A unanimous California Court of Appeal upheld San Francisco’s expanded plastic bag ban, marking the latest in a string of victories for local laws phasing out single-use plastic bags.
The lawsuit, brought by the Save the Plastic Bag Coalition, had disputed the procedures San Francisco used to expand its plastic bag ban in 2012 and the legality of banning plastic bags in restaurants. This is the first appellate court to consider the restaurant issue. Yesterday’s ruling sets the stage for more cities to adopt and strengthen local laws phasing out plastic bags.
Single-use plastic bags are one of the most common garbage items on beaches and in California's waters.
“This is a great victory for our oceans,” said Nathan Weaver with Environment California. “The court’s decision makes clear once again that our communities have the right to keep plastic out of the Pacific by banning plastic bags and encouraging reusable bag use."
This decision is the latest in a series of failed legal challenges to plastic bag ordinances by the plastics industry and its allies. The California Supreme Court famously upheld the City of Manhattan Beach’s plastic bag ban in a unanimous 2011 ruling. The California Court of Appeal upheld Los Angeles County’s plastic bag ordinance earlier this year, rejecting a lawsuit filed by Hilex Poly Co. and its allies. Marin County’s plastic bag ban won decisively in the Court of Appeal this June. Lower courts have upheld plastic bag bans against CEQA challenges in San Francisco and San Luis Obispo County. Lawsuits against Long Beach, Palo Alto, Santa Cruz, and Santa Cruz County have been settled on favorable terms leaving the local plastic bag ban in effect.
Single-use plastic bags are one of the most common garbage items on California’s beaches according to Ocean Conservancy beach cleanup data. The bags are a threat to ocean wildlife, like the leatherback sea turtles that mistake them for edible jellyfish. One in three leatherback sea turtles studied had plastic in their stomach, most often a plastic bag, according to an analysis of 370 autopsies. So far, 90 California local governments have banned single-use plastic bags.
“Nothing we use for a few minutes should pollute the ocean for hundreds of years,” commented Weaver.
The case is Save the Plastic Bag Coalition v. City and County of San Francisco, No. A137056.
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First Trial of Moderna's Coronavirus Vaccine Produces Immune Response in All Participants
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Health + Wellness
The results from Moderna's Phase 1 coronavirus vaccine show it is safe and effective so far. Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Results from the Phase 1 trial of Cambridge, Massachusetts biotech firm Moderna's coronavirus vaccine show it is safe and produces an immune response.
<p>The preliminary report of the trial, published in <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2022483?query=featured_home" target="_blank">The New England Journal of Medicine Tuesday</a>, reveals that all 45 participants developed so-called neutralizing antibodies that bind to the virus and stop it from attacking other cells. They developed these antibodies at levels comparable to the upper half of COVID-19 survivors.</p><p>"The good news is that this vaccine induced antibodies," director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci told <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-14/moderna-vaccine-produced-antibodies-in-all-patients-tested" target="_blank">Bloomberg News</a>. "Not just any kind of antibodies, but neutralizing antibodies."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We just announced interim results from the NIH-led Phase 1 Study of our <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mRNA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#mRNA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/vaccine?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#vaccine</a> against COVID-19 (mRNA-1273) in <a href="https://twitter.com/NEJM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NEJM</a>. Read more: <a href="https://t.co/YqPyTCgjBB">https://t.co/YqPyTCgjBB</a> <a href="https://t.co/e2AStO92ES">pic.twitter.com/e2AStO92ES</a></p>— Moderna (@moderna_tx) <a href="https://twitter.com/moderna_tx/status/1283149692587708417?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 14, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-health" target="_self">Public health</a> experts agree that a vaccine is necessary to return life to normal in the wake of a pandemic that has infected millions and killed almost 575,000, according to <a href="https://in.