The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Space exploration occupies some of my thoughts of late. Wonder what’s become of Voyager 1? The first of its kind space probe launched in 1977 when I was right out of high school? Is it out there somewhere past Pluto, still transmitting? This is the…
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — In sharp contrast to the policies of the previous administration, the Biden administration is going all out to combat pollution of the natural environment. As part of this renewed effort and with funds provided by the $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in November, 2021, the Environmental…
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden administration is seeking public comments on a large offshore wind farm project along the coast of Virginia in the Atlantic Ocean. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the opening of a 30-day public comment period on Jan. 29 for a draft Clean Air Act Outer Continental Shelf…
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Earth’s average surface temperature for 2023 was the hottest ever recorded, according to an analysis by NASA, and the data shows no letting up in the trend toward a warming planet from climate change due to the burning of fossil fuels for energy and transportation. Global temperatures last year…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — On the heels of a historic agreement in Dubai calling for the first time for countries to transition away from fossil fuel use for powering energy and transportation, the chief cause of climate change due to global warming, the Biden administration just announced a proposal to conserve old-growth…
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the final weeks of the hottest year in recorded history, the United Nations climate conference in Dubai known as COP28 ended Wednesday with an agreement for the first time to call on countries to transition away from fossil fuels, the chief cause of climate change due to global…
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Park Service announced Saturday that there will be six holidays in 2024 when entry fees will be waved. On these dates, the public is invited to experience the wonder of national parks for free. “National parks are places that awaken senses, inspire curiosity, encourage reflection, and foster…
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — While the nations of the world gather in Dubai for the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, the Biden administration announced a comprehensive plan to replace all water pipes in the United States that contain the harmful pollutant lead. The Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposal on Thursday to…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — A distinct population of the North American wolverine is set to be listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is seeking public comments on the proposal indicating the species faces increasing threats from habitat degradation and…
From the Editors of E – The Environmental Magazine – Dear EarthTalk: What is the status of California’s giant sequoias trees and what’s being done to save them from extinction? — M.L., Sacramento, CA Giant sequoias, which can grow upwards of 300 feet tall with circumferences of 90+ feet around at ground level, are among…
By Alonso Abugattas – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The wild turkey has made an incredible comeback. Not that long ago, wild turkeys were all but wiped out by a combination of overhunting and habitat loss. By the early 1900s, none remained in the District of Columbia and very few remained in the woods of Maryland, Virginia,…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Massive changes in the climate due to global warming from the burning of fossil fuels for energy and transportation is deadly and expensive, but some of the most extreme impacts could be prevented if there was the political will to take on the challenges, according to the new…
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — Are you better off than you were three years ago? That’s a perennial question that pops up like a weed every four years in Washington politics, or at least the media coverage of it. Think about it. Three years ago, in November 2020, the global Covid-19 pandemic was at…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — In one of the largest and most significant corporate pollution settlements in the history of electric power and the law, Potomac Electric Power has agreed to pay more than $57 million to help mitigate contamination of the Anacostia River from its power plants. We just received the press…
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — While the American public appears to be divided on political issues these days and sometimes disagree on the role of government, there is one federal program most people love no matter what political party they vote for at election time: National Parks. Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns called this “America’s…
Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new report claims that President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, billed as “the largest climate investment ever,” spurs major carbon dioxide emission reductions from the electricity sector and across the economy in the United States. The report, released Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency, finds that the Inflation Reduction…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s so hot in the middle of the day that the birds are not even moving around in the windless woods. The only thing moving are the yellow jackets and European hornets, looking for other bees to kill, the occasional blue-tailed lizard, going after the flies too hot…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — I remember the first time I heard a presentation on the need to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It was 1989, and an activist had traveled all the way from Alaska to Mobile,…
Special Report – By Valentina Francis – LOS ANGELES, Calif. — In a pivotal move that has ignited international debate, workers in Japan have commenced the release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. This decision, stemming from the aftermath of the…
By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — There was a time in a previous reality when creating tens of thousands of good paying jobs while rebuilding America would have been big news in newspapers and on television news channels. Not anymore. Social media sensationalism and silly memes and videos have replaced the grocery store checkout…
