NEPA and EPA Regulations Relaxed Under Trump Administration Have Environmental Implications

by Catelyn Fitzgerald ’23

Staff Writer

This summer saw the slashing of multiple environmental policies by the Trump administration in an effort to reduce time and costs associated with energy and infrastructure development in the United States. These changes met resistance from environmental groups and became the subject of political controversy. Two environmental regulations that have recently been rolled back are the National Environmental Policy Act and the Environmental Protection Agency’s rule on methane leaks in fossil fuel production.

NEPA is a piece of environmental legislation that requires all major federal actions to be assessed on their environmental, social and economic impact before implementation. “Major federal actions” cover a wide range of activities, from infrastructure projects such as building roads and bridges, to the implementation of federal policies and programs. Under NEPA, all such projects must draft environmental impact statements, explore ways to avoid negative environmental, economic and social impacts, consider long-term effects of the project and identify permanent resources needed to complete the project. These actions required by NEPA have often been criticized for causing unnecessary delays in the execution of projects, as they can be time- and resource-consuming. 

The Trump administration’s new rule changes key definitions within NEPA to reduce its scope in an effort to increase the efficiency of federal projects. The new rule narrows the definition of “major federal actions” to exclude projects that require “minimal Federal funding or minimal Federal involvement.” The definition was previously given a broad interpretation, so the new rule releases many projects from needing to follow NEPA. The new rule also dictates that agencies are only responsible for effects that are “reasonably foreseeable and have a reasonably close causal relationship to the proposed action or alternatives,” meaning that agencies are not responsible for negative effects that would occur in the far future or the indirect effects of their projects.

 Concerns regarding changes to NEPA are not only centered around the potential for negative environmental effects of projects to go unnoticed, but also around the speeding up of project planning that will reduce opportunities for communities to voice their opinions about the projects. As of Aug. 28, more than 20 states, including Massachusetts, have sued the Trump administration over changes to this policy.

Another environmental regulation that has been rolled back is a rule on methane leaks created by the Obama administration. The rule required fossil fuel companies to monitor and repair leaks of methane gas from oil and gas wells. The regulation would have required many oil and gas wells to be retrofitted with the proper technology for methane detection, which is both costly and time-consuming for fossil fuel companies. EPA estimates predict that the rollback will save these companies $100 million through 2030 and lead to 850,000 tons of methane being released into the atmosphere. Methane is a greenhouse gas that stays in the air for less time than other GHGs like CO2, but has 80 times the heat-trapping capability of CO2 during its first 20 years in the atmosphere. The gas is released by energy production plants, landfills and livestock. 

The EPA has also reported that emissions from methane leaks have stabilized in recent years, meaning that the regulation may not necessarily have a significant impact on emissions, but these reports have been challenged by data collection within the scientific community. Recent findings are in agreement that atmospheric methane levels are higher than what was previously reported by the EPA. Discrepancies between EPA and independent data collection come from the EPA’s use of a mix of self-reported data from fossil fuel companies and on-site testing of methane leaks. The discovery of higher-than-expected methane levels means that policies aiming to curb emissions of the gas are more important than ever in slowing the onset of climate change. 

Major fossil fuel companies have decided to continue following the regulation in order to avoid damaging their public image and aid in their promotion of natural gas as a “green” alternative to oil. If natural gas were to be associated with high amounts of methane emissions, it would undermine companies’ efforts to promote it. 

The methane rule was part of a set of three regulations created by the Obama administration in an attempt to slow climate change. The others targeted CO2 emissions from cars and coal burning and have previously been rolled back by the Trump administration.

“A Blowtorch Over Our State”: Climate Change’s Connection To West Coast Wildfires

Photo by by Anya Gerasimova '21 in Salem, Oregon

by Siona Ahuja ’24

Staff Writer

Apocalyptically orange skies in California, Oregon and Washington mark a full month of forest fires raging across most of the West Coast. Beginning on Aug. 17, the “August Complex” fire is one of the largest and most destructive blazes of the 20th century. More than 3 million acres have burned in California alone, as opposed to the estimated 300,000 which burn in the average annual fire season. In addition, experts say the fire season is yet to reach peak season activity. Ireland Clare Kennedy ’21, a resident of Oakland, California, said she has witnessed many wildfires over the years, but has “never seen one this bad.”

