"Now, some climate-focused voters said they are struggling with their feelings as former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. appears certain to become the Democratic nominee. In interviews with two dozen activists and voters who consider the planet’s warming their top issue, almost all said they worried that Mr. Biden has not made the issue a sufficient priority or been specific enough about his plans."
The WatchDog is a regularly published opinion column advocating open information in the personal “voice” of columnist Joseph A. Davis, longtime First Amendment freedom advocate and environmental journalist.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has assembled some information and guidelines for journalists on FOI, First Amendment and open-government issues coming up as a result of the coronavirus emergency.
"An employee who works at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regional office in Helena, Mont., tested “presumed positive” for COVID-19, according to the agency and an internal email obtained by The Hill."
"An environmental health coalition is suing the EPA, saying the agency failed to provide information about chemical use and new chemicals to which the public is legally entitled."
"Greenland’s unusually mild summer in 2019 caused the world’s largest island to lose 600 billion tons of ice in just two months, rivaling the summer of 2012 for the most ice mass lost in a single melt season, according to NASA data released Wednesday."
"Mysterious emissions have been slowing the atmosphere’s healing. Scientists think they’ve finally discovered the source."
"Soon after President Trump took office, the rush to open millions of acres of federal land to oil and gas drilling was on. ... In the last year, however, federal judges have applied the brakes."
"Democrats on both sides of Capitol Hill are pushing to add climate change provisions to the third aid package for people and industries affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic. But it's unclear whether they have the political leverage to make those ideas stick — at least not yet."
"The Interior Department has received over 230 nominations for oil and gas leases covering more than 150,000 acres across southern Utah, a push that would bring drilling as close as a half-mile from some of the nation’s most famous protected sites, including Arches and Canyonlands National Parks."
