Big cities are sinking

It's hard to think of a quick, easy remedy for this. I certainly can't suggest one.

A new study has revealed that 28 of the most populated cities in the U.S. are sinking, which can increase flood risks and weaken infrastructure. Further, researchers determined that 80% of total sinkage could be attributed to groundwater withdrawal for human use.

According to the study, published in the journal Nature Cities, about 34 million people in the biggest cities in the U.S. are being impacted by sinkage, with at least 20% of all the urban areas studied showing signs of subsidence…

In 25 of the 28 cities in the study, at least two-thirds of the urban area is sinking. Houston is the most affected, with 42% of the city sinking by more than 5 millimeters per year and 12% of the city sinking by more than 10 millimeters per year. Some parts of the city are sinking by up to 5 centimeters, or around 2 inches, each year. - EcoWatch

Who needs endangered species anyway?

I'm not sure how this will play out in the courts, if it happens.

The Trump administration is proposing a significant change to one of the country’s most important—and contentious—environmental laws, which could give farmers more leeway to use pesticides without regard to their impact on critical habitats.

In a proposed rule change announced on March 17, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service want to change the way they interpret the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which they collectively administer, by rescinding the definition of “harm.”

…Under the proposed rule change, habitat would not be protected, which could have huge consequences. It would open more of the United States to drilling, logging, and other industries. And it would represent a significant development for farmers, ranchers, and other food producers, affecting the ways they use land, make decisions about conservation, and treat crops. That’s especially true of pesticide use. - Civil Eats

Billions stolen in Bitcoin scams

Sadly this is probably just a taste of what's going to happen in coming years with crypto in general.

The FBI’s latest annual report reveals a sharp rise in Bitcoin-related fraud, with U.S. victims losing $9.3 billion in 2024 — a 66% increase from the previous year.

Total cybercrime losses reached $16.6 billion across more than 859,000 complaints filed to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)...

Of particular concern is the impact on older Americans. Victims aged 60 and above reported 33,369 Bitcoin-related fraud cases, amounting to more than $2.8 billion in losses.

The average loss per senior victim was $83,000 — more than four times higher than the average across all cybercrime. - BiTBO

No fluoride in water equals bad teeth in kids

Trump's HHS boss RFK Jr., who like Trump himself is clearly clinically insane by any legitimate standard, wants fluoride out of drinking water.

Warren Loeppky has been a pediatric dentist in the Canadian city of Calgary for 20 years. Over the last decade, he says, tooth decay in children he’s seen has become more common, more aggressive and more severe. Many of his young patients have so much damage that he has to work with them under general anesthesia…

Loeppky notes that many factors can contribute to tooth decay in children, including their diet and genetics. Still, he believes part of the problem is linked to a decision made in the halls of local government: In 2011, Calgary stopped adding fluoride to its drinking water. - Science News

People underestimate the level of support for real climate action

I think this is true for a lot of issues, though generally not quite to this extreme.

A staggering 89 percent of people worldwide believe their governments should be doing more to combat climate change. Yet current policies across nations are putting the planet on track for a catastrophic 3.1°C of warming. That disconnect—between near-universal public demand and government inaction—is what Covering Climate Now (CCNow) calls a “deficit in democracy.” It’s also the focus of its new yearlong initiative: the 89% Project.

Launched to coincide with Earth Day, the 89 Percent Project aims to break what experts describe as a dangerous spiral of silence around climate action, one perpetuated by misperceptions, media neglect, and political indifference. Despite overwhelming evidence that climate concern is both widespread and intensifying, many people continue to feel isolated in their worry—an illusion that disempowers individuals and lets leaders off the hook…

“Almost everybody dramatically underestimates the level of concern and support for action on climate change,” said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. “It basically refers to the fact that most of us don’t know what’s in other people’s heads.”

This phenomenon—what researchers call “pluralistic ignorance”—is fueling what sociologist Cynthia Frantz describes as a “self-fulfilling spiral of silence.” As she put it, “Currently, worrying about climate change is something people are largely doing in the privacy of their own minds.” - Nation of Change

Trump inadvertently screws US LNG exporters

I actually think this won't last long. Once he realizes that his trade war's a disaster for his own public standing Trump will back down. Probably with the "help" of some quiet, though very substantial, corporate bribes.

China has just suspended all LNG imports from the United States. No warning, no phasedown, just an apparent state directive that Chinese buyers, including the national oil companies, were no longer to sign, lift, or receive U.S. liquefied natural gas. The decision comes in the wake of a rapidly escalating trade war, reignited by a second Trump presidency that wasted no time imposing steep new tariffs on Chinese technology and industrial goods. The result is a gaping hole in the U.S. LNG export market, one that undermines years of investment assumptions and exposes the growing fragility of fossil fuel infrastructure in a changing geopolitical landscape…

Ironically, Trump’s trade war — by freezing China-bound shipments and halting new terminal progress — may have delivered an unexpected climate silver lining: a substantial brake on future emissions from fossil gas infrastructure that would otherwise lock in decades of high-carbon export activity. In trying to punish a geopolitical rival, he has accidentally slowed the expansion of one of America’s most emissions-intensive energy sectors.

The final irony is political. U.S. oil and gas executives spent heavily during the 2024 election cycle, once again backing Trump in the hopes of favorable policies, looser regulations, and accelerated fossil fuel exports. Billions were spent on lobbying, campaign donations, and friendly media to amplify the message that fossil fuels meant freedom and prosperity. - CleanTechnica

Big Oil is privately freaking out over Trumpism

You'd think that they of all people would be "walking on air," these days.

“Chaos.” “A disaster.” “Uncertainty.” “Very negative.”

That’s a sample of the reactions to Trump’s first few months published in the latest Dallas Fed Energy Survey, which gives executives from nearly 200 oil companies headquartered in Texas the chance to speak anonymously about burning issues inside the oil industry…

Big oil poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Trump’s re-election campaign and down-ballot GOP candidates last year, including an $80 million advertising spree — not counting undisclosed “dark money” funding. Fossil fuel fortunes have funded Project 2025 and its backers, alongside even more extreme far-right Trump-era policy blueprints.

But Trump’s tariffs, rising steel prices, and his sledgehammer approach to the administrative state are starting to unnerve oil and gas executives — at least in the anonymous survey conducted quarterly by the Dallas Fed. - DeSmog