Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
U.S. Right to Know, a consumer advocacy organization, filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for violating provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Public Citizen Litigation Group, a public interest law firm in Washington, DC, is representing U.S. Right to Know in the action.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, seeks documents related to EPA's assessment of a controversial chemical called glyphosate. Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the world and is the key ingredient in Monsanto's branded Roundup herbicides as well as other weed-killing products. Concerns about the chemical have grown since the World Health Organization in 2015 said its cancer experts classified glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen. Other scientists have also said research shows safety problems with the chemical and the formulations its used in.
U.S. Right to Know requested the EPA records after the EPA posted an internal memorandum titled GLYPHOSATE: Report of the Cancer Assessment Review Committee (CARC) to the agency's website on April 29, 2016. The internal EPA report, known as the CARC report, concluded that glyphosate was "not likely to be carcinogenic to humans." The EPA then deleted the public posting on May 2, 2016, saying that the document was posted inadvertently. But before it was deleted Monsanto officials copied the document, promoted it on the company website and on social media and made reference to it in a court hearing dealing with lawsuits filed by agricultural workers and others who allege Monsanto's herbicide gave them cancer.
The May 12, 2016, FOIA request asked for certain records relating to the CARC report on glyphosate as well as records of communications between Monsanto and EPA officials that discussed glyphosate issues. Under FOIA, the EPA had 20 working days to respond to the request, but well over 190 working days have now passed and the EPA has yet to produce any records in response to the request. The EPA has also failed to comply with similar, more recent FOIA requests made by U.S. Right to Know for documentation of EPA dealings with Monsanto regarding glyphosate, though those requests are not part of this lawsuit.
The lawsuit specifically claims that U.S. Right to Know has a statutory right under FOIA to the requested records and that EPA has no legal basis for refusing to produce these records. The complaint asks the court to order EPA to make the requested records promptly available.
A plume of smoke from wildfires burning in the Angeles National Forest is seen from downtown Los Angeles on Aug. 29, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
California is bracing for rare January wildfires this week amid damaging Santa Ana winds coupled with unusually hot and dry winter weather.
High winds, gusting up to 80- to 90 miles per hour in some parts of the state, are expected to last through Wednesday evening. Nearly the entire state has been in a drought for months, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, which, alongside summerlike temperatures, has left vegetation dry and flammable.
Utilities Southern California Edison and PG&E, which serves the central and northern portions of the state, warned it may preemptively shut off power to hundreds of thousands of customers to reduce the risk of electrical fires sparked by trees and branches falling on live power lines. The rare January fire conditions come on the heels of the worst wildfire season ever recorded in California, as climate change exacerbates the factors causing fires to be more frequent and severe.
California is also experiencing the most severe surge of COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, with hospitals and ICUs over capacity and a stay-at-home order in place. Wildfire smoke can increase the risk of adverse health effects due to COVID, and evacuations forcing people to crowd into shelters could further spread the virus.
As reported by AccuWeather:
In the atmosphere, air flows from high to low pressure. The setup into Wednesday is like having two giant atmospheric fans working as a team with one pulling and the other pushing the air in the same direction.
Normally, mountains to the north and east of Los Angeles would protect the downtown which sits in a basin. However, with the assistance of the offshore storm, there will be areas of gusty winds even in the L.A. Basin. The winds may get strong enough in parts of the basin to break tree limbs and lead to sporadic power outages and sparks that could ignite fires.
"Typically, Santa Ana winds stay out of downtown Los Angeles and the L.A. Basin, but this time, conditions may set up just right to bring 30- to 40-mph wind gusts even in those typically calm condition areas," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Mike Doll.
For a deeper dive:
AP, LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, Weather Channel, AccuWeather, New York Times, Slideshow: New York Times; Climate Signals Background: Wildfires, 2020 Western wildfire season
For more climate change and clean energy news, you can follow Climate Nexus on Twitter and Facebook, sign up for daily Hot News, and visit their news site, Nexus Media News.
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A new study invites parents of cancer patients to answer questions about their environment. FatCamera / Getty Images
By Jennifer Sass, Nsedu Obot Witherspoon, Dr. Philip J. Landrigan and Simon Strong
"Prevention is the cure for child/teen cancer." This is the welcoming statement on a website called 'TheReasonsWhy.Us', where families affected by childhood cancers can sign up for a landmark new study into the potential environmental causes.
