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Trump administration proposes loosening protections for endangered species

The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed to loosen federal protections for endangered species. A draft rule from the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would repeal the current definition of “harm” that’s prohibited under the Endangered Species Act. The law prohibits activity that would “harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill,...

The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed to loosen federal protections for endangered species. A draft rule from the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would repeal the current definition of “harm” that’s prohibited under the Endangered Species Act. The law prohibits activity that would “harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect” an endangered species.  Currently, the agencies interpret “harm” under that law to include damage to a species’s habitat — which is what the Trump administration is trying to change.  It said that it is specifically targeting the part of the definition that “includes habitat modification,” saying it “runs contrary” to the best interpretation of the Endangered Species Act.  In practice, the Trump administration’s move could loosen restrictions for industrial activities that could damage the habitat of an endangered animal — if the action may not directly hurt the animal itself. Environmental advocates said the rule would ultimately allow for more harm to come to endangered species.  “There’s just no way to protect animals and plants from extinction without protecting the places they live, yet the Trump administration is opening the flood gates to immeasurable habitat destruction,” said Noah Greenwald, codirector of endangered species at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a written statement.  “Without a prohibition on habitat destruction, spotted owls, sea turtles, salmon and so many more imperiled animals won’t stand a chance,” he added.  Greenwald also told The Hill that his group would “for sure” challenge the Trump administration’s effort in court. 

Animals
Extinction

RFK Jr. Blames ‘Environmental Toxins’ For Autism Rates, Dismisses Better Awareness, Screening

“Genetic markers alone are not going to dictate your destiny. You need an environmental toxin,” the health secretary said, vowing to identify autism’s cause.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed increased screening and understanding of autism for the rising rate of autism diagnoses in the U.S., instead directly blaming “environmental toxins” for the increase.“This is a preventable disease. We know that it’s an environmental exposure. It has to be. Genes do not cause epidemics,” he told reporters Wednesday while promoting a federal study he’s ordered into the condition, which he has said will determine autism’s cause by September.“We have to recognize, we are doing this to our children and we need to put an end to it,” he said.Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a news conference on the CDC’s autism report in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.Kennedy’s message follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention releasing a report on Tuesday that found that about one in every 31 children was diagnosed with autism by age 8 in 2022, up from one in 36 in 2020.Researchers have been studying autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for decades and have not determined a cause. The CDC’s study cited a range of different potential reasons for the rise in diagnosis, however, including disparities in access to early autism therapies, families’ differing socioeconomic statuses, and higher rates of intellectual disability among preterm births. The study also noted that autism evaluations and identifications among children dropped at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. These evaluations and identifications resumed to their prior levels by early 2022.There’s no evidence that “living in certain communities puts children at greater risk for developing ASD,” the study concluded. “Differences in the prevalence of children identified with ASD across communities might be due to differences in availability of services for early detection and evaluation and diagnostic practices.”Kennedy, however, called it a “canard” to blame the increase on “better diagnosis, better recognition or changing diagnostic criteria,” as other medical experts have done.Doctors in the past, when autism diagnoses were significantly lower than they are today, “weren’t stupid. They weren’t missing all these cases,” he said.He also dismissed researchers pointing to genetics as possibly playing a major role. The National Institutes of Health states on its website that “more than 100 genes on different chromosomes may be involved in causing ASD, to different degrees.”“This is coming from an environmental toxin and somebody made a profit by putting that environmental toxin in our air, our water, our medicines, our food.”“Genetic markers alone are not going to dictate your destiny. You need an environmental toxin,” Kennedy said of the link between genetic mutations and autism.“This is coming from an environmental toxin, and somebody made a profit by putting that environmental toxin in our air, our water, our medicines, our food. And it’s to their benefit to say, to normalize it, to say all this is all normal, it’s always been here,” he insisted.Kennedy said that within two to three weeks, his department would announce a series of new studies to “identify precisely what environmental toxins are causing it.”He said researchers will examine everything from food additives, mold, water, medicines and ultrasounds.Dr. Walter M. Zahorodny, an associate professor at Rutgers who has overseen public monitoring of autism in New Jersey and was part of the CDC’s study, also spoke alongside Kennedy and said that “there’s better recognition of autism and better awareness because there are more children with autism.”We Don't Work For Billionaires. We Work For You.Big money interests are running the government — and influencing the news you read. While other outlets are retreating behind paywalls and bending the knee to political pressure, HuffPost is proud to be unbought and unfiltered. Will you help us keep it that way? You can even access our stories ad-free.You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest — we could use your help again. We won't back down from our mission of providing free, fair news during this critical moment. But we can't do it without you.For the first time, we're offering an ad-free experience to qualifying contributors who support our fearless journalism. We hope you'll join us.You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest — we could use your help again. We won't back down from our mission of providing free, fair news during this critical moment. But we can't do it without you.For the first time, we're offering an ad-free experience to qualifying contributors who support our fearless journalism. We hope you'll join us.Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.“Autism went from being a very unusual, rare disability, which affected, as the secretary said, one child in maybe 10,000, to being known in every community, every school district,” he said.Zahorodny urged “a correct perception” of the condition, saying it’s something extremely serious, “that we don’t understand, and it must be triggered or caused by environmental or risk factors.”

