Washington Post
Reporter Chris Mooney covers science and the environment for the Washington Post. A former Knight Fellow in Science Journalism at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he is co-author of Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future.
Donald Trump and the fate of the planet Climate scientists say the Paris Agreement on greenhouse emissions may offer the last, best chance to slow global warming. Some 200 countries are gathered in Morocco to nail down the accords -- led by the US and China. But, during his campaign, America's President-elect called global warming a hoax — invented by China. His transition team features a climate-change denier. If Trump pulls out, do the Paris Accords have a future? What about his promises to end the Obama Clean-Power Plan, dismantle the EPA and bring back coal?
Climate Change: Politics and Reality Climate change is a big part of Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic platform. Donald Trump and the GOP call it a hoax with no basis in science. Meantime, temperatures in Kuwait are rising to historic highs, and melting ice in the Arctic is changing the lives of nomadic native Alaskans. Extreme weather apparently is becoming the norm, and climate scientists are working faster to connect the dots between heat waves and global warming. We update some facts on the ground and hear how the climate change is playing in the presidential campaign.
A Dire Report on Climate Change Pre-eminent climate scientist James Hansen has published a new paper. Spoiler alert: It’s not good news. Hansen, who was the first scientist to call major attention to climate change in 1988, has found that the most dire consequences of climate change could happen one or two decades sooner than previously thought. That means collapsing ice sheets, violent storms and waves so strong that they could toss boulders onto the shore. How soon could this happen, and what will it mean for everyday life?
SCOTUS Halts Obama's Clean Energy Plan The US Supreme Court has surprised the Obama Administration by taking up a challenge to the President's authority before it worked its way through the lower courts. It's about the Clean Power Plan ordering states to reduce carbon emissions by about 30%. Chris Mooney is Energy and Environment writer for the Washington Post .
Does the Paris Climate Pact Go Far Enough? In Paris on Saturday , nearly 200 countries struck a deal to combat climate change. The plan is supposed to lower greenhouse gas emissions around the world and keep temperatures from rising more than two degrees Celsius. It’s being hailed as a landmark agreement. But scientists and climate activists say it does not go far enough. Why not?
Climate Change, the Vatican and Poverty Governor Jerry Brown is at the Vatican, where the Pope is hosting a conference on climate change. One warning siren about climate change rose above the rest this week, from prominent climate scientist James Hansen — the guy who pretty much put climate change on the map back in 1988. In a new report , Hansen says that in less than 50 years, we'll witness a rise in sea level of at least 10 feet. Coastal cities like New York will be rendered uninhabitable in only a few decades.
The Melting Poles We’ve been hearing for a while that global warming is melting the ice at both the north and south poles. But now there’s evidence that the melting may be happening faster than anyone thought. In Antarctica, scientists say the glaciers in both the Western and Eastern parts of the continent are collapsing and melting. That’s also true of the ice shelves that run around the outside of Antarctica and act as plugs that stop the giant ice sheets from sliding into the ocean and melting even faster. In the Arctic, not only is the area covered by ice getting a lot smaller, but the ice itself is getting thinner. And, of course as all this ice melts, sea levels rise, which means flooding and other problems on land.
Science, Religion and Public Policy When he announced that the Earth goes around the Sun, Galileo was persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church. But that was 400 years ago. The modern Vatican, conservative though it is, has argued that Christian faith and science are not at odds after all, but compatible and complementary, especially regarding Darwin's theory of Evolution. Traditional Protestants are fine with that, but almost half Americans believe that the book of Genesis is incompatible with The Origin of Species . What are the consequences for dealing with global warming, pandemic disease and stem cell research?
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.
