Supreme Court killed wetlands protection, so states are now scrambling to fill void

This winter, millions of acres of wetlands lost federal protection after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Clean Water Act, and some states are trying to make up the difference. However, permitting programs and the resources and workers needed for enforcement have proven costly.

In December, SCOTUS stripped federal oversight of wetlands in “Sackett v. EPA.”

Marla Stelk, director of the National Association of Wetland Managers, told Stateline news service, “States and tribes already didn’t have enough funding to support the programs they have, and now they are being put in a position where they need to step up.”

Wetlands are vital for filtering pollution and nutrient runoff. They also absorb stormwater, help to recharge aquifers and provide essential habitat for many species. When wetland areas are lost, communities may see more flooding or droughts, and may require expensive treatment plants to make water safe to drink.

The loss of federal rules means that more than half of the nation’s 118 million acres of wetlands are mostly unregulated.

In Illinois, lawmakers want a law to protect wetlands from development and pollution, but Indiana passed a law that rolls back wetlands regulations. So that means water flowing into the Wabash River from the west could have different standards than its watershed on the east.

‘Enormous’ health risks on new factory farms needs immediate moratorium: study

There should be a moratorium on building or expanding poultry and pig farms because of the high risk of zoonotic disease, say scientists writing in Frontiers in Veterinary Science.

Zoonotic diseases are infectious diseases that can spread from animals to humans They were the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic, which killed an estimated 3 million people in 2020 alone. At the time, there was evidence that minks farmed for their fur in Denmark were contracting COVID and passing it to humans. In response to COVID outbreaks in more than 200 farms, Denmark killed 17 million minks.

“The disease risks to humans from industrialized intensive animal farming, and especially mixed swine and poultry farms, are enormous, and must not be understated,” the report says. “The authors therefore strongly discourage granting any planning applications for new or expanding industrialized intensive animal farms, especially poultry and pig farms or a mix thereof, and especially in areas with high existing concentrations of intensive animal farms.”

In addition to fur farms, factory farms (AKA Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) have been responsible for multiple zoonotic disease outbreaks, including the 1997 Bird Flu, 2009 Swine Flu, and 2020 Bird Flu. Commercial factory farms are breeding grounds for zoonotic diseases due to overcrowding, limited genetic diversity, compromised hygiene and elevated stress levels in animals.

Costs of disaster recovery causing victims to not renew flood insurance are far worse

Increasingly known for catastrophic wildfires and earthquakes, California has disastrous floods, too — as seen after the heavy rains this winter. In fact, 7 million Californians live in flood-prone areas, according to Grist news service. However, only about one in four homes in flood-prone areas are covered by flood insurance.

That lack of coverage could be devastating for thousands of homeowners — and governments that often help in such emergencies.

Recent floods are linked to “atmospheric rivers,” which can be up to 375 miles wide and carry the equivalent of two Amazon Rivers’ worth of water. A warmer atmosphere and ocean mean atmospheric rivers can pick up more water than usual crossing the ocean before dumping it on land.

Flood coverage — in addition to standard home insurance — is required for those getting federally backed mortgages in areas deemed “special hazard flood area” by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But FEMA and lenders don’t track compliance. So some homebuyers buy a flood policy when they get mortgages but fail to renew it. One FEMA study found that compliance with the requirement ranged between 43% in the Midwest and 88% in western states.

“This is a social justice issue,” said geomorphologist Jeffrey Mount with the Public Policy Institute of California. “The people who can least afford it usually get whacked.”