Matt Herbert

First, the frogs died. Then people got sick. An emerging area of research is uncovering hidden links between nature and human health.

First, the frogs died. Then people got sick. wapo.st/47Slsij

I stopped listening to Bill Gates talk about climate change a long time ago.

You should stop too.

Through the first six months of 2025, disasters across the United States caused more than $100 billion in damage -- the most expensive start to any year on record.

Fourteen disasters each caused at least $1 billion in damage through the first half of the year.

In First Six Months, Cost of Weather Catastrophes Escalated at a Record Pace

The Trump administration stopped updating a federal database that tracked the cost of extreme weather disasters, including hurricanes, wildfires and other events, that each caused at least $1 billion in damage.

A group of scientists has revived it. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/c...

Donald Trump is scrapping a 2001 rule that protects 58m acres of the most prized forests in the US "so we are allowed to take down trees and make a lot of money."

I went to the forest where the roadless rule was unveiled to find out what's at stake www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Breaking News: Jane Goodall, one of the world’s most revered conservationists, died at 91. Her discoveries in the 1960s about how chimpanzees behaved in the wild broke new ground and represented what was called “one of the Western world’s great scientific achievements.” nyti.ms/42kpGxt

Energy Dept. tells employees not to use words including 'climate change' and 'green' The banned words list applies to all work done at the largest federal funder of clean energy technology.

The banned words list applies to all work done at the largest federal funder of clean energy technology. n.pr/4nQ9sEq

After Trump’s Cuts, ‘Crippled’ NPR and PBS Stations Must Transform

"On the windswept prairie of South Dakota, a tribal public radio station is selling off its old records to pay the bills.”

The federal funding cuts to public broadcasting are reshaping the airwaves in rural and tribal communities across America.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/u...

Trump Administration Moves to Dismantle Conservation as an Official Use of Public Lands - Inside Climate News The decision means nearly 245 million acres of federal public land would be ineligible for conservation or restoration use designations.

A rule granting the Bureau of Land Management authority to set aside public lands for conservation took effect less than a year ago. The Trump administration is moving to dismantle it.

The Rainforests Being Cleared to Build Your R.V.

Kudos to @earthsight.bsky.social and @mightyearth.org for the research behind this NYT exposé showing how global demand—like for RVs—is fuelling deforestation in Borneo. It's a stark reminder of all that is at stake if we don't demand better supply-chain rules and transparency

This depressing news dropping on World Orangutan Day 🦧

#Indonesia #deforestation #orangutans

💔

EPA moves to end climate regulation under Clean Air Act The agency proposal would rescind the landmark “endangerment finding,” which says that greenhouse gases are a threat to public health.

Breaking news: The Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposal to rescind the landmark legal opinion that underpins virtually all of its regulations to curb climate change.

The Texas Flash Flood Is a Preview of the Chaos to Come Climate change is making disasters more common, more deadly and far more costly, even as the federal government is running away from the policies that might begin to protect the nation.

Its been 60 years since our leaders knew climate change was approaching. My latest reflections on the tragedy in Texas... fighting off the numbness of these repetitive disasters now coming faster than I can tally them, and trying to keep the big picture in focus.
www.propublica.org/article/texa...

The Best Time to Buy an EV Is Probably Right Now If the Senate reconciliation bill gets enacted as written, you’ve got about 92 days left to seal the deal.

Run, don't walk, to buy an EV.

“Long story short, the credits under the current legislation are only going to be on the books through the end of September,” @coreybcantor.bsky.social warns.

Read the full story from @zeitlin.bsky.social ⬇️

Trump to strip protections from millions of acres of national forests The USDA announced it would begin the process of rolling back protections for nearly 59 million roadless acres of the National Forest system.

There are way too many things to be upset about these days, but I believe the destruction of public lands should be near the top of the list: www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Former governors say bipartisan unity key to rebuffing questionable federal policy In a country flooded by a never-ending wave of talking heads, pundits and fiery social media posts, two bipartisan former governors said the solution to America’s political gridlock may be more talkin...

In a country flooded by a never-ending wave of talking heads, pundits and fiery social media posts, two bipartisan former governors said the solution to America’s political gridlock may be more talking.

via @darrellehrlick.bsky.social
www.newsfromthestates.com/article/form...

Excellent conversation with former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock on bipartisanship and how federal cuts from the Trump administration are impacting states.

Hosted by @pewtrusts.org & @statesnewsroom.com

Trump to strip protections from millions of acres of national forests The Agriculture Department said it would begin the process of rolling back protections for nearly 59 million roadless acres of the National Forest System.

Sigh: Trump administration plans to roll back protections for nearly 59 million roadless acres of the National Forest System.

"If the rollback survives court challenges, it will open up vast swaths of largely untouched land to logging and roadbuilding." www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

More than 250 million acres of public lands are eligible for sale in the Senate reconciliation bill, including local recreation areas, wilderness study areas, roadless areas, critical wildlife habitat and big game migration corridors.

There are so many horrific things underway in the Trump administration that it's difficult to prioritize. But the sell-off of millions of acres of public lands would be a huge step backward for our nation, and it would be irrecoverable.

A green and blue horizontal bar chart showing that a large majority of Americans support stricter building standards in places at high risk of extreme weather

77% of Americans say stricter building standards are a good idea for communities at high risk of extreme weather. And 64% think it is a good idea for government to provide financial assistance for people in these communities to rebuild in the wake of extreme weather events.

Opinion | It Turns Out Some Republicans in Congress Do Have a Red Line

Public lands are the inheritance we will leave to our children and grandchildren. Selling them off to build vacation homes or to pay for a tax cut for billionaires will forever impoverish those who come after us. Let’s keep public lands in public hands.

NOAA ends extreme weather database that tracked cost of disasters since 1980 | CNN Its discontinuation is another Trump-administration blow to the public’s view into how fossil fuel pollution is changing the world around them and making extreme weather more costly.

NEW: NOAA retires its widely cited billion-dollar weather and climate database amid staff cuts. Unique database had been tallying disaster costs for 45 years. www.cnn.com/2025/05/08/c...

Made it to Friday

Ice all but disappeared from this Alaskan island. It changed everything. A warming Bering Sea kept ice away from this Alaskan island — leading to the closure of a crab processing plant and fraying of the community.

St. Paul Island recently completed its longest winter stretch in recorded history with above-freezing temperatures — 343 consecutive hours, or 14 days.

The drastic climate change has forced residents to consider how long they can last there.

Trump moves to allow commercial fishing in vast protected ocean reserve The Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument comprises more than 490,000 square miles of some of the Earth’s last pristine maritime environments.

NEW: A decade ago, Obama created the world’s largest protected marine reserve in the Pacific

Now, Trump is about to open it up to commercial fishing
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Trump officials say destroying endangered species’ habitats isn’t ‘harm’ A proposed rule would narrow the definition of harm under the Endangered Species Act and could open the door to more mining, construction and other activities.

NEW: In a major move, the Trump administration is aiming to redefine what it means to "harm" an endangered species

The regulatory rollback opens the door to more logging, mining, oil & gas drilling, home construction and other ecologically damaging ventures
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Springtime in DC

Anyway if you wanna know how this administration *actually* feels about carnivore conservation, you should probably read my recent @vox.com story about the potential torpedoing of the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program.

www.vox.com/down-to-eart...