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-moderna-idINKCN24F2T3?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook" target="_blank">Reuters</a>. More than one vaccine will probably be required, because it will be difficult for any one company to produce the billions of doses needed, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/health/cornavirus-vaccine-moderna.html" target="_blank">The New York Times pointed out</a>.</p><p>"None of us are safe unless all of us are safe," Columbia University virologist Dr. Angela Rasmussen told The New York Times. "It's not just us. It's everybody in the world."</p><p>The Moderna vaccine candidate was the first to be tested on human subjects, and Tuesday's published paper confirms the positive results <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/moderna-coronavirus-vaccine-trials-2646031857.html" target="_self">reported</a> by the company in May.</p>
<p>In the trial, 45 people aged 18 to 55 received two doses of the vaccine 28 days apart, according to Reuters. They received doses of either 25, 100 or 250 micrograms.</p><p>More than half of the people who received the middle dose experienced side effects like fatigue, chills, headache and muscle pain and 40 percent of them developed a fever after the second dose, according to Bloomberg. Three of the 14 people who received the highest dose suffered severe side effects, but the company has decided to stop testing that dose.</p><p>Fauci said the side-effects were normal and not a cause for concern, but other experts disagreed.</p><p>"Man, that is a lot of adverse events," Tony Moody, a doctor and researcher at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, told Bloomberg.</p><p>However, Moody also said the amount of antibodies produced was "really encouraging."</p>
<p>The vaccine's safety and effectiveness cannot truly be assessed until a larger study is conducted, University of Pennsylvania infectious disease expert Dr. Paul Offit told The New York Times.</p><p>"[I]t's reading the tea leaves," he said. "You just don't know anything until you do a Phase 3 trial."</p><p>Moderna's Phase 3 trial is set to begin July 27 with 30,000 participants, half of whom will receive a placebo. It should be finished by late October, but it is unclear if the company will know if the vaccine works by then, since it has to prove participants are less likely to contract the virus. If the vaccine does work, Moderna said it would be able to manufacture between 500 million and one billion of the 100-microgram doses a year starting in 2021, Reuters reported.</p>
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More than 1,000 people were told to evacuate their homes when a wildfire ignited in the foothills west of Denver Monday, Colorado Public Radio reported.
<p><br/></p>
<p>The Elephant Butte Fire sparked in Evergreen, Colorado around 2:30 p.m., <a href="https://kdvr.com/news/local/elephant-butte-fire-in-evergreen-what-we-know/" target="_blank">KDVR reported</a>. As of Tuesday morning, it had spread to 50 acres and was zero percent contained, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office tweeted.</p>
<div id="ee717" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c382c3bf5156f3c108c5b46303ead1d1"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1283030707460354051" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Day 2 Update on the #ElephantButteFire Fire is still at 50 acres in size with zero containment. No evacuation order… https://t.co/1BF7UMdl6f</div> — Jeffco Sheriff (@Jeffco Sheriff)<a href="https://twitter.com/jeffcosheriffco/statuses/1283030707460354051">1594733332.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>One of the families forced to evacuate Monday told <a href="https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/07/13/elephant-butte-fire-lincoln-family/" target="_blank">CBS4</a> the land they fled had been in the family for 100 years.</p><p>"It's completely made out of wood. It's a 104-year-old house. I've lived there all my life," teenager Aidan Lincoln told CBS4. "It's been there since before my dad was born. It means a lot to my family."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Right now we’re at 700 homes evacuated in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ElephantButte?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ElephantButte</a> fire in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Evergreen?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Evergreen</a>. I talked with a 17 year old who was in tears believing his family home has gone up.