Environmental news bits: The invasion of microplastics; Gutting the EPA; Shutting down environmental NGOs
A paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday found that the tiny plastic particles could be slashing photosynthesis rates globally. Microplastics, the scientists estimated, are responsible for a reduction in photosynthesis of 7 to 12 percent worldwide in plants and algae. That cut in photosynthesis, the researchers warned, could also impact large-scale crops that humans depend on, such as wheat, corn and rice.Scientists are still working to understand how microplastics — defined as pieces of plastic less than 5 millimeters in size, or around the size of a pencil eraser — are affecting ecosystems around the world. Researchers say, however, that the small shards may be making their way onto crops and agricultural land. Tiny pieces of plastic have been found in most food products, from burgers to seafood, and one study estimated that in Europe alone, 63,000 to 430,000 tons of plastics are likely to pollute agricultural land through sewage sludge used for fertilizer.The scientists estimated that microplastics cost the world about 60 million tons of rice, 76 million tons of wheat and 109 million tons of corn every year — or about 9.6 percent of global crop yields.
Still, the authors of the paper caution that the estimates are preliminary. “There is currently no cause for undue alarm,” Baoshan Xing, a professor of agriculture at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, said in an email. The current research, he noted, is based largely on findings from laboratory experiments, not field studies.
Like the man says, no cause for undue alarm. Nothing to see here. Please disperse, please!
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In what he called the “most consequential day of deregulation in American history,” the head of the Environmental Protection Agency announced a series of actions Wednesday to roll back landmark environmental regulations, including rules on pollution from coal-fired power plants, climate change and electric vehicles.
“We are driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion and ushering in America’s Golden Age,’' EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in an essay in The Wall Street Journal.
If approved after a lengthy process that includes public comment, the Trump administration’s actions will eliminate trillions of dollars in regulatory costs and “hidden taxes,” Zeldin said, lowering the cost of living for American families and reducing prices for such essentials such as buying a car, heating your home and operating a business.
What Zeldin intentionally does not mention is that the power flowing from the EPA will flow to the polluters in the form of both wealth and power. Consumers and the environment will be at the mercy of the corporations who benefit from polluting for profit. One can reasonably expect that deregulation will have little to no impact on lowering the cost of living for American families and reducing prices. The corporations will keep the lion's share of the benefits. Zeldin is cynically lying about that. The long-term effects could lead to significant increases in healthcare expenses, environmental degradation costs, and economic instability.
Consumers and the environment? They can just go pound sand, breathe polluted air and live with polluted water.
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TNR reports that djt and MAGA elites have sicced the FBI on some environmental groups for reasons that sound completely bogus and very threatening:
Trump’s FBI Moves to Criminally Charge Major Climate GroupsThe FBI is moving to criminalize groups like Habitat for Humanity for receiving grants from the Environmental Protection Agency under the Biden administration.
Citibank revealed in a court filing Wednesday that it was told to freeze the groups’ bank accounts at the FBI’s request. The reason? The FBI alleges that the groups are involved in “possible criminal violations,” including “conspiracy to defraud the United States.”
“The FBI has told Citibank that recipients of EPA climate grants are being considered as potentially liable for fraud. That is, the Trump administration wants to criminalize work on climate science and impacts,” the @capitolhunters account wrote Wednesday on X. “An incoming administration not only cancels federal grants but declares recipients as criminals. All these grantees applied under government calls FOR ENVIRONMENTAL WORK, were reviewed and accepted. Trump wants to jail them.”
The Appalachian Community Capital Corporation, the Coalition for Green Capital, and the DC Green Bank are just some of the nonprofits being targeted.
“This is not fraud. This is targeted harassment,” @capitolhunters continued. “The idea of criminalizing community climate work wouldn’t have originated at the FBI—it likely comes from EPA director Lee Zeldin, who today cut all EPA’s environmental justice offices, which try to reduce pollution in poor and minority communities.”
Well ladies 'n germs, that’s todays exciting environmental news. djt and MAGA elites are doing one heck of a job. Let’s give ’em a show of approval:
Who’s a good boy? Yeah, you’re a good boy!