Exacerbation of the fires has been attributed to the intense heat wave that struck California in early September, with temperatures reaching 113 F (45 C). The flora of America’s western states are extremely dry during this period, making them susceptible to large fires. Generally, dry lightning storms or even small triggers like discarded cigarettes can turn thousands of trees into ash. This year, a gender reveal party gone disastrously wrong is said to be the major cause. 

In the El Dorado Ranch Park, a couple decided to reveal the sex of their baby using a pyrotechnic device (a smoke bomb rocketing blue or pink smoke). Unknown to them, the wild grass was very flammable, and this mishap led to the blaze of 10,000 acres and more than 20,000 people being evacuated from their residences.

Typically, the fire season in California and neighboring states occurs between July and November, when the winds are hot and dry. Wildfires are a natural part of forests as light fires (“light” being the key word) are beneficial to growth because the ashen remains provide high nutrients to the soil, thus yielding high quality crops. Light fires also aid in the growth of more fire resistant trees. Plants are not harmed in the process of light fires, as their roots remain viable for new plants to sprout in the winter.

Using this logic, Indigenous tribes practiced “cultural burning” in the pre-20th century era. “What we’re doing here is restoring life,” said Ron Goode, tribal chairman of the North Fork Mono, in an interview with NPR. However, beginning in the early 1900s, this practice of fighting fire with fire was banned by the government. Instead, the policy of fire suppression, in which chemical agents were used to extinguish the fires, was adopted. It caused forests to miss their fire cycles; trees grew densely; and the shrubs formed thick undergrowth and ultimately led to vast blazes.

The ancestral practice is slowly resurfacing as fires are getting increasingly uncontrollable. Tribal chiefs are partnering with state governments to carefully burn trees and minimize the risk of extensive wildfires. In Northern California, the Karuk and Yurok tribes are joining the Forest Service to oversee land with traditional values and wildfire management, two goals that work hand in hand.

COVID-19 has presented unique challenges which have been further exacerbated by the spreading wildfires. Among the worst struck by the pandemic are farmers, who have suffered an economic blow since March. In the past year, agriculture has set a record rate of bankruptcies and mental health crises. The fires have sent many crops blazing, and low visibility from fire-caused air pollution has made working on farms almost impossible. The unhealthy air quality caused by the smoke and ash also puts sensitive groups at risk for contracting the virus and compounds the symptoms of those who have tested positive. Moreover, those who are being evacuated to escape the blazes are compelled to go to crowded sites, where social distancing is impossible.

Massive levels of smoke and billowy ash have forced people to seek refuge in their houses just as they were beginning to navigate the outdoors after months of quarantining. Being cooped up has adversely impacted the mental health of many. 

“You can barely see the sun,” said Alexa Harbury ’24, who lives in Tigard, Oregon. “For the whole of last week it was hard to tell what time of day it was, because everything just looked yellow or orange. It messed up my sleep schedule because I couldn’t feel when I needed to get up in the morning. Plus, it’s been stressful. We know people who are in evacuation areas and are keeping a close eye on any fire related news.”

Climate change has been declared as the primary factor that is fueling such disasters. Scientists and policymakers have revealed that an average global increase of 1 C is likely to raise the burning area by 600 percent. The governor of Washington, Jay Inslee, describes climate change as a “blowtorch over our state.”

By emitting millions of tons of greenhouse gases, industries around the world are contributing to the warming of the planet. Estimates from the World Meteorological Organization predict that a global temperature rise of 1.5 C will cause extreme changes in weather such as floods, storms and heat waves which inevitably cause more deaths. The oddities have already begun, ranging from the Australian bushfires that lasted seven months to green-colored snow in Antarctica caused by algae blooms. Scientists indicate that these are just mere forewarnings of what is about to come in the next decade. Should we not contribute to climate reform, there will be irreparable damage caused to an already unstable Earth, they warned.

The Atlantic Basin Experiences a Record-Breaking Hurricane Season

By Abby Wester ’22

Staff Writer

Hanna. Isaias. Laura. These are the names of a few of the destructive hurricanes that we have already experienced in the Atlantic basin this year. The Atlantic basin consists of the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Every year, from late summer to early autumn, this region experiences tropical storms reaching from the Caribbean Islands to the U.S. Coastal Gulf and up to the East Coast. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2020 has already been a record-setting active season. 

The Atlantic hurricane season officially lasts from June 1 to Nov. 30. Storms are only named when they develop from a tropical depression to a tropical storm, which can then develop into a hurricane. An average hurricane season in the Atlantic basin produces 12 named storms, with six developing into hurricanes, and three of those becoming major hurricanes. Already in the 2020 season we have seen 20 tropical storms, seven of which developed into hurricanes. 

