Victory in ‘Cancer Alley,’ Fiona and Landslides, Methane Supercharges Climate Change and more

Environmental justice advocates are declaring victory after a Louisiana judge canceled permits for a plastic factory in the region known as ‘cancer alley’ for the high rate of the disease linked to emissions from some 150 petrochemical plants. Also, the new climate law contains billions of dollars aimed directly at addressing environmental and climate injustice. What it will take to ensure low-income communities and people of color can access those funds. And Puerto Rico was still recovering from Hurricane Maria in 2017 and a swarm of earthquakes that started in 2019 when Hurricane Fiona recently struck with extreme rainfall and flooding that triggered landslides in areas destabilized by the quakes. Plus, scientists are sounding the alarm about a recent uptick in methane emissions. Methane is roughly 85 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas when it’s first emitted and reducing methane releases now may be one of the fastest ways to slow down climate change.