Hello and welcome back to The Doomer Dispatch, weekly climate news roundups (and now original content!) to spur doomers into doers.
Some big news this week: five of the nine permanently-employed Skeksis on the Supreme Court have taken yet another swing at the EPA, and a surprising deal out of the West may save the troubled Colorado River and all of those thirsty, thirsty cities they built in the desert. Enjoy!
Top climate news this week
In a new ruling on Thursday, the Supreme Court dampened the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate wetlands by reinterpreting which wetlands count as “waters of the United States” in the Clean Water Act. This ruling could leave half of America’s wetlands — vital natural ecosystems that absorb floods and house wildlife — suddenly unprotected.
A deal to save the Colorado River, which has long been the subject of state squabbles that threaten to deplete it, was reached by Arizona, California, and Nevada, who all agreed to use less water if the federal government paid irrigation districts, cities, and Native American tribes $1.2 billion for temporarily using less water.
New research finds that many cities are at high risk for a major health crisis if a blackout — which would knock out air conditioning — were to coincide with a heat wave. In Phoenix, AZ, the study warns, such an event would send nearly half of its population, nearly 800,000 residents, to the E.R.
In a rare move, the federal government paused plans to approve an Arizona copper mine, stating it needs more time to confer with a coalition of Apache tribes on how the billion-dollar project would harm their religious freedoms.
While gasoline use in the United States is dropping, researchers claim it isn’t dropping fast enough to meet the internationally accepted goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. In order to match the pace needed to meet that goal, they’re calling on policymakers to design incentives that target gasoline “superusers”: the 10 percent of the population that drives the most and burns nearly a third of U.S. gas.
The United Nations is gearing up for a conference in Paris next week that will address the global plastic pollution crisis. This will be the second of five rounds of conferences aimed at producing a legally-binding agreement to stem pollution and reduce the proliferation of toxic chemicals commonly found in household plastics.
2 billion people could see a mean annual temperature of 84 degrees Fahrenheit or higher where they live as early as 2070 — even if the world meets the emissions targets in the Paris Agreement — a new study warns.
A phenomenon dubbed “stakeholder fatigue” threatens to slow climate policy progress as climate experts are stretched thin, burned out, and unable to keep up with states’ fast-paced decarbonization agendas.
Trying something new today: Climate Wordle
Solve a custom Wordle based on today’s rundown!
Post a screenshot of your results in the comments! Let’s see who among us claims Wordle supremacy.
Readers! Expect the first installment of my new climate content next week. Hint: It’s going to be an essay on what it’s like to work in “climate world.”
I’m going to say look for it on Monday, but the gods of procrastination who puppet my limbs may make that Tuesday or Wednesday. As Jenny Slate once said: “Who can never be sure?”
Thank you for joining me for this week’s Dispatch! I hope you enjoyed.
OK doomers, I’ll see you next week.
Joey
got the wordle in 5 :)