Health
Food
Water

RFK Jr. Is Using a New Study on Autism Rates to Push His Anti-Vaccine Agenda

In a press conference Wednesday morning that surely delighted his allies in the anti-vaccine movement, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded to a report about apparent rising autism rates with a vow to look at “environmental factors” as a possible cause. While Kennedy didn’t explicitly discuss vaccines, his remarks made it […]

In a press conference Wednesday morning that surely delighted his allies in the anti-vaccine movement, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded to a report about apparent rising autism rates with a vow to look at “environmental factors” as a possible cause. While Kennedy didn’t explicitly discuss vaccines, his remarks made it clear, again, that he’ll likely use the power and money of the federal government to prop up the long-debunked claim that vaccines cause autism. He also repeatedly made crude and stigmatizing references to people with profound autism (which he calls “severe” autism,” an outdated term) painting a picture of such people as a burden on society and to their families.  “These are kids who will never pay taxes,” Kennedy declared. “They’ll never hold a job. They’ll never play baseball. They’ll never write a poem. They’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted. We have to recognize we are doing this to our children.”  “The epidemic,” Kennedy said at another point, “is real.” Autism, he added, “destroys families and more importantly it destroys our greatest resource, our children.” Many children, he claimed, were “fully functional” and “regressed.”  RFK Jr. called today’s press conference to discuss new findings published this week in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which found an increase in apparent autism rates, from 1 in 36 children to 1 in 31. The report, based on 2022 data, found that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder was higher in 8-year-old children than in previous years, and higher in Black, Hispanic and Asian Pacific Islander children than in white children. Kennedy made it clear that he believes “environmental factors” are driving the increase in the condition, not genetics. In his previous role as chairman of Children’s Health Defense, Kennedy repeatedly claimed that vaccines cause autism, which they do not, and accused the CDC of lying to “minimize the crisis.” (Among other things, a massive study of 10 million children published in Denmark in 2019 showed no link between the MMR vaccine and autism.) From the podium on Wednesday, Kennedy declared that “overall, autism is increasing in prevalence at an alarming rate” and called it “shocking” and “relentless.” He added, again, and without apparent basis, that “most causes are now severe” and insisted that 25 percent of boys diagnosed with autism “are non-verbal, non toilet-trained and have other stereotypical features” including “stimming and toe-walking,” traits he has brought up frequently in past remarks and cast in a negative light. (Stimming can be a self-soothing behavior, but autistic adults have reported trying to mask it to reduce stigma from others.) “Obviously there are people who don’t want us to look at environmental exposures,” he proclaimed. He said that the newly created Administration for a Healthy America (AHA), which part of HHS, would be responsible for overseeing autism rates. The AHA merged several previously independent offices; HHS has also faced deep cuts and layoffs throughout the agency. Kennedy said future autism studies may look at medication, mold, food addivities, air and water pollution and advanced parental age as other possible factors. There’s long been a scientific debate about how much of the rise in apparent autism rates is due to better diagnosis and detection, with most serious researchers agreeing that better screening plays a major role. Kennedy rejected the idea that autism increases are the result of enhanced diagnostic criteria or better detection. He also trotted out a new phrase, “epidemic denial,” that he clearly plans to use against scientists and media outlets who disagree with his framing of autism rates or their potential causes. At several points, he called people who question or contextualize increased autism rates “deniers” and said they are engaging in “the myth of epidemic denial.”  (Kennedy himself has dabbled in AIDS denialism.)  At the conference, Kennedy also briefly ceded the podium to Rutgers autism researcher Walter Zahorodny, who, among other things, also declared that autism is “real” and “not a quirky personality” trait, and concurred with Kennedy that the CDC report did not simply show better detection but a true increase in autism rates. It “strongly suggests that not only is this a high point in autism prevalence, but in the future rates can only be higher” he added. The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network said in a press release that the new data is “explained by better access to screening and improved understanding of autism.” The group added that more work needs to be done to address the economic and racial disparities that affect which kids receive early, accurate autism diagnoses; for instance, a higher income was related to “a higher diagnosis rate for Black, Hispanic, and Asian and Pacific Islander children.” ”We will continue to advocate to address diagnostic disparities, improve access to diagnosis and support, and protect the programs and services that make this possible,” ASN added.  Responding to Kennedy’s characterizations of autistic people, Alycia Halladay, the chief science officer at the Autism Science Foundation, told Mother Jones that Kennedy “failed to recognize the diverse spectrum of autism.” Of the apparent increase in autism rates, she said, “All of the scientific evidence points to access to services as being a driving force,” adding, “Also, about 20% of autism is caused by a known genetic variant, and there is no evidence that 85% of the increase in prevalence is due to environmental ‘toxins.'” Kennedy has previously vowed to find the cause of rising autism rates by September, which is not how science works. At the conference today, he seemed to slightly walk back that pledge, saying he expected to see “some answers” by September and vowing to “remove the taboo” so that scientists could freely study this issue, which he implied they could not do previously without being “gaslit” or having their licenses taken away.  To add to the concern that any RFK-led studies won’t be serious ones, the Washington Post reported in March that HHS hired David Geier to study vaccine-autism data. Geier is a longtime anti-vaccine figure who, with his father, former physician Mark Geier, purported to study autism and often acted as expert witnesses in cases of alleged vaccine injury. David Geier was disciplined by the Maryland Board of Physicians in 2012 for practicing medicine without a license, while his father’s license was revoked. Neither David Geier nor HHS have responded to repeated requests for comment from Mother Jones. Kennedy promised on Wednesday that HHS’ autism studies would be “thorough and comprehensive.”