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, hurricanes in the North Atlantic have become more intense since 1970. There is some confidence among scientists that this is related to climate change. However, scientists have not predicted that climate change will increase the number of hurricanes, which is what we are seeing in the Atlantic basin this season.

Although science has not proven that climate change is contributing to the number of hurricanes, Professor of Geography Thomas Millette reasoned that “since the earth is getting dramatically warmer, it makes perfect sense that we are getting both higher frequency and intensity of storms.” He explained that hurricanes “are one of the atmosphere's mechanisms to globally redistribute energy from areas of high concentrations to areas of lower concentration.” 

Climate change is resulting in higher temperature, and according to Millette, “more heat and more water vapor in areas of tropical storm development are the key ingredients for stronger hurricanes. Climate warming in these source areas will likely lead to increasingly stronger hurricanes.”

While the hurricane season continues to rage on in the Atlantic basin, human activity that leads to warming, such as burning fossil fuels, has not ceased. As long as human activity continues to warm the Earth, we are bound to see environmental change. In the opinion of Professor Millette, “unless we find ways to reduce warming in the source areas for tropical storm development, we are likely to see increases in both frequency and intensity of tropical storms and hurricanes in the very near future and long term as well.”

Climate Activism Takes an Online Shape During COVID-19

by Helen Gloege ’23

Staff Writer

Staying home as a result of the pandemic does not mean staying silent about injustices. It has been nearly a year since the youth-led global climate strikes on Sept. 20 and much has changed. Climate strikes planned throughout the pandemic have been canceled, but the movement hasn’t disappeared.

With the upcoming Nov. 3 election in the United States, networks of youth climate activists have been regrouping with a focus on election campaigning through socially distanced methods including phone banks, social media and organizing. The larger youth-led Sunrise Movement in particular has been training young activists to canvass for candidates who are proponents of renewable energy.

For some activist groups, there has been a step back from demonstrations, strikes and protests and toward education on climate and those involved in climate activism. Website and Instagram account 1 Million Activist Stories showcases stories of various climate activists from around the world. On Sept. 22, the book “All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis” will be released. The book is a collection of women climate leaders from 60 contributors including youth climate activist Xiye Bastida and Hadley-based researcher Susanne C. Moser. 

The Re-Earth Initiative is an international youth-led organization that aims to make the climate movement more accessible. The organization’s first action was a global digital protest that occurred on Earth Day of this year and asked participants to make two climate pledges, one individual and one systemic. They then presented activities, toolkits, webinars and more to allow people to accomplish their goals. 

The Initiative’s most recent action has involved launching an open letter urging Latin American and Caribbean governments to sign and/or ratify the Escazú Agreement, which is the first legally binding environmental human rights treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean. The agreement secures rights including access to information and participation and provides legal provisions to protect the rights of defenders of the environment who face persecution and murder.

The #FridaysForFuture movement began in August 2018 after Greta Thunberg and other young activists sat in front of the Swedish parliament every school day for three weeks to protest against the lack of action on the climate crisis. Soon the movement went viral and now it is a worldwide phenomenon. The movement was partly digital before the pandemic and has continued in that direction. The #ClimateStrikeOnline action is another online movement where people are asked to post selfies from home with protest signs. Additional actions have included joining others across the world in mass calls, tweets and mass email campaigns. 

This semester, Mount Holyoke students are scattered across the world. However, similar to global movements, this hasn’t stopped the organizing and activism of various environmental student organizations. Sunrise South Hadley and the Climate Justice Coalition are attempting to get around the hurdles and difficulties of online activism while the Student Government Association works toward the establishment of a sustainability commission.   

“There is not a lot we can do collectively when we are so far apart,” Emma Sullivan ’22, a Sunrise South Hadley organizer, said. However, they are still finding ways to be active while online. Sunrise South Hadley hasn’t yet gotten into the swing of normal meetings but some of the members are currently focused on phone banking in tandem with the national Sunrise Movement for various supporters of the Green New Deal.

 Sunrise Movement and Sunrise South Hadley are currently putting all efforts into getting as many Green New Deal champions and progressives into Congress and voting President Donald Trump out of office. Sunrise Movement is also supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and has partnered with The Movement For Black Lives. Sunrise Movement has encouraged its members to follow Black organizers and leaders, to address white supremacy and support Black-led groups.

