Steven Rodas

Why Access to Running Water Is a Luxury in Wealthy US Cities “Plumbing poverty” is surging in Houston, Phoenix, Portland, Oregon and other urban areas.

As housing costs soar, running water has become a luxury in Portland, Phoenix and other wealthy US cities. Latest for @bloomberg.com with Klara Auerbach, gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

In #Newark, 1 in 4 children is diagnosed with asthma and for decades the @lungusa.bsky.social has reported unhealthy air quality grades in the area.

As far as crime, 2024 saw 37 murders — marking a 23% drop from the prior year — but the most common forms of criminal violence rose by double digits.

“Social scientists might call this something like an interaction or a multiplicative effect … violence exposure is a contributing factor to health problems like asthma that a lot of evidence is pointing to as being an important intervention point,” @RutgersU’s Prof. Daniel Semenza told me.

He grew up in a neighborhood of violence. An N.J. man’s struggle to breathe. Crime and respiratory health are more connected than people realize, a Rutgers University expert said.

new for @starledger.bsky.social, I spent several weeks with one Newark family, speaking about the intersection of violence and heavy emissions. In #NewJersey, people like Koabie Mincey have reckoned with crime for years. It can make asthma worse, new research shows.

Staff vacancies hit Texas weather offices as they brace for a busy hurricane season Houston’s National Weather Service office has lost its head meteorologist amid a federal requirement to cut 10% of NOAA’s staff.

Houston’s NWS office has lost its head meteorologist and has 11 vacancies. The shortages stem from federal cuts that slashed roughly 10% of NOAA’s staff.

Here's what these vaccines mean for Texans as they brace for a busy hurricane season. @texastribune.org www.texastribune.org/2025/06/09/t...

Plans at the Camden County sewage plant could be instructive for other facilities preparing for SLR.

But new #EPA cuts from the Trump admin could complicate matters.

Between prepping for #climatechange and expected federals cuts, ratepayers could see their bills go up — even double for some.

The mile-long wall could be as tall as 12 feet and cost up to $70 million.

In January 2024, the area had the highest tide ever recorded on the Delaware River. Scott Schreiber, of the #CamdenCounty Municipal Utilities Authority, called major flooding hitting the plant “only a matter of time.”

Don’t want sewage seeping into your basement? We need a mile-long wall, plant says. The floodwall could cost as much as $70 million.

mini-exclusive for @starledger.bsky.social, I spent a day at one of the largest sewage plants in #NewJersey and learned about how it’s preparing for something you wouldn’t necessarily think about each time you take a bathroom break: rising sea levels. Why a massive flood wall may be the answer.

A New York Rooftop Blossoms with Lessons About Food Literacy - Inside Climate News The Hell’s Kitchen Farm Project grows more than beans and greens. It is an open-air classroom about nutrition high in the sky between Port Authority and the Lincoln Tunnel.

Gardening is about love, and Ryan Krugman wrote a beautiful story about rooftop gardens in NY. Read and share!
insideclimatenews.org/news/2406202...

Citing the Bureau of Labor Statistics, @maketheroadnj.bsky.social said exposure to environmental heat killed more than 400 workers in the U.S. between 2011 and 2022.

New Jersey workers’ rights groups say they’ve grown exasperated over the years at the lack of progress on new legislation.

Today and Tuesday temperatures are set to rise as high as 100 degrees and it could feel as like 110.

Three Amazon employees, all men from New Jersey, also died at state facilities in 2022 in what organizers attributed to #extremeheat exposure.

It hit 93 degrees that day. An N.J. worker died in the blistering heat, OSHA says. The 49-year-old collapsed while pouring concrete, OSHA said.

new for @starledger.bsky.social, I obtained a @osha.gov citation showing a 49-year-old #NewJersey construction worker died in the blistering heat last summer. The latest extreme heat death has reinvigorated calls by @maketheroadnj.bsky.social and others for more worker protections.

When you went to the Iowa Writers Workshop but ended up in journalism

1/ We got government data showing that the Trump administration knew the majority of Venezuelan men it sent to a prison in El Salvador had no criminal record in the U.S. - and that only a handful had been convicted of violent crimes - before calling them all terrorists and deporting them.