Health
Crisis
Government

Salmon Are Being Exposed to Our Anti-Anxiety Medication, and It's Making Them Take More Risks, Study Suggests

Atlantic salmon exposed to a common anti-anxiety drug migrate faster, according to new research. That's not necessarily a good thing

Salmon Are Being Exposed to Our Anti-Anxiety Medication, and It’s Making Them Take More Risks, Study Suggests Atlantic salmon exposed to a common anti-anxiety drug migrate faster, according to new research. That’s not necessarily a good thing Researchers Daniel Cerveny and Marcus Michelangeli collecting salmon from the Dal River in Sweden. Michael Bertram Humans take a lot of medication, and small doses of those drugs—including antibiotics, antidepressants, birth control and more—find their way in the environment through wastewater, even after it’s treated. Nearly 1,000 different pharmaceuticals have been detected in waterways all over the world, even in Antarctica. Now, a new study sheds light on how these drugs affect wildlife behavior. “Pharmaceutical pollution, or chemical pollution in general, is really this invisible agent of global change,” says Jack Brand, the study’s lead author and an environmental researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, to Benji Jones at Vox. “It’s probably posing a greater risk than at least what the public acknowledges. This is a potentially significant threat to our aquatic wildlife.” To better understand this risk, Brand and his team gave young Atlantic salmon the drug clobazam—a common anti-anxiety and sleep medication—in doses that might mirror what they’re exposed to in the wild. The team used tracking tags to monitor how the medication affected the fish’s 17-mile migration from the Dal River in Sweden to the Baltic Sea. The salmon that were given clobazam were more likely to reach the sea than the untreated fish. They also quickly passed through two major hydropower dams that often slow other fish down. The new findings were published in the journal Science last week. Scientists say the drugged salmon might have migrated differently because of an increased willingness to take risks. “It’s interesting to see how one problem impacts how they deal with another problem,” says Olivia Simmons, a salmon ecologist at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research who was not involved in the study, to Rebecca Dzombak at the New York Times. “These bolder fish could just be going faster because they’re less inhibited.” But going faster isn’t necessarily a good thing for the salmon. “It’s important to realize that any change to the natural behavior and ecology of a species is expected to have broader negative consequences, both for that species and the surrounding wildlife community,” explains study co-author Marcus Michelangeli, a behavioral ecologist at Griffith University in Australia, in a statement. Brand tells Jonathan Lambert at NPR that the fish exposed to clobazam may be more risk-prone and solitary, “and therefore just sort of beelining it through the dams rather than waiting around for their salmon friends.” A dam in Älvkarleby, Sweden, which is one of the obstacles that salmon in the Dal River must navigate on their migration. Rebecca Forsberg The researchers also took their study into the lab to better understand the impact of the drugs on the salmon, and the fish displayed other signs of solitary behavior. Clobazam appeared to change the way the fish interact with each other, making them less likely to school in groups—even when a predatory northern pike swam nearby. That independence could make them more vulnerable to being eaten. “It’s like playing poker,” adds Giovanni Polverino, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Tuscia in Italy who was not involved in the study, to the New York Times. “The more risks you take, the more chances you have to lose everything,” he adds. “In this case, the fish’s life.” Still, there’s hope on the horizon for the world’s fish, Michelangeli notes in the statement. Wastewater treatment options are getting better at reducing pharmaceutical contamination, and researchers are also working on making drugs that degrade more quickly. “By designing drugs that break down more rapidly or become less harmful after use, we can significantly mitigate the environmental impact of pharmaceutical pollution in the future,” he says. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Chemicals
Nature
Pollution

Conservation group names Mississippi River 'most endangered,' cites proposed FEMA cuts

A conservation group on Wednesday named the Mississippi the “most endangered river of 2025,” citing threats to abolish the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which plays a key role in federal flood management. American Rivers, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group, said the Mississippi River in recent years has faced “increasingly frequent and severe floods,” which...

A conservation group on Wednesday named the Mississippi the “most endangered river of 2025,” citing threats to abolish the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which plays a key role in federal flood management. American Rivers, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group, said the Mississippi River in recent years has faced “increasingly frequent and severe floods,” which have damaged homes and businesses and worsened the health of the river, which provides drinking water for 20 million people. The organization said the federal government plays a key role in protecting the river and helping homeowners prepare for, and rebuild after, major flooding. Amid concerns about further layoffs at FEMA and as government officials — including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees FEMA — threaten to abolish the agency, the conservation group said the risk to the Mississippi River is exceptionally high. “Communities along the river need significant support for disaster prevention and response, as well as river restoration – but the fate of the Federal Emergency Management Agency hangs in the balance,” the report read. The group called on the Trump administration to “modernize FEMA to improve river health and maximize the safety, security, and prosperity of Mississippi River communities.” “The Mississippi River is vital to our nation’s health, wealth and security. We drink from it, we grow our food with it, we travel on it, we live alongside it, and simply, we admire its beauty,” Mike Sertle, American Rivers’ central region director, said in a statement. “We cannot turn our back on Mississippi River communities or the health of the river millions depend on at this critical time when they need unified direction instead of uncertainty at the national level,” Sertle added. A press release from Americans Rivers stressed FEMA’s role in preparing for potential flood damage, not just responding to it, saying the agency develops minimum standards for construction in floodplains and helps relocate flood-prone homes to higher ground. “The most cost-effective way to reduce disaster response costs is to invest in mitigating the impacts of disasters before they happen. Every $1 spent on flood mitigation yields $7 in benefits,” the press release read.

