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In a move that critics say will hurt plants, animals and other species as they face mounting threats, the Trump administration is making major changes to how the Endangered Species Act is implemented. The U.S. Department of Interior Monday announced a suite of long-anticipated revisions to the nation’s premier wildlife conservation law, which is credited with bringing back the bald eagle and grizzly bears, among other species.
Read the full story in Waste360.
A new survey released by Consumer Action found that most consumers are misinformed about the recyclability of plastic, resulting in purchasing and recycling habits that harm the environment, and ignore basic facts about the nature of plastic products and other packaging materials.
Read the full story in the New York Times.
Countries that are home to one-fourth of Earth’s population face an increasingly urgent risk: The prospect of running out of water.
From India to Iran to Botswana, 17 countries around the world are currently under extremely high water stress, meaning they are using almost all the water they have, according to new World Resources Institute data published Tuesday.
Read the full story in Fast Company.
Scientists think a new filter made from wood could make it easier to make clean drinking water from the ocean.
Read the full story from Midwest Energy News.
A state board that approves wind farm siting is also considering new requirements related to building codes.
Read the full story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
A northern Missouri project that converts hog manure into natural gas is now operational and tapped into a pipeline system for distribution.
Read the full story in GreenBiz.
Stockholm World Water Week is coming up at the end of August, and the theme for this year is “Water for Society — Including All.”
After all, the mission of “water and society for all” is essential to achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6, “to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”
In the words of the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), which convenes the event: “In the fourth year of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the 2019 World Water Week addresses the basic objective of this agenda to secure inclusive and sustainable development for all people in all countries. The U.N. is focusing on ‘no-one left behind’ as the theme for the 2019 World Water Day and World Water Development Report. In Stockholm, we are aligning this 2019 Thematic Scope with that theme, broadened to the wider perspective of inclusiveness. Water security underlies human and environmental security; access to and use of water in adequate quantity and quality are fundamental to survival and prosperity.”
The fact is that current approaches are not accelerating movement toward SDG 6 fast enough. As a result, there is an increasing recognition by water practitioners that innovation is critical for accelerating progress at scale.
Read the full story in Inside Climate News.
The risk of a ratings downgrade can pressure cities and companies to take steps to mitigate climate risks, such as from sea level rise.
Read the full story from the BBC.
McDonald’s new paper straws – described as “eco-friendly” by the US fast food giant – cannot be recycled.
Last year, it axed plastic straws, even though they were recyclable, in all its UK branches as part of a green drive.
But the US fast food giant says the new paper straws are not yet easy to recycle and should be put into general waste.
McDonald’s says the materials are recyclable, but their thickness makes it difficult for them to be processed.
Read the full story at JD Supra.
Current or past sources of emerging contaminants should be aware that the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has ordered that publicly owned treatment plants (POTWs) in the Cape Fear River Basin test their influent for the presence of the emerging contaminants PFAS and 1,4-dioxane. PFAS and 1,4-dioxane have previously been detected in the Cape Fear River Basin. Twenty-five municipalities are involved, including Greensboro, Durham, Fayetteville, Wilmington, Cary and Chapel Hill. The testing began in July and will continue for three months.
