Weekly Digest — April 7-20, 2020

Energy, Environment, and Conservation

• The US Fish and Wildlife Service has recommended that bat researchers suspend fieldwork involving bat capture and handling in North America, to prevent potential spread of the novel coronavirus to bat populations. If North American bats were infected with the virus it could become a viral reservoir, and also could put bat species at risk (AIBS). 
• The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) is collecting information from anyone associated with a biodiversity collection on how the collection has been and will be impacted by coronavirus (AIBS). Action: if you are associated with a US biodiversity collection complete the survey. 
• Construction on the Keystone XL pipeline has begun. The pipeline will run from Alberta, Canada to Nebraska and is expected to begin operation by 2023. Although Montana has a state-wide stay-at-home order, Governor Steve Bullock has granted an exception allowing 100 workers to begin construction. Due to the order however, gatherings for protests, which previously halted the project, are not allowed (EcoWatch). Update: a district judge in Montana has cancelled a key permit for the project saying the US Army Corps of Engineers failed to consider the effects on endangered species such as the pallid sturgeon (Associated Press). 
• The US Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a sweeping plan to protect the migratory monarch butterfly and prevent adding it to the Endangered Species List. The agreement partners with the University of Illinois Chicago for administration and may enroll as much as 2.3 million acres of land for use by the butterflies (EE News).

Federal Agencies 

• The deadline to comment on “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science,” also known as the Transparency Rule, has been extended to May 18, 2020 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The rule would only allow regulatory agencies to use open access studies with publicly-available raw data, severely restricting the research used in policymaking (The Hill). Action: comment on the Transparency Rule before May 18. 
• A federal judge has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cannot bar grant recipients from serving on science advisory boards for the agency. The EPA banned grant recipients from boards in 2017, but the judge said they did not provide “reasoned explanation” for the bar (ScienceMag). 

Public Health

• Scientists have had unprecedented access to genetic data for the novel coronavirus since the beginning of the spread. The genome of the virus, which is made of RNA, consists of coding sequences for structural and non-structural proteins. The non-structural proteins are translated as one long protein and then other proteins are recruited to snip the longer protein into functional units (New York Times).
• Federal judges have ruled that Alabama and Arkansas cannot limit abortion access due to coronavirus. The judges have ruled that lasting damage caused by limiting abortion care causes an unconstitutional undue burden to women seeking abortions. Ohio, Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana are also attempting to limit abortion care during the pandemic (CNN; CBS News). 

Texas News 

• UT Austin president Greg Fenves announced he is leaving the university on June 30. Fenves has been president since 2015; during this time, UT has expanded financial assistance to low-income students and also successfully defended race-conscious admissions before the Supreme Court (Texas Tribune).
• Smaller oil producers in Texas are particularly hard hit by the reduction in oil demand and prices caused by coronavirus and OPEC flooding the market. The Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas drilling in Texas, has agreed to meet on April 14 to discuss lowering oil production in the state to be more in line with demand. Some oil producers estimate they could be completely out of business within two months (Texas Tribune).
• A new study from UT Austin finds that counties in Texas with no or very few confirmed COVID-19 cases may still be at high risk for sustained community transmission, assuming most of the cases go undetected. The researcher used a model from previous Zika outbreaks, and warn that the data indicate rural communities should practice social distancing even if they believe the prevalence in their area is low (Texas Monthly). 
• A federal judge has ordered that some abortions may proceed in Texas, specifically medication abortions and procedural abortions for those who may miss the cutoff to receive abortion care before the emergency shelter-in-place order is lifted. Hundreds of abortions have already been cancelled after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton declared abortions “not medically necessary” and he stated that the decision to allow some abortions to proceed “demonstrates a lack of respect for the rule of law” (Texas Tribune).  
• Baylor University is cutting its budget by between $65 and 80 million due to the coronavirus and a projected decrease in enrollment for the fall. They are one of the first universities to announce budget cuts and say that research will be affected by the cuts (Texas Tribune).