Erin Douglas 📝 climate reporter

With the Trump administration calling to eliminate EPA's ORD, it’s worth revisiting this piece by @erinmdouglas23.bsky.social on how cuts would impact our EPA lab in Narragansett, threatening local jobs & vital environmental research. Rhode Islanders, this isn't abstract, it's incredibly local. 🌊

Massachusetts moves to nearly double black bear hunting to curb population surge - The Boston Globe To cull the population growth, regulators voted in favor of new regulations to expand the bear hunting season.

NEW: Massachusetts moves to nearly double black bear hunting to curb population www.bostonglobe.com/2025/05/16/s...

After weeks in the ICU, they finally got a diagnosis: It was a tick bite - The Boston Globe Climate change has led to a rise in tick-borne illness in New England. For one family, the impact was deadly.

Climate change has led to a rise in tick-borne illness in New England. For one family, the impact was deadly.

After weeks in the ICU, they finally got a diagnosis: It was a tick bite - The Boston Globe Climate change has led to a rise in tick-borne illness in New England. For one family, the impact was deadly.

Really compelling, sad, informative story from @erinmdouglas23.bsky.social about a rare, but increasingly less so, tick-borne disease and a life lost to it

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/05/12/s...

Last week I was playing around with a new "tree ring plot" to visualize daily global temperature anomalies from ERA5.

I thought it would be neat to make a version of the plot for daily global absolute temperatures (rather than anomalies):

Air quality is getting worse in coastal New England - The Boston Globe Wildfires and extreme heat, more intense due to climate change, are making air pollution worse.

Climate change indicator: Worse air quality in New England.

Drought, wildfires, and heat are degrading air quality here, the American Lung Association's annual report card shows.

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/23/s... #climate #climatechange #greensky #climateimpact

Trump spending cuts hit two sea level rise protection projects in Boston - The Boston Globe Fortifying Boston's coastline against rising sea levels just got tricker after the Trump administration slashed federal spending for climate resiliency projects in the city.

Moakley Park in South Boston and Tenean Beach in Dorchester are among the coastal resilience projects impacted by the end of FEMA's BRIC grant program: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/17/s... #climate #climateresilience #coastalresilience #slr #sealevelrise #trump #FEMA #federalfunds

The Rio Grande Valley was once covered in forest. One man is trying to bring it back. Thorn forest once blanketed the Rio Grande Valley. Restoring even a little of it could help the region cope with the impacts of climate change

The Rio Grande Valley was once covered in forest. One man is trying to bring it back.

grist.org/solutions/th...

#Forest #trees #Climate #environment #GreenSky

Residents fear loss of heating help after Trump shutters aid offices - The Boston Globe 110,000 Mass. residents so far this year have received help with their heating bills from a federal program known as LIHEAP. On Tuesday, every single federal employee working on the program was fired.

Being able to afford heat in New England is a matter of life and death. That's why low-income households who rely on federal assistance to help pay their bills, and the groups that administer that aid, are worried about the implications of this week's firing of the entire federal LIHEAP staff.

A deadly mosquito-borne illness rises as the US cuts all climate-health funding Climate change is driving an explosion in dengue cases. Studying that connection is about to get much harder.

A deadly mosquito-borne illness rises as the US cuts all climate-health funding.

grist.org/politics/den...

#Mosquito #Health #Disease #Bugs #Climate

Boston Common this morning. Thousands of protestors rolling in with more expected. #mapoli #mass

How one family climate-proofed their house after Leominster’s destructive flash floods - The Boston Globe After the Noseworthy home was damaged in the 2023 flash flood in Leominster, the family decided they needed to "climate-proof" the house.

A year ago, I wrote about a family in Central Massachusetts struggling to recover from devastating flash flooding.

This year, they celebrated what they now call their "climate-proof" house, which they spent a year upgrading to protect the home against water.

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/01/s...

Texas measles cases rise to 400. Here is what you need to know. The West Texas outbreak has spread to two new counties – Andrews and Midland – for a total of 17 affected counties, as of Friday.

The number of measles cases has risen to 400 as the historical outbreak continues to rage on in West Texas, with two additional counties reporting their first cases, according to state officials on Friday. Of those, 41 patients have been hospitalized.

“Science in Woods Hole is most definitely under threat,” said Max Holmes, president and CEO of Woodwell Climate Research Center.

The Boston Harbor cleanup showed the power of the EPA — when it’s willing to use it - The Boston Globe Just a few generations past, the harbor was too toxic for swimming and was known as the "dirtiest" in the nation. The EPA was key to the cleanup.

“As the Trump administration looks to shrink the agency, will similar cleanups of today languish?” By @erinmdouglas23.bsky.social @bostonglobe.com

This town on the Cape is a hub for climate scientists. Under Trump, its local economy is shaking. - The Boston Globe The small upper Cape community has been a sort of company town for environmental scientists for more than a century.

Woods Hole has been a company town for #ocean and #climate science for 150 years. Now, it may be one of the most extreme examples of a community vulnerable to federal spending cuts.

The centers here rely heavily on government $$ to support research.

My latest: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/27/s...

Trump to Announce Auto Tariffs Today, White House Says President Donald Trump will announce tariffs on the auto industry on Wednesday, according to the White House, a move that would escalate his fight with global trading partners ahead of a broader tarif...

