Disasters

"The Department of Energy report is widely viewed as groundwork for the White House to order coal and gas plants slated for closure to run for longer." 

"President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told a panel of U.S. senators on Wednesday that he would make it “a top priority” to fill staffing shortages created by recent firings and buyouts across the National Weather Service, while also standing by the administration’s proposal to make drastic cuts to weather and climate research budgets."

"Days after an intense, record-breaking heat wave sweltered wide swaths of Europe, a group of scientists released a rapid analysis estimating the extent to which climate change might have amplified the heat wave’s death toll."

"Early Sunday morning, Tropical Storm Chantal had blown ashore in South Carolina, and by the time it meandered into central North Carolina, it had weakened to a tropical depression. But by nightfall the impacts felt akin to a hurricane: 5 to 10 inches of rain fell within 12 hours. Dams burst. Interstates closed. Roads washed away. The Haw River reached historic levels, rising as much as 22 feet in four hours, engulfing parts of Saxapahaw."

"The Trump administration says it will uphold a Biden-era ban on the ongoing use of asbestos after previously saying it would reconsider the rule."

"The National Weather Service issued timely alerts, meteorologists say, but few were listening in the hours before the early morning flash floods."  "The catastrophic floods that struck central Texas on Friday show that accurate weather forecasts alone aren’t enough to save lives."

"The White House is planning to eliminate the board, a small agency that investigates chemical disasters to understand what went wrong."

"The deadly Texas floods are drawing renewed scrutiny to Trump administration cuts at the nation’s weather and climate research agencies."

"The death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas over the July Fourth weekend surpassed 100 on Monday as search-and-rescue teams continued to wade into swollen rivers and use heavy equipment to untangle trees as part of the massive search for missing people."

"In hearings on a draft rule to prevent heat-related illness in millions of vulnerable U.S. workers, top health and safety experts explain why relying on employers to “do the right thing” costs lives."