Consumer prices in the U.S. rose a modest 2.9 percent in July from a year ago, as inflation rose gradually but slowly.

Friday’s Labor Department report showed the Consumer Price Index, a broad measure of Americans’ living expenses, increased two-tenths of a percentage point from the previous month. Core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy prices, rose at the same pace.

The main driver of inflation in July was higher housing costs. Food expenses increased slightly, while energy, medical care and clothing prices fell modestly.

The data showed that prices were rising a little faster than wages, leaving the buying power of paychecks one-tenth of a percentage point lower today than a year ago, despite an otherwise healthy economy.

Inflation increases and wage declines in the past 12 months can be blamed on higher oil, gasoline and transportation costs, which had remained at relatively low levels for the previous six years.

Keeping inflation in check is the job of the Federal Reserve, the central bank system of the U.S. It tries to do that by raising interest rates, which makes it more expensive to borrow money and tends to cool economic activity. Lower levels of commerce tend to reduce the pressure to raise prices and wages that fuel inflation.

The Fed already has raised interest rates twice this year, and many economists expect two more interest rate hikes this year. Higher borrowing costs, however, would make it more difficult for the economy to sustain the 3 percent growth rate President Donald Trump promised to voters.
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From: MeNeedIt

Some 400 years ago, English explorer Captain John Smith traveled around the Chesapeake Bay in the eastern United States, the country’s largest estuary. Smith mapped about 4,800 kilometers of the bay and nearby rivers. Now, 11 of those rivers can be seen in an entirely new way through a unique virtual online tour. VOA’s Deborah Block got on board a small raft in the Patuxent River loaded with camera and computer equipment to find out how it is done.
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From: MeNeedIt

Some 400 years ago, English explorer Captain John Smith traveled around the Chesapeake Bay in the eastern United States, the country’s largest estuary. Smith mapped about 4,800 kilometers of the bay and nearby rivers. Now, 11 of those rivers can be seen in an entirely new way through a unique virtual online tour. VOA’s Deborah Block got on board a small raft in the Patuxent River loaded with camera and computer equipment to find out how it is done.
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From: MeNeedIt

Some 400 years ago, English explorer Captain John Smith traveled around the Chesapeake Bay in the eastern United States, the country’s largest estuary. Smith mapped about 4,800 kilometers of the bay and nearby rivers. Now, 11 of those rivers can be seen in an entirely new way through a unique virtual online tour. VOA’s Deborah Block got on board a small raft in the Patuxent River loaded with camera and computer equipment to find out how it is done.
…

From: MeNeedIt

Some 400 years ago, English explorer Captain John Smith traveled around the Chesapeake Bay in the eastern United States, the country’s largest estuary. Smith mapped about 4,800 kilometers of the bay and nearby rivers. Now, 11 of those rivers can be seen in an entirely new way through a unique virtual online tour. VOA’s Deborah Block got on board a small raft in the Patuxent River loaded with camera and computer equipment to find out how it is done.
…

From: MeNeedIt

Hugo Kohl has been interested in art and design since he was a child. In college, he studied finance but also took several jewelry-making classes to satisfy his curiosity about this form of art and the history behind it. Twenty-five years ago, Kohl turned his passion into a career. And over the years, as Faiza Elmasry tells us, he developed his own style of vintage jewelry using the same techniques as industrial revolution artisans at the end of the 18th century. Faith Lapidus narrates.
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From: MeNeedIt

Hugo Kohl has been interested in art and design since he was a child. In college, he studied finance but also took several jewelry-making classes to satisfy his curiosity about this form of art and the history behind it. Twenty-five years ago, Kohl turned his passion into a career. And over the years, as Faiza Elmasry tells us, he developed his own style of vintage jewelry using the same techniques as industrial revolution artisans at the end of the 18th century. Faith Lapidus narrates.
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From: MeNeedIt

Brazil cut its greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation in 2017 to levels below its internationally agreed 2020 climate change targets, the country’s Environment Ministry said Thursday.

