ending Up in Trump’s Dragnet

As immigration agents take a more aggressive approach, they have stopped and in some cases detained American citizens.

nyti.ms

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ProPublica @propublica.org · 11d

NEW: Income isn’t supposed to play a role in how much housing assistance FEMA gives families.

But in some North Carolina counties, the highest-income homeowners received two to three times as much money after Hurricane Helene as those with lower incomes.

With @theassemblync.bsky.social

Arduous and Unequal: The Fight to Get FEMA Housing Assistance After Helene

An analysis by ProPublica and The Assembly of the more rural counties in North Carolina hardest hit by Helene shows that the households that got the most aid tended to have the highest incomes.

www.propublica.org

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 15d

Global warming is a "hoax." But it's killing everyone.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 15d

Trump to the UN: "Europe loses more than 175,000 to heat deaths every year because the costs are so expensive you can't turn on an air conditioner. What is that all about? That's not Europe. That's not the Europe that I love and know. All in the name of pretending to stop the global warming hoax."

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Zoë Schlanger @zoeschlanger.bsky.social · 26d

Excellent reporting from @naveenasadasivam.bsky.social on post-disaster contractor scams grist.org/extreme-weat... "More than a third of people impacted by a disaster report experiencing fraud...contractor fraud has become a lucrative business."

First came the wildfire. Then came the scams.

As extreme weather becomes more frequent, so too have post-disaster contractor scams like excessive billing and shoddy repairs.

grist.org

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Belfast Telegraph @belfasttelegraph.co.uk · 28d

Horrors of Trump detention centre: Lisburn man tells his story after arrest for 'looking like a Mexican'

Lee Stinton was lifted by US immigration police on an American street — in an incident he compared to a kidnapping.

Here, he tells us his story.

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Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández @fernandez.house.gov · Sep 8

Now, this decision practically forces Latinos to carry their passports every day — as if being Latino in this country were a crime.

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Carlos Martín @carlosonhousing.bsky.social · Sep 2

www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/new-orl...

Housing affordability was a problem in New Orleans before Katrina. That hasn’t changed.

Uneven investment has worsened the city’s housing affordability crisis in the two decades since the storm, housing advocates say.

www.smartcitiesdive.com

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Rex Huppke @rexhuppke.bsky.social · Aug 7

Man, the italics they use in "no one thinks that speaking Spanish or working in construction **always** creates reasonable suspicion" is doing a lot of racism here.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · Aug 7

🚨DHS asks the Supreme Court to halt an injunction restricting the ability of ICE and Border Patrol to stop and question people based on factors such as speaking Spanish, being Latino, doing day labor, or being in certain areas.

Hard not to read this as a request for a license to racially profile.

Needless to say, no one thinks that speaking Spanish or working in construction always creates reasonable suspicion. Nor does anyone suggest those are the only factors federal agents ever consider. But in many situations, such factors—alone or in combination—can heighten the likelihood that someone is unlawfully present in the United States, above and beyond the 1-in-10 baseline odds in the District. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are entitled to rely on these factors when ramping up enforcement of immigration laws in the District

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Resources for the Future @rff.org · Aug 4

The EPA recently announced its plans to repeal the “endangerment finding,” which asserts that greenhouse gases harm human health and the environment. In this In Focus video, RFF President & CEO Billy Pizer breaks down the implications of this major move. ⬇️

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Abrahm @abrahm.bsky.social · Jul 28

The craziest discovery about our global water crisis -- besides the fact that the continents are drying -- is that groundwater pumping is now driving sea level rise. @hrishikeshac.bsky.social @jayfamiglietti.bsky.social www.propublica.org/article/wate...

“Staggering” Water Loss Driven by Groundwater Mining Poses Global Threat

A new study finds that freshwater resources are rapidly disappearing, creating arid “mega” regions and causing sea levels to rise.

www.propublica.org

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Reconstructed exPat @panarmstrong.bsky.social · Jul 17

Y'all this was the chance to reverse decades of land loss and save the Louisiana coast. It took years of work to set up and today the GOP pulled the plug.

The Associated Press @apnews.com · Jul 17

Louisiana officially halts a $3 billion coastal restoration funded by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement money, state and federal agencies confirmed. It was intended to rebuild upward of 20 square miles of land in southeast Louisiana to combat sea level rise and erosion on the Gulf Coast.

Louisiana cancels $3B repair coastal restoration funded by Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement

Louisiana is officially canceling a $3 billion coastal restoration project funded by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement.

bit.ly

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ACEEE @aceee.org · Jul 15

A new analysis finds significant differences in how households and the construction industry view energy upgrades.

Join @beccconference.bsky.social for a webinar on July 29 at 2:30pm ET to learn how understanding their different priorities can help us drive greater benefits for all involved.

Improving Home Energy Upgrades: Insights from Households and Industry

Join us for a webinar on the perspectives of households and the construction industry on energy retrofits

www.aceee.org

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Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · Jul 3

Our research confirms this. Climate change increases the need for air conditioning for people to not die in heat waves. We need clean energy. We need efficient buildings. We need green infrastructure. We need more of this that most folks can imagine. We should start building it all right now.

