A hotter, wetter South is becoming a breeding ground for mold

After a hurricane, extreme heat poses a serious threat to recovery workers

New from me!

The USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism and the @uscclimate.bsky.social are proud to announce our #USCHealthandClimate Reporting Fellows, who will be joining us on campus starting today. Read the press release: bit.ly/USCHealthandClimateChangeFellows

Did you know Kodak was a military contractor? grist.org/accountabili...

NEW: Income isn’t supposed to play a role in how much housing assistance FEMA gives families. But in some North Carolina counties, the highest-income homeowners received two to three times as much money after Hurricane Helene as those with lower incomes. With @theassemblync.bsky.social

Trump raised $8 million for Hurricane Helene survivors. Where did it all go? The presidential campaign bad-mouthed FEMA while using crowdfunding to donate to evangelical nonprofits. grist.org/accountabili... #Climate #GoFundMe #Trump #Disaster #FEMA #Evangelical

A year ago, Trump raised $8 million for Helene survivors through a GoFundMe campaign. But where did it all go? In the latest installment of @grist.org's #DisasterEconomy series, @stopitkatie.bsky.social gives a really honest look at how hard it is to get the answer. grist.org/accountabili...

My latest for BPR - watch for our Helene coverage all week as we approach a year since the storm.

More than 1,000 workers at the BlueOval SK Battery Park in Kentucky voted this week to join the United Auto Workers, which represents thousands of Ford workers across the country. The margin was close (11) and the company is challenging the results. From WKU:

Clearing debris after a storm is big business. For some communities, it’s also a burden. How the necessary work of cleaning up can make even bigger mess. grist.org/extreme-weat... #Climate #Disaster #Wildfires #Hurricane #Environment #Policy

FEMA backing out of tree removal coverage for many Western NC residents- after they said they would

@soljourno.bsky.social and CCNow have put together an incredible panel for Tuesday's webinar on local reporting: - @camillepd.bsky.social - @stopitkatie.bsky.social - Emilie Stigliani (The Sacramento Bee) - @breannadraxler.bsky.social RSVP to join the convo! us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

In April, without any warning, FEMA pulled $200 million worth of infrastructure grants intended to help communities weather natural disasters. They canceled a $6 million grant awarded to the small town I live in. Just a few weeks later this happened👇

Trump is fast-tracking new coal mines — even when they don’t make economic sense. In Appalachian Tennessee, mines shut down and couldn't pay their debts. Now a new one is opening under the guise of an "energy emergency." grist.org/energy/trump... #Coal #Policy #Energy #Climate #Politics #TN

Kerr County’s tragic flood wasn’t an outlier. It was a preview. Mounting evidence shows no state is safe from the flooding that ravaged the Texas Hill Country. Your community could be next. grist.org/extreme-weat... #Climate #Environment #Weather #Floods #Flooding #TX #Disaster

LPM is one of my absolutely favorite organizations, and one of the few monthly hits to my checking account I never even consider wondering why I haven't cancelled. In fact, I upped my monthly donation by 30% this morning. WFPK brings me so much happiness, KCIR does -amazing- local journalism.

Noticing fewer fireflies this year? You're not alone! I'm breaking down why, and what we can do about it, in this thread. #Fireflies #Nature #Climate #Environment

Seeing fewer fireflies this year? Here’s why, and how you can help. Fireflies are vulnerable to climate change and habitat loss. Some simple landscaping tricks and turning off porch lights can make a big difference. grist.org/science/seei... #Science #Nature #Bugs #Insects #Environment #Habitat

Latest for @grist.org - In Appalachian Tennessee, coal mines shut down and couldn't pay their debts, There hadn’t been any new mines since 2020, and the last active ones shut down in 2023. Now a new one is opening under the guise of an "energy emergency." grist.org/energy/trump...

Our very own @stopitkatie.bsky.social was on @wbur.org's Here and Now this week, and her enthusiasm for the subject is truly infectious! Listen here: www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2... #Fireflies #Climate #Environment #Nature #Night #Habitat #Conservation #Podcast #HereAndNow

Check out these upcoming events with Denali Nalamalapu for their new book "Holler: A Graphic Memoir of Rural Resistance." 📍 7/12 – Roanoke, VA | In conversation w/ Rae Garringer & Terry McGuire 📍 7/17 – Knoxville, TN | Book talk w/ Katie Meyers 📍 7/19 – Hazard, KY | Book talk w/ Robert Gipe

It’s firefly season in the Blue Ridge. This time of year, their lights can be found by the water, high up in the tree canopy, and out in open fields, drawing onlookers of all ages to one of nature’s loveliest light shows.

@blueridgepublic.bsky.social bringing the truth about the effects of climate crisis on trout fishing in North Carolina. #tenkara #fixedlineangling

Thi sis an interesting perspective that isn't written about much. grist.org/extreme-weat...

A year after Helene, river guides in Appalachia are navigating a new world. The first tourist season since the storm reveals how much the river and livelihoods have changed. grist.org/extreme-weat... #Appalachia #Weather #Rivers #Disaster #Tourist #Storms

Latest for @grist.org: In parts of North Carolina and Tennessee, river guides are launching into their first post Helene raft season. But everything is different now. Jobs are gone, rivers are changed, and many are left wondering what’s next for them. grist.org/extreme-weat...

