Hi there, This week, the Trump administration proposed a rule that environmental groups warn could strip vital habitat protections for America's endangered species. The plan, backed by the Department of the Interior and Department of Commerce, would eliminate the 1973 Endangered Species Act's definition of "harm" – meaning activities that kill or injure wildlife wouldn't be flagged as violations anymore. While Republicans argue it's a move to boost economic growth, environmentalists say it could devastate the habitats of over 1,300 endangered species. "The door would be wide open for logging, mining, and other harmful activities," the Wolf Conservation Centre cautioned. Meanwhile, environmentalists are also sounding alarms over Trump's push to ramp up coal production, calling it a step backward for both wallets and the planet. Trump's proclamation that "we're ending Joe Biden's war on beautiful, clean coal" hasn't gone over well, with critics firing back: "There's no such thing as clean coal." To make matters worse, Trump's EPA is considering loosening protections that prevent dangerous metals like arsenic from contaminating drinking water – a move that could delay coal plant closures and put vital groundwater sources at risk. |
Republicans say changes to the Endangered Species Act are necessary to promote economic growth (Getty Images/iStock) |
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'This week's executive order may act as a double espresso for the coal industry's short-term future, but I can't see that energy high lasting much longer' (REUTERS) |
This week, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to revive "America's beautiful, clean coal industry" such that it can power the rise in electricity demand from, among other things, artificial intelligence. However, this nostalgic push ignores the reality that has been commonly understood since Dickens: nothing about coal is clean. What it also ignores are reasons behind the industry's twenty-year decline in the US, the incredible uncertainty surrounding what is or might be the future energy demand of AI, and the data centres that give it life. Coal is a dirty business. From the moment you dig it up, often with the help of some of the world's biggest explosive rigs, you release methane gas, which warms the planet over 82 times faster than carbon dioxide over 20 years. Across the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia and Kentucky, the most popular type of coal mining literally involves blowing the tops of mountains off, covering streams in rock and dirt and filling the nearby valleys in pollutants and heavy metals. |
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That's how much chocolate prices have increased in last three years, according to analysis of latest Office for National Statistics figures by green think tank the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit. Read more |
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From mild distress to serious conditions like schizophrenia, rising temperatures are making things harder for millions. |
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