News items for March 27, 2020

Kids gardening at the Davie Village Community Garden by Steven Luscher used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

• 1. WWII-era ‘victory gardens’ make a comeback amid coronavirus

  Washington gardeners are growing food in P-Patches and backyards to boost morale and community food supplies.

  Crosscut Sustainable Living

• 2. Stimulus money to protect elections falls short, critics say

  State officials and voting rights advocates say the $400 million to safeguard elections in the coronavirus stimulus package is far less than what states will need to implement voting by mail.

  New York Times Vote by Mail

• 3. Designing an end to a toxic American obsession: The lawn

  Lawns produce more greenhouse gases than they absorb, and they are biodiversity deserts that have contributed to vanishing insect populations. If attitudes can be shifted, however, these grassy green patches represent a gigantic opportunity.

  CNN Sustainable Living

• 4. Migrant farmworkers feed America, and they’re at high risk for a coronavirus outbreak

  In the coming weeks, thousands of laborers will arrive in growing centers across the nation, from Washington’s Yakima Valley to the coastal plains of North Carolina and Georgia. They have been provided virtually no information on how they can protect themselves — creating the potential for a massive public-health and food-security crisis.

  The Fern Food

• 5. WA governor signs bill to ban single-use plastic bags statewide

  The legislation, which goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2021, bans retailers from giving out single-use plastic carryout bags and requires an 8-cent charge for other bags.

  The News Tribune Plastic

• 6. In coronavirus, industry sees chance to undo plastic bag bans

  The plastic bag industry, battered by a wave of bans nationwide, is using the coronavirus crisis to try to block laws prohibiting single-use plastic.

  New York Times Plastic bags

• 7. California OKs climate change target that critics say is weak

  The slower pace to reduce emissions comes as construction of solar and wind farms could be slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

  Los Angeles Times Climate Policy

• 8. Trump’s environmental rollbacks find opposition within: Staff scientists

  Federal scientists and lawyers, told to undo regulations that some say have worked on for decades, have embedded data into technical documents that environmental lawyers are using to challenge the rollbacks.

  New York Times Deregulation

• 9. Coronavirus threatens response to wildfires

  State officials suddenly find themselves in the extraordinarily difficult position of wondering whether they can mobilize the thousands of firefighters who might be needed in a bad fire season.

  Investigate West Wildfire

• 10. The pandemic may be loosening links in the supply chain

  The complex supply logistics of our 21st-century world face a gathering storm even as reliance on those supply chains becomes more critical in the worst public health crisis in generations.

  NPR Economy

More News from March 27, 2020

• What the coronavirus curve teaches us about climate change

  Humans don’t easily grasp the concept of exponential growth, but it’s exactly why coronavirus has gotten so hard to manage—and why climate change could too.

  Politico Climate Action

• Aggressive action to address climate change could save the world $145 trillion

  Climate solutions are expensive investments in the short run but will yield huge long-term savings.

  Yale Climate Connections Climate Action