Here are a few interesting news stories I never got around to writing about this week that are worth a read:
A day after issuing a landmark decision on mountaintop removal coal mining, the EPA official in charge of water issues, Peter Silva, announced his departure, Politico reports.
A new study from a pair of Canadian climate researchers finds that dramatic climate changes may still be in store for the next 1,000 years even if humanity does take drastic actions to cut emissions. The good news is that they still think cutting emissions could reduce those impacts.
America 2050 released a new study on high-speed rail corridors in the United States that have the potential to attract the most ridership. The winners: New York-Washington, DC; Chicago-Milwaukee; Los Angeles-San Diego; Tampa (via Orlando) to Miami; Dallas-Houston; Atlanta-Birmingham; Portland-Seattle; and Denver-Pueblo.
The New York Times reports that, thanks to a provision signed into the military authorization law last week, the Pentagon will have to buy American solar panels—a move that the Chinese government isn’t going to be too happy about.
Spencer Ackerman reports for Danger Room about how Afghanistan’s “green Marines” have cut fuel consumption for generators by nearly 90 percent by using solar panels.
The student journalists at the Medill National Security Journalism Initiative at Northwestern University launched a big package of stories this week on the implications of climate change.
The Food and Drug Administration recalled a candy bar named “Toxic Waste Nuclear Sludge” on Friday, citing potentially unsafe levels of lead. Apparently the name itself was not enough to put people off of eating the
And for a little levity this Friday, Fox News and Rasmussen fail at both climate science and math.