Conservation
Business
Government

Black Residents Get Most of the Pollution but Few of the Jobs From Chemical Industry, Study Finds

A new study led by Tulane University has revealed stark racial disparities across the U.S.’s petrochemical workforce

Residents of the mostly Black communities sandwiched between chemical plants along the lower Mississippi River have long said they get most of the pollution but few of the jobs produced by the region’s vast petrochemical industry. A new study led by Tulane University backs up that view, revealing stark racial disparities across the U.S.’s petrochemical workforce. Inequity was especially pronounced in Louisiana, where people of color were underrepresented in both high- and low-paying jobs at chemical plants and refineries. “It was really surprising how consistently people of color didn’t get their fair share of jobs in the petrochemical industry,” said Kimberly Terrell, a research scientist with the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic. “No matter how you slice or dice the data by states, metro areas or parishes, the data’s consistent.”The Tulane study’s findings match what Cancer Alley residents have suspected for decades, said Joy Banner, co-founder of the Descendants Project, a nonprofit that advocates for Black communities in the parishes between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. “You hear it a lot – that Black people are not getting the jobs,” she said. “But to have the numbers so well documented, and to see just how glaring they are – that was surprising.”People of color were underrepresented in all of the highest-paying jobs among the 30 states with a large petrochemical industry presence, but Louisiana and Texas had “the most extreme disparities,” according to the study, which was published in the journal Ecological Economics. While several states had poor representation on the upper pay scale, people of color were typically overrepresented in the lower earnings tiers. In Texas, nearly 60% of the working-age population is non-white, but people of color hold 39% of higher-paying positions and 57% of lower-paying jobs in the chemical industry. Louisiana was the only state in which people of color are underrepresented in both pay categories. People who aren’t white make up 41% of the working-age population but occupy just 21% of higher-paying jobs and about 33% of lower-paid jobs. The study relied on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Bureau of Labor Statistics and Louisiana Economic Development.The chemical industry disputed the study’s findings. “We recognize the importance of examining equity in employment, however, this study offers an incomplete and misleading portrayal of our industry and its contributions,” David Cresson, president and CEO of the Louisiana Chemical Association, said in a statement. Cresson pointed to several industry-supported workforce development programs, scholarships and science camps aimed at “closing the training gap in Louisiana.”But the study indicates education and training levels aren’t at the root of underrepresentation among states or metro areas. Louisiana’s education gap was modest, with college attainment at 30% for white residents and 20% for people of color. In places like Lake Charles and St. John the Baptist Parish, where petrochemical jobs are common, the gap was minimal — five percentage points or less.The industry’s investments in education are “just public relations spin,” Banner said. “The amount of money they’re investing in schools and various programs pales in comparison to how much they’re profiting in our communities,” she said. “We sacrifice so much and get so little in return.”Louisiana is also getting little from generous tax breaks aimed at boosting employment, the study found. The state’s Industrial Tax Exemption Program has granted 80% to 100% property tax exemptions to companies that promise to create new jobs. For each job created in Cameron Parish, where large natural gas ports have been built in recent years, companies were exempted from almost $590,000 in local taxes. In St. John, each job equated to about $1 million in uncollected tax revenue.“This tradeoff of pollution in exchange for jobs was never an equal trade,” said Gianna St. Julien, one of the study’s authors. “But this deal is even worse when the overwhelming majority of these companies’ property taxes are not being poured back into these struggling communities.” This story was originally published by Verite News and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Feb. 2025

Chemicals
Pollution
Science

In Colorado, Gas for Cars Could Soon Come With a Warning Label

Like labels on cigarettes, opponents say fossil fuel warnings could change attitudes. Others call it gasoline “shaming.” The post In Colorado, Gas for Cars Could Soon Come With a Warning Label appeared first on .

