• Health

EPA Dismisses Science on Pesticide Chlorpyrifos Citing Lack Of “Raw Data”

• children
• chlorpyrifos
• Earthjustice
• pesticides
• science
• transparency

The Trump Administration announced last week that it has rejected the settled scientific evidence linking the pesticide chlorpyrifos to serious health problems, particularly in children. This pesticide, which is widely used on soybeans, almonds, grapes, and other crops, has been proven to harm children’s neurological development. 

Why this matters: Under the false flag of transparency, EPA is putting children at greater risk. 

• Health

Update: Joshua Tree Petition Granted For One Year While Officials Conduct Study

• California
• conservation
• Joshua Tree
• Mojave Desert
• wildfires

by Amy Lupica, ODP Contributing Writer On Tuesday, the California Fish and Game Commission voted to accept a petition that will grant the Joshua tree, the famous twisty-limbed yucca plant native to the Mojave desert, endangered species status for one year while the state conducts a study. The plant is now considered a “candidate species” […]

• Health

Wildfire Smoke Increases COVID-19 Risk for Frontline Communities

• coronavirus
• COVID-19
• smoke
• wildfires

by Razi Beresin-Scher and Miro Korenha According to recent reporting from The Hill, atmospheric smoke is exacerbating the toll of the COVID-19 virus in Oregon and California. Smoke inhalation weakens the immune systems of those suffering from asthma and other underlying respiratory conditions, compromising their ability to recover from the virus.  Researchers at the Harvard […]

• Health

Study Estimates Number of AC Units Needed Will Triple in Next Thirty Years

• air conditioner
• air conditioning
• climate change
• demand
• electricity
• emissions
• greenhouse gas
• heat

Increasing populations, incomes, urbanization, and temperatures could “triple the number of AC units installed worldwide by midcentury, pushing the total toward 6 billion,” as James Temple reported for the MIT Technology Review. This could create one of the “largest sources of rising electricity demand around the world.”

Why This Matters: This is the paradox of climate change. As the world warms, cooling will be even more necessary.

• Health

Wildfire Smoke is Becoming a Public Health Threat

• air pollution
• California
• Colorado
• smoke
• wildfires

As wildfires rage across the Western United States each summer and fall, the immediate headlines of these disasters focus on the destruction and displacement they cause. However, as we’ve seen this summer, states like California and Colorado have been engulfed by wildfire smoke that’s subsequently spread across the rest of the country. Yet we know […]

• Health

We Need to Focus on Mental Health After Natural Disasters

• CDC
• FEMA
• mental health
• natural disaster

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it a national mental health crisis. A CDC survey found that 40% of respondents are struggling with mental health, as CNN explained, “both related to the coronavirus pandemic itself and the measures put in place to contain it, including physical distancing and stay-at-home orders.” And now, according to the […]