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Puerto Rico community builds solar independence as 2025 hurricane season looms

Casa Pueblo's renewable energy network in Adjuntas powers critical infrastructure and saves lives during storms when the national grid fails.

By Kiara Alfonseca | Edited by Patricia GuadalupeIn the small mountainside town of Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, a self-sustaining community is no longer waiting for government officials to offer protection during the hurricane season.Solar panels top houses across the region, powering a school, a fire station, and homes for the elderly. On eight acres of farmland, a local organization roasts and sells coffee beans, houses artisan goods for sale, and hosts ecotourists throughout the year. Casa Pueblo — a group trying to break the region’s reliance on the U.S. — is to thank for the community’s growing energy independence.“We need collective salvation, and that model of dependency upon FEMA and the government is degenerating with time, but climate challenges are increasing the risk of potential consequences,” Arturo Massol-Deyá, the executive director of Casa Pueblo, told palabra.It’s an undeniable fact that haunts many Puerto Ricans as the hurricane season rolls in: The frequency and intensity of major storms are increasing due to climate change, says Jorge E. González-Cruz, a professor of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences at the University at Albany in New York.Casa Pueblo staff, Mennonite Central Committee staff, and Sol de la Montaña staff come together to install solar panels at a family home in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico, May 2024. This partnership hopes to support solar projects that provide energy security to vulnerable island families.Photo courtesy of Casa PuebloThis year’s predictions of above-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin are a grim reminder of the devastating storms that have left death and destruction in their path in seasons past. Hurricane María, the 2017 storm that led to more than 3,000 deaths in the region, was a wake-up call about the increasing impact of climate change and Puerto Rico’s ability to withstand it. And in the years since, storm after storm has cost millions of dollars in infrastructure damage and more lives lost for residents to reckon with when the clouds depart.The consequences of these storms have been magnified by Puerto Rico’s vulnerable power grid, which completely collapsed during María. Since then, island-wide blackouts have been a regular occurrence, even on days with sunny, clear skies. These power outages threaten lives, putting critical services like health care and emergency response at risk.This, combined with the uncertainty of FEMA funding and disaster relief under a Trump administration that has vowed to dismantle the agency, has Puerto Ricans on edge.Casa Pueblo’s solar energy powers a fire station.Photo courtesy of Casa PuebloGonzález-Cruz, who has spent years studying Puerto Rico’s electrical grid, says he’s seen major improvements in the grid’s reconstruction. However, if presented with another major storm — “God forbid,” he adds, and expects the recent work done to the grid will mitigate only some of the potential damage.It’s unclear whether Puerto Rico’s current infrastructure is ready for the next storm, but residents aren’t waiting around to find out.In Adjuntas, a growing chorus of residents has already found a savior in Casa Pueblo’s solar energy storage in past storms. Their energy storage allowed patients in need to access urgent medical care, like dialysis, during extreme weather events. One firefighter told Massol-Deyá that Casa Pueblo’s energy allowed first responders to receive a call about a woman stuck in the floodwaters in the neighboring city of Ponce. A working radio service or a solar-powered generator during a storm could be the difference between life and death. “We have to keep pushing,” said Massol-Deyá. “We have to do more and keep helping more people, because it’s not happening top down.”The Adjuntas town square surrounded by buildings with solar panels installed by Casa Pueblo.Photo courtesy of Casa PuebloFighting development Casa Pueblo’s success has inspired other communities to take action. On the southwestern side of the island in Cabo Rojo, the Institute for Socio-Ecological Research (ISER Caribe) has been hosting community conversations to establish a micro-grid of its own: “We know the importance of this type of infrastructure that is community-led for communities and managed and operated for communities,” institute co-founder Braulio Quintero tells palabra.“We have to decentralize power — not just electrical power, but the decision-making power.”The mission feels particularly urgent for a community facing massive change. The development of a 2,000-acre luxury resort residential area in Cabo Rojo has sparked protests and criticism about its threat to hundreds of acres of coastal forests and the species in them, the privatization of Puerto Rico’s beaches, and ongoing challenges against gentrification.