This week:
Things feel pretty out of control. Get used to it.
Plus: The Canadian West is burning, Oregon bans PFAS, ChatGPT plugins for everyone, the All We Can Save project is hiring, and more
Here's What You Can Do:
- ā”ļøWildfire smoke exposure is directly linked to myriad health impacts due to poor air quality. Know your daily risk by using this Purple Air outdoor air monitor.
- ā”ļøWe need to heal ourselves to heal the planet. Find resources and community to help with your climate anxiety through the Climate Mental Health Network.
- ā”ļøAct locally. Use ReFED to find current food waste policies and programs you can learn from and implement in your town.
- ā”ļøWork in local government? Biobot Analytics provides wastewater testing tools so we can better estimate the number of COVID-19 (and other diseases) infections in the community
News Roundup
Health & Medicine
- These are the cities withĀ most bike deathsĀ per capita (I share news like this to illustrate where we can make drastic improvements)
- Not to be outdone, the South Carolina House passed aĀ six-weekĀ abortion ban
- UnitedHealthcare wants doctors to get prior authorization for colonoscopies.Ā People are very pissed off.
- Where AmericanĀ air pollutionĀ is improving, and getting worse
Climate
- Our friends at theĀ All We Can SaveĀ project are hiring a Programs & Community Manager ā detailsĀ here!
- CouldĀ enormous robotsĀ dramatically speed up solar farm construction? Sure!
- How can weĀ restore oyster reefsĀ without oyster shells?
- Octopus EnergyĀ continues to be a model forā¦everyone else
- The Canadian westĀ continues to burn, and climate change is a big reason why
Food & Water
- OregonĀ bannedĀ PFAS (forever chemicals) in food containers
- How plant-based food makers canĀ fight backĀ against meat and dairy disinformation
- If growing one almondĀ requiresĀ 3.2 gallons of water out west, how do we reconcile that?
- The women working forĀ food sovereigntyĀ on island territories
- Undercover audio of a Tyson employee revealsĀ āfree-rangeāĀ chicken is bullshit (more onĀ humanewashing)
Beep Boop
- OpenAI rolled out ChatGPTĀ pluginsĀ to everyone, should be fine
- RansomwareĀ hackersĀ are zeroing in (again) on under-resourced cities and towns
- The Supreme Court ruled Twitter and GoogleĀ arenāt legally liableĀ for terrorists using their platforms
COVID
- This isnāt COVID-specific (I wrote thatĀ big updateĀ last week), but it could be monumental, if we do the work: the CDC released a new health-based indoor air ventilationĀ target, and the the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers released its own enhanced ventilationĀ standard.
- Hereās Joseph G. Allen onĀ why it could be a game-changer.
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