Coal miners are fighting Trump’s safety cuts — and winning. grist.org/regulation/c... #Health #Climate #Mining #Coal #OSHA #WestVirginia #MSHA

It is hard to keep up with everything going on these days, but @zteirstein.bsky.social for @grist.org on the House IRA repeal vote is some of the most clearheaded political analysis I’ve seen. Read to understand more about the moment in which we’ve found ourselves: grist.org/politics/hou...

New for @grist.org with @hurwitz.bsky.social - As the Trump admin cuts already-stretched National Weather Service offices, the past weekend’s tornadoes in the Midwest and South spurred anxiety about the nation’s warning systems. grist.org/extreme-weat...

"NOAA was able to get information to go into this database that it’s not clear anyone else is going to be able to have access to,” said @weatherwest.bsky.social @ucanr.bsky.social told @mrmattsimon.bsky.social @stopitkatie.bsky.social @grist.org grist.org/climate/trum...

Flying blind. Trump kills NOAA database that tracks the impacts of the most severe storms and measures climate risk. @stopitkatie.bsky.social @mrmattsimon.bsky.social @grist.org grist.org/climate/trum...

Nearly 200 fired federal workers who screen coal miners for black lung are now back on the job, after a judge ordered their reinstatement. U.S. District Court Judge Irene Berger said the Trump admin could not legally end the program, which was started by Congress.

Sinkholes and the people who love them. As climate change makes sinkholes more common, more and more people are finding "a love of all things holey." grist.org/arts-culture... #Climate #SinkHoles #Homes #Asheville #Environment

"We’re looking for stories where young people are at the center – how a policy impacts them, how an issue is changing how they live and work, or the experiences they’re having in Appalachia."

The Trump administration says it wants a ‘nuclear renaissance.’ These actions suggest otherwise. Tariffs and a shake-up at the Tennessee Valley Authority could be getting in the way. grist.org/energy/the-t... #Nuclear #Climate #Energy #Environment #GreenSky

100 days in, does Trump still ‘dig’ coal? Presidents have long used coal miners as political props. Yet federal policies have done little to improve their lives, and some things have actually gotten worse. grist.org/politics/100... #Coal #Energy #Climate #Policy #Environment #WV #WestVirginia

Trump axed a rule designed to spare taxpayers the burden of future flooding. grist.org/extreme-weat... #Flooding #Weather #Storms #Disaster #Trump #Climate

Breaking: the Trump admin has “temporarily” paused enforcement of a Biden-era silica rule that was aimed at combating the rising black lung crisis in Appalachia. Coal miners and their advocates have been fighting for *decades* to lower deadly silica dust exposure levels. www.msha.gov/notice-stake...

Among the thousands of groups affected by the sudden cessation of funds are state arts councils, museums, historic sites, archives, libraries, educators and media outlets in all 50 states.

Trump Administration Moves To Shutter Mine Safety Offices In Coal Country #news #environment @stopitkatie.bsky.social reports for @gristnews.bsky.social EJ Today Headlines: www.sej.org/headlines/list grist.org/accountabili...

Trump administration moves to shutter mine safety offices in coal country #Climate

Trump administration moves to shutter mine safety offices in coal country. Miners and their advocates worry that DOGE's cuts to the Mine Safety and Health Administration will put them at risk. grist.org/accountabili... #Coal #Mines #Health #DOGE #Trump #Environment

New for @gristnews.bsky.social : Miners and their advocates worry that DOGE's cuts to the Mine Safety and Health Administration will put them at risk. This comes after years of underfunding and understaffing at the critical mine safety watchdog agency. grist.org/accountabili...

Worked with @juanpab.bsky.social @izzyjross.bsky.social @stopitkatie.bsky.social (with a clutch assist from @rahulbali.bsky.social) on this story about grants to help farmers and small businesses save on energy...except now the money is frozen grist.org/food-and-agr...

“It’s catastrophic,” one environmental advocate said of recent US Forest Service cuts. “We are losing an entire generation of talent and passion.” By @stopitkatie.bsky.social, @juanpab.bsky.social, and @izzyjross.bsky.social for Grist…

Layoffs at the Forest Service are going to have severe impacts in the South where they play a critical role in our recovery from Helene. “It’s catastrophic. We are losing an entire generation of talent and passion.” - Anders Reynolds, SELC Federal Legislative Director: grist.org/politics/for...

Moving, insightful story on how people in rural Appalachia are helping each other through back-to-back disasters by @stopitkatie.bsky.social

“It’s really exhausting to feel we are just going from one disaster to another constantly…” Johnson said... “But it’s also really beautiful because these groups that we were contacting and saying, ‘What do you need?…are now reaching back out & saying, ‘Here’s what we have. Here’s what we can send.’”

New for @gristnews.bsky.social - after years of repeated flooding, people in Appalachia are learning how better to prepare for & recover from disaster. “It’s this system of mutual aid that just keeps crossing state lines and people just reaching out to each other.” grist.org/extreme-weat...