Climate roundup: The deluge

It is a desperate time to be a climate activist in the US right now. Well, anywhere, because the decisions made in the next four years (hell, even in the first four days of this administration) will impact the environment all over the world. But as hard as it is to keep up with all the moving targets, we can try. In all the noise these last eight weeks, here are some stories that stood out to me.

Among the first steps taken by this administration were the nominations for key government positions, including the head of the EPA and the Department of Energy.

Trump energy chief says there are upsides to ecological collapse (HEATED, February 20, 2025)

EPA announces dozens of environmental regulations it plans to target (NPR, March 12, 2025)

Although executive orders are not laws, the barrage of executive orders do have material impacts and some organizations voluntarily comply and others are pressured into compliance.

The Nature Conservancy’s Embarrassing Capitulation to Trump (The New Republic, February 26, 2025)
Nature Conservancy Allegedly Told to Say ‘Gulf of America’ or Lose Federal Funding (Heatmap, February 27, 2025)

Trump Eviscerates a Bedrock Public Health and Environmental Protection Law (Rolling Stone, February 26, 2025)

Meanwhile, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency–not a real government department, led by staff who have not been elected, appointed, or vetted–has been decimating budgets and staff for departments including the EPA, NOAA, and the National Park Service.

Trump’s push for ‘efficiency’ may destroy the EPA. What does that mean for you? (Grist, February 12, 2025)

Firings at US weather and oceans agency risk lives and economy, former agency heads warn (AP News, March 1, 2025)

What Are Public Lands For? (Defector, February 26, 2025)

Good journalism is worth paying for, but if you’re trying to keep up with all this and find yourself stymied by paywalls, https://archive.ph/ is your friend.

AI

AI set to fuel surge in new US gas power plants (Financial Times, January 13, 2025)

Utilities want to power Big Tech’s AI ambitions with natural gas. These are the data centers they’re betting on. (Business Insider, February 13, 2025)

Plastic

This article is pretty entertaining, but I am compelled to point out that low or reduced plastic use is valuable and worth pursuing, even (especially) if no-plastic is out of reach.
My no-plastic life: I tried to cut out single-use items for a month – and it almost broke me (The Guardian, February 12, 2025)

It’s Been Five Years Since New York Banned Single-Use Plastic Bags. They’re Still Floating Around. (New York Times, March 1, 2025)

Microplastics Are Messing with Photosynthesis in Plants (Scientific American, March 10, 2025)

Research

I appreciate the sensitivity this author takes with the topic–the whaling industry was tragic, but since we have some artifacts of that time, we can still learn from them.
How Whales Found Peace in War (bioGraphic, January 14, 2025)

Planet-warming gas levels rose more than ever in 2024 (BBC, January 16, 2025)