<p>The study is a joint project between Texas Children's Hospital, part of the world's largest medical center, and The Oliver Foundation, founded by the parents of a 12-year-old boy who died 36 hours after he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, one week after the onset of headaches.</p><p>After signing up, participants are contacted by the hospital's medical school, <a href="https://www.bcm.edu/news/baylor-launches-landmark-online-pediatric-cancer-study" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Baylor College of Medicine</a>, to fill out a questionnaire about their environment going back from pre-conception through pregnancy and childhood, to identify chemical contaminants in the places that they live, learn, work and play, to the point where they developed cancer.</p><p><a href="https://www.texaschildrens.org/find-a-doctor/michael-scheurer-phd-mph" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dr. Michael Scheurer</a>, director of the childhood cancer epidemiology and prevention program at Texas Children's Hospital, the nation's largest pediatric cancer center, is quoted in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/30/toxic-america-families-seek-answers-childhood-cancers" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> saying: "[This research] … will allow families who might not live near one of the existing study centers to participate as they are comfortable. In the end, if we see that several kinds of cancers share some risk factors that's important information, but we want to start with a very homogeneous group of cancers and start looking into these patients first. Signposts will pop up along the way."</p><p>When Oliver died in 2015, his parents Simon and Vilma Strong struggled to understand what may have led to their son's cancer, and whether it could have been prevented. They agonized over having used Roundup – the herbicide containing glyphosate, which is <a href="https://www.iarc.who.int/featured-news/media-centre-iarc-news-glyphosate/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">linked to leukemia</a> – to kill weeds in their yard and garden. Or could it have been the crumb rubber artificial turf athletic fields, made with toxic petrochemicals, where their goalkeeper son had played soccer?</p>
<p>In addition to cancer, exposures to harmful chemicals can lead to learning and behavioral impairments, developmental delays, reproductive harm, and chronic diseases including autoimmune disease, asthma, and obesity. The important work of preventing these health harms can only be done if we increase our efforts to identify the causes— including industrial and environmental pollutants— and reduce or replace them to prevent harmful exposures.</p><p>Sadly, as the 2020 <a href="https://www.cancerfreeeconomy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/CFE_ChildhoodCancerPrevention_Report_F2.pdf" target="_blank">Childhood Cancer Prevention Report</a> confirms, <a href="https://curesearch.org/Incidence-Rates-Over-Time" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">childhood cancer incidence rates</a>, the number of new cases per 1,000 children, have steadily increased over the last few decades across all racial/ethnic groups. Cancer is now responsible for more than <a href="https://curesearch.org/Childhood-Cancer-Deaths-Per-Year" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">half of all childhood and teenage deaths</a>, making this study all the more urgent.</p><p>Oliver's family may never know exactly what led to the cancer that took his life. But the study they've helped to launch can identify the environmental contributors to cancer and other diseases – and that knowledge can inform policies and practices to better protect families from toxic products and pollution.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.ehn.org/environmental-causes-child-cancer-2649926729.html" target="_blank">Environmental Health News</a>.</em></p>
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Climate Crisis Will Shift Tropical Rain Belt and Create Food Insecurity for Billions, Study Finds
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Madagascar has been experiencing ongoing droughts and food insecurity since 2016. arturbo / Getty Images
Nearly 1.6 million people in the southern part of Madagascar have faced food insecurity since 2016, experiencing one drought after another, the United Nations World Food Program reported.
