Climate change won’t come screeching to a halt on its own. Instead, it will take a collective effort over many years to bring about the necessary change. Each week, we like to highlight examples of that change happening right before our eyes. This week saw a ban on chlorpyrifos: a little known pesticide linked to child brain damage.
Most teachers don’t talk about climate change in the classroom. Washington state is trying to fix that.
By Miyo McGinn, Grist, February 11, 2020
- An NPR/Ipsos survey found 55 percent of teachers never talked about climate change in the classroom last year. The trend is due in part to lack of training/resources and concerns about student and teacher reactions.
- A K-12 proviso passed by the Washington state legislature in 2017 birthed ClimeTime, “which funds projects and events that connect public school teachers with environmental organizations in their communities.” The program reached around 7,500 public school teachers in its first year, around 10% of the states 66,400 total public school teachers.
- According to the article, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climate education coordinator Frank Niepold said “other states are looking at Washington as they move forward on this issue.”
Largest maker of pesticide linked to brain damage in kids to stop producing chemical
Sam Levin, The Guardian, February 6, 2020
- Corteva, a Dow Chemical/Dupont subsidiary, announced it would phase out production of chlorpyrifos, “an agriculture pesticide linked to brain damage in children,” by the end of the year.
- Per the article: “Chlorpyrifos has been widely used on corn, soybeans, almonds, citrus, cotton, grapes, walnuts and other crops, but research has repeatedly found serious health effects in children, including impaired brain development.”
- The announce came shortly after the Trump administration reversed regulations that would ban the chemical, rejecting “the scientific conclusions of US government experts.”
The Biggest Municipal Solar Farm in the US Is Coming to…Cincinnati?
Will Peischel, Mother Jones, February 10, 2020
- Cincinnati is on track to have America’s largest city-established solar farm. It is estimated to offset a quarter of it’s total utility energy.
- Built on an old soybean farm, the 100 Megawatt solar farm will cover the same area as 750 football fields; it is expected to be “cost neutral” over 20 years.
- Cincinnati’s mayor, John Cranely, said he was inspired to pursue renewable energy for the city in part by Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord.
