ICYMI: Joyriding Bear, Eco-Trump & Mississippi Bans Veggie Burgers

A weekly roundup for busy people

By Paul Rauber

Illustrations by Peter Arkle

July 11, 2019

A bear in Colorado goes for a joyride in a Subaru, crashing it into a tree.

A gray wolf is sighted in Colorado for only the second time since they were extirpated in the 1940s.

President Trump touts his “environmental leadership.” Really. On the same day, four inches of rain falls on Washington, DC, in one hour.

The temperature in Anchorage, Alaska, on July 4 hits 90ºF, a record. A growing industry in Alaska is refreezing melting permafrost so that oil-drilling operations can continue.  

Ecuador opens a new area of Yasuni National Park to oil drilling. The area abuts the Intangible Zone, home to two uncontacted tribes. 

At a former oil worker “man camp” in Carrizo Springs, Texas, 225 migrant children are being held. There are plans to expand the facility to hold 1,300 kids

France will tax air travel to finance improvements in rail and other low-carbon transportation. 

The giant confinement structure over the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Ukraine, meant to contain radioactive debris from the 1996 nuclear accident there, has been completed

Pollution from China’s industrialization has reduced its solar-power-generation capability by 13 percent. 

Bats in California are found to carry the fungus that causes deadly white-nose syndrome. 

The California Coastal Commission orders wealthy owners of beachfront properties in Newport Beach to remove the lawns, patio furniture, and other landscaping they had installed on the public beach.

All 21 public beaches on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast have been closed due to a massive bloom of blue-green algae.

Mississippi forbids the use of terms like “veggie burger” and “vegan hot dog” for meat-substitute products.