The Drain is a weekly roundup of the good, the bad, and the most fascinating environmental news.
The Drain is a newsletter for people who want to follow climate developments without drowning in the flood zone of misinformation. The Drain is compiled and reported by Evan George with input from UCLA Law experts.
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Evan George is the Communications Director for the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law. He’s a writer, editor, content strategist and veteran journalist with a passion for addressing the climate crisis through research, policy and storytelling.
Previously, Evan was the News Director at KCRW – the flagship NPR member station in Los Angeles – and an editor at the Daily Journal.
Why Does Misinformation Follow Extreme Weather?
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
Nowadays when an extreme weather event strikes in America, what follows is a secondary emergency in the form of misinformation on social media. We’ve seen it play out after floods and heat waves, but this phenomenon really goes into overdrive after hurricanes and wildfires. A recent report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate looked at why this happens and concludes that Meta, X, and YouTube helped spread misleading information after Hurricanes Helene and...
CONTINUE READINGThe Energy Secretary Pushes Pseudoscience
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
Remember alternative facts? That catch phrase from Season 1, Episode 1 where Trump officials lied about the size of his inauguration crowd has now metastasized into a governing philosophy for how federal agencies plan to ignore, and ultimately exacerbate, the climate crisis. Trump 2.0 is pushing alternative science. Late last month, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and the Energy Department rushed a report called "Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emission...
CONTINUE READINGChina is Kicking Our Ass at Our Own Game
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
The first time I saw a Chinese-made EV on the road I was walking on a crowded sidewalk in São Paulo. It was a Saturday night this May, when the whole city seemed to be out enjoying the warm weather. A street rave took over an entire block so to keep moving, we pedestrians had to squeeze past street vendors and weave through cars that were idling in driveways. That’s why I was close enough to the car’s bumper that I could make out the “Build Your Dreams” logo...
CONTINUE READINGWorld’s Biggest Court Opinion on Climate
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
For more than 24 hours last week, my social media feeds were a wall of jubilant reaction to the World Court’s big climate opinion. People who work on, and care about, the climate crisis needed some good news, clearly. That begs the question, is the advisory opinion really as big a deal as people wanted to believe? “Without a doubt. It is a huge step forward," UCLA Law Professor Kate Mackintosh told me in an email. Mackintosh is the Executive Director of the UC...
CONTINUE READINGWhy Did Congress Defund Public Media?
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
We just witnessed the untimely death of a 57-year-old American institution that has made life better for just about everyone. President Lyndon Johnson announced the creation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in 1967 to “assist stations and producers who aim for the best in broadcasting good music, in broadcasting exciting plays, and in broadcasting reports on the whole fascinating range of human activity.” This new organization, Johnson told the count...
CONTINUE READINGWhat does ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ Mean in California?
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
A court fight over oil drilling off the coast of Refugio State Beach near Santa Barbara. Proposals to drill around public schools in Ojai and Los Osos. The potential for oil operations directly adjacent to popular national monuments. New risks to our ecosystems that sustain imperiled species like the California condor. This is what “Drill, Baby, Drill” looks like so far in California and action is coming this week. Welcome to The Drain, a weekly roundup of en...
CONTINUE READINGWhy is EPA at War with Its Own Employees?
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
While many of us prepared to celebrate Independence Day last week, a group of employees from the Environmental Protection Agency were bravely speaking out about what they see as their boss “recklessly undermining the EPA mission” of protecting human health and the environment. In a now-infamous letter sent to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, hundreds of current and former employees outlined five main concerns about the agency's direction (undermining public trust...
CONTINUE READINGThe “Big Beautiful Bill” is One Damn Dirty Deal
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
My family is about to take a road trip. Out our window we will see beaches, lakes, and a whole lot of public land that would be eligible to be sold off to developers and corporations under the recent version of a budget bill that Republicans want to rush through this week. Welcome to The Drain, a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news. Subscribe to the newsletter here. There are many unpopular ideas in the Republicans’ mega bill, known officially a...
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