The Republican shift on climate change since George W. Bush
What we're writing
Why the EPA faces big cuts under Trump budget
Environmental issues have become more polarized even since the years of George W. Bush. Why? The stakes for both parties surrounding climate change have risen. An anti-regulatory philosophy has hardened on the right. And some say the Obama administration, tugging the EPA to the left, set the stage for a conservative backlash. //听Zack Colman听
How climate influences weather: six questions
Extreme听rains in California. A "snowless Chicago." An听early spring听in much of the US. 听Weather events like these prompt questions about what role climate change may be playing. Here's what听scientists say. //听Amanda Paulson
Its coal use falling, is China the new leader on climate action?
Reforms to the coal industry are central to Beijing鈥檚 climate campaign. In the face of US retrenchment on climate change, China may sieze an opportunity on the world stage. //听
Southwest听cities expand, yet draw听less water
Phoenix reduced its residential water consumption in the past decade despite a 23 percent rise in population. This and the story below are parts of the western water series that听kicked off听here听the previous week. //听Zack Colman
Biggest US water users learning听to use less
In the Southwest and beyond, irrigation technology and other steps such as planting 'cover crops' to enrich the soil are making a difference. //听Zack Colman
What we're reading
Snow-fed rivers are expected to run lower as snow melts earlier. // The Associated Press
The green group Mighty Earth says it has documented a pattern of forest-burning. // The Guardian
Changes in Canada send carbon-rich mud into streams and rivers. // InsideClimate News
Michigan ends听a program that听helped cover water bills in the wake of Flint's lead-in-water revelations. // The Washington Post
What's trending
Spring, unusually听early
鈥淚t poses听significant challenges for planning and managing听important issues that affect our economy and our society.鈥� // Jake Weltzin, a USGS ecologist and the executive director of the USA National Phenology Network, quoted in 海角大神
"Mr. Trump wants to make a decision by next week, say people familiar with the White House鈥檚 debate on the climate pact, in order to announce [a Paris position alongside] his executive order to undo Mr. Obama鈥檚 climate regulations." // Coral Davenport, writing in The New York Times
鈥淸The government]听should eliminate the use of the social cost of carbon until a credible value can be calculated.鈥� 听 // Rep. Lamar Smith (R) of Texas,听chair of the House Science Committee, quoted in The Washington Post
"It reduces our operating costs at that facility. We鈥檒l be paying a lot less in electricity in the long run.鈥� // Joseph Roth of Ikea, quoted by Yale Climate Connections