<br>Latest on <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSDenver?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CBSDenver</a> <a href="https://t.co/EAhaVawPN4">pic.twitter.com/EAhaVawPN4</a></p>— Alan Gionet (@AlanGTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlanGTV/status/1282824359397208067?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Lincoln feared the family home had caught fire, but the sheriff's office says no homes have been lost. Fire officials also said no one had been injured as of 6:30 p.m. Monday, <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2020/07/13/evergreen-wildfire-elephant-butte-fire/" target="_blank">The Denver Post reported</a>.</p><p>The fire is burning in the Upper Bear Creek Road and Overlook Trail area, according to Evergreen Fire Rescue. The evacuation area initially covered a five-mile radius and around 250 homes but was later increased to cover around 1,000 homes. The Elk Meadow and Alderfer/Three Sisters parks were also both closed because of the blaze.</p>
<div id="e2b09" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e665c6f540754d83a6eb94ba8f6e04fa"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1282818933762875393" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Elk Meadow and Alderfer/Three Sisters Parks are both CLOSED due to the #elephantbuttefire #jeffco @efr_co https://t.co/nyHki32PjB</div> — Jeffco Sheriff (@Jeffco Sheriff)<a href="https://twitter.com/jeffcosheriffco/statuses/1282818933762875393">1594682842.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>There were more than 100 people fighting the fire Monday and at least three air tankers and several helicopters, Colorado Public Radio reported.</p>
<div id="ab90e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d20a60932bf9aa3d5c9336d1c31edb57"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1282863366071914496" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Though these images were taken about an hour ago, they give you a different perspective of what the… https://t.co/Rcvn7TtlCQ</div> — Jeffco Sheriff (@Jeffco Sheriff)<a href="https://twitter.com/jeffcosheriffco/statuses/1282863366071914496">1594693435.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Monday's weather made battling the flames more difficult. Firefighters on the ground had to pause in their efforts a little before 7 p.m. Monday because of lightning in the area, and wind pushed the fire up into the treetops of one ridge. There was a little rainfall, but it proved disappointing.</p><p>"Unfortunately the rain didn't help as much as we hoped," the sheriff's office wrote on Facebook, as Colorado Public Radio reported.</p><p>Conditions are expected to be more favorable Tuesday because of a cold front, KDVR reported.</p><p>The immediate cause of the fire is under investigation, according to The Denver Post. However, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> has helped to increase the size and frequency of wildfires in the Western U.S. Of the more than 40,000 fires that burned from Colorado to California between 1950 and 2017, 61 percent ignited in the last two decades, according to the <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/blog/2830/six-trends-to-know-about-fire-season-in-the-western-us/" target="_blank">National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)</a>. At the same time, global temperatures have gotten hotter, encouraging ideal fire conditions like high temperatures and dry air.</p><p>"Those fire conditions all fall under weather and climate," NASA Langley Research Center wildfire expert Amber Soja said. "The weather will change as Earth warms, and we're seeing that happen."</p><p>Before the Elephant Butte Fire ignited, Jefferson County had implemented a burn ban because of hot, dry weather, Colorado Public Radio reported.</p>
<p><em>Correction: An earlier version of this article attributed a quote to the sheriff's office on Twitter. The quote was posted on Facebook.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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Accessibility to quality health care has dropped for millions of Americans who lost their health insurance due to unemployment. mixetto / E+ / Getty Images
Accessibility to quality health care has dropped for millions of Americans who lost their health insurance due to unemployment. New research has found that 5.4 million Americans were dropped from their insurance between February and May of this year. In that three-month stretch more Americans lost their coverage than have lost coverage in any entire year, according to The New York Times.
