Donald Trump’s administration is to reconsider the official finding that greenhouse gases are harmful to public health, a move that threatens to rip apart the foundation of the US’s climate laws, amid a stunning barrage of actions to weaken or repeal a host of pollution limits upon power plants, cars and waterways.
Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an extraordinary cavalcade of pollution rule rollbacks on Wednesday, led by the announcement it would potentially scrap a landmark 2009 finding by the US government that planet-heating gases, such as carbon dioxide, pose a threat to human health.
The so-called endangerment finding, which followed a supreme court ruling that the EPA could regulate greenhouse gases, provides the underpinning for all rules aimed at cutting the pollution that scientists have unequivocally found is worsening the climate crisis.
Despite the enormous and growing body of evidence of devastation caused by rising emissions, including trillions of dollars in economic costs, Trump has called the climate crisis a “hoax” and dismissed those concerned by its worsening impacts as “climate lunatics”.
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In pictures
From urban decay to camel rides, check out the best photos submitted by our readers. This photograph captures one of the many hidden treasures to be found in Naples’ secluded courtyards. Click here to submit a picture for publication.
What they said …
“I got some of the most insane death threats and racial slurs of my life”
Ayo Edebiri, best known for her Emmy-award winning work on The Bear, recalled the furore after Elon Musk shared a fake news report about her being cast as a replacement for Johnny Depp in a reboot of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
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In numbers
New research shows Islamophobic incidents – including physical attacks, verbal harassment, people being spat on and rape threats – have more than doubled in the past two years with girls and women bearing the brunt of hatred towards Muslims in Australia.
Before bed read
Trump’s senseless tariffs will extend the economic malaise felt by so many in Australia – and around the world. Nicki Hutley warns we are about to get a painful global lesson in why we should listen to, rather than denigrate, experts.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: PEL. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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