Read the full story in the New York Times.
To friends and critics, Mr. Pruitt seems intent on building an E.P.A. leadership that is fundamentally at odds with the career officials, scientists and employees who carry out the agency’s missions. That might be a recipe for strife and gridlock at the federal agency tasked to keep safe the nation’s clean air and water while safeguarding the planet’s future.
Read the full story from the University of Minnesota.
Let’s say a farmer wants to plant wildflowers to nurture the bees that pollinate her crops. Currently, she would have to walk through her fields, assess locations, take measurements, spend hours crunching costs, and still only guess at the amount of pollination the effort will generate.
Soon, the farmer can do it all on her phone or computer with an app that will calculate the crop productivity and pollination benefits of supporting endangered bees.
University of Vermont (UVM) bee expert Taylor Ricketts, who is co-leading the app’s development with Eric Lonsdorf of the University of Minnesota (UMN), introduced the technology on February 19 during the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting. Ricketts was on the panel Plan Bee: Pollinators, Food Production and U.S. Policy.
The app, which goes live later this year, is a product of the Integrated Crop Pollination Project, supported by the USDA NIFA’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative. The researchers are developing the app with Philadelphia software company Azavea.
Read the full story from NPR.
In recent winters, severe smog has blanketed northern China with a grim regularity, triggering emergency measures in scores of cities. What has been changing in recent years is how some ordinary Chinese citizens, particularly those in the growing middle class — who have the means to take action — have chosen to respond to the pollution.
Read the full story in Fast Company.
To help curb the billions of tons of food discarded across the globe each year, here’s the business case.
Read the full story in Environmental Leader.
Businesses may be the biggest losers when it comes to major changes at the EPA.
Massive budget cuts and regulatory rollbacks might not be a boon to businesses, according to an Environmental Defense Fund blog. The blog cites agency programs that help corporations respond to climate change — and thus improve their future planning and reduce risks and costs.
Read the full story in Environmental Leader.
Almost all companies across most industries are subject to a new, one-time reporting requirement imposed by the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
Beginning in the third quarter of 2017, companies will have 180 days to identify and report to the EPA each chemical it has manufactured or imported in the past 10 years. Chemicals not reported will be designated “inactive,” and thus illegal to manufacture or use in the US.
Read the full story in Environmental Leader.
General Electric has partnered with wine industry services provider Winesecrets and the University of California Davis to pilot a program using captured rainwater in wine production.
Read the full story from NPR.
A new company is doing more than just monitoring electricity use.
It’s making tracking your electrical data fun.
Steve Reed of San Diego says he signed up for free with OhmConnect. He was eager to see how much his family could cut back on electricity at times when there is a high demand for it in the area.
Soon, he got a text prompting him to lower use for an hour — from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. the next day.
Read the full story from NPR.
The way environmentalist Craig Cox sees it, streams and rivers across much of the country are suffering from the side effects of growing our food. Yet the people responsible for that pollution, America’s farmers, are fighting any hint of regulation to prevent it.
Environmental News Bits 