News Highlights
A quick review of top environmental news stories from the past 2 weeks

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Around the Nation

• New York Adopts Nation's Strongest Environmental Justice Law
• Biden-Harris Administration Invests $26 Million to Support a Modern, Reliable, and Resilient Energy Grid
• Menendez, Booker Announce $8.8M in Flood Mitigation Funding to Bergen County Utility
• President Biden's New Executive Order on Environmental Justice Broadly Expands
• New bill combats invasive species in local forests
•  New pollution limits proposed for US coal, gas power plants reflect 'urgency' of climate crisis
• 70+ US Lawmakers Demand EPA Boost Regulation of Microplastic Pollution
• This SC insect is an aggressive biter and among the world's worst invasive species 
• Supreme Court Rejects Efforts By Fossil Fuel Companies to Litigate Climate Change Issues
• White House to invest nearly $11 billion for renewable energy in rural areas
• Arizona's farms are running out of water, forcing farmers to confront climate change 
• The US's largest clean energy transmission project just hit a major milestone
• The Potomac Has Improved, But Forest Loss and Climate Change Remain Threats

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Global

• ​Qatar's plans for renewable energy 
• Baby steps: How to reduce plastic nappy waste
• Ocean Cleanup looks to halt flow of plastic trash from Indonesian river 
• Jakarta Is Sinking So Fast, It Could End Up Underwater
• Patagonia's underwater defense against climate change 
• Oil spills: Bayelsa cleanup to cost $12 billion
• Asia heatwave '30 times more likely' due to climate change 
• South Africa's Solar Market Outlook: A Bright Future for Renewable Energy and Economic Recovery
• Previewing the Second Round of Negotiations to Advance a Plastics Treaty
• Italy's deadly floods just latest example of climate change's all-or-nothing weather extremes
• Nylon and synthetic materials are fast becoming the second biggest ocean polluter after plastic
• In India, heat insurance offers climate change lifeline to poor women workers
• Spain Produced Enough Renewable Energy to Power Itself for 9 Hours
• Brazil to set tougher climate change target, sources say 

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Spotlight Analysis

• IPollen production could impact climate change by helping clouds form
• Snow, ponds, trees, and frogs: how environmental processes mediate climate change 
• Microplastics: The Snowflakes of the Plastic World
• Plastic waste and rocks form a chemical bond
• Interview: Pollen storm 
• With a zap of electricity, recyclable (and recycling) polymers can form
• How Climate Change and 'Heat Islands' are Killing Black People 

In New Jersey

• ​New Jersey Wildfire Season Began Earlier Than Normal
• Former DEP commissioner, assemblyman Robert Shinn dies
• Menendez, Booker Announce $8.8M in Flood Mitigation Funding to Bergen County Utility
• NJ developer fighting Branchburg's 'anti-warehousing action' in court
• A (smaller) fish story
• DEP hits its own with $266,000 fine
• Murphy Administration Awards $24 Million in Clean Communities Grants  
• New Jersey launches dashboard to track water infrastructure funding
• DEP Accepting Nominations Through July 21 to Honor Those With Extraordinary Commitment to Recycling
• Electric slo-mo
• Ørsted closer to catching the wind 
• How Much Water is 'Lost?' Greenstein Wants the State to Find Out
• Newark vows to go greener and cleaner by planting more trees
• DEP to Host May 24 Open House at Liberty State Park​

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Local

• ​Proposed Food Waste Program Would Start with Two Collection Sites
• Bear Sighting in Hamilton Prompts Animal Shelter to Share Safety Tips
• Morris County Launches 8th Year of Trail Construction Grants Program
• Silverton Open Space Bonding Approved In Toms River
• Tinton Falls Residents Concerned About Proposed Redevelopment Near Swimming River Wetlands
• Bio-Retention Systems Installed at 5 West Orange Schools Thanks to $10K Sustainable Jersey Grant
• Fund for Better Waterfront proposes 6-block greenway as alternative to Hoboken's North End plan
• Reading-Fleming Intermediate School Been Designated River-Friendly
• Refuge works to preserve local wildlife in Medford, New Jersey 
• Proposed Middletown ordinance would protect open space from development
• Hoboken Eyes Open Space Trust Fund Grants
• Madison to Celebrate Opening of New Accessible Trail at the Madison Recreation Complex
• County Commissioners at odds Over Preserving Last Farm in Lakewood
• Phillipsburg awarded $1.3 million toward Riverfront Heritage Trail
• Emergency beach repairs start in New Jersey shore town amid $33M legal fight
• Newark says e-bike and scooter rental program surpassed 1M trips 

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Opinion & Commentary

• ​Could a frozen ancient virus thawed by climate change cause the next pandemic? -
• Smoothing bumps for heat pumps
• How Big Oil is manipulating the way you think about climate change 
• The Gibbstown LNG Project Faced a Setback - Let's Stop It For Good
• Clean Cars will save lives in frontline communities across NJ. Here's how
• Could Plastic Recycling Facilities Be Contributing to the Microplastics Pollution Problem?
• Faster and faster: The pace of climate change keeps surprising us 
• How to manage flooding - SWU could be the answer

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The views expressed in these articles do not necessarily represent positions held by ANJEC.