EPA Revokes Scientific Finding That Underpinned US Fight Against Climate Change

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EPA Revokes Scientific Finding That Underpinned US Fight Against Climate Change (Maria)

The author writes, “The government on Thursday revoked a scientific finding that has long been the basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. … The rule, finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency, rescinds a 2009 government declaration known as the endangerment finding that determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten public health. The finding is the legal underpinning of nearly all climate regulations under the Clean Air Act.”

A Raid in a Small Town Brings Trump’s Deportations to Deep-Red Idaho (Al)

From The New York Times: “People in Wilder, Idaho, didn’t give much thought to the dusty horse track west of town known as La Catedral Arena, where, on Sundays in the summer and early fall, vendors sold horchata and tacos, announcers called race results in Spanish and immigrant families gathered for reasonably priced fun. But when federal agents swarmed the track on Oct. 19 — weapons drawn, a helicopter overhead, unmarked S.U.V.s screeching in on dirt roads — they did more than crack an alleged gambling ring and increase deportation numbers. They shattered Wilder’s innocent belief that its out-of-the-way location and deep-red politics could isolate the town from the raids overtaking other parts of the country.”

Twin Cities Tow Truck Driver Returns Abandoned Vehicles to Families After ICE Arrests (Dana)

The author writes, “Juan Leon had only been running his Twin Cities tow truck business, Leo’s Towing, for a few months when he noticed a pattern that kept repeating itself. Cars were being left behind across the metro area — parked on streets, in parking lots, sometimes for days at a time. The owners were gone, and in many cases, they had been arrested by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ‘Seeing there was a need for someone to help out, help clear the streets and get the people back their vehicles. So we stepped up and started doing it,’ Leon said.”

America Isn’t Ready for What AI Will Do to Jobs (Sean)

From The Atlantic: “AI is already transforming work, one delegated task at a time. If the transformation unfolds slowly enough and the economy adjusts quickly enough, the economists may be right: We’ll be fine. Or better. But if AI instead triggers a rapid reorganization of work — compressing years of change into months, affecting roughly 40 percent of jobs worldwide, as the International Monetary Fund projects — the consequences will not stop at the economy.”

Video: Kenyan Women Lost Their Husbands and Then Their Land. But Some Are Fighting Back (Reader Steve)

From the Associated Press: “Thousands of widows in western Kenya face losing their land after their husbands die. In certain ethnic groups, widows are pressured to marry their late husband’s brother or have sex with another man to ‘cleanse’ them of the stigma of widowhood. Women who refuse can be disinherited. Kenya’s constitution guarantees all citizens the right to own land. But often women are unaware. But the local assembly in one Kenyan county has unanimously passed a Widows Protection Bill that would criminalize the forced disinheritance.” 

Good News: We Saved the Bees. Bad News: We Saved the Wrong Ones. (Laura)

The author writes, “Honeybees have never been in danger of extinction. But scientists are finding that they can accelerate the demise of native bee populations.”