<p>The report was compiled by the advocacy group <a href="https://www.familiesusa.org/" target="_blank">Families USA</a>, which looked at COVID-19's impact on workers under 65. It noted that recent increases in the number of uninsured adults are 39 percent higher than any annual increase ever recorded. The highest previous increase took place over the one-year period from 2008 to 2009, when 3.9 million non-elderly adults became uninsured, according to a Families USA statement.</p><p>In that time frame, at least 22 million Americans lost their jobs or left the workforce. The public health crisis also has stripped roughly 16 million workers and their families from employer-provided health plans, according to the <a href="https://www.epi.org/blog/16-2-million-workers-have-likely-lost-employer-provided-health-insurance-since-the-coronavirus-shock-began/" target="_blank">Economic Policy Institute,</a> as <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/coronavirus-health-insurance-pandemic-families-usa-report-a9617226.html" target="_blank">The Independent</a> reported. However, some of those unemployed were able to join a family member's plan or buy private health insurance.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/07/new-study-health-insurance-record-losses-coronavirus-pandemic.html" target="_blank">Slate</a> noted, health coverage has long been treated as a luxury, linked to certain kinds of white-collar employment. Now, the coronavirus has made health coverage an amenity fewer can afford.</p><p>"We knew these numbers would be big," said Stan Dorn, who directs the group's National Center for Coverage Innovation and who wrote the study, as The New York Times reported. "This is the worst economic downturn since World War II. It dwarfs the Great Recession. So it's not surprising that we would also see the worst increase in the uninsured."</p><p>The complete picture of how many Americans are uninsured is still murky and will not become clear until mid- to late 2021, when the federal government publishes its health insurance estimates for 2020, according to The New York Times. Families USA is one of several groups putting together comprehensive estimates of just how many people lack insurance.</p>
<p>"Despite these historic coverage losses, no Covid-19 legislation yet signed into law has made a serious effort to protect comprehensive health insurance," Families USA reported.</p><p>As The New York Times reported, the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation has <a href="https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/eligibility-for-aca-health-coverage-following-job-loss/" target="_blank" title="">estimated</a> that 27 million Americans have lost coverage in the pandemic. That study took into account family members of the insured. <a href="https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/research/2020/07/changes-in-health-insurance-coverage-due-to-the-covid-19-recession--preliminary-estimates-using-microsimulation.html?cid=xem_other_unpd_ini:quickstrike_dte:20200713_des:coverage%20changes;%20covid" target="_blank" title="">Another analysis,</a> published Monday by the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, projected that by the end of 2020, 10.1 million people will no longer have employer-sponsored health insurance or coverage due to job loss during the pandemic.</p>
<p>Of course, a lot of this was avoidable. As businesses shuttered their doors and unemployment rates rose precipitously in March, the Trump administration refused to reopen the Affordable Care Act's federal exchanges — which are only open to new signups during a small six-week window at the end of each year — to allow Americans to buy coverage to protect themselves during the coming pandemic, as Slate reported.</p><p>The portions of the country that have the highest rates of uninsured, according to the Families USA study, are states that refused federal help in expanding Medicaid as part of Obamacare, as Slate reported.</p>
<p>"In the 37 states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, 23 percent of laid off workers became uninsured," the study found. "The percentage was nearly double that — 43 percent — in the 13 states that did not expand Medicaid, which include Texas, Florida and North Carolina."</p><p>While 80 percent of people who lost employer-provided health insurance during the coronavirus pandemic are eligible for free coverage, accessing it is a challenge since many people may not know they qualify for Medicaid or they cannot afford the premiums from their COBRA plan.</p><p>"Helping people keep their insurance through a public health crisis surprisingly has not gotten much attention," said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/13/us/politics/coronavirus-health-insurance-trump.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. "This is the first recession in which the ACA is there as a safety net, but it's an imperfect safety net."</p>
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Heat waves are most dangerous for older people and those with health problems. Global Jet / Flickr / CC by 2.0
On hot days in New York City, residents swelter when they're outside and in their homes. The heat is not just uncomfortable. It can be fatal.
