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Flint, Michigan, declares state of emergency over lead poisoning. -
After the city started using the Flint River as a water source in 2014, the proportion of children with dangerous levels of lead in their blood almost doubled. Mayor Karen Weaver is calling the situation a “manmade disaster” and asking the federal government to help the city deal with the public health consequences. Washington Post
A North Carolina town puts moratorium on solar farms for, um, interesting reasons. -
Citizens of Woodland (population: 809) are worried that installing solar panels could cause cancer and “suck up all the energy from the sun.” Hmmm, methinks there might be enough sunlight to go around (at least for the time being). Grist
The largest health risk is from working in the garden, or playing in the garden.
Joshua Cheng, co-founder of the Urban Soil Institute, on a study he led that found that 97 percent of gardens tested in New York City are in need of remediation due to contamination with heavy metals, such as lead.
India still plans to double its coal output by 2020. -
Just two days after 195 countries adopted a landmark climate accord, a senior official said that while the country also plans to add 30 times more solar capacity by 2022, the world’s third-largest carbon emitter will continue to rely on the dirty fuel for decades to come. Reuters
Watch the moment when the new, universal #ParisAgreement was adopted at #COP21 pic.twitter.com/b3F6p0KBWi
— UN Climate Action (@UNFCCC) December 12, 2015
I am urging and appealing to all the state parties to take the final decision for humanity.
—UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, speaking at COP21 today, asked negotiators to set aside their national interests and come together to reach an agreement. Ban called the talks the “most complicated, most difficult” he has ever attended.