🌱The silencing of significant science, relisting of grizzly bears under the Endangered Species Act and the politics of renewable energy

The past two weeks in the world of climate science have highlighted the rift between politics and science. On the one hand, the scientific consensus that humans are [causing global warming has hit 99%](. Three studies published in Nature and Nature Geoscience found that during no other period in the last 2,000 years have temperatures changed as fast and extensively as in recent decades. "There is no doubt left," one of the scientists [said to The Guardian](. On the other hand, scientists working with and in the U.S. federal government are continually being buried, ousted and compelled to vacate their positions. In a [bombshell op-ed in The New York Times]( Rod Schoonover - until recently, a senior analyst in Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the State Department - described how the White House blocked his report on the impacts of climate change and national security. He highlighted how the move was against what he had come to appreciate about the State Department: that the Bureau of Intelligence and Research's job was to generate intelligence analysis buttressed by the best information available, without regard to political considerations. Until then, no one had influenced his work. Additionally, a [top climate scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture]( quit this week after the Trump administration tried to bury a study about the impacts of climate change on rice yields; Former scientists and officials of the [Interior Department alleged]( that top employees there routinely scrub research of mentions of human-caused climate change in their research, according to testimony submitted to the House Subcommittee on Natural Resources; And a [Boulder climate scientist]( is suing the administration after she lost her job at the National Park Service for refusing to erase the mentions of climate change in her research. Though the nefarious, and debatably illegal actions, are not unprecedented since the 2016 election, they highlight the anti-science and anti-climate agenda at the top tiers of the federal government - and further how dangerous such an agenda will be as climate change continues to unfold and possibly worsen. A congressional committee on climate change went to Colorado and its experts to seeking guidance on how it can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate global warming. The state - which is home to some of the leading climate research institutions in the country - has taken aggressive action on the issue since the election of Democratic Gov. Jared Polis in November 2018. [Read More +]( [Climate change made Europe’s 2019 record heatwave up to ‘100 times more likely’]( New research shows that the July heatwave was “unprecedented” in scale and intensity, a report from the World Weather Attribution network shows. [Read More +]( [Latest appointee overseeing federal public lands once advocated to sell them]( "William Perry Pendley is an ideological zealot whose views are deeply out of touch with the American mainstream,” said Phil Hanceford, conservation director for The Wilderness Society. [Read More +]( [Power struggle hindering U.S. growth of renewables, experts say]( Most states have net metering rules to compensate solar customers for contributing to the power grid, but it only works in regulated areas where the same company owns lines and sells power. For deregulated areas where power providers and sellers are not the same company, the picture gets murky. [Read More +]( [U.S. restores Yellowstone grizzlies to protected species list]( The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service re-listed grizzly bears as threatened species. The decision ended a tense battle that, if flipped, could have allowed hunting of the species in and around Yellowstone National Park. [Read More +]( [Colorado protests Trump administration’s public lands plan in sage grouse habitat]( Colorado officials sent an eight-page letter protesting a BLM land management plan in southern Colorado due to its impact on the endangered Gunnison sage grouse and migrating wildlife. [Read Here +]( [Read More About The Western War on Sage Grouse+]( What else we're reading this week - 9th Circuit [throws out environmental challenge]( to expanded Navajo coal mining via The Arizona Daily Star - OPINION: Increased emissions in Texas are [canceling out climate progress]( across the country via The Hill - [Conservative nonprofit leader]( says climate change should be priority for the right via Yale Climate Connections - Senators planning forest health bill to [reduce fire hazards]( via Missoula Current - Organic Valley to become largest food company to [hit 100% renewable energy]( via Energy Manager Today [Quote of the day:]( "Trump’s operatives at Interior are using their political power to withhold information from the public about decisions that impact America’s outdoor heritage. The newly confirmed inspector general has an invaluable role to play, holding the Interior department accountable." -Chris Saeger, executive director for the Western Values Project Tip of the day: Use bar soap instead of liquid hand soap. Bar soap works as a good shaving cream alternative, too. [Subscribe now!]( A free weekly environment briefing that comes to you. No algorithms, clickbait or ads – just what's worth reading. I've got your back Hi, my name is Liz Forster. I am a former environment reporter and have a particular interest in public land management, natural disasters, climate change and ecology, among other topics. I received a degree in Environmental Policy from Colorado College, worked for a Colorado newspaper covering environment and am getting my JD in Environmental Law at the University of Montana. Subscribe and each week, I'll comb through newspaper's headlines and send you the latest, most pertinent environment news. Questions, comments, suggestions? 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