Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Trump Signs Order to Approve Mining Road Through Alaskan Wilderness

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 1d

"This order is so atrocious, it’s nearly unbelievable."

Here’s why one industry is worried about Trump’s latest climate rollback

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 7d

Trump administration wants to roll back regulations on HFCs (very potent greenhouse gases) OVER THE OBJECTIONS OF THE APPLIANCE INDUSTRY.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that it would rewrite a Biden-era rule aimed at limiting hydrofluorocarbons, a potent greenhouse gas.

Gabbard Ends Intelligence Report on Future Threats to U.S.

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 11d

Why offer a report on future threats when you don't care about the future?

Wild bird numbers continue to fall in UK with some species in ‘dramatic freefall’

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Reposted by Elizabeth Kolbert

Prof Duncan Westbury @duncanwestbury.bsky.social · 13d

Not good. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Species index fell by 4% between 2019 and 2024 – although data shows woodland populations beginning to stabilise

www.theguardian.com

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 14d

One of the only groups to benefit from Trump's international aid cuts: wildlife traffickers.

Chinese triads and Mexican cartels exploit US cuts to wildlife aid

Gangs involved in trading endangered species are ‘loving’ the closure of conservation programmes

on.ft.com

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 15d

"Neither the companies nor the administration has shared the science backing the claim that recycling nuclear fuel at commercial scale using current industry techniques is safe or practical."

Trump’s nuclear ‘renaissance’ rests on risky plan for radioactive waste

The administration goes all-in on recycling spent fuel, despite a history of spectacular mishaps, including an unintentional atom bomb.

The U.S. Is Forfeiting the Clean-Energy Race to China

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 16d

The WSJ speaking: "America has given up its effort to challenge China in the renewable-energy industries that increasingly power the global economy."

As President Trump doubles down on fossil fuels, the U.S. and China offer competing visions for the future of energy.

Kennedy’s Advisory Panel Votes to Limit M.M.R.V. Vaccine for Children Under 4

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Reposted by Elizabeth Kolbert

IPBES @ipbes.net · 20d

🌊 One-quarter of freshwater species are at risk of extinction, warns the IUCN Red List.

From crabs to fish, these creatures are vital for ecosystems and human livelihoods. Pollution, habitat loss, and invasive species drive this crisis.🐟🦐

📷 IUCN
🗞️ iucn.org/press-releas...

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 18d

Must take good news where you can get it these days:

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 18d

BREAKING: A federal judge just sumamrily struck Trump's complaint against the New York Times, essentially calling it, essentially, garbage.

Must be rewritten within 28 days.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 19d

"It was unclear whether the members all understood what they were voting for."

Corals Won’t Survive a Warmer Planet, a New Study Finds

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 20d

New study says more than 70 percent of Atlantic corals will "begin dying by 2040 even under optimistic climate warming scenarios."

IEA reiterates ‘no new oil and gas needed’ if global warming is limited to 1.5C - Carbon Brief

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Reposted by Elizabeth Kolbert

Carbon Brief @carbonbrief.org · 21d

NEW – IEA reiterates ‘no new oil and gas needed’ if global warming is limited to 1.5C | @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org

Read here: buff.ly/SV5n4NW

The world would not need to invest in new oil and gas projects if demand for the fuels fell in line with the 1.5C limit on global warming, says the IEA

buff.ly

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 22d

The latest installment in suing the press into submission:

Trump files $15 billion defamation and libel lawsuit against New York Times

President Trump accuses the newspaper and its reporters of defaming him in a book and three articles he said were “false, malicious, defamatory, and disparaging.”

Climate ‘Ideology’ Hurts Prosperity, Top U.S. Officials Tell Europeans

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 27d

This is what the Trump administration sends its cabinet ministers to Europe to talk about, one day after Poland shoots down Russian drones violating its airspace.

Trump Moves to Scrap Biden Rule That Protected Public Lands

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 27d

Why protect some of the most spectacular places in the U.S. when you can fill them with fracking wells?

‘China Is the Engine’ Driving Nations Away From Fossil Fuels, Report Says

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 29d

"Last year, more than 90 percent of wind and solar projects commissioned worldwide produced power more cheaply than the cheapest available fossil-fuel alternative."

Umpires No More | David Cole

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Reposted by Elizabeth Kolbert

Richard Waite @waiterich.bsky.social · 29d

Despite 140+ countries having committed to end deforestation by 2030, the world has not made progress yet, and if anything rates of forest loss are increasing. gfr.wri.org/latest-analy....

Graph showing Primary forest loss (Mha) 2002-24. Rising from 3 to 5 million hectares per year.

Agriculture and logging had been main drivers but effect of fires is increasing and jumped in 2024.

Note below graph: Non-fire related loss can occur from mechanical clearing for agriculture and logging, as well as natural causes such as wind damage and river meandering. The three-year moving average may represent a more accurate picture of the data trends due to uncertainty in year-to-year comparisons. This figure is calculated with a 30 percent minimum tree cover canopy density.

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · 29d

Recommend this piece in @nybooks.com by
@davidcole-gtown.bsky.social on how the SCOTUS majority keeps changing the rules to reach the decisions that it wants.

In several major cases in its 2024–2025 term, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority reached its desired results not by overturning precedent but by ignoring it.

www.nybooks.com

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Sep 8

"Trump has taken to phoning oil bosses whose TV appearances he enjoys."

Oil Tycoons Bet Big on Trump. It’s Paying Off.

The Trump administration has opened land to drilling and is moving to roll back environmental restrictions and hobble renewable energy. But crude prices have dropped.

Two Valuable Satellites Are in ‘Perfect Health.’ They May Be Scrapped.

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Sep 6

Trump administration wants to "turn off" satellites gathering climate change data, ostensibly to save money. A former NOAA scientist compares this to running your car into a tree in order to save money on gas.

RFK Jr. Is Dismantling Public Health. A Fringe Theory May Explain Why.

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Sep 6

Apparently RFK Jr. is not just opposed to vaccines, he's against germ theory. This makes him less qualified to be HHS secretary than most five-year-olds.

The Health and Human Services secretary has long embraced antiscientific ideas that run counter to germ theory, the basis of treating infectious diseases.

RFK Jr. Is Dismantling Public Health. A Fringe Theory May Explain Why.

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Elizabeth Kolbert @elizkolbert.bsky.social · Sep 6

Apparently RFK Jr. is not just opposed to vaccines, he's against to germ theory. This makes him less qualified to be HHS secretary than most five-year-olds.

The Health and Human Services secretary has long embraced antiscientific ideas that run counter to germ theory, the basis of treating infectious diseases.