Brazil reduced its emission from deforestation in the Amazon rainforest by 610 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), compared to its 2020 target of 564 million tons. In the Cerrado savanna, emissions were reduced 170 million tons of carbon dioxide versus a target of 104 million tons.

The Amazon, the world’s largest tropical rainforest, and the Cerrado, South America’s biggest savanna, soak up vast amounts of carbon dioxide, and their preservation is seen as vital to the fight against climate change. 

But destruction of the forest releases large quantities of CO2, one of the main greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. Large-scale Amazon deforestation has made Brazil one of the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters, because of fires and the spread of agriculture and cattle ranching.

The 2020 emission goals were set out in the 2009 Copenhagen Accord to combat climate change. Under the more ambitious Paris Agreement in 2015 on climate change, Brazil has set goals for further steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions for 2025 and 2030.

“The policy message is that we can and should remain in the Paris Agreement (because) it is possible to effectively implement the commitments that have been made,” said Thiago Mendes, secretary of climate change in the Environment Ministry.
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From: MeNeedIt

Brazil cut its greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation in 2017 to levels below its internationally agreed 2020 climate change targets, the country’s Environment Ministry said Thursday.

Brazil reduced its emission from deforestation in the Amazon rainforest by 610 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), compared to its 2020 target of 564 million tons. In the Cerrado savanna, emissions were reduced 170 million tons of carbon dioxide versus a target of 104 million tons.

The Amazon, the world’s largest tropical rainforest, and the Cerrado, South America’s biggest savanna, soak up vast amounts of carbon dioxide, and their preservation is seen as vital to the fight against climate change. 

But destruction of the forest releases large quantities of CO2, one of the main greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. Large-scale Amazon deforestation has made Brazil one of the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters, because of fires and the spread of agriculture and cattle ranching.

The 2020 emission goals were set out in the 2009 Copenhagen Accord to combat climate change. Under the more ambitious Paris Agreement in 2015 on climate change, Brazil has set goals for further steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions for 2025 and 2030.

“The policy message is that we can and should remain in the Paris Agreement (because) it is possible to effectively implement the commitments that have been made,” said Thiago Mendes, secretary of climate change in the Environment Ministry.
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From: MeNeedIt

The head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is stepping down after a 14-month tenure in which the agency proposed broad changes to rules governing protections for thousands of species and pushed for more hunting and fishing on federal lands, officials said Thursday.

Greg Sheehan will leave the agency next week to return to his family and home in Utah, spokesman Gavin Shire said. He has led the wildlife service since last June as the senior political official appointed under President Donald Trump in a newly created deputy director position.

Under his tenure, the wildlife service moved recently to end a long-standing practice that automatically gave the same protections to threatened species as it gives more critically endangered species. The proposal also limits habitat safeguards meant to shield recovering species from harm and would require consideration of the economic impacts of protecting a species.

That’s alarmed wildlife advocates who fear a weakening of the Endangered Species Act, which has been used to save species as diverse as the bald eagle and the American alligator. The proposed changes were cheered by Republican lawmakers and others who say the endangered species law has been abused to block economic development and needs reform.

A request to interview Sheehan was declined.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke had sought to make Sheehan acting director of the 9,000-employee wildlife service, which would have given him certain legal authorities. However, Sheehan was barred from that role because he did not have the science degree required for the position under federal law, Shire said.

Vacancies at Interior

His departure comes amid a spate of vacancies at the Interior Department more than a year and a half after Trump took office. Those include the heads of the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and the assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks.

Before coming to the federal government, Sheehan worked for 25 years in Utah’s Division of Wildlife Resources, including five years as its director.

National Wildlife Federation President Collin O’Mara — who considers Sheehan a friend — said during his watch the service had done good work collaborating with state officials and conservation groups. But O’Mara said there needed to be less emphasis on removing regulations and more on making sure wildlife issues are considered, such as during decisions on energy development.

“Given the magnitude of the wildlife crisis, there’s always more that can be done,” O’Mara said.

