• Energy

Mauritius Declares Emergency After Massive Oil Spill From Japanese Tanker Threatens Coast

• disaster
• emergency
• environment
• oil pollution
• oil spill
• oil tanker

Last month, a Japanese-owned ship ran aground off the coast of Mauritius, causing over 1,000 tons of oil to leak into the sea. Last week, Mauritius residents “stuffed fabric sacks with sugar cane leaves” in order to create “makeshift oil spill barriers,” as CBS News reported earlier this week.

Why This Matters: If the ship breaks in half, an already horrifying situation will be made worse, seeing as there are still 2,500 tons of oil currently contained in the ship.

• Climate Change

Mayor Stephen Hagerty: Buttigieg Plan Is What Communities Need to Respond to Natural Disaster

• active shooter
• disaster
• emergency
• FEMA
• Fire
• flood
• hurricane
• tornado

  By Stephen H. Hagerty, Mayor of Evanston, Illinois Our nation is facing a heightened risk from natural and man-made disasters. Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires, active shooters. We see it practically every time we turn on the television, pick up a newspaper, or glance at social media. Due to a changing climate, so-called 100-year flooding […]

• Politics

Castro’s Climate Plan Puts “People and Planet” First

• climate crisis
• disaster
• Environmental Justice
• Green New Deal
• Infrastructure
• Superfund

It is a bold and innovative plan, with an emphasis on environmental justice.  He promises: “In my first 100 days, I will propose new civil rights legislation to address the disparate impact of environmental discrimination and dismantle structures of environmental racism.

• Climate Change

U.N. Says Climate Disasters Strike Weekly, NOAA Says Names U.S. States Most At Risk

• adaptation
• climate change
• disaster
• extreme weather
• mitigation

According to a warning from top United Nations officials, climate-related disasters are now happening at a rate of one per week. The rate of climate-related disasters is also increasing in the U.S., according to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released yesterday, which said that from 2016 to 2018, the average number of billion-dollar disasters totaled 15 each year, while the average for 1980–2018 was just 6.2 events per year.

• Politics

One Republican Lawmaker Blocks $19 billion in Disaster Aid

• disaster
• disaster relief
• floods
• Hurricanes
• Puerto Rico

Representative Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, blocked the $19.1 billion federal disaster package, which had passed the Senate last week and was zipping through the House by unanimous consent without a recorded vote because many members had already left D.C. for the district work week.