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<iframe style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/15116324/height/45/theme/standard/thumbnail/yes/direction/backward/" height="45" width="100%" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe>
<p>"Extreme heat is actually the deadliest extreme weather event we face in New York City," says Jainey Bavishi of the Mayor's Office of Recovery and Resiliency.</p><p>Heat waves are most dangerous for older people and those with health problems. Low-income residents are also vulnerable: They may not have air conditioning, and their neighborhoods tend to have more pavement and fewer trees, which makes them hotter.</p><p>So the city has <a target="_blank" href="https://www1.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/article/nyc-coolroofs">taken steps</a> to cool these areas by painting roofs with a coating that reflects sunlight.</p>
<p>"We've already painted 10 million square feet of rooftops white in New York City and we're concentrating those coatings in the most heat-vulnerable areas," Bavishi says.</p><p>The city is also working to ensure residents remain safe during a heat wave. It's providing air conditioners to tens of thousands of elderly, low-income residents, and it runs a program that pairs volunteers with vulnerable people – "just to make sure that the residents of our communities that are most likely to be impacted by the hot temperatures are being checked in on and staying safe," Bavishi says.</p><p>So from rooftops to living rooms, the city is working to protect residents as temperatures heat up.</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/07/new-york-city-paints-rooftops-white-to-help-residents-stay-cool/" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Nearly 250 U.S. oil and gas companies are expected to file for bankruptcy by the end of next year. Joshua Doubek / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 3.0
Fracking companies are going bankrupt at a rapid pace, often with taxpayer-funded bonuses for executives, leaving harm for communities, taxpayers, and workers, the New York Time reports.
<p>Nearly 250 U.S. oil and gas companies are expected to file for bankruptcy by the end of next year — more than went under in the last five years combined — as demand craters due to the pandemic, a global price war, and falling renewable energy prices. These failing companies often neglect well maintenance and plugged well repairs to save money, causing tons of ultra-heat-trapping methane to continue gushing into the atmosphere. </p><p>Shale wells typically cost <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/VWkCs-6l9bsnN6Fvt91xrcLcW430FVB4cv_DBN3rtP7m3p_9rV1-WJV7CgK5jW1cvRnF96Lb9mW3-JH6w3lfBlgW1ccv0l7xBKcfW8TfM3y1HKL3xVJqZTJ7rBh--W7P80KP8Fx9XlVl7YHW1_-HM4W49yBCC33jN_6W6hHB-t95SVMdW7xHdDg132FD6W5JzxgB8zc04dW9lm0z52xJznSW1088Bx7q5j4WN2VDzyf-K7GRW54Ss5s8lkH-sW6d2q4b16nZ9DW2fNdzP8Cm3SjW18y-jH4lwvZfN57dVMD9g0YfW4zqtt12dx4VKW7-MDt365lD7KW7WnM-n1bB8z9W1lRR3x3x462YW8YlmwM8wWZKdN2VvV06j0WDRW5Q-kNW5zjNc13dBQ1" target="_blank">$300,000</a> to close — far more than the estimates used by companies, regulators and financial analysts — and an analysis prepared for the Times found companies have failed to reserve sufficient funds, as required by law, to remediate their well sites, leaving taxpayers to foot the cleanup bill. </p>
<p>As a result, early estimates show substantial increases in methane concentrations over Texas and New Mexico oil fields in March and April 2020 compared to the previous year. The Trump administration is seeking to <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/VWkCs-6l9bsnN6Fvt91xrcLcW430FVB4cv_DBN3rtP7G3p_9LV1-WJV7CgNjfW6tsRrP86lz1WV24BdG691GxFW3kN5SY57z0j7W8Fz7MQ2Kw_8jW1q753G63Rh18W5k-b-T4xRHhfW5T04893c2TPHW1TvN9-7YpC_-W6dczd13vPCKhW1tcxnz1BZDpTW3LZBZ44vHx98W2DFDmm2Xn_VdW7dZMT935GQSSW1WFcw36SxghNW6h5B924L1WWsW3DgH-r1TC9DzW7lrbKd62HZFvW5KtbhK9ctyG2W1kzwWk7VYyVkW6DPvxt45Dlc3W1794j06gn4-0W8Q_JQn2VC1-LN6n7_wTsGwdFW5vjCzs3KQBVqW1XPNDR7K0mWWW2gSBbp2ZGt4HW3lCd3v7rDyGDW4ksF1k4NF1Rw363l1" target="_blank">effectively eliminate</a> methane leak detection and repair requirements. </p><p>One drilling site, abandoned by Extraction Oil & Gas in Greeley, Colorado, is situated just 700 feet from an elementary school serving the community's fast-growing immigrant population where air pollution monitors recorded 100 periods of elevated levels of toxic benzene over the course of seven months last year. </p>
<p>Those wells were originally planned to lie closer to a more affluent, majority white charter school, but were moved after an outcry from that school's parents. Extraction Oil & Gas paid 18 of its officers and key employees a combined $6.7 million in "retention agreements" last month, three days before it filed for bankruptcy protection. </p><p>Extraction is hardly alone, Chesapeake Energy declared bankruptcy in May after paying $25 million in executive bonuses just weeks before. Diamond Offshore Drilling got a $9.7 million COVID-stimulus tax refund in March and then paid its executives the same amount as cash incentives to remain with the company as it undergoes bankruptcy proceedings. </p>