<p>A <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-00963-x" target="_blank">study</a> published Monday found billions more could face food insecurity as Earth's tropical rain belt shifts in response to climate change, causing increased drought stress and intensified flooding.</p>
<p>"Our work shows that climate change will cause the position of Earth's tropical rain belt to move in opposite directions in two longitudinal sectors that cover almost two thirds of the globe, a process that will have cascading effects on water availability and food production around the world," lead author Antonios Mamalakis, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University, told <a href="https://news.uci.edu/2021/01/18/uci-researchers-climate-change-will-alter-the-position-of-the-earths-tropical-rain-belt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">UCI News</a>. </p>
<p>Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions analyzed how the tropical rain belt would respond to a future where greenhouse gas emission continued to rise through 2100, UCI News reported. Their <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-00963-x#Abs1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">findings</a>, published in Nature Climate Change, revealed the rain belt will shift northward over the Eastern Hemisphere, impacting countries in southeastern Africa. </p>
<p>In Madagascar, these impacts are already being felt. </p>
<p>"We only had one day of rain in December in the whole region. And the thunderstorms have been blasting… and destroying and burying the crops that were there," Lola Castro, the United Nations World Food Program regional director for Southern Africa and Indian Ocean States, <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/01/1081892" target="_blank">told UN News</a>. "The result is famine-like conditions."</p><p>Madagascar's vulnerability to the climate crisis, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, has left people with little to eat, Castro said. "Cactus mixed with mud, roots, whatever they can find, leaves, seeds, whatever is available."</p><p>The rain belt is projected to shift toward a warming atmosphere, co-author James Randerson, UCI's Ralph J. & Carol M. Cicerone Chair in Earth System Science, explained. "In Asia, projected reductions in aerosol emissions, glacier melting in the Himalayas and loss of snow cover in northern areas brought on by climate change will cause the atmosphere to heat up faster than in other regions," he told UCI News. </p><p>Since 2000, glaciers in the Himalayas are losing more than a vertical foot and half of ice every year, <a href="https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2019/06/19/melting-himalayan-glaciers-doubled/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Columbia University's Earth Insititute</a> reported, double the amount from 1975 to 2000. </p>
<p>"We know that the rain belt shifts toward this heating, and that its northward movement in the Eastern Hemisphere is consistent with these expected impacts of climate change," Randerson told UCI News.</p>
<p>In the Western Hemisphere, the rain belt is expected to move in the opposite direction by shifting southward, the study found. This will cause greater drought stress to Central America, a region which is experiencing more than five years of recurring drought, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-central-america-drought-migration/hunger-driving-migration-in-drought-hit-central-america-u-n-idUSKCN1V423J" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters</a> reported.</p>
<p>By combining an engineering approach to both climate science and data analytics, the team of researchers found previously unknown consequences associated with global warming. They also saw how much more there is to learn.</p>
<p>"The complexity of the Earth system is daunting, with dependencies and feedback loops across many processes and scales," author Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, UCI Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, told UCI News.</p><p>Determining how these changes will impact flooding, droughts, infrastructure and ecosystems can inform adaptation strategies and policies, Foufoula-Georgiou told UCI News. But time may be running out. </p>
<p>"What we are saying here is that the situation we're facing in southern Madagascar is not normal," Lola Castro told UN News, regarding the humanitarian crisis. "It's very different to any normal year of crisis and that we really need to act immediately." </p>
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Lakota spiritual leader Chief Arvol Looking Horse attends a demonstration against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico in front of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 28, 2015. Nicholas Kamm / AFP / Getty Images
President-elect Joe Biden is planning to cancel the controversial Keystone XL pipeline on the first day of his administration, a document reported by CBC on Sunday suggests.
