Plans are nearing for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate PFAS in drinking water — and the complexity around the effort will challenge environmental journalism. In the mix are questions of environmental persistence and health risks, plus thorny politics. Our Issue Backgrounder has guidance on these and more as PFAS regulation hits this critical juncture.
"There are two simple reasons. One, it makes money. And two, people just love water."
"Some cities around the world are pulling back from shorelines, as rising seas from climate change increase flooding. But so far, retreat appears out of the question for Atlantic City, New Jersey."
"A Hydro-Quebec subsidiary is buying a company that operates 13 hydropower generating stations in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, strengthening its relationship with New England."
"Maine lobster fishermen have hired a former high-ranking U.S. Department of Justice official to represent them in their case against new laws intended to protect whales."
"New York is following in California’s tire treads, making drastic moves to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The Empire State will entirely ban the purchase of new petroleum-powered cars by 2035."
Concerns about seaborne plastic waste go back decades, but science writer Juli Berwald suggests that myths and disinformation about sources and solutions continue to cloud the waters. From lentil-sized nurdles to sprawling fishing nets, 200 million tons of plastic now fill the ocean and, for her, it has become evident that the ocean plastics story is really a land story. But will the newly signed international treaty on plastics offer relief?
"Pennsylvania becomes the newest sacrifice zone for America’s plastic addiction."
"Many tourists visiting coastal Maine may at some point purchase a lobster roll, with big chunks of lobster meat, a dash of mayo and a bag of potato chips on the side. But as summers become hotter and sea temperatures rise in the Gulf of Maine, there’s concern that warmer waters will cause the cold water crustacean to move elsewhere, making it harder to satisfy lobster cravings for the region’s tourists."
"Maine’s highest court ruled today that a 2021 ballot initiative seeking to block construction of a 145-mile transmission line was unconstitutional, potentially reviving efforts to build a high-profile project that would carry Canadian hydropower to New England."
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