<p>"It seems outrageous that these executives pay themselves before filing for bankruptcy," Kathy Hipple, an analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis and a finance professor at Bard College told the Times. "These are the same managers who ran these companies into bankruptcy to begin with." </p><p>The recent spate of oil & gas bankruptcies hurts the firms' workers as well, with lawsuits against the companies arising from workers injured and killed on the job put on hold.<span></span></p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/12/climate/oil-fracking-bankruptcy-methane-executive-pay.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=91332553&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_GKHS9MprgN7eHWZamF8Vev5zdDh1yAZeo7VDO6qeGZVhuazNzviysghDBRQE8PrEVvDIzbA9KlBYvSViFrSPFF62pGjhnWyij3xUztiV0-JTzDVk&utm_content=91332553&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">New York Times</a><br/></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Trump introduces EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler during an event to announce changes to the National Environmental Policy Act, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Jan. 9, 2020 in Washington, DC. The changes would make it easier for federal agencies to approve infrastructure projects without considering climate change. Drew Angerer / Getty Images
A report scheduled for release later Tuesday by Congress' non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds that the Trump administration undervalues the costs of the climate crisis in order to push deregulation and rollbacks of environmental protections, according to The New York Times.
<p>In one example, the administration estimated the cost of global heating for future generations seven times lower than previous federal estimates. By drastically lowering that number, which is known as the "social cost of the carbon," the administration could manipulate its cost-benefit analyses for deregulating carbon emissions, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/climate/trump-climate-change-carbon-cost.html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>Every ton of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere imposes a cost on the economy, since it increases the likelihood from damage to infrastructure from <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise">sea level rise</a>, heat waves or storms. Or, it imposes a health care cost as increased pollution harms public health. However, calculating the cost of those effects is both politically contentious and economically challenging, according to The New York Times.</p>
<p>Under estimates from the Obama administration, the social cost of carbon would be approximately $82 per ton of carbon by the year 2050, according to the forthcoming report. The Trump administration, upon entering office in 2017, quickly undid those numbers and changed the math of how the social cost of carbon was calculated. Under their revised system, the damages by 2050 are estimated to cost around $11 per ton of carbon.</p><p>One of the ways the math changed was keeping in line with Trump's narrow worldview. The report found that the administration brought the cost of carbon down by only looking at the effects on the U.S. rather than the global cost.</p><p>Another way it brought down the cost of carbon was by using something called the discount rate, which, according to The New York Times, assumes society should not pay much now to prevent harm from climate change to future generations.</p>
<p>"As a result, the current federal estimates, based on domestic climate damages, are about seven times lower than the prior federal estimates that were based on global damages," the report found.</p><p>The economic costs were supposed to be revised by the National Academy of Sciences, but the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/scientists-epa-panel-air-pollution-2640669910.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self">White House disbanded the working group</a> and has no intention of restarting them or revising the economic calculation, as The New York Times reported.</p><p>That refusal to update their calculations means future incarnations of the federal government "may not be well positioned to ensure agencies' future regulatory analyses are using the best available <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/science/">science</a>," according to the GAO report.</p>
<p>Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island and one of eight senators who requested the review, said, "Climate change is a massive threat to our economy. That threat will only grow in years to come, even if we take the action necessary to avoid the worst effects of climate change," as The New York Times reported.</p><p>Michael Greenstone, an economist at the University of Chicago, said the Trump administration's calculations were not done in good faith.</p><p>"It was entirely a political act. I don't think anyone pretended that those moves were justified," he said.</p><p>Others see similarities between the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus and its approach to the climate crisis: deny its reality and then leave the country unprepared for its effects.</p><p>"This really parallels the mismanagement of coronavirus," said Michael K. Dorsey, a limited partner with IberSun, a renewable energy company, and a climate expert, to The New York Times. "There's this belief that by doing this you will have some effect of helping the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuel</a> industry. The only thing it does, unfortunately, is undermine the ability of the government to make prudent decisions about moving critical resources to communities that are experiencing the unfolding climate crisis."</p>
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The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Education Association (NEA), and AASA, The School Superintendents Association, voiced support for safe reopening measures. www.vperemen.com / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA
By Kristen Fischer
It's going to be back-to-school time soon, but will children go into the classrooms?