<p>The words "Rescind Keystone XL pipeline permit" were reportedly listed on a briefing note shared by the Biden transition team with U.S. stakeholders as part of a roundup of Biden's planned day one executive actions. <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/america-votes/biden-to-prioritize-blocking-of-keystone-xl-pipeline-extension-1.5270600" target="_blank">CTV News</a> also reviewed the briefing documents, and a source familiar with Biden's thinking told <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-keystone/biden-to-cancel-keystone-xl-pipeline-permit-on-first-day-in-office-cbc-idINKBN29N00A" target="_blank">Reuters</a> that the President-elect is planning to cancel the pipeline as one of his first acts.</p><p>"The Biden administration halting the Keystone XL pipeline is a momentous sign that he is listening, taking action and making good on his promises to people and the planet," Kendall Mackey, 350.org Keep It In the Ground campaign manager, <a href="https://350.org/press-release/biden-kxl-executiveorder/" target="_blank">said</a> in response to the news. "This decision to halt the Keystone XL pipeline on day one in office sets a precedent that all permitting decisions must pass a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate</a> test and respect <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/indigenous-rights" target="_self">Indigenous rights</a>."</p><p>Mackey expressed hope that Biden would also end the equally controversial <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/dakota-access-pipeline" target="_self">Dakota Access</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/enbridge-line-3" target="_self">Line 3</a> pipelines.</p><p>The Keystone XL pipeline was first announced in 2005, CBC News reported. The pipeline is being built to carry 830,000 barrels of crude oil a day, stretching about 1,200 miles from Alberta, Canada to Nebraska. From there it would connect with the original Keystone pipeline that carries oil to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries.</p>
<p>The pipeline has long been opposed by environmental and Indigenous groups, who are concerned about its climate impacts and the potential for leaks to harm <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a> and pollute <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drinking-water" target="_self">drinking water</a>, CTV News reported. Protests prompted the Obama administration to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/breaking-president-obama-rejects-keystone-xl-pipeline-1882117930.html" target="_self">rescind the permit in 2015</a>, but President Donald Trump reversed this decision with an <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-dakota-access-pipeline-2211697835.html" target="_self">executive order</a> in early 2017.</p><p>Biden's decision to once again rescind the permit is not surprising. His advisers have said in the past that he would move to block it again, according to <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/biden-keystone-xl-pipeline-permit_n_60051931c5b6efae62f9d263" target="_blank">HuffPost</a>. Biden's campaign has vocally opposed the pipeline since May, according to CTV News.</p><p>The news has sparked opposition in Canada.</p><p>"I am deeply concerned by reports that the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden may repeal the Presidential permit for the Keystone XL border crossing next week," Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said in a Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/jkenney/status/1350957580106006533/photo/1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">statement</a>. "Doing so would kill jobs on both sides of the border, weaken the critically important Canada-U.S. relationship and undermine U.S. national security by making the United States more dependent on OPEC oil imports in the future."</p>
<p>Kirsten Hillman, Canada's ambassador to the U.S., said the country still stood behind the pipeline and that it fit within Canada's climate plans, CBC News reported.</p><p>"The Government of Canada continues to support the Keystone XL project and the benefits that it will bring to both Canada and the United States," Hillman said.</p><p>Meanwhile, in a bid to make the project more appealing to Biden, owner TC Energy announced a plan on Sunday to reach zero emissions by 2030, hire union workers, sign Indigenous equity partners and install a $1.7 billion solar, wind and battery-powered operating system for the pipeline.</p><p>However, Canadian environmental groups and parties were pleased with the news.</p>
<p>"This is what true climate leadership looks like," Annamie Paul, leader of the federal Green Party, told CTV News.</p><p>Keith Stewart, a senior energy strategist with Greenpeace Canada, urged Canadians to follow suit and move away from the pipeline, which he likened to "beating [a] dead horse," CBC News reported.</p><p>"The Biden administration offers us a fresh start on addressing the climate crisis with a willing partner, so let's not blow it by pushing pipelines," Stewart said.</p>
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst stand at the Orion spacecraft during a visit at the training unit of the Columbus space laboratory at the European Astronaut training centre of the European Space Agency ESA in Cologne, Germany on May 18, 2016. Ina Fassbender / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images
By Monir Ghaedi
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to keep most of Europe on pause, the EU aims for a breakthrough in its space program. The continent is seeking more than just a self-sufficient space industry competitive with China and the U.S.; the industry must also fit into the European Green Deal.