“There are impacts of coastal development and how it affects coastal ecosystems and marine ecosystems, yet we see a government that is not accepting the realities of climate change and is proposing ineffective measures that will likely put people … in danger,” Quintero said, referring to recently proposed legislation that would allow development closer to the island’s shores.Marcha del Sol, organized by Casa Pueblo and other supporters, demanding energy independence in Adjuntas, 2019.Photo courtesy of Casa PuebloThe climate consequences on populated, highly developed regions are well-researched. Studies have shown that urbanization exacerbates climate impacts like flooding, high winds, erosion, and surface runoff, and intensifies heat.It’s a problem that residents in Santurce, an urban area right outside the capital city of San Juan, know well. It’s why the Coalition for the Restoration of Santurcean Ecosystems (CRES) is restoring the region’s native ecosystems. Their area is one of the most populated in Puerto Rico, slathered in concrete and dotted with hotels. This high level of development puts the region at risk of climate impacts, but research shows that trees and vegetation can act as natural barriers to mitigate these damages.CRES executive director Yvette Núñez Sepúlveda brings thousands of volunteers and students each year to restore natural barriers by planting flora and fauna throughout the coastal city and educating the community about the native plants that can withstand major storms.“It’s already documented how the Caribbean is the first area in the world to receive the drastic change of the climate, and we are also experimenting, as the first to receive this impact, how we can manage and restore, and mitigate all these impacts,” she said.Because of ongoing insecurity surrounding government funding for nonprofits, her team currently relies on donations and helping hands. But much like Casa Pueblo, financial sustainability is the next step toward building self-sufficiency.Part of this natural restoration is about creating gardens and plant nurseries where residents can produce food. Puerto Rico imports up to 90% of its food, and Sepúlveda hopes residents can begin to break the cycle of reliance on outside sources. “We believe in networks, human networks, human ecosystem networks. It’s important for us to have these conversations — and not just in Puerto Rico,” Sepúlveda mentioned. “We are trying to build this kind of network, so we can share stories as Caribbeans and also share with other parts of the world how we can help each other.”If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. 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New Mexico Governor Puts Finger on Scale in Oilfield Wastewater Vote

Gov. Lujan Grisham appears to push commission to overturn its recent ruling barring the use of produced water outside the oilfield. The post New Mexico Governor Puts Finger on Scale in Oilfield Wastewater Vote appeared first on .

This story was produced in partnership with SourceNM. The administration of New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham appears to have pressured members of the state Water Quality Control Commission to consider a petition reversing a rule the commission passed unanimously in May that banned fossil fuel wastewater from being used outside oilfield work and testing. The commission’s August meeting marked the first time in years that all four department secretaries on the panel had shown up at the same time, raising eyebrows. Those secretaries then led the push to support a new petition that would overturn a rule whose development entailed more than a year of hearings and scientific debate.   In a statement to SourceNM, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she “encouraged relevant cabinet secretaries to bring their expertise” to the proceedings. In an interview with Capital & Main and New Mexico PBS, James Kenney, the Environment Department secretary and a Water Quality Control Commissioner, said, “The governor did not explicitly ask us to all show up.” And recent reporting by the Santa Fe New Mexican reveals emails between the Governor’s Office, Kenney and other commissioners where they discussed pushing rules allowing wider use of oilfield wastewater “over the finish line.”  When reached by phone at a bluegrass festival in Winfield, Kansas, on Wednesday, Water Quality Control Commission Chair Bruce Thomson said he was unaware of the email exchanges with commissioners.  Thompson said he had not received any emails from the Governor’s Office and offered no comment when asked if he had concerns about the commission’s process.  