Energy + Environment
‘Frustrating’ partisan stalemate: the new normal for farm bills?
WASHINGTON — The stalemate over the current farm bill may be solidifying a new era in farm politics as it joins the last three farm bills in a trend of delays and partisan division — a contrast from the legislation’s history of bipartisanship. Every five years, Congress is tasked with drafting a new federal farm […]
Biden administration announces new rule to protect workers from heat-related illnesses
WASHINGTON – Senior Biden administration officials announced a proposed rule Tuesday to prevent heat-related illness in the workplace, as climate change brings hotter temperatures around the nation. In a call to reporters Monday, officials spoke on background about the new rule, which the administration sent to the Federal Register Tuesday for review. Depending on the […]
Cooler states now forced to grapple with extreme heat fueled by climate change
NEW YORK — As temperatures soared into the 90s, the heat and humidity hit the concrete in Astoria, Queens, and bounced into the air. People moved along the scorched sidewalk slowly, their clothes drenched with sweat. Elianne Alvarado, 44, who was raised in New York City and has lived here for most of her life, […]
Radium in groundwater near West Lake Landfill in St. Louis County forces more testing
Crews working to clean up the West Lake Landfill in St. Louis County detected contamination in nearby groundwater, forcing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to investigate whether radium might have left the site. In a periodic update to nearby communities last month, the EPA said it would add groundwater monitoring wells around the site, which […]
Presidential election seen as climate turning point as CO2 hits record
WASHINGTON – Despite policies the Biden administration has championed to target climate change, recent findings show carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is at an all-time high, raising the stakes for November’s presidential election among advocates for aggressive climate action. Recent data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicate that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been […]
Lawsuit claims ‘fraudulent scheme’ in Tyson plant closure in southeast Missouri
Tyson Foods, Inc. “devastated” a Missouri town and “chicken farmers who put everything on the line” to raise animals for slaughter when it closed its Dexter plant, a lawsuit alleges. An owner of three poultry farms in Arkansas that raised chickens for slaughter at the plant, which closed last October, filed a lawsuit against the […]
‘Time for a reckoning.’ Kansas farmers brace for water cuts to save Ogallala Aquifer
JETMORE, Kan. — An inch or two of corn peeks out of the dirt, just enough to reveal long rows forming over the horizon. Sprinkler engines roar as they force water from underground to pour life into dusty fields. Thunder cracks. The wind whips up dirt as a trail of dark storms looms. The crashing […]
Missouri statewide candidates decry inaction on St. Louis area nuclear waste
Several Republican candidates for Missouri statewide office on Wednesday evening urged stronger state and federal action to clean up St. Louis-area radioactive waste and compensate victims. Parts of the St. Louis area have been contaminated for 75 years with radioactive waste left over from the effort to build the world’s first atomic bomb during World […]
Missouri communities divided over spreading meatpacking sludge
GRANBY — About a year after Blair Powell built his dream home in the southwest Missouri Ozarks, a noxious smell wafting from the farm next door ruined his son’s wedding reception in their backyard. “It just was ungodly,” Powell said. “Just the worst, horrible, horrible smell. Eyes were burning, some were just nauseous, and some […]
States beg insurers not to drop climate-threatened homes
In the coming years, climate change could force Americans from their homes, not just by raising sea levels, worsening wildfires and causing floods — but also by putting insurance coverage out of reach. In places including California, Florida and Louisiana, some homeowners are finding it nearly impossible to find an insurance company that will cover […]
U.S. House speaker reverses on radiation compensation bill that excluded Missouri
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office on Wednesday scrapped a proposal to extend a compensation program for victims of radiation exposure without expanding it to thousands of Americans across nine states. In a statement that came less than four hours after Johnson’s office said a proposal to expand the program was too expensive, a spokesperson […]
U.S. House may consider extending nuclear weapons damages program without Missouri
A proposal to renew compensation for cancer victims who were exposed to radioactive material from the nation’s weapons development without expanding the program to Missouri and several other states amounted to a betrayal, Missouri advocates and lawmakers said Tuesday. Members of Congress from Missouri learned late Tuesday that U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson plans to […]