The Climate Justice Coalition has kicked off the semester with a goal for action despite the restrictions of COVID-19 and the need to work on a virtual platform. The CJC hopes to continue creating a welcoming and supportive environment for new and returning members to foster a sense of community. 

“We hope to make actions this semester accessible to everyone,” said Kayla Fennel ’22, a CJC member. These actions include continuing to push for divestment through outreach to students and alums on social media and other platforms. They intend to turn theory into practice with various ideas, goals and tangible steps to support environmental justice. As an organization, they hope to make this semester one of the continued actions despite being apart. The CJC is listed on Embark, the virtual platform for student organizations this semester.

Also at Mount Holyoke, SGA is in the midst of their annual recruitment process and is working on a restructuring of student senate as part of last year's constitutional review. As part of their reconfiguration, they will be exchanging working groups for commissions, which will research various courses of action for SGA. While the commissions are not yet in effect, one focusing on environmental issues and the College’s pledge for sustainability is expected to be formed.

New Book Helps Identify Credible Peer Reviewed Journals

By Zoe Greenberg ’23

Staff Writer

Common guidance for researching scientific information on the internet is to avoid social media, be wary of news coverage and only trust studies published in peer-reviewed journals. However, while the peer review system increases the likelihood that information presented in studies will be accurate, peer-reviewed journals should not be considered infallible sources of information. The peer-review process is indeed flawed and allows for mistakes. 

This is the premise of social psychologist Stuart Ritchie’s recently published book, “Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth.” Over the course of the book, Ritchie reveals that inaccurate scientific findings, such as falsified data and misleading statistics, routinely make it into peer-reviewed journals. 

According to Ritchie and several other researchers who have documented corruption in the scientific community over the years, studies cannot be assumed to be credible simply because they were published in a peer-reviewed journal. When reading any scientific studies, readers should be wary of possible misinformation, whether or not an article has been peer-reviewed. 

The first piece of advice Ritchie gives for accessing the accuracy of a paper is to look at the reputability of the authors’ employers and the outlet the study is published in. If a website looks unprofessional, it may be one of the many untrustworthy journals that exist online. Reputability alone is not proof enough, however — several well-known researchers and publications have been caught publishing false information. 

Readers should also look for proof that participants registered to participate in a study, and for the data collected for the study. Ritchie recommends considering the sample size, as it is easier for researchers to claim that small effects are significant when pulling from a small pool. Larger sample sizes can increase the statistical validity of a study. 

We should also think about both statistical significance and how the study stacks up against other established research, Ritchie says. If a study is so groundbreaking it seems implausible, that may be a sign that it should not be trusted. 

As another metric, Ritchie recommends paying attention to the language used in a study. For example, researchers should only conclude causation if the study is an experiment. The most researchers can conclude from observational studies is a correlation; therefore, Ritchie says, a scientist who claims causation in an observational study is incorrect. 

Other clues found in the language of a study may allude to bias, such as words that exaggerate the findings. Bias also can be detected by looking into the funding behind the study, to see if a social or political group might benefit from the results.  

How plausible findings are — especially in studies that use human participants — and whether the study has been replicated by other researchers are two other metrics that Ritchie recommends readers use to measure the trustworthiness of studies. He suggests looking in news publications for quotes from third party scientists who have weighed in on the research and whether their judgment tends to be positive or negative.

Students and faculty at Mount Holyoke College depend on online scientific information for their own research. The Mount Holyoke News Health and Science section is committed to providing advice on how the community can assess the accuracy of research in addition to practicing these principles in our efforts to provide the most reliable information on the latest health and science news.

Museums, Anthropology and Social Understanding in the Time of COVID-19

Photo by Lily Reavis ‘21

By Anoushka Kuswaha ’24

Health & Science Writer

In the face of COVID-19, museums have had to adapt to the challenges that the virus presents, like every other institution or business. Museums in Europe and North America were quickly able to create a digital presence for themselves on the internet toward the beginning of the pandemic. In the digital museum era, viewers are able to see a larger showcase of individualism. Many museums highlighted their curators and conservationists, as well as the artists that provide their content. Mount Holyoke’s art museum, for example, is highlighting the input of its students, employees, and alumni. 

Currently, the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum (MHCAM) is highlighting the work of alumna Joan Jonas ’58 and artist Bisa Butler, with a spotlight specifically on the museum’s recent acquisition of her portrait quilt, “Broom Jumpers” (2019). The museum, like many of its kind around the globe, has created virtual recreations of its exhibitions. Others currently utilizing the same virtual model include the Musée du Louvre in Paris and the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid. 