Another conservation group, the Center for Biological Diversity, had a more critical response, saying Sheehan’s departure was “welcome news for America’s wildlife.”

“In just one year in office, he inflicted incredible harm on imperiled animals by consistently putting special interests ahead of science and the environment,” said Brett Hartl, the group’s government affairs director.

The Interior Department issued a statement saying Sheehan was “an incredible asset to the Interior team and was tremendous in helping Secretary Zinke expand access for hunting and fishing on over a quarter-million acres of public lands across the country.”

Deputy Operations Director Jim Kurth will lead the agency pending another appointment, Shire said.
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From: MeNeedIt

The head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is stepping down after a 14-month tenure in which the agency proposed broad changes to rules governing protections for thousands of species and pushed for more hunting and fishing on federal lands, officials said Thursday.

Greg Sheehan will leave the agency next week to return to his family and home in Utah, spokesman Gavin Shire said. He has led the wildlife service since last June as the senior political official appointed under President Donald Trump in a newly created deputy director position.

Under his tenure, the wildlife service moved recently to end a long-standing practice that automatically gave the same protections to threatened species as it gives more critically endangered species. The proposal also limits habitat safeguards meant to shield recovering species from harm and would require consideration of the economic impacts of protecting a species.

That’s alarmed wildlife advocates who fear a weakening of the Endangered Species Act, which has been used to save species as diverse as the bald eagle and the American alligator. The proposed changes were cheered by Republican lawmakers and others who say the endangered species law has been abused to block economic development and needs reform.

A request to interview Sheehan was declined.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke had sought to make Sheehan acting director of the 9,000-employee wildlife service, which would have given him certain legal authorities. However, Sheehan was barred from that role because he did not have the science degree required for the position under federal law, Shire said.

Vacancies at Interior

His departure comes amid a spate of vacancies at the Interior Department more than a year and a half after Trump took office. Those include the heads of the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and the assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks.

Before coming to the federal government, Sheehan worked for 25 years in Utah’s Division of Wildlife Resources, including five years as its director.

National Wildlife Federation President Collin O’Mara — who considers Sheehan a friend — said during his watch the service had done good work collaborating with state officials and conservation groups. But O’Mara said there needed to be less emphasis on removing regulations and more on making sure wildlife issues are considered, such as during decisions on energy development.

“Given the magnitude of the wildlife crisis, there’s always more that can be done,” O’Mara said.

Another conservation group, the Center for Biological Diversity, had a more critical response, saying Sheehan’s departure was “welcome news for America’s wildlife.”

“In just one year in office, he inflicted incredible harm on imperiled animals by consistently putting special interests ahead of science and the environment,” said Brett Hartl, the group’s government affairs director.

The Interior Department issued a statement saying Sheehan was “an incredible asset to the Interior team and was tremendous in helping Secretary Zinke expand access for hunting and fishing on over a quarter-million acres of public lands across the country.”

Deputy Operations Director Jim Kurth will lead the agency pending another appointment, Shire said.
…

From: MeNeedIt

A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration endangered public health when it overturned an Obama-era rule banning a dangerous pesticide.

In a 2-to-1 decision, the Seattle-based court gave the Environmental Protection Agency 60 days to pull chlorpyrifos from the market, one of the most widely used pesticides in the country.

The judges said the administration was unjustified in overturning the ban and ignored the science proving that residue of it on food is linked to brain damage in babies.

Former EPA chief Scott Pruitt reversed the Obama decision to extend an earlier ban on the product from general household use to its use on food.

Pruitt called it a return to “sound science” and a move away from “predetermined results.”

Dow Chemical, which manufactures chlorpyrifos, has in the past defended the pesticide as a product helping farmers feed the world while respecting “human health and the environment.”

“The court has made it clear that children’s health must come before powerful polluters,” the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Erik Olson said Thursday. “This is a victory for parents everywhere who want to feed their kids fruits and vegetables without fear it is harming their brains or poisoning communities.”
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From: MeNeedIt