<h3>'Strategic Autonomy' in Space</h3><p>"I believe we need a more offensive and aggressive strategy," said the European Commissioner Thierry Breton as he laid out the main priorities for the EU space program over the next seven years. Breton said that the European Union must move quickly to reduce its dependence on third countries.</p>
<div id="dc9fc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e59073f4aedd26372600b247d6be1cec"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1348914516969611267" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">"Enhancing Europe's strategic autonomy in space is not an option" @ThierryBreton #BBESpaceConf https://t.co/Qm9gOeUh4v</div> — Business Bridge Europe (@Business Bridge Europe)<a href="https://twitter.com/BBE_Europe/statuses/1348914516969611267">1610441257.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"Strategic autonomy" is Brussels's latest catchphrase that echoed throughout Breton's and other EU officials' speeches during the 13th European Space Conference earlier this week. As Europe plans to address economic needs within its borders, its aerospace program is set to focus inwards as well.</p><p>Breton mentioned having independent EU-wide internet coverage as another important target. Noting that "attacks on the internet are not fiction anymore," Breton explained that the EU must construct a secure broadband network.</p><p>He also emphasized that the European Commission needs to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in space, while continuing to expand its existing projects. Otherwise, he said, Galileo and Copernicus – Europe's major satellite projects – will soon become obsolete.</p><p>After these plans receive approval from European governments and the European Parliament, €15 billion ($18.2 billion) will fund space sector projects during the 2021-2027 period, in addition to current funding from national governments and private investments.</p>
<h3>Meeting the Competition and Climate Goals</h3><p>During the past decade, the number of satellite launches and space missions has surged internationally. China's lunar rover landed on the far side of the moon. Private companies in the U.S. have made rapid advancements too. SpaceX successfully returned two of its reusable rocket cores to Earth.</p><p>As vital infrastructure like transportation and communications rely more and more on space technology, there's a greater sense of urgency for the EU to realize its own space ambitions.</p><p>The continent's other pressing objective is to become carbon neutral by 2050. Expansion of EU aerospace activities – now heavily dependent on the production of metal and fuel – must comply with the European Green Deal.</p><p>Alignment of these two goals might not be straightforward, but in the view of EU officials, the space program has a role to play in fighting climate change, fostering green technologies like clean fuels and optimized farming. Additionally, data and services from space are used to constantly monitor the Earth and measure things like CO2 levels.</p><p>EU officials and entrepreneurs mentioned clean fuel production and satellite monitoring missions as two promising areas to help achieve Europe's Green Deal and other environmental targets.</p>
<h3>Clean Energy in Space and on Earth</h3><p>One of the areas in which European space companies have a leg up is the production of liquid hydrogen as fuel. When liquid hydrogen burns, it produces enough propelling force to launch a rocket, but emits only water vapor and warm air. However, it's highly energy-intensive to produce, creating a large carbon footprint. The focus of European firms working on this energy option is to mitigate the impact of liquid hydrogen production on the environment.</p><p>"Hydrogen (as fuel) is expensive today but tomorrow it will be cheap and green," said Xavier Vigor, vice president of Air Liquide, a supplier of industrial gases.</p><p>European rockets have used liquid hydrogen as their fuel for decades. ArianeGroupe, the continent's largest launcher company, aims to launch its carbon-neutral rockets running on hydrogen produced from biomass by 2030. The company also plans to bring the clean fuel to the transport industry. If they succeed, ships and airplanes will be able to travel around the globe, producing no carbon emissions.</p><p>"I am really thankful for the decisionmakers in Europe who made the decision to use hydrogen for European launchers. This was a brilliant bet," said Jean-Christophe Henoux, ArianeGroup's vice president of Future Programmes.</p>
<h3>Satellites Monitoring Climate Change</h3><p>EU officials are confident their satellite program will also help in the fight against climate change. The EU space program will continue to design missions focused on CO2 monitoring and a polar observation by its satellites.</p><p>"Satellite programs such as Galileo and Agnus have already had an important contribution to minimizing our environmental footprint," said Rodrigo da Costa, the head of the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA), in a press briefing.</p><p>Copernicus, the EU's Earth observation system, has monitored climate change since 2017, providing historical data and climate models for the future.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ5Nzk2MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MjI1Njk4Mn0.PSKtNrh_kWGzH6vsGlHWBFLvLHYYGbX30YsZh5jLmuc/img.jpg?width=980" id="bcf7e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9a55c41003928d33600334310f11fbf6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="700" data-height="394" />
European satellites continue to provide data on climate change.
<p>"We believe we can create synergies between navigation and Earth observation," said da Costa. Better navigation helps shorten transportation routes, which cuts fuel consumption. This is how EU satellite programs can contribute to the implementation of the Green Deal, according to da Costa.</p><p>Full details of the European space plan have yet to be worked out. The European Commission will meet to decide on them in the coming weeks. After that, a consortium of aerospace and telecom companies will start working to operationalize the plan.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/eu-aims-to-curb-carbon-footprint-through-investment-in-space/a-56241227" target="_blank">DW</a>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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