In addition to the creation of these virtual exhibitions on their websites, museums are using social media to continue their work at this time. Some have created prompts for their followers, the most well known being the Getty Museum’s challenge, which asks self-isolators to recreate one of the many paintings in its collection. Upon the museum’s announcement of this online challenge, bored art enthusiasts flooded social media threads with their own at-home interpretations. In the U.K., self-described “museum-weirdos” are creating and posting videos about their favorite art pieces and museums with the hashtag #MuseumAtHome. Their goal is to keep the love for museums alive while they are not accessible to the public due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Museum of Digital Art in Zürich, Switzerland — this writer’s city of residence — is hosting a variety of classes with creative contributors for all ages through live streaming. Close to Mount Holyoke, the National Museum of African American History and Culture documented and collected artifacts from the current Black Lives Matter protests. 

Despite the many inventive ways that museums have gone digital this year, the inaccessibility of technology was made apparent just as quickly as these digital presences became known. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s reports on museums found that only 5 percent of African and Small Island Developing States were able to create and maintain a virtual presence that is comparable to those presented by North American and European museums. In this same report, it is stated that more than 10 percent of museums will never reopen after this period of closure. 

Museums are intrinsically linked to scholarly work and the knowledge of diverse cultures, religions, and societies. They spark inspiration and dialogue, as they hold tangible links to the past. In the time of COVID-19, where human volatility and differences are becoming more and more apparent, the knowledge and appreciation of cultures different from one’s own has become even more important. 

This year, museums around the world have taken on a second and perhaps more important role as conservationists. Using the internet and social media, museums have begun collecting, documenting, and disseminating information about the virus and its impact on current and future generations. An example of this is the Museum Europäischer Kulturen located in Berlin, Germany. The MEK is using the hashtag #CollectingCorona on social media to collect videos, writings, photos, and art in any language, asking people all around the world how the pandemic has impacted their lives, their jobs, their mental health, and their families. All of this media will be compiled for a future exhibition at the MEK. In Sweden and Norway, a website called Minnen, or “Memories,” has been created for the purpose of collecting stories from around the world that document the human experience with COVID-19. 

Museum curators using social media currently have the opportunity to hear firsthand accounts from residents of all corners of the world. A small business owner sends in a poem. An autistic student describes his experience with homeschooling. A schoolboy describes the different social media that he uses throughout the morning and how he prepares his breakfast. A six-year-old girl questions how her mother told her to eat eggs to boost her immune system. 

As havens of anthropology, museums are markers for the level of civilization we have achieved as a collective human society. Their work in the time of the coronavirus pandemic serves as a reminder to generations in the present and the future of humanity’s hope, whimsy, courage, hate, and appreciation for the world around us. 

Weekly Climate News

Updates for September 10th

• A record-setting heat wave swept through Southern California reaching a high of 121 F. The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning on Sunday, Sept. 6 for areas in Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. 

• California is grappling with an unprecedented wildfire season made worse by the historic heatwave. Over the Labor Day weekend, about 200 hikers in the Sierra Nevada National Forest trapped by the spreading flames had to be airlifted out by helicopters. 

• The heatwave and wildfires in the West, a massive derecho in the Midwest and the record-breaking 2020 hurricane season illustrate an extreme climate future. Read about the connection between these weather events and climate change here. 

• The European Environment Agency confirmed on Tuesday, Sept. 8 that environmental factors such as air pollution and heatwaves worsened by climate change contribute to around 13 percent of all deaths in Europe. 

• Ministers from 11 African countries met virtually on Monday, Sept. 7 to discuss progress on implementing the Great Green Wall, an initiative to develop a 15-kilometer-wide and 8,000-kilometer-long vegetation strip across Africa said to be integral in coronavirus recovery. 

• Oil refineries in the Louisiana petrochemical industry have been impacted by recent hurricanes, dumping harmful substances into the environment and disproportionately impacting communities of color.

• EPA relaxes standards that limit toxic waste and regulate wastewater from coal-fired power plants. Environmental groups claim this makes rivers and streams more vulnerable to contamination by corrosive pollutants like lead, selenium and arsenic. 

• Communities permanently affected by environmental damage or economic disinvestment are known as “sacrifice zones.” Read this article about how these areas are currently on the front lines of both climate change and the global pandemic.

• Read about these organizations which are helping the youth of color enjoy the outdoors in the middle of the global pandemic. 

• In Ottawa, Canada, farming techniques that reduce greenhouse gas emissions are being developed.