Bloomberg added AI written summaries at the top of stories. Big problem today for a story that's moving the entire stock market:
(An AI summary previously at the top of the story was removed because it misstated when the broader tariff action was to take place.)
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

State of the City: Mayor Wu to launch $150m plan to cut Bostonians’ energy bills - The Boston Globe Beyond energy issues, Wu is also expected to tout the city’s historically low violent crime rates, her administration’s efforts to increase Boston’s affordable housing stock, rightsize Boston Public S...

For the first time, Boston will have targets for heat pumps and energy efficiency in small/mid-sized buildings — 5K heat pumps and 10K weatherizations over the next three years. Those goals are part of a new program being announced by @mayorwu.boston.gov at tonight's State of the City.

The Boston Harbor cleanup showed the power of the EPA — when it’s willing to use it. - The Boston Globe Just a few generations past, the harbor was too toxic for swimming and was known as the "dirtiest" in the nation. The EPA was key to the cleanup.

Before Trump took office, EPA proposed new rules to better control stormwater runoff.

Now, cuts to EPA could jeopardize such efforts to stop stormwater and wastewater pollution from entering Boston-area watersheds, former regulators told me.

Read more: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/18/s...

The cleanup work isn't over. The public still can't regularly swim in Boston-area rivers.

Old and problematic sewage systems remain in place where pollution spills into rivers. Too much stormwater pollution still ends up in our rivers, leading to E. coli and algal blooms.

The Boston Harbor cleanup showed the power of the EPA — when it’s willing to use it. - The Boston Globe Just a few generations past, the harbor was too toxic for swimming and was known as the "dirtiest" in the nation. The EPA was key to the cleanup.

NEW: Just a few generations ago, Boston Harbor was known as the dirtiest harbor in the nation. Now, we swim and fish in it.

The #EPA was key to that cleanup— a reminder of what the agency can accomplish when it's well-funded and politically powerful.

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/18/s...

Trump Administration Aims to Eliminate E.P.A.’s Scientific Research Arm More than 1,000 chemists, biologists and other scientists could be laid off under a plan to dismantle the Office of Research and Development.

Breaking News: The EPA plans to eliminate its scientific research arm, firing as many as 1,155 chemists, biologists, toxicologists and other scientists.

First cougar cubs verified in Michigan in more than a century

Michigan DNR: "First cougar cubs verified in Michigan in more than a century." !!!!

content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MID...

Trump moves to close facility that helps track planet-warming pollution The lab is connected to the Mauna Loa Observatory, where scientists gather data to produce the Keeling Curve, a chart on the daily status of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.

The Trump administration is planning to cancel its lease at a government laboratory in Hawaii, a site where scientists support key observations of surging greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere, according to a list obtained by Democratic members of Congress and shared with The Post.

A N.H. wildlife biologist is suing to restore federal jobs: ‘What happened was wrong’ - The Boston Globe Allison Keating had glowing performance reviews. She was fired anyway. Now she's the lead plaintiff in a massive class action appeal for thousands hoping to get their jobs back.

NEW: The lead plaintiff appealing mass federal firings is a New Hampshire-based wildlife biologist named Allison.

She’s representing thousands in a class action for #DOI employees.

This is her story: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/11/s... #usfws

Every year, the water in this Western Mass. town turns brown. When will residents finally get a solution? - The Boston Globe Manganese contamination, which leads to discolored drinking water, is a problem across the Commonwealth.

Every the summer, residents of Housatonic get brown water from the tap.

Sometimes it’s like tea, other days, coffee. Clothes come out of the wash with stains.

How long do residents have to wait for a solution?

My latest:
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/06/s...

Yes, New England really was colder when you were a kid. Climate change makes snowy winters feel like a treat. - The Boston Globe We finally experienced a snowy winter, but this season didn’t come close to the hallmark bitter cold winters of Boston and the rest of New England.

Vermont's getting plenty of snow this winter...which hasn't been as common in recent years. In a warming climate, our winters just aren't the same anymore, says Gund Fellow Gillian Galford.

Read the story by @erinmdouglas23.bsky.social & @weatherken.bsky.social in @bostonglobe.com: go.uvm.edu/orlqp

Some Green Groups Are Running Out of Cash After Trump Freezes $20 Billion The Justice Department and F.B.I. are investigating $20 billion in climate funds, despite a top prosecutor’s decision that there was not sufficient evidence of wrongdoing.

Climate Groups Were Counting on $20 Billion. Trump Won’t Let Them Access It.

The DOJ and FBI are investigating $20 billion in climate funds, despite a top prosecutor’s decision that there was not sufficient evidence of wrongdoing.

w/ Lisa Friedman and Claire Brown

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/c...

Trump's EPA Takes Aim at Climate Regulation | The Brian Lehrer Show | WNYC The EPA will reverse the finding that greenhouse gases endanger human health. Naveena Sadasivam, senior staff writer at Grist, explains what the "endangerment finding" has contributed.

The Environmental Protection Agency has signaled that it will reverse the agency's 2009 declaration that greenhouse gases endanger human health. Grist.org reporter @naveenasadasivam.bsky.social spoke with us today about the implications of this move.
www.wnyc.org/story/trumps...

The Supreme Court's first and only opinion today is San Francisco v. EPA. The majority substantially weakens the Clean Water Act's limitations on raw sewage discharge. It is 5–4 in relevant part, with Barrett, Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson dissenting. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...