With ice and snow ahead, it's time to start thinking about road salt — its use may make driving safer, but can also cause real harm to the environment. This week's TipSheet clears the road for your reporting on this potential hazard, detailing its risks, outlining its alternatives and offering story ideas.
"Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, is poised to make wholesale changes to the agency’s key advisory group by jettisoning scientists who have received grants from the EPA and replacing them with industry experts and state government officials."
"Global warming is hurting people’s health a bit more than previously thought, but there’s hope that the Earth — and populations — can heal if the planet kicks its coal habit, a group of doctors and other experts said."
"Spurred by the chemical industry, President Donald Trump's administration is retreating from a congressionally mandated review of some of the most dangerous chemicals in public use: millions of tons of asbestos, flame retardants and other toxins in homes, offices and industrial plants across the United States."
"In a normal year, Kevin Bradley, a professor of weed science at the University of Missouri, would have spent his summer testing new ways to control a troublesome little plant called water hemp. This has not been a normal year."
"Nancy Johnson has lived near the Salton Sea her entire life. Her grandparents originally moved to the area at the behest of their doctors, who said the hot, dry desert was the perfect antidote for their emphysema."
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Wednesday it will review how bedrock laws like the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act affect energy industry job losses, one of several measures U.S. agencies will take to “reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens” on business."
"A Senate committee voted along party lines Wednesday to advance President Donald Trump’s picks for key posts at the Environmental Protection Agency over the objections of Democrats who pointed to the nominees’ past work for corporate clients they would now regulate."
"The Environmental Protection Agency’s revised rule on arsenic contamination in drinking water has resulted in fewer lung, bladder and skin cancers."
"In back-to-back victories for Johnson & Johnson, the courts have reversed two judgments against the consumer products giant totaling nearly $500 million. The money had been awarded to women who said that they developed ovarian cancer after using the company’s talcum powder for decades."
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