The Centennial State may become first in the nation to require retailers to warn consumers that burning fossil fuels “releases air pollutants and greenhouse gases, known by the state of Colorado to be linked to significant health impacts and global heating.” The warning is the linchpin of a bill — HB25-1277 — that narrowly passed the state House on April 2 and is scheduled to be heard in the Senate’s Transportation & Energy Committee this week. Its Democratic sponsors say the bill will raise awareness among consumers that combusting gas in their vehicles creates pollutants that harm their health and trap heat in the atmosphere, leading to more intense and extreme weather, wildfires and drought. The groundbreaking measure would require retailers to place warning labels printed in black ink on a white background in English and Spanish in no smaller than 16-point type on fuel pumps and “in a conspicuous location” near displays offering petroleum-based goods for sale.  Proponents compare the stickers to warnings labels on cigarettes that scientific evidence found motivated consumers to reconsider the health impacts of smoking.   The labeling bill is backed by environmental groups, including 350 Colorado and the Sierra Club, and opposed by gas stations, chambers of commerce and energy trade associations. About 136 lobbyist registrations were filed with the secretary of state in the position of support, opposition, or monitoring — a benchmark of the measure’s divisiveness. “The bill, as you’ve heard, seeks to drive systemic change and to help us meet our greenhouse gas emission goals,” state Rep. Junie Joseph (D-Boulder), a sponsor, testified at a House Energy & Environment Committee hearing on March 6. “Colorado is actively working to reduce emissions to comply with the Clean Air Act and state climate targets.” Colorado is on track to meet greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 26% by 2025 and 50% by 2030, over 2005 levels — albeit a year late for each period mandated under state law, according to a November report compiled by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Colorado Energy Office. Yet the state is woefully behind in its compliance with federal air quality standards. Emissions from energy industry operations and gas-powered vehicles are the main drivers of the nine-county metropolitan Denver region’s failure to clean up its air over the last two decades. The state’s largest cities rank among the 25 worst in the nation for lung-damaging ozone pollution. Several days before the labeling bill passed the House, the state’s health department said it planned to ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to downgrade its air quality for the second time in a year. The request is intended to give regulators more time to draw up a plan to reduce pollutants that cause a toxic haze that blurs the Rocky Mountains from May to September. Colorado repeatedly touts its “nation-leading” greenhouse gas emissions reduction laws targeting oil and gas production, as well as requirements that utilities transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Yet to make long-term progress toward a state mandate to cut emissions 100% by 2050, officials need residents to drive less and carpool and take public transit more. The bill’s sponsors cited a first-in-the-nation labeling law in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, as proof such initiatives work. The Cambridge City Council enacted its greenhouse gas label law in 2020. City inspectors affix about 116 bright yellow stickers that read: “Warning. Burning Gasoline, Diesel and Ethanol has major consequences on human health and on the environment including contributing to climate change” in pump bays at 19 gas stations annually, along with inspection stickers, Jeremy Warnick, a city spokesman, wrote in an email. A bright yellow warning label on a gas pump in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Photo courtesy the city of Cambridge. Early research into the impacts of Cambridge’s labeling law suggest that peer pressure that results from one person seeing a label on a gas pump and telling friends about it at a party can indeed motivate people to reconsider their transportation choices. A measure instituted in Sweden in 2021 that requires labels depicting each fuel grade’s impact on the climate to be installed on gas pumps produced similar results. The warning stickers communicate to people as they’re pumping gas that others in their community acknowledge petroleum products create emissions that are warming the planet, said Gregg Sparkman, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Boston College. Sparkman’s research found Americans function in a state of “pluralistic ignorance,” essentially “walking around thinking others don’t care about climate change.”  A study he co-authored in Nature in 2022 found that most Americans “underestimate the prevalence of support for climate change mitigation policies.” While 66% to 80% of people approve of such measures, Americans estimate the prevalence to be between 37% and 43%, on average, data showed. Warning labels can cut through this apathy, he said.   “These signs chip away at the mirage — they become one of hopefully many signals that an increasing number of Americans regard this as an emergency that requires urgent action out of government, citizens and everybody,” he said.        In Colorado, gas station owners, as well as representatives of retail trade organizations and the American Petroleum Institute, among others, testified against the labeling bill at the three-hour March 6 House energy committee hearing, calling the legislation an “unfunded mandate” that would “shame consumers” and target retailers with “exorbitant fines.” Some warned it would make gas prices rise. The law would require convenience stores to design, buy and affix the labels and to keep them in good condition. If a consumer reported a defaced decal to the state Attorney General’s Office, a store owner could face a $20,000 penalty per violation — standard for violations under the Consumer Protection Act. An amendment added on the House floor would provide retailers with 45 days to fix a problem with a label.   “The gas pump itself is already cluttered with words, numbers, prices, colors, buttons and payment mechanisms,” Angie Howes, a lobbyist representing Kum & Go, which owns Maverik convenience stores, testified at the committee hearing. “The message will likely be lost in the noise and we question the impact of such a label toward the proponents’ goals.” Republican and Democratic committee members alike expressed concern about the fines, asking bill sponsors to consider reducing them. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, or CDPHE, also opposed the measure, citing the state’s efforts to make it easier and cheaper for Coloradoans to reduce their energy use by taking advantage of electric vehicle and heat pump subsidies, among other voluntary measures. Colorado is already first in the nation in market share of new EVs, Lindsay Ellis, the agency’s director of legislative affairs, testified. “This bill presupposes that awareness alone is an effective strategy for changing behavior and does so at the liability and expense of small businesses like gas stations,” she said. “We should continue to focus on solutions with measurable emissions reductions to improve air quality.” Gov. Jared Polis also appears dubious of the measure’s ability to effect long-term change. When contacted by Capital & Main for comment, spokesperson Eric Maruyama cited legislative and administrative strategies that have “cut hundreds of millions of metric tons of cumulative greenhouse gas emissions since 2010.” “Like CDPHE, Governor Polis is committed to protecting Colorado’s clean air and reducing pollution through proven strategies that are good for the environment, good for consumers, and that empower Colorado businesses and individuals to take meaningful action that improves public health,” Maruyama wrote in an email. “Governor Polis is skeptical of labeling requirements and will review any legislation that reaches his desk.” Doctors and scientists who testified at the House energy committee hearing on March 6 disagreed. “I take care of children living in some of the most polluted zip codes in the country, and I can tell you firsthand that burning fossil fuels is making them sick,” Dr. Clare Burchenal, a Denver pediatrician, told the committee.  “Warning labels can connect the abstract threat of a climate emergency with fossil fuel use in the here and now — my patients and their families have a right to know how the products they’re using are impacting their health.”   Copyright 2025 Capital & Main

Business
Climate
Energy

Endangered greater gliders recorded in proposed great koala national park in NSW as logging continues

Conservation groups call for immediate action to protect wildlife as two-year wait for Labor’s promised creation of park continuesGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastGovernment surveys have found tens of thousands of endangered greater gliders could be living within the proposed area for a great koala national park in New South Wales, prompting new calls for the area to be quickly protected from logging.Data from aerial drone and ground-based surveys at 169 sites within the proposed park were used to model the likely presence of Australia’s largest gliding possum across the entire 176,000 hectares the NSW government is considering for protection.Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Continue reading...

