Dear Reader,

On January 27th, The Washington Post reported that the U.S. officials ordered national parks to remove dozens of signs and displays related to climate change, environmental protection, and the mistreatment of Native Americans by settlers.

In a new wave of orders this month, Trump officials instructed staff to remove or edit signs and other informational materials in at least 17 additional parks in Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Utah, Montana, and Wyoming, the report says.

January 27th was also the day the U.S.’s second withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement came into effect.

At a time when climate literacy is of supreme importance, it enrages me to see the impunity with which the President of the United States, Donald Trump, is misusing his authority.

A media training workshop I attended earlier this week offered some sobering insights, backed by stark statistics. While the average American emits nearly three times the global per-capita CO₂ average, broader ecological footprint analyses show that if everyone lived like an American, humanity would require around 5.1 Earths. It is ironic, then, that climate science is often portrayed by U.S. politicians as agenda-driven rather than evidence-based.

Last week, I shared with you a Yale study that found a large share of Indians like myself deeply concerned about climate impacts. This week, also on January 27th, Yale released a similar study focusing on the climate beliefs and attitudes of Americans. They found that an even larger share of Americans (61%) underestimate the proportion of the American public that is worried about global warming, and an additional 24% indicate that they “don’t know enough to say.”

Part of this is because the loudest bad actors have captured the levers of power, but also, did you know that only one out of six Americans hears about global warming in the media once a week? With last week’s sale of TikTok to a consortium led by a major Trump backer immediately renewing concerns of algorithmic political censorship, I’m afraid that this number will continue to plummet (The Xylom is proud to have never joined TikTok.)

I find some solace in the fact that, unlike in India, Donald Trump constitutionally cannot be elected President for a third time. But more than that, I am determined to leverage the power of collaborative, independent media to:

• document the systematic dismantling of environmental rules,

• break ourselves out of regime-friendly information bubbles, and

• inform you enough to do something that turns the tide.

Please help us continue to build and maintain this new media infrastructure by becoming a monthly member starting at $2/ month.

Warmly,
Laasya Shekhar
Managing Editor

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🍑 A SOUTHERN FLAIR

• GLOSTER, Mississippi — Europe gets ‘green energy.’ These Southern towns get dirty air. (Tristan Baurick, Grist and Verite News)

  “Eventually, these particles can be transported to the brain and other organs,” says Aisha Dickerson, an environmental health researcher at Johns Hopkins University.

  “You may not see symptoms immediately, but constant exposure could mean issues down the line.”

• BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. — She offers free child care after disasters. It’s a lifeline as families rebuild their lives. (Jessica Kutz, The 19th)

  For Crabtree, they were a godsend. “The kids loved the people who came out and played with them,” she said. They would show up and have different games and toys and animal crackers and the kids were just so excited.” 

• YANCEY COUNTY, N.C. — Europe gets ‘green energy.’ These Southern towns get dirty air. (Elizabeth Ouzts, Canary Media)

  “We’ll have at least a way to run our radio equipment, run our well and basic lighting and refrigeration,” Buchanan said, adding that the latter was vital for medication. ​“It may not seem like much — but that’s the Willy Wonka golden ticket.”

🗺️ WHAT ELSE WE'RE READING

• BOULDER, Colorado — What Americans Lose If Their National Center for Atmospheric Research Is Dismantled (Carlos Martinez, Eos)

  “NCAR is not just another research center. It is purpose-built critical infrastructure designed to integrate observations, modeling, supercomputing, and applied research in ways that no single university, agency, or contractor can replicate on its own,” writes Carlos Martinez, senior climate scientist with the Climate & Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

• TOKYO — Beijing row highlights need for Japan to reduce cleantech dependence on China (Nithin Coca for The Japan Times)

  “China has shown it is willing to use the business side for what the United States calls economic coercion,” said Yuriy Humber, the founder of Japan NRG, a Tokyo-based energy intelligence company. “China could, if it wanted, impose restrictions on the exports of other technologies, cleantech included, which could affect solar panels and batteries.”

• Best gas masks(Sarah Jeong, The Verge)

  The first time I went out into the Portland protests, I walked into a cloud of pepper spray and ended up crying and coughing while doubled over on a nearby sidewalk. So I bought some goggles. The next time, I was tear gassed. I bought better goggles and a half-face respirator. About a week later, I owned a full-face gas mask; one ex-military friend remarked that the gas mask looked more hardcore than the ones that the US Army handed out to joes.

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🚩 Philippine Renewable Power Advocates Branded ‘Communists’ And ‘Terrorists’ By Government

Philippine advocates for renewable power, falsely accused by the Duterte and Marcos governments of having links to communism or terrorism, have seen their bank accounts frozen. Some have even been abducted. This has led to delays or cancellations of local climate projects.