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) thinks so, but only as long as safety measures are in place.
<p>The group's recent recommendations include social distancing protocol based on different grades. For example, it's more feasible to keep preschoolers in small groups (known as "cohorting") with the same teacher throughout the day. Older children should have desks 3 to 6 feet apart and wear masks.</p><p>They also say schools should limit unnecessary visitors to the buildings and utilize outdoor spaces for learning. The guidelines recommend safer bussing, hallway traffic monitoring, cafeteria use, cleaning, and screening protocols among other recommendations.</p><p>The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Education Association (NEA), and AASA, The School Superintendents Association, also voiced support for safe reopening measures.</p><p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/schools.html" target="_blank">guidelines</a> for reopening schools.</p><p>Despite calls for them to be revised by <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-criticizes-cdc-guidelines-for-schools-reopening-11594225571" target="_blank">President Donald Trump</a>, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said <a href="https://time.com/5865108/cdc-reopening-guidelines-schools-trump-coronavirus/" target="_blank">they will not change</a>, but the CDC will soon publish additional documents on symptom monitoring and mask usage.</p><p>But school administrators, parents, and teachers remain wary of going back to school full time as they fear becoming the site of super spreader events.</p>
Keeping Schools Safe
<p>What will safer schools look like?</p><p>In a <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2766822" target="_blank">JAMA article</a> published last month, <a href="https://www.jhsph.edu/faculty/directory/profile/1781/joshua-m-sharfstein" target="_blank">Dr. Joshua Sharfstein</a>, a pediatrician and professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, outlined suggestions — many of which are similar to AAP's.</p><p>Remote learning protocols must stay in place, especially as some schools stagger home and in-building learning. If another shutdown needs to occur, children will rely on distance learning completely, so it must be easy to switch to, he said.</p><p>He suggested giving parents a daily checklist to document their child's health. Kids should be screened quickly on arrival and be given hygiene supplies. Maintenance staff should use appropriate PPE and have regular cleaning schedules. A notification system should be in place if a case is identified, Sharfstein recommended.</p><p><a href="https://www.albany.edu/rockefeller/faculty/erika-martin" target="_blank">Erika Martin</a>, PhD, an associate professor of public administration and policy at University at Albany, said nutrition assistance and health services should be included. She called for tutoring programs with virtual options as well as technology access.</p><p>Not all recommendations will be achievable for schools in certain areas, noted <a href="https://www.albany.edu/rockefeller/faculty/lucy-sorensen" target="_blank">Lucy Sorensen</a>, PhD, an assistant professor of public administration and policy at University at Albany.</p><p>"It may not be feasible to space desks six feet apart or have windows open in classrooms in a New York winter," Sorensen explained.</p><p>Other strategies to safeguard school communities can include high-intensity ultraviolet light, thermal cameras, and conferencing systems.</p><p>"Social distancing will be hard for students," said <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tina-pascoe-2a24aa63/" target="_blank">Tina M. Pascoe</a>, a nurse and co-founder of <a href="http://www.nursesfordaycare.com/Home.html" target="_blank">Nurses for Day Care</a>, who has been involved with efforts to keep day care centers open during the pandemic.</p><p>Limiting class size, and not having special activities that require students to leave the room, will be key. "This keeps students stay in one cohort or like a family unit," she told Healthline.</p>
Supporting Staff
<p>Teachers and staff will be affected by safeguarding measures, noted <a href="https://directory.sph.umn.edu/bio/sph-a-z/rachel-widome" target="_blank">Rachel Widome</a>, PhD, an associate professor of epidemiology and community health at University of Minnesota.</p><p>"In order for all of the in-school precautions to work well, we'll be asking a lot of teachers and staff," Widome told Healthline. In addition to their usual workload, they'll now be asked to monitor mask-wearing, ensure children are keeping distance, and be aware of any symptoms.</p><p>Along with Sharfstein, Widome called for an increase in financial support. More employees will likely be required so teachers and staff members can keep up with the added demands.</p>Should Kids Go Back?
