The Destruction of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – Gary Griggs | Op-Ed

Global temperatures in 2024 were above the 1991-2020 average (red) across most of the planet. Yearly temperatures compared to the 20th-century average (bar chart) show that it has been 48 years since Earth had a cooler-than-average year (Courtesy of NOAA Climate.gov, based on data from NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information).

“Move fast and break things” is a catchphrase popularized by Mark Zuckerberg, suggesting that rapid innovation and progress are achieved by embracing experimentation and accepting that mistakes and failures are inevitable…While this approach may have benefits in the tech world, it is no way to run a nation, yet, sadly, this is what we are now experiencing in Washington, D.C., with the administration’s plans underway now to essentially destroy the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Erosion in Rodanthe: The Fight to Protect the Outer Banks” – the Outer Banks Voice

Collection of debris south of collapsed house site 02-10-2022 (courtesy of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, public domain, via Flickr).

Dare County has released an in-depth and informative video titled, “Erosion in Rodanthe: The Fight to Protect the Outer Banks,” highlighting the serious erosion issues facing the Village of Rodanthe on Hatteras Island, where rapid erosion and significant shoreline loss has led to 11 oceanfront homes collapsing into the Atlantic Ocean since May 2020…

California’s war on plastic bag use seems to have backfired. Lawmakers are trying again – the Los Angeles Times

Plastic Bags (by wastebusters CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 DEED via Flickr).

According to a report by the consumer advocacy group CALPIRG, 157,385 tons of plastic bag waste was discarded in California the year the law was passed. By 2022, however, the tonnage of discarded plastic bags had skyrocketed to 231,072 — a 47% jump…The problem, it turns out, was a section of the law that allowed grocery stores and large retailers to provide thicker, heavier-weight plastic bags to customers for the price of a dime….