@dougomalleyenj.bsky.social of Environment NJ on Friday afternoon told me state funds are still available for EV chargers and other incentives are helping a transition advocates knew was not going to happen over night.

He said that’ll continue “regardless of what is happening in D.C.”

Following the news in California, governors in several states (including @govmurphy.bsky.social and @governor.ny.gov) said they will launch a series of “clean vehicle programs” as part of a new initiative.

“The federal government and Congress are putting polluters over people …”

The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to block California‘s electric car rule, which sets up EV requirements here and 11 other states.

President Donald Trump must now sign off on the resolution. However, his administration is expected to face a legal challenge.

Trump can now squash N.J.’s plan to ban sales of new gas-powered cars Some have called the electric vehicle mandates impractical. Others say they are sorely needed given the emissions cars release.

new for @starledger.bsky.social, #NewJersey may soon not be able to require all new vehicle sales be fully electric cars starting in 2035. The EV rule was set up to start next year.

#DonaldTrump can now squash N.J.’s plan to ban sales of new gas-powered cars

As water runs brown in rural Louisiana, residents fear water systems are 'ticking time bomb' In Hessmer, Mayor Robbie Dauzat said he “thanks God" every day without a water system breakdown. “Our whole system is just a ticking time bomb waiting for something to happen.”

Great story from @sam-karlin.bsky.social about just how many rural communities in Louisiana are facing water systems on the verge of a breakdown. Water is brown, murky and lots of federal $$$ still has not been enough to fix it.

www.nola.com/news/louisia...

Story published, including mention that agreement begins with payments of $275 million to $325 million between 2026-2034.

In the first year, 3M would pay $43,450,000 for Natural Resource Damages (NRD) for the Chambers Works site and more $$ for drinking water treatment, the state said.

We breathe and drink forever chemicals that 3M sold. Now company will pay N.J. $450M. It is the largest 'forever chemicals' settlement in the state's history, the Attorney General said.

We breathe and drink forever chemicals that 3M sold. Now company will pay N.J. $450M, via @nj.com

The settlement also involves a site in Parlin (Sayreville) and the @NewJerseyDEP’s statewide “forever chemicals” directive which began in 2019.

From an NJ Attorney General statement 👇 (story coming)

breaking for @starledger.bsky.social, @newjerseyoag.bsky.social announced an up to $450M settlement with @3M — the “largest PFAS settlement in #NewJersey history” over contamination in Salem County. The Chemours Company owns site and before that, DuPont. Polluters have used NJ as “dumping ground.”

The NJ Sierra Club is rallying for the owner to replace the diesel-powered generators with solar and backup batteries instead, which the group says would help diminish the impact on air quality in the area.

An engineer for the new owner initially said it was environmentally safe to build, but I obtained a Princeton Hydro report which has raised new questions.

A data center the size of 7 football fields was proposed for the Princeton Nurseries site, once the largest commercial nursery in the U.S.

The land was sold by Princeton University in January 2024.

Tug-of-war erupts over huge stretch of N.J. land. Farmer’s paradise or a data center? The data center on the storied land would be the size of 7 football fields.

new for @starledger.bsky.social, I spoke with families and nonprofit advocates who are worried the development of a massive data center in South Brunswick Twp will come with a big environmental price tag for #NewJersey

Cumulatively, the turbines at xAI in S. Memphis can power 280,000 homes--and emit more smog-causing NOX than the actual gas power plant down the road or a nearby Valero refinery, according to calculations from
@selc.bsky.social . That's "essentially running a power plant without a permit."

Inmates told us about stomach issues, brown or yellow water, as well as water that tasted like pennies, metal and medicine.

Publicly available data showed citations & dozens of water monitoring or reporting lapses at the public water systems associated with several prisons.

Experts from Kean and Drexel Universities spoke on issues trickling down to non-prisoners too.

Between 2020-March 2025, @stateofnewjersey.bsky.social bought 553,412 cases of water for inmates.

That’s 13 million+ bottles of taxpayer-funded water costing $2.5M, according to public records requests.