Government surveys have found tens of thousands of endangered greater gliders could be living within the proposed area for a great koala national park in New South Wales, prompting new calls for the area to be quickly protected from logging.Data from aerial drone and ground-based surveys at 169 sites within the proposed park were used to model the likely presence of Australia’s largest gliding possum across the entire 176,000 hectares the NSW government is considering for protection.The Minns Labor government promised to create a koala national park before the state election more than two years ago, but has not taken a decision on the boundaries and has allowed logging to continue.A greater glider in flight. Photograph: Sami Raines/WWFBetween April and July 2024, the surveys detected greater gliders at 82 sites. The government’s analysis estimated the planned park has between 29,693 and 44,211 gliders, with a mean estimate of 36,483. Some survey sites in the north-west recorded “extremely high detections” of the species, according to the new report.“This puts paid to any argument that this is not an environmentally significant area and endorses the protection of the complete 176,000 hectares in a national park,” Justin Field, spokesperson for the Forest Alliance NSW and former independent member of the NSW upper house, said.A great koala national park in in the state’s north was NSW Labor’s key environmental commitment at the 2023 election, but two years on, the government has given no indication of when it will announce how much of the 176,000 hectares it plans to protect.“The politically pointed question is: why is Chris Minns allowing the great potential legacy of this park to be undermined by a slow decision?” Field said.A NSW government spokesperson said the creation of the park was “one of our key election commitments, and it will be delivered soon”. “Creating this park will protect koalas, and that protection will extend to other important species including gliders.”Community groups and conservation advocates have grown increasingly frustrated as the government has allowed logging to continue within the proposed park instead of declaring a moratorium until assessment is complete.“These gliders do not tolerate logging and this report should motivate the Minns government to immediately end logging in the proposed great koala national park,” the chief executive of the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, Jacqui Mumford, said.“In fact, logging should cease in all state forest areas identified as containing greater gliders.”skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionEndangered yellow-bellied gliders and the tradie keeping watch over them – videoKita Ashman, a threatened species and climate adaptation ecologist at WWF Australia, said the report highlighted the significance of the proposed park for multiple species.“That’s the crux of the whole story,” she said.“Yes, we’re calling it the great koala national park. But you could easily call it the great greater glider national park – although it doesn’t have the same ring to it.”The forest alliance, made up of community and state environment groups focused on forest conservation, said it was also concerned about the findings of the government surveys for another glider species, the vulnerable yellow-bellied glider.The report found yellow-bellied gliders were less abundant than other species assessed, with the drone and on-ground surveys detecting the animals at only 21% of the sites.Because of the low number of observations, the government was unable to estimate an overall population number for the species within the park area.Field said this highlighted a need for further investigation to understand its conservation status.

Conservation
Government
Climate

Meet the DJs spinning Earth Day into nightlife

At Earth "Night" celebrations, you can dance, vibe, and get involved with local climate action.