<p>While these guidelines may help get some schools to reopen, many people don't think children should go back to school over fears they could contract the disease and spread it to other vulnerable family members like grandparents, infant siblings, or their parents.</p><p>In a <a href="https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2020/07/08/peds.2020-004879" target="_blank">Pediatrics</a> commentary, <a href="https://www.md.com/doctor/william-raszka-md" target="_blank">Dr. William V. Raszka, Jr.</a>, an infectious disease specialist at The University of Vermont Medical Center, argued that schools should open because school-aged children are far less important drivers of COVID-19 than adults.</p><p>But he says the risk and benefit is not equal among all students ages 5 to 18.</p><p>"Elementary schools are arguably higher priority for face-to-face schooling, since younger children are at lower risk for infection and transmission, and since parental supervision of younger children's distance learning may be particularly challenging," added Sorensen, who penned a <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/channels/health-forum/fullarticle/2767411" target="_blank">June article in JAMA</a> with reopening tips. "That means middle and high schools are more likely to emphasize distance learning."</p><p>Specific student populations, such as special education students and students with disabilities, would also benefit greatly from more time spent in face-to-face environments, Sorensen said.</p>What Parents Can Do
<p>Parents should ask for and receive frequent updates from schools about plans for the fall. They should also be informed about plans if and when COVID infections are identified, Sharfstein said.</p><p>"I'd like to see parents investing now, during the summer, in doing things that can slow and stop the spread of the virus in their communities," Widome said.</p><p>"Now is a good time for kids to practice wearing masks and get used to them as they may be wearing them for longer stretches if school starts up in person," Widome suggested.</p><p>She recommends parents try different mask designs and materials to see what children are more comfortable wearing.</p><p>"If you are using cloth face coverings, it's good to have extras on hand," Widome added.</p><p>Parents should model healthy behavior at home and while out in public — another thing that could affect how well children adapt to reopening practices, Sorensen said.</p><p>"Children may want to know more about face coverings," added <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/leescott/" target="_blank">Lee Scott</a>, chairwoman of the Educational Advisory Board at <a href="https://www.goddardschool.com/" target="_blank">The Goddard School</a>. "Dramatic play, such as creating or wearing a face covering, may help some children adjust to this concept." Schools can also show children photos of what faculty members look like in their masks so the students are familiar with that appearance.</p><p>Johns Hopkins University recently released its eSchool+ Initiative, a slew of resources surrounding education during the pandemic. These include a <a href="https://equityschoolplus.jhu.edu/reopening-checklist/" target="_blank">checklist for administrators</a>, report on <a href="https://equityschoolplus.jhu.edu/ethics-of-reopening/" target="_blank">ethical considerations</a>, and a tracker of <a href="https://equityschoolplus.jhu.edu/reopening-policy-tracker/" target="_blank">state and local reopening plans</a>.</p>From Your Site Articles
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