Feds could override local protections against pesticides

House Farm Bill proposal could wipe out communities’ power to prohibit pesticides

Andy McGlashen for Environmental Health News

As lawmakers convene on Capitol Hill to finalize the latest federal Farm Bill, environmental advocates warn that a House proposal could put public health at risk by rolling back restrictions on pesticides in 155 communities nationwide.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) today released its analysis of data from the nonprofit group Beyond Pesticides, including an interactive map of local policies that it says could be scuttled if the House measure passes. 

Those regulations vary widely—some communities restrict neonicotinoid use to protect pollinators, while others map out pesticide-free buffer zones or require that public notice be posted when pesticides are applied on public or private property.

DEM finds West Nile Virus in South Kingstown

Weekly Mosquito Advisory

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) announces that test results from one mosquito pool, or sample, from a trap set in South Kingstown has been confirmed positive for West Nile Virus (WNV). The findings are not unexpected. 

We are currently in the highest risk period for transmission of mosquito-related illness to humans.

The positive finding came from mosquitoes trapped by DEM staff on August 27 and tested at the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) State Health Laboratories. The remaining 163 mosquito samples from 33 traps set on August 27 have tested negative for WNV and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE).

To date, in Rhode Island, nine mosquito samples from seven communities have tested positive for WNV, and four mosquito samples have tested positive for EEE. 

Neighboring states of Connecticut and Massachusetts continue to report positive findings of WNV in mosquito samples. 

Positive findings of WNV in Southern New England have been higher this year than recent years, and risk will remain high through September.

The Most Disturbing Excerpts From Woodward's New Book on Trump White House

From "Let's F**king Kill Him" to "We're in Crazytown"

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams

For more cartoons by Mike Luckovich, CLICK HERE.

Legendary Watergate journalist Bob Woodward has a book coming out next month that details the first year and a half of Donald Trump's presidency, and excerpts published by the Washington Post and CNN on Tuesday depict a White House in the midst of a "nervous breakdown," sparked by a man who top aides have referred to as "an idiot," a "fucking moron," a "professional liar," and "a goddamn dumbbell" who has the understanding of "a fifth- or sixth-grader."

"He's an idiot. It's pointless to try to convince him of anything. He's gone off the rails. We're in Crazytown."
—John Kelly, White House chief of staff

According to the Post—where Woodward has worked as a reporter and editor for decades—the "thrust" of Fear: Trump in the White House "mostly focuses on substantive decisions and internal disagreements, including tensions with North Korea as well as the future of U.S. policy in Afghanistan."

But these substantive decisions and disagreements often produced startling moments in which the president revealed his total ignorance and lack of fitness for office.

"He's an idiot. It's pointless to try to convince him of anything," White House Chief of Staff John Kelly reportedly complained during a small group meeting. "He's gone off the rails. We're in Crazytown. I don't even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I've ever had."

Here are some of the most revealing and disturbing excerpts from Woodward's book, which will be published on Sept. 11.

The candidates for Rhode Island Governor and the environment

2018 R.I. Primary: Candidate Profiles for Governor

Compiled by TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI News staff

The Rhode Island primary is scheduled for Sept. 12, and 11 candidates are running for governor, including incumbent Gina Raimondo. Three Democrats, three Republicans, three independents, a Compassion Party candidate, and a Moderate Party member are on the ballot.

ecoRI News sent each candidate a 10-question primary preview focused on environmental issues related to Rhode Island. Only three candidates, those with campaign photos included, took the time to respond.

Here is a look at Rhode Island's gubernatorial primary (candidates listed in alphabetical order):

DEMOCRATS

MATT BROWN
Offices held: Secretary of state 2003-2007
Website: https://www.mattbrownforgovernor.com

Brown is the only challenger with specific environmental objectives, such as 100 percent renewable energy by 2035 and a wind-energy dividend program.

What do you consider the top environmental issue facing Rhode Island? In the short term, new fossil-fuel infrastructure threatens the lives and health of Rhode Islanders and the environment across the state, from South Providence to Burrillville. We must oppose any new fossil-fuel infrastructure to protect our people and our environment. In the long term, climate change, matched only by nuclear weapons, is the biggest existential threat faced by our species, and that includes every single person in Rhode Island. Rising sea levels are a direct threat to our state's extensive coastline, our people, and our ecological health.

What is your position on the proposed Burrillville power plant? I have strongly publicly opposed the Invenergy corporation’s proposed Clear River Energy Center, which would be one of the largest fracked-gas plants in New England and would result the loss of more than 100 acres of forest in northwestern Rhode Island. ISO New England, our regional grid operator, has determined there was no foreseeable need for the plant’s power. The plant would pump hazardous toxins and more than 3.6 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air a year, making it impossible to meet the state’s already conservative carbon reduction goals, and the plant would probably operate for 30 years or more, locking Rhode Island into the polluting, monopoly energy economy of the 19th century for at least another generation.

Priorities, continued

VIDEO: Obamacare murder mystery

To watch this video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nf9GpFxgoY

New coastal development riding wave of approval in Rhode Island

New Newport Harbor Hotel Confronts Sea-Level Rise

By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI News staff

Shoreline development is on the rise in Rhode Island, as the 10-member board of the Coastal Resources Management Council continues to approve new projects.

The latest is an 84-room hotel and shopping center on Newport Harbor. The proposed Hammett’s Wharf Hotel would replace the parking lot and several adjacent parcels that serve as the venue for boat shows and other events at the Newport Yachting Center.

The 2-acre waterfront facility would have 166 parking spots, a 4,000-square-foot restaurant, 3,000 square feet of retail space, and 1,000 square feet of office space.