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · Jul 3

I’ve read a lot of research on air conditioning, heat waves, and mortality, and there’s extremely strong consensus among actual experts about “we need to expand global access to air conditioning at the same time as we engage in other sustainable measures, like better architecture and green spaces.”

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ACEEE @aceee.org · Jun 26

The Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) helps income-eligible households reduce energy costs by improving home energy efficiency.

A new study looking at the program found that nearly ⅕ of homes audited for WAP are deferred because needed repairs. More⬇️

Weatherization Blocked by Repair Needs in a Fifth of Eligible Homes

New research finds 7,000 homes a year are denied from federally funded weatherization program that cuts energy bills

www.aceee.org

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · Jun 14

via Benedicto.Uribe on TikTok

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Emily Schwing @emilyschwing.bsky.social · May 29

Since fall, 2022, I've been trying to figure out why Newtok's relocation is riddled with problems - the same kind this move was supposed to solve. Newtok’s residents are Americans - not a “they,” but an “us,” and that’s why I chased this story for so long. www.propublica.org/article/newt...

Newtok, Alaska, Was Supposed to Be a Model for Climate Relocation. Here’s How It Went Wrong.

The project’s challenges highlight how ill-prepared the U.S. is to respond to the way climate change is making some places uninhabitable.

www.propublica.org

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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · May 27

SCOOP— FEMA essential functions are at "high risk" of not functioning properly just days before hurricane season because of staffing shortages, per a recent internal memo obtained by The Handbasket.

These deficiencies "may disrupt life-saving and life-sustaining program delivery."

Full story here:

FEMA at 'high risk' of disrupting 'life-saving' disaster relief, per internal memo

The agency in charge of mitigating disasters is in the midst of its own.

www.thehandbasket.co

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ProPublica @propublica.org · May 10

Staffers at the Energy Information Administration said they believe changes were made to their Energy Outlook report out of fear that spotlighting unwelcome findings would make the agency a Trump target. “There was a concern that any narrative we put out would be seen as ideological.”

The Latest Trump and DOGE Casualty: Energy Data

The Energy Information Administration has long provided reliable data on everything from oil and gas to alternative energy. Now one of its signature reports has been slashed and a second one canceled…

www.propublica.org

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Carlos Martín @carlosonhousing.bsky.social · May 10

8 years ago this weekend w Peter Meyer. We weren’t prescient, just principled. Now, w federal, academic, civil separations, I see our humble act in new light. Maybe an omen. But if omens foretell gloom, our vindication suggests there will be light.
Stick to truth. The light will come. Someday.

Two experts resign from EPA posts to protest the agency’s science committee shake-up

The researchers said they were concerned about the "watering down of credible science, engineering, and methodological rigor."

www.washingtonpost.com

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Carlos Martín @carlosonhousing.bsky.social · May 8

Geez… I guess too cute or too honest for DHS subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

E&E News: FEMA chief is fired

Federal Emergency Management Agency acting Administrator Cameron Hamilton told people he was terminated Thursday.

subscriber.politicopro.com

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Carlos Martín @carlosonhousing.bsky.social · Apr 12

FEMA will stop matching 100% of Helene recovery money in North Carolina ncnewsline.com/2025/04/12/f...

FEMA will stop 100% cost-share in Helene recovery • NC Newsline

"I am extremely disappointed and urge the President to reconsider FEMA’s bad decision, even for 90 days," Gov. Josh Stein said.

ncnewsline.com

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U.S. Climate Alliance @usclimate.bsky.social · Apr 9

Today, the President issued an executive order targeting states’ authority to tackle the climate crisis.

Our statement from Alliance co-chairs @governor.ny.gov & @govmlg.bsky.social ➡️ usclimatealliance.org/press-releases/alliance-statement-on-executive-order-targeting-state-authority-apr-2025/

Our statement from Alliance co-chairs New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham: “The federal government cannot unilaterally strip states’ independent constitutional authority. We are a nation of states — and laws — and we will not be deterred. We will keep advancing solutions to the climate crisis that safeguard Americans’ fundamental right to clean air and water, create good-paying jobs, grow the clean energy economy, and make our future healthier and safer.”

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Zoya Teirstein @zteirstein.bsky.social · Apr 4

Scoop from me and Jake: FEMA is ending BRIC. grist.org/politics/fem...

FEMA moves to end one of its biggest disaster adaptation programs

In an internal FEMA memorandum obtained by Grist, the Trump administration announced it plans to dismantle the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program.

grist.org

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Carlos Martín @carlosonhousing.bsky.social · Apr 4

subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

E&E News: FEMA halts grant program that spent billions on disaster protection

An internal memo says the agency is canceling future and existing grants that help states and tribes prepare for floods, tornadoes and other natural disasters.

subscriber.politicopro.com

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ProPublica @propublica.org · Mar 29

HUD concluded a Texas state agency had steered $1B in disaster funding away from Houston and nearby communities of color after Hurricane Harvey.

On Jan. 15, HUD referred the case to the DOJ.

On Feb. 13, it rescinded that referral with no explanation.

Federal Investigators Were Preparing Two Texas Housing Discrimination Cases — Until Trump Took Over

The government spent years probing allegations that a Dallas HOA created rules to kick poor Black people out and that Texas discriminated against minority residents in Houston after Hurricane Harvey,…

propub.li

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