Al Gore is near the end of his quest to save the Earth. Nina Barrett just got started

Al Gore is near the end of his quest to save the Earth. Nina Barrett just got started

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Dan Zak reports: The man in the pulpit had the posture of a preacher who had not tired of tribulation. “Half of all the living species on this planet will disappear on our watch when we’re assigned responsibility,” the man said, voice starting to thunder. “How do we take on board the meaning of that?” The church was hot. The choir members fanned themselves with their programs, which read “A Moral Call to Action on the Climate Crisis.” The man…

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Climate preparation report released by panel previously disbanded by Trump

Climate preparation report released by panel previously disbanded by Trump

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ClimateWire reports: A climate science advisory panel disbanded by the Trump administration released a report today outlining the steps communities can take to prepare for climate change. In 2017, the Trump administration dissolved the federal Advisory Committee for the Sustained National Climate Assessment. Its purpose was to translate climate science in the National Climate Assessment into usable guidance for local governments and private companies. The panel was reconstituted by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and includes members from academia,…

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Trump is using Stalinist tactics to discredit climate science

Trump is using Stalinist tactics to discredit climate science

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Michael Mann and Bob Ward write: Americans should not be fooled by the Stalinist tactics being used by the White House to try to discredit the findings of mainstream climate science. The Trump administration has already purged information about climate change from government websites, gagged federal experts and attempted to end funding for climate change programmes. Now a group of hardcore climate change deniers and contrarians linked to the administration is organising a petition in support of a new panel…

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White House can’t say whether wind turbines cause cancer but Sen. Grassley calls Trump’s claim ‘idiotic’

White House can’t say whether wind turbines cause cancer but Sen. Grassley calls Trump’s claim ‘idiotic’

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  Question: "Do wind turbines cause cancer?" Mercedes Schlapp, White House Director of Strategic Communications: "I don't have an answer to that." pic.twitter.com/cxcZHQoov2 — The Hill (@thehill) April 3, 2019 Des Moines Register reports: Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley — a champion of the wind energy tax credit — said President Donald Trump’s comments that wind turbines cause cancer were “idiotic” in a call with reporters Wednesday. “I’m told that the White House respects my views on a lot of issues,”…

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We fled the gangs in Honduras. Then the U.S. government took away my baby

We fled the gangs in Honduras. Then the U.S. government took away my baby

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Sindy Flores writes: I am an asylum seeker from Honduras and a mother of three children. For over a month my youngest daughter was separated from her father and me by the United States government. I still don’t know where she was during that time or who took care of her. She’s a toddler, so she can’t tell me if something bad happened to her. I don’t know if she thinks we chose to abandon her. All I know is…

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‘Dozens’ of whistle-blowers are secretly cooperating with House Democrats

‘Dozens’ of whistle-blowers are secretly cooperating with House Democrats

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The Atlantic reports: Tricia Newbold set an important mark when she became the first official currently serving in Donald Trump’s White House to take accusations of wrongdoing to Congress—and to put her name publicly behind them. But Democrats on Capitol Hill say that beyond Newbold, a small army of whistle-blowers from across the government has been working in secret with the House Oversight Committee to report alleged malfeasance inside the Trump administration. Lawmakers and aides are reluctant to discuss information…

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House rebukes Trump with vote ending U.S. support for Yemen war

House rebukes Trump with vote ending U.S. support for Yemen war

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Politico reports: The House on Thursday approved a measure to cut off U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen’s bloody civil war, in yet another harsh, bipartisan rebuke of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy. Trump is expected to veto the measure, which passed with support from Republicans and Democrats in both chambers. Thursday’s 247-175 vote in the House marks the first time in history that a War Powers resolution will reach the president’s desk. The effort was a top…

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The natural world can help save us from climate catastrophe

The natural world can help save us from climate catastrophe

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George Monbiot writes: I don’t expect much joy in writing about climate breakdown. On one side, there is grief and fear; on the other side, machines. I became an environmentalist because I love the living world, but I spend much of my life thinking about electricity, industrial processes and civil engineering. Technological change is essential, but to a natural historian it often feels cold and distancing. Today, however, I can write about something that thrills me: the most exciting field…

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Last time CO2 levels were this high, there were trees at the South Pole

Last time CO2 levels were this high, there were trees at the South Pole

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The Guardian reports: Trees growing near the South Pole, sea levels 20 metres higher than now, and global temperatures 3C-4C warmer. That is the world scientists are uncovering as they look back in time to when the planet last had as much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as it does today. Using sedimentary records and plant fossils, researchers have found that temperatures near the South Pole were about 20C higher than now in the Pliocene epoch, from 5.3m to 2.6m…

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Facebook Brexit ads secretly run by staff of Lynton Crosby firm

Facebook Brexit ads secretly run by staff of Lynton Crosby firm

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The Guardian reports: A series of hugely influential Facebook advertising campaigns that appear to be separate grassroots movements for a no-deal Brexit are secretly overseen by employees of Sir Lynton Crosby’s lobbying company and a former adviser to Boris Johnson, documents seen by the Guardian reveal. The mysterious groups, which have names such as Mainstream Network and Britain’s Future, appear to be run independently by members of the public and give no hint that they are connected. But in reality…

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How Rupert Murdoch’s media empire remade the world

How Rupert Murdoch’s media empire remade the world

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Jonathan Mahler and Jim Rutenberg write: Media power has historically accrued slowly, over the course of generations, which is one reason it tends to be concentrated in dynastic families. The Graham family owned The Washington Post for 80 years before selling it to Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos. William R. Hearst III still presides over the Hearst Corporation, whose roots can be traced to his great-grandfather, the mining-baron-turned-United-States-senator George Hearst. The New York Times has been controlled by the Ochs-Sulzberger family…

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How an aging, digitally semi-literate population is reshaping the internet and politics

How an aging, digitally semi-literate population is reshaping the internet and politics

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BuzzFeed reports: Although many older Americans have, like the rest of us, embraced the tools and playthings of the technology industry, a growing body of research shows they have disproportionately fallen prey to the dangers of internet misinformation and risk being further polarized by their online habits. While that matters much to them, it’s also a massive challenge for society given the outsize role older generations play in civic life, and demographic changes that are increasing their power and influence….

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The Pete Buttigieg boom

The Pete Buttigieg boom

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Vox reports: As strange as it may sound, the mayor of a medium-size city in the Midwest is now a real contender for the Democratic nomination for the presidency. A late March Quinnipiac poll had Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, tied with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) for fifth place nationally, putting him ahead of Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). On Monday, Buttigieg announced that his campaign raised more than $7 million in the…

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Attacks by white extremists are growing. So are their connections

Attacks by white extremists are growing. So are their connections

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The New York Times reports: In a manifesto posted online before his attack, the gunman who killed 50 last month in a rampage at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, said he drew inspiration from white extremist terrorism attacks in Norway, the United States, Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom. His references to those attacks placed him in an informal global network of white extremists whose violent attacks are occurring with greater frequency in the West. An analysis by The…

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