The vision “In the nightlife industry, the majority of the crowd is very young. Our crowd is the future. So it’s great to have them all together and be able to raise some more awareness.” — Ruben Pariente Gromark of DJs for Climate Action The spotlight Next Tuesday, April 22, will mark the 55th anniversary of Earth Day, a celebration launched in 1970 to bring attention and grassroots energy to environmental issues. But the days that immediately follow it, April 23 through 27, will mark the eighth annual offering of a relatively under-the-radar series of climate events: Earth Night. Organized by a small volunteer group called DJs for Climate Action, Earth Night is a global initiative that brings climate and environmental messages into dance halls, bars, clubs, and other nightlife venues. The idea started with a campaign by producer and DJ Sam Posner (also known as Sammy Bananas). Around 2009, he launched a holiday fundraising campaign for DJs to buy carbon credits to offset the emissions of the frequent flights they take to work at parties and events all over the world. “He sent it to me and I was like, ‘Oh, this is really interesting,’” said Eli Goldstein (Soul Clap), a fellow music artist who’s now the president of DJs for Climate Action. “At that time I was flying a lot, and it was the first time a light bulb went off, that there was a negative side of all the flying around the world DJing.” Taking a flight is one of the most carbon-intensive activities any individual can do — and as long-distance, often international travel is a routine part of many DJs’ jobs, they can rack up some high carbon footprints. Goldstein had long been interested in environmental issues. He even sang at Earth Day celebrations as a schoolkid. When he encountered Posner’s carbon-credits campaign, he had what he described as “an epiphany” that living his dream as a DJ wasn’t fully in line with his environmental values. The end-of-year fundraisers continued for several years, under the banner of DJs Against Climate Change, before the group decided it wanted to do something bigger. Focusing only on the carbon footprint of traveling felt like a missed opportunity to take advantage of the unique skills the artists had to bring to the movement. “We realized we could be a lot more constructive, positive, by encouraging DJs to use our platforms to educate and encourage action around climate and the environment,” Goldstein said. They wanted to invite DJs to do what they do best — spin tunes at parties — while fostering a space for learning, community building, and fundraising for climate solutions, and also emphasizing a vision of low-waste, regenerative local events. A photo from the first Earth Night event at House of Yes in Brooklyn, New York. Sam Posner The fledgling group organized the first Earth Night event in 2018 at House of Yes, a funky performance venue in Brooklyn. In addition to spinning DJ sets, the crew handed out literature at the door, projected climate information on the walls, and raised money for the local nonprofit NYC Environmental Justice Alliance. Around 500 people attended. “The idea was just to create an opportunity for nightlife, to have a joyful moment to support and educate about climate,” Goldstein said. The event expanded from there. In 2019, the team coordinated Earth Night events in seven cities around the world, raising over $10,000 for various climate charities. In 2020, the group had planned to hold 50 events, honoring the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. All those plans were scuttled by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic — but like so many other organizations, DJs for Climate Action quickly pivoted to a virtual approach, which had the effect of bringing Earth Night to many more people. “We did a livestream with 100 DJs from around the world — every continent except Antarctica was represented,” Goldstein said. “Everybody just played one song, and it was like 20 hours long. It was really epic and amazing.” As in-person partying gradually returned, the team decided to take a more decentralized approach. While a number of artists have been involved over the years, the core team behind DJs for Climate Action is just five people, and they quickly realized they couldn’t sustain all the coordination and support that would be required to scale up the global event. Instead, they created a toolkit for local organizers — DJs, venues, promoters, or really anyone interested in hosting an Earth Night event. It includes specific tips for sustainability, such as going plastic-free, booking local talent, featuring plant-based menus, and using renewable energy where possible. A photo from the second year of Earth Night at House of Yes, in 2019. Courtesy of DJs for Climate Action For 2025, there are close to 40 events planned around the world, which will be added to the DJs for Climate Action website and Instagram in the coming days. “It’s definitely taking on a life of its own,” Goldstein said. DJs for Climate Action also recently acquired formal nonprofit status and will be fundraising for itself through Earth Night as well, with a goal of expanding the organization’s capacity. “We’re now trying to raise money to have a more permanent team,” Goldstein said. “So we do encourage events to donate at least partially to DJs for Climate Action — but also to local climate and environmental justice orgs. Part of the beauty of Earth Night is it’s this local organizing, but still global energy, global community, global impact.” Mónica Medina, a biology professor at Penn State, is organizing an event this year in State College, Pennsylvania. Although she’s not a frequenter of the club scene herself, State College is a party town, she said. She saw an opportunity to reach people with a climate message through a medium that she herself has found very healing: music. “I feel that we have split our lives into so many bubbles that don’t overlap. But I feel that knowledge, spirituality, and fun can be together — and that music especially has the power of getting people entranced in a way where they are connected with these powerful lyrics,” she said. That sentiment was echoed by Gui Becker, a fellow professor and musician who will be performing live at the State College event. Becker was in a metal band with his cousins when he was young, and his music evolved to explore environmental and climate justice themes as he studied biology in grad school. Over the past several years, he’s written a handful of hard rock songs with climate messages, and he’s collaborated with other scientists and musicians through an initiative called Science Strings. “Music is so powerful,” said Becker, who’s looking forward to performing live at Manny’s, a popular all-ages venue in State College. “I think maybe we’re going to be able to reach an audience that normally doesn’t listen to environmental music, environmentally charged songs.” In addition to Becker’s performance, the State College event on April 24 will include a DJ set by the venue’s owner and the premiere of a new music video that Medina and her students produced for “La Extinción,” a song by the Colombian musician Pernett. At this year’s Earth Night event in Paris, on April 26, the music itself will have less of an explicit climate message — but the party will include a guided meditation by sound artist Lola Villa, featuring nature sounds that she recorded in the Amazon, as well as a panel featuring the event’s DJs on how artists can get involved in activism. The attendees will also get compostable wristbands — and in the 10 seconds it takes to put a wristband on, the venue staff will briefly explain to people why they’re there. “I do believe that makes a big difference,” said Ruben Pariente Gromark (also known as Michel D.), a core member of DJs for Climate Action and the organizer of the Paris party. “As it’s a classic club venue where there’s parties every weekend, quite a few people might just come randomly, to go to a party where they’re used to going for a party. And then they will know that it’s a different [mission-driven] party.” The wristbands will also feature a QR code that leads to a survey asking attendees how they traveled to the Earth Night event (walking, biking, driving, or even flying from afar). It’s part of a broader impact assessment the team intends to compile this year to measure the sustainability of the events. At the end of the day, though, Earth Night is less about reducing the plastic cups at bars or the miles traveled to concert venues, and more about creating a joyful space for people to learn and get inspired to take action for the climate. “When we talk about the climate crisis, environmental action, all these subjects — it’s full of anxiety, it’s very dark,” said Pariente Gromark. Although its festivities may take place under cover of darkness, Earth Night offers a counter to that doom-and-gloom narrative. Organizers hope the good vibes spread at the events will empower both artists and community members to lean further into climate work where they live — and even where they party. “Climate change is such a global, overwhelming problem that can make us feel super powerless when we look at the macro scale,” Goldstein said. “When we look at our local community and how we can participate, help build resiliency, and just come together in a joyful way, it can feel like you’re actually making a difference.” — Claire Elise Thompson More exposure Read: about the strong climate and environmental justice themes that have long existed in hip hop (Grist) Read: about the cathartic power of Indigenous heavy metal (Grist) Read: about the pop band AJR and its efforts to get fans and concertgoers to take action for the climate (NPR) Read: about The Climate Soundtrack, a 41-track compilation produced by DJs for Climate Action, drawing on field recordings from Greenpeace’s sound library (Ableton) — and check out the soundtrack Listen: to a climate playlist that professor Medina has been compiling and using in her classroom Listen: to our Looking Forward playlist, compiled by you, dear readers! A parting shot Check out this solar-powered DJ booth — a focal point of the 2019 Earth Night event in Paris. IMAGE CREDITS Vision: Mia Torres / Grist Spotlight: Sam Posner; Courtesy of DJs for Climate Action Parting shot: Courtesy of DJs for Climate Action This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Meet the DJs spinning Earth Day into nightlife on Apr 16, 2025.