Many who supported the original rule are livid with the apparent meddling, explicit or not. “They’re putting politics over scientifically based policy, and that’s illegal,” said Mariel Nanasi, executive director of the environmental group New Energy Economy. State statute requires commissioners to recuse themselves if their impartiality or fairness “may be reasonably questioned.” In a statement, Jodi McGinnis Porter, a spokesperson for Lujan Grisham’s office, said, “The administration’s position on water reuse has been public for months. Directing secretaries to attend required meetings rather than send staff does not violate any laws” “This is the oddest, most political rule making I’ve seen in 25 years,” said Tannis Fox, senior attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center. For nearly three decades she has worked on water issues while working in or alongside state government, including a five-year stint in the late 1990s as the legal counsel for the Water Quality Control Commission.  At the center of the debate lies oilfield wastewater — also known as produced water — which is toxic and possibly laced with chemicals that operators consider “trade secrets” and do not have to publicly identify. Projects like the New Mexico Produced Water Research Consortium have worked for years to perfect industrial-scale wastewater purification.  The Water, Access, Treatment and Reuse Alliance, which represents oil companies, wastewater treatment firms and other, unnamed parties, petitioned the committee to rewrite its ruling. It claimed the science of wastewater treatment had dramatically improved in the past year and the May ruling should therefore be rewritten. Environmental groups, which vigorously supported the original rule, say the rule should stand for its built-in five-year lifespan.  At the August meeting, the four secretaries — from the Office of the State Engineer, the Environment Department, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health — were joined by the director of the Game and Fish Department and the chair of the Soil and Water Conservation Commission. A representative from New Mexico Tech, another from the State Parks Division and four members at large rounded out the meeting. Led by Kenney, all but three voted to reverse course and proceed with the Water, Access, Treatment and Reuse Alliance petition to pursue using treated wastewater outside the oilfields. No future hearings on the matter are currently scheduled.  Kenney said, “It’s not uncommon for the cabinet to band together around a governor priority.” Water Quality Control Commission members James Kenney and Randolph Bayliss at a commission meeting on August 12 in Santa Fe. Photo: Danielle Prokop/Source NM. That priority is the governor’s 50-Year Water Action Plan, he said. Among many initiatives, it calls for the state to develop a legal path for broader use of oilfield wastewater by 2026. The Water Quality Control Commission’s May vote likely eliminated that possibility. “I just wish the administration would come out … and be upfront and transparent about what’s going on,” Fox said. Two things are likely going on. One: Lujan Grisham wants a new source of water for industrial uses in a state suffering through a historic drought. And two: The oil and gas industry has a growing problem with tightly regulated, toxic wastewater it can’t easily dispose of.  For years, Lujan Grisham and the industry have wanted to see one problem solve the other, with the wastewater cleaned and approved for use outside oilfield applications, currently the only legal use in New Mexico. That was a goal of the governor’s Strategic Water Supply, part of the 50-Year Water Action Plan. The supply creates a new water source for new businesses as the state’s freshwater supplies dwindle from climate change. The Strategic Water Supply bill originally included oilfield wastewater, but the state Legislature stripped out that language, leaving brackish aquifers deep underground as the sole source for new water. The Legislature balked in large part because oilfield wastewater is highly toxic, hard to clean and difficult to test. Debating the idea before the Water Quality Control Commission switched the forum from the legislative to the bureaucratic realm, where the number of people involved is smaller and  nearly all of them have been appointed by the governor. Kenney has been on the commission since 2019 but until recently sent a representative to the commission meetings in his stead. At his first meeting in July, he supported the petition to remake the wastewater rule, though five of his own Environment Department scientists had previously testified that treated oilfield wastewater could not be safely used elsewhere. When he attended the August meeting, his second, Kenney led the commission to a divided vote to proceed with the petition.  Kenney said that water treatment science had changed so much even before the commission’s May vote that the petition deserved to be considered. The May rule, he said, was guided by “2022 or earlier science” and the process didn’t allow for subsequent research to be admitted as evidence. Hearings do have cutoff dates after which new information generally can’t be introduced, to give commissioners a fixed set of information to ponder. “We couldn’t introduce new testimony,” he said. Fox disagreed. “Scientific materials were NOT limited to 2022 materials, and peer reviewed articles and other materials from 2023 and 2024 came into evidence,” she said in an email. “It was possible to introduce into evidence science up through May 2024,” she said in a subsequent phone call. Deliberations ran for a year beyond that. Fox acknowledged the technology to turn toxic brine into demonstrably safe water is “inching along.” Even so, “There hasn’t been some sort of earth-shattering [scientific] article that says, ‘Hey! We got this one! We got a silver bullet here!’”  