In July, the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation approved a $3.5 million tax break for the hotel project. Construction is expected to begin in October.

At its meetings in June and July, the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) board approved a new boating facility for Brown University, a 149-foot shoreline walk in Bristol, and a new 1,050-foot seawall along the Providence River.

Other large waterfront projects are expected, such as a new pier in Narragansett, another hotel in Newport, and a multi-use development in East Providence. 

This spike in Ocean State coastal building coincides with new CRMC guidelines that require coastal developments to include sea-level rise and other climate-change projections in their applications.

Better way to grow older

How weight loss is linked to future health for older adults

American Geriatrics Society

Studies describing the effects of weight loss on health rarely consider age. However, weight loss during middle age likely has different effects on your health than does weight loss when you're 65-years-old or older -- especially when you're older than 85.

Although some studies have found that weight loss in older adults is generally linked to an increase in illness and death, researchers say that these studies were either too short or were based on information that may have been interpreted incorrectly.

However, one study about fractures and osteoporosis (a medical condition in which bones become thin, lose density, and become increasingly fragile) looked specifically at health and weight for women who were over age 65. 

Reviewing more than 20 years' worth of data for study participants, the team of researchers responsible for this study had the chance to examine links between long-term weight gain/loss and health. Their findings were published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Add another impeachment count

Blatant Trump call to use DOJ for punish enemies is a clear violation, say legal experts

By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams

"An all-out assault on the rule of law" is how one former high-ranking Justice Department official described President Donald Trump's latest attack on the department in which he blasted Attorney General Jeff Sessions over the criminal indictments of two politically-loyal Republican congressmen.

Appearing to express dismay on Monday at the investigations which brought about charges against two of his most loyal supporters in Congress, Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) and Chris Collins (R-N.Y.), Trump suggested that allowing Hunter and Collins to run for their Republican seats in the upcoming midterm elections without informing the public of the charges would be preferable to following the rule of law, and sarcastically slammed Sessions for potentially harming the GOP's control over Congress.

The president's statement was denounced as "shameless" by former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, who previously stood up to Trump by refusing to enforce his Muslim ban, while former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara called it clear proof of Trump's "contempt for the rule of law."

Sheldon Whitehouse Says Brett Kavanaugh’s Confirmation Hearing Is ‘A Sham’

“No wonder the American people feel the game is rigged,” Whitehouse said.

By Paul Blumenthal for the Huffington Post

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) used his opening remarks on Tuesday at the confirmation hearing of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court to present a grand unified theory of the corruption of the court under Chief Justice John Roberts and how Kavanaugh’s confirmation would make it worse.

The court is in the process of being seized by a reactionary movement, Whitehouse argued, that began with the appointment of Roberts in 2005. 

The five-vote Republican-appointed majority, which Whitehouse called the “Roberts Five,” routinely votes together to advance the private and public power of corporations and the political interests of the Republican Party.

The only somewhat weak link in this bloc was the now-retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, whom Kavanaugh was chosen to replace. 

Kennedy was the Republican-appointed justice who most commonly bucked conservative interest groups and sided with the four-vote liberal minority on closely decided cases. 

Kavanaugh, however, comes straight out of the very conservative movement that dominates the court and served for much of his career as a political actor. 

His confirmation will install a five-vote majority with a coherent ideology to roll back protections for women, minorities, workers, defendants and consumers while advancing the political interests of the Republican Party and its wealthy backers.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was selected by a network of activist groups to advance a conservative, pro-corporate agenda.

What's on the line

Good for nothing

Climate change protest on Saturday

Targets National Grid

Climate Action RI

As part of a series of thousands of protests sponsored by 350.org and taking place in cities and towns around the world this Saturday, Climate Action Rhode Island (CARI), the Rhode Island affiliate of 350.org, is holding a rally and march to protest the inaction by Rhode Island utility giant National Grid and by our local and national leadership in the face of the ongoing climate disaster caused by the failure to move away from fossil fuels.

As part of this international protest, Rhode Island’s event will begin adjacent to this Saturday’s Waterfire event which is being sponsored by National Grid:

Saturday September 8, 2018 at 6:00 pm at the Roger Williams Memorial site at 282 North Main Street in Providence

Our event will include a march and other forms of dramatic protest for the attention of folks attending Waterfire as well as our political and business leadership.

Those of us about to die salute Donald Trump

Shorter life expectancy linked to 2016 presidential election outcome

Columbia University Irving Medical Center

A new study has found that changes in life expectancy may have influenced voting choices in the 2016 presidential election, with Republicans making gains in counties that had 2.5 times more deaths from suicide, alcohol, and overdose.

Concerns about health and rising death rates may have helped tilt the 2016 presidential election in favor of Donald J. Trump, according to an analysis of voting patterns and mortality rates in counties across the U.S.

Findings from the study, at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), were published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Can you picture Facebook doing this?

Can social media networks reduce political polarization on climate change?

University of Pennsylvania

Social media networks, which often foster partisan antagonism, may also offer a solution to reducing political polarization, according to new findings published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences from a team led by University of Pennsylvania sociologist Damon Centola.

The Penn researchers asked 2,400 Republicans and Democrats to interpret recent climate-change data on Arctic sea-ice levels. Initially, nearly 40 percent of Republicans incorrectly interpreted the data, saying that Arctic sea-ice levels were increasing; 26 percent of Democrats made the same mistake. 

However, after participants interacted in anonymous social media networks -- sharing opinions about the data and its meaning for future levels of Arctic sea ice -- 88 percent of Republicans and 86 percent of Democrats correctly analyzed it, agreeing that sea-ice levels were dropping.