Climate
Activism
Energy

Our ‘Technofossils’ Will Define Us Forever

Discarded authors Sarah Gabbott and Jan Zalasiewicz, observers of the geological past, look into the future

We all wonder about our legacy—what will remain of us when we’re gone? Two paleontologists set out to answer that question for the whole of humankind in a new book that explores how the material abundance of modern life will be preserved in Earth’s geological strata.This Anthropocene rock layer will catch the eye of anyone digging around millions of years from now, according to Sarah Gabbott and Jan Zalasiewicz, both professors at the University of Leicester in England. Biological fossils will suddenly give way to a strange menagerie of what Gabbott and Zalasiewicz call technofossils: polyester sweaters, QWERTY keyboards, saxophones. These objects, if buried quickly in the right environment (such as a landfill, where they’re often safely entombed in plastic liners), stand a good chance of enduring.Scientific American talked with Gabbott and Zalasiewicz, authors of the book Discarded: How Technofossils Will Be Our Ultimate Legacy, about the things we’re leaving behind, the ways those items will live on in the environment and the impression that future paleontologists might have of us.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.What do we know right now about the technofossils we’ll leave behind?GABBOTT: We’re making things that will be more durable than the stuff biology makes. By that reasoning, it’s probably going to last a long time. But [we don’t know] how long and what it’s going to do in that journey from being discarded to being a fossil.... It’s also fascinating to think about some future civilization or aliens visiting Earth. What the hell are they going to make of all this stuff? Those are the two big unknowns.Let’s start with the first one. How do you study fossilization that hasn’t happened yet?GABBOTT: We can’t do the experiments because there’s not enough time. So we learn some of these things by looking at analogues in the fossil record. There are these plasticlike polymers that some green algae make [that are] almost identical to polyethylene. And the same green algae have been found in rocks that are 48 million years old—this stuff hasn’t changed. Concrete is another one [that we’ve found analogues for]. It’s really just limestone and shale; we know that lasts forever. A lot of these technofossils, there’s no reason to assume that they’re going to be any different. They’re just going to be incredibly resilient.You describe our technofossil legacy as a “puzzle” for future paleontologists. Will they be able to solve it?ZALASIEWICZ: We’re making so many complicated structures that have no [equivalent] in the biological world. So the discoverers will have to realize this is technology, not some kind of biology. Then they have to try to work out what these things were used for. That won’t always be clear.GABBOTT: What I’m talking to you on now, my mobile phone—these things are just rectangles. They’re going to wonder, what is this? And when I was writing [the book], I hadn’t realized just how ephemeral our digital data can be. These big cloud storage bases, even if they survive, [decoding] that stuff is probably going to be impossible. So we have all this computer stuff..., and I think it’s going to be really hard to work out what it was for. [At least] it’s nice to think that paper actually preserves quite well.Maybe a fossilized copy of Discarded will become their field guide.ZALASIEWICZ: It’s a lovely idea. Books themselves [are] at least as fossilizable as your average leaf, and we know you go to the right strata and find fossil leaves by the lorry load. The trouble is the same as when you have many, many fossils piled up on top of each other: you just have a mess. But if you’re patient enough you could actually dissect it—the same, I think, with the pages of any book. It’s a tall order, but you never say anything’s impossible in geology because you get more and more weird and amazing fossils turning up all the time.What will be the most extraordinary technofossils?ZALASIEWICZ: We mention these [soccer]-pitch-length [wind turbine] blades, cut up into segments and stacked side by side [after they’ve been decommissioned]. It looks almost surreal. This pattern could preserve, let’s say, on a big cliffside—imagine one of these in a future Grand Canyon. [And] when you think of the bits of a city that are going to be preserved, [it’s] all the bits underground..., the subway systems, the electricity, the drains. Again, one can imagine a cliffside where the underground part of Amsterdam or New Orleans is outlined.Tomorrow’s marvels are, in many cases, today’s pollution. How do you think about that?ZALASIEWICZ: There really is a connection between the far future and the uncomfortable, dangerous, toxic present. We put stuff into a landfill because we have a problem. We put it into a hole—problem solved. But of course, that landfill site is subject to all the processes that affect any fossil. If it’s buried, it can easily be exhumed [by geological processes] and go back into the surface environment at intervals of tens of millions of years.GABBOTT: Because this stuff is going to last a long time, because this stuff is polluting now, we really need to start thinking: Do I need another pair of sunglasses? Do I need another mobile phone?Speaking of which, I know from a vague passage in the book that one of you still has a flip phone.ZALASIEWICZ: [Holds up some primitive, dimly familiar device] Me. I never quite caught up. My son is very tech-savvy, so perhaps he will guide me into this strange new world. But I still survive with it. It still gives me enough.What story will our technofossils tell about us?GABBOTT: They will tell that we were a complex society, that we were technologically able, intelligent. But also they will tell of a species that was profligate, that made things in vast numbers..., using up resources without knowing the downstream consequences.ZALASIEWICZ: The fact that all of this is being done while there is evidence of increasing environmental perturbation, I think, will strike them. The better angels and the worse angels of our nature will both be fairly obvious.

Nature
Pollution
Science

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