Jennifer Bradfute, president of the Water, Access, Treatment and Reuse Alliance, disagrees. She said her group has a collection of recent scientific papers showing successful treatment of oilfield wastewater. During the August hearing, she held up as evidence a list of scientific papers she said she found on Google Scholar.  Fox later dismissed the list, saying, “Some are relevant, some are not relevant, but none are showing that discharge at scale is safe. It’s just a bunch of articles on produced water.” Pei Xu, a professor in the department of civil engineering at New Mexico State University and a lead researcher at the Produced Water Research Consortium, is at the bleeding edge of several scientific studies currently testing the safety of different water treatment and testing procedures for oilfield wastewater. In a detailed interview, she described current, unfinished studies quantifying any effects of treated water on small animals and plants. She also shared a half-dozen recent papers indicating successful treatment of oilfield wastewater. Xu said she is confident that wastewater can be treated to safe levels today. However, she said, “If everybody looks for the peer-reviewed publications, I think we still need some time, especially related to all these ongoing studies.” Peer review, the gold standard of scientific research, allows other scientists in the field to critique the work done. It’s a process that can take months after the research has finished.  In the end, Xu said that it’s not her decision to use treated water outside a testing laboratory — that rests with the state. “I will work on science, and then how they will utilize the data, it’ll be up to the regulators,” she said.  Kenney listens during public comment at the August Water Quality Control Commission meeting. The majority of commenters voiced opposition to efforts to expand the use of oil and gas wastewater. Photo: Danielle Prokop/Source NM. During the August hearing, commissioners asked Kenney if Environment Department scientists could validate the results of any new studies for the commission. Environment Department scientists had previously testified that research into wastewater purification technology had not advanced to a point that it was safe to use in large scale applications beyond the oilfield. “I suspect most of the commissioners do not feel they are technically qualified to determine whether the results that are presented by these … new papers and studies, if they are in fact truthful,” said Thomson, chair of the committee.  In fact, state law says, “The water quality control commission shall receive staff support from the department of environment.” At the commission meeting, however, Zachary Ogaz, general counsel for the Environment Department, said the department had “no obligation” to make its scientists available. And Kenney hedged, saying that department turnover means scientists would “need to get up to speed” in order to testify before the commission.  “While I think it’s important to have a regulator validate the science, I think it is the obligation of the parties to present testimony that can be verified and validated,” he said. On Sept. 4, Mariel Nanasi of New Energy Economy filed a motion requesting that the Water Quality Control Commission require the Water, Access, Treatment and Reuse Alliance to “disclose the scientific basis” relied on to develop its petition. On Sept. 19, Bradfute’s group responded, asking the commission to deny that motion, calling it an “extra-regulatory” requirement that should be addressed in a hearing. Even so, the response included a statement from a scientist working at a Texas-based wastewater treatment company outlining the last three years of water treatment science, concluding, “The use of treated produced water can occur in a manner that is protective of human health and the environment, provided treatment is robust, monitoring comprehensive, and regulatory safeguards enforced.” It went on to list 16 new and older papers on wastewater science. *   *   * Oilfield wastewater is a growing, expensive headache for oil and gas producers across the country, particularly in the Permian Basin — the nation’s most productive oilfield — which straddles Texas and New Mexico. Around five barrels of wastewater are produced for every barrel of oil in the Permian Basin, and the total has increased every year as the basin’s production has grown.  The water is highly saline and loaded with naturally occurring minerals as well as chemicals added in the drilling process. All of that eventually comes back up the well, mixed with the oil and gas. Sometimes the water is contaminated with naturally occurring radioactive minerals, too.  