Energy, Environment, and Conservation
- A federal judge has ordered a new environmental review for the Dakota Access Pipeline, which carries oil from North Dakota to Illinois. The pipeline has been in operation for three years, but the judge ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers did not do a sufficient environmental review after President Trump ordered them to “review and approve in an expedited manner” the permits, four days after he took office. The judge is concerned about whether an oil spill in the Missouri River would infringe on the rights of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (New York Times).
- The hole in the ozone layer of the atmosphere, which was caused by human use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), continues to heal and could potentially completely recover according to a new study. In 1987 the Montreal Protocol banned CFCs, by 2000 the amount of CFCs in the atmosphere began to decline, and today we are able to observe the hole shrinking. The Montreal Protocol serves as an example of how international agreements and mutual restrictions on emissions can reverse the effects of anthropogenic climate change (The Independent).
Federal Agencies
- Kelvin Droegemeier, the head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, has been named acting director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) since the six-year term of France Córdova ended on March 30. President Trump selected Sethuraman Panchanathan in December to be the next head of NSF but the senate has not yet confirmed him (ScienceMag).
- Nine senior female scientists came forward in 2014 with concerns about Constantine Stratakis, the director of the Division of Intramural Research (DIR) at National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health. They said Stratakis was discriminating against women scientists and had failed to promote women into leadership positions. However, the percent of women leading labs at the DIR has declined since 2014 due to a combination of low rates of hiring for women and lack of retention. Today only 23% of labs are run by women (ScienceMag).
Public Health
- Some evidence suggests that the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 disease, may be able to be spread through ultra-fine mist created when people breathe and thus could be transmitted through the air. Previously it was thought the virus was primarily transmitted through larger respiratory droplets which do not travel further than two meters from an infected person. If the virus can be aerosolized it helps explain why it is spreading so quickly. It also supports the use of masks generally as a means to reduce transmission, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommend that people wear cloth face masks while in public (ScienceMag).
- The Trump Administration is proposing a reversal of an Obama-era decision that made it easier for people to apply for money to compensate for vaccine-related shoulder injuries. Under Obama people needed to document a healthy shoulder, onset of shoulder pain within 48 hours of a vaccine, and pain that persisted more than 6 months. The Trump Administration now says people with these injuries should sue the vaccine manufacturers and the nurses administering the vaccines rather than receiving money from the government. The fund was originally established by the 1986 National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which was originally intended to prevent lawsuits against healthcare providers (ScienceMag).
Climate Change
- The largest climate summit since the Paris Agreement in 2015 has been delayed due to COVID-19. The summit, called COP26, was scheduled for November 2020 in Glasgow, Scotland but will now take place in 2021 (Global Citizen).
- The European Commission, which governs the European Union (EU), aims to make the EU the first climate-neutral continent. To reach that goal the commission has released a European Green Deal that would make climate neutrality by 2050 legally binding. Currently, the regulation would aim to reduce carbon emissions by 40% less than 1990 levels by 2030, but they are considering increasing that goal to a 50-55% reduction. The deal also aims to reduce subsidies for fossil fuels, implement a carbon tax-like duty on imports, and fund grants that would help workers transition to new industries (EU; Power Mag).
Texas News
- The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a stay on an order from another federal judge that halted the ban on abortions put in place by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The stay means that, for now, women cannot access abortion services in the state of Texas. Paxton claims abortions are “non-essential” healthcare and should be suspended during the coronavirus outbreak. Most Texans live more than 200 miles from a nearest out-of-state abortion clinic (Austin Chronicle).
Austin Science Advocates 