By Emily Holden The Trump administration is diligently weakening US environment protections even amid a global pandemic, continuing its rollback as the November election approaches. During the Covid-19 lockdown, US federal agencies have eased fuel-efficiency standards for new cars; frozen rules for soot air pollution; proposed to drop review requirements for liquefied natural gas terminals; […]
By Zulfikar Abbany The search for a vaccine for the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, or indeed a medicinal drug to cure it, has taken researchers down both traditional and less traditional avenues. They have looked at existing drug candidates, such as remdesivir, which was original developed to treat Ebola. In Germany, the first clinical trials for […]
By Samuel Cohn Should people be forced to wear face masks in public? That’s the question facing governments as more countries unwind their lockdowns. More than 30 countries have made masks compulsory in public, including Germany, Austria and Poland. This is despite the science saying masks do little to protect wearers, and only might prevent […]
By Emily Pontecorvo and Naveena Sadasivam On a spring weekend morning a few weeks ago, Judy Kelly stepped outside of her house in Broomfield, Colorado, to grab the newspaper when her nose perked up. It smelled like something was burning. Kelly, who’s 73, lives in an upscale, 55-and-up retirement community called Anthem Ranch, which sits […]
By Paolo Mutia As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps across the globe, it has exposed and exacerbated how the corporate, industrialized food system is harming people and our planet. Family farmers across the country, many already on the brink, have lost markets and are struggling to survive. Simultaneously, food workers, from farmworkers to slaughterhouse workers and […]
By Jessica Corbett As the U.S. death toll from Covid-19 stood above 63,000 people Friday—with over a million confirmed cases nationwide—Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced a bill in the U.S. House that would enable a federal relief agency to provide disaster assistance during pandemics. The Democratic congresswoman represents New York’s 14th district, which—along with the rest […]
By William Petri Blood tests that check for exposure to the coronavirus are starting to come online, and preliminary findings suggest that many people have been infected without knowing it. Even people who do eventually experience the common symptoms of COVID-19 don’t start coughing and spiking fevers the moment they’re infected. William Petri is a […]
By Tara Lohan As we work to limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists are also studying its origins. How did the SARS-Co-V-2 virus, which causes the disease, jump from wildlife to humans? Many believe it originated in horseshoe bats (from the genus Rhinolophus), which are known hosts of other coronaviruses. “Whether or not […]
The plastics industry is asking the federal government for a $1 billion bailout to help recycling during the pandemic. A coalition of industry interests, including chemical and oil and gas companies that make plastics, sent a letter to Congress this month calling recycling an “essential service” and doubling their original ask of 0 million for […]
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