Number of the Month: 2.3 million miles
There is no comprehensive plan for repair and replacement of America’s water infrastructure — the more than one million miles of pipe that deliver the nation’s drinking water and 1.3 million miles of pipe that take away domestic wastes
A New Generation of Scientist Fearless About Relevance: EarthDesk Conversation with Pace Professor Anne Toomey
Despite the Trump administration’s “war on science,” Anne Toomey, Pace Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and Science, says good science should serve community.
Environmental Advocacy Is a First Amendment Right
Attempts to suppress environmentalism are as old as environmentalism itself. Industrial polluters have gone to great lengths to stifle advocacy, but their expansion of censorship laws has finally crossed a line for some federal judges. Reporting by Brian Palmer of NRDC’s onEarth.
Trump’s Agencies to Trump: “No convincing alternative explanation” for climate change but human causes.
A 477-page Climate Science Special Report by 14 federal agencies repudiates the Trump administration climate position and finds that human activities are the only credible explanation for warming of the planet and extreme weather events.
The Disgrace of Scott Pruitt
“Muzzling scientists, scrubbing websites, attacking journalists: all in a shameful day’s work for our bought-and-paid-for EPA administrator. It’s time to stop him,” writes Jeff Turrentine, culture and politics columnist for onEarth, the digital publication of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“South African Wilderness,” by Bethany A. Ordonez
“The landscape of South Africa is as diverse as its people,” said Bethany of her home country. Of Pace, she adds “Learning about wildlife conservation has given me a greater understanding of the wild. I see not only the animal, but its place in the ecosystem.”
Evidence-Based Conservation: More Complex Than You Might Think
Scientific journals and literature are full of insights on what does and doesn’t work in conservation. Why then is evidence-based conservation so difficult to achieve? Pace Professor Anne Toomey and colleagues argue for non-liner knowledge exchange that flows in two directions.
“Africa’s Giants,” Photos by Bethany A. Ordonez
EarthDesk is pleased to present this splendid gallery of elephant photographs taken by Pace masters in environmental science candidate Bethany A. Ordonez in her native South Africa. “We don’t consider wildlife conservation to be an abstract idea that is the job of someone else, instead for South African’s its OUR wildlife, OUR heritage, and it is OUR responsibility to protect it and voice our opinions.”
Pace Environmental Clinic’s Elephant Protection Act Becomes Law
Written and lobbied by the students of the Pace Environmental Clinic, the Elephant Protection Act is now law, making New York the first state to impose an outright ban on elephants in entertainment. “Taking a passion and turning it into legislation signed by the Governor is something I never imagined,” said former clinician and Pace masters in environmental policy student Nicole Virgona.
EarthDesk Sunday: NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2
“Your planet is changing. We’re on it.” NASA adopted the motto during the Obama years, and is still on it, despite the war on science. View the video about NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, and learn more about the 2 1/2 years of data, and the Science articles that the earth and space agency published last week.
Number of the Month: 32%
The October number is a twofer. Trump is repealing the Obama plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 32%. Meanwhile, Trump’s approval has bottomed at 32%. NRDC will sue over the emissions. There’s no court where the president can appeal his ratings slide.
Puerto Rico After Maria: When Resiliencia Humana is the Only Resilience That Remains
“Resiliencia” is hand engraved into the silver ring that adorns the hand of Pace University student Sarah Gabriella Pereira. Her family still suffers in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Sarah says she is from Generation R: “We are ready. We are resilient. And we will rebuild.”