Neither the federal government nor New Mexico requires drillers to publicly list drilling chemicals considered “trade secrets,” so it’s not perfectly known what goes down and up a well. Colorado does require operators to disclose all chemicals used in fracking, but a recent study alleges that companies there don’t always do so. Chevron, one of the companies named in the study, is represented on the board of the Water, Access, Treatment and Reuse Alliance. (Since the report came out, Chevron has complied with the Colorado law.) The overarching issue is what to do with the produced water. A small percentage is lightly cleaned and reused to drill new wells — a process that uses millions of gallons per well. For years, companies have also injected the water back into the ground, but that triggers earthquakes and some spectacular leaks. New Mexico tallies how much wastewater is produced and how much is injected, but it doesn’t track how much is shipped to Texas for disposal. The problems continue there.  Wastewater ponds in the Permian Basin in southern New Mexico. Photo: Jerry Redfern. Aerial support provided by LightHawk. Recently, ConocoPhillips said it is producing less oil and more water than expected in a Texas field just south of the New Mexico state line because of wastewater contamination from nearby disposal wells. In a motion filed with the Texas Railroad Commission (the state’s main oil and gas regulatory body), ConocoPhillips opposed Pilot Water Solutions’ plan to drill an additional wastewater well in the area. The motion read, “Pilot is banking on increased regional need for disposal capacity resulting from wells producing waste in other Texas counties and New Mexico.” Last year, the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division cancelled 75 proposed wastewater wells along the same stretch of border due to increasingly frequent earthquakes. ConocoPhillips also has a board member at the Water, Access, Treatment and Reuse Alliance.  Bradfute, the alliance president, helped write New Mexico’s law on oil and gas wastewater that clarified who had oversight of the water and barred its use outside the oilfield. The law also created the New Mexico Produced Water Research Consortium to study how to clean and test produced water so it can eventually be used more broadly. Despite years of testing, however, the constantly shifting nature of what is in wastewater raises questions about the treated water’s safety, which is what led the Water Quality Control Commission to nix its broader use in May. Bradfute formed the Water, Access, Treatment and Reuse Alliance in September 2024, three weeks after final arguments were made in the commission’s original hearings. She said that timing is coincidental — the original impetus was to promote treating brackish and produced water in response to Gov. Lujan Grisham’s 50-Year Water Action Plan. Bradfute said there are about 25 members of the alliance, but she wouldn’t name them. “Some of my members have been pretty severely attacked by different interest groups as a result of the rulemaking,” she said. “There’s been false Instagram and TikTok videos that certain groups are putting out there definitely attacking individuals by name,” she continued. Stephen Aldridge, the mayor of tiny Jal, New Mexico, is an Alliance board member with a history of wrangling over water in his corner of the state. Joining was a quick decision for him. “If there’s a conversation on water in New Mexico, we want a seat at the table,” he said. Since becoming mayor eight years ago, Aldridge has tussled with a series of oil and water companies that wanted to tap the town’s aquifers for water to drill oil wells in the surrounding Permian Basin.  “Yeah, they don’t like me very much,” he said. “But hell, I’ve got two friends I’m not looking for anymore.” Besides, he said, “I’m damn sure an advocate for this community. That’s my job.” The work has secured the town water for the foreseeable future, but only just. Aldridge says that there isn’t any excess to promote new business growth. That’s why he has his eye on produced water. Truckloads of the stuff rumble through his town every day. “I’m not without my concerns, but I’m also inquisitive enough to want to see some pilot [projects] up and running, and I would think that others would be too,” he said. In particular he worries about the toxic remains from the water treatment process. Aldridge knows there would be a lot of it: Where would it go? He’s waited years, watching the water cleaning science improve. He thinks it will be safe, eventually. Meanwhile, “Let’s don’t hurt ourselves in the process of tripping over a dollar to pick up a dime,” he said. Key WATR Alliance Players The Water, Access, Treatment and Reuse Alliance includes several political and industry heavy-hitters:  John D’Antonio, a produced water consultant; former state engineer (the state’s top water bureaucrat) appointed by Lujan Grisham; also New Mexico Environment Department secretary under Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson Deanna Archuleta, a member of the Vogel Group lobbying and consulting firm; former Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist for Exxon-Mobil; and controversial appointee to head the state Game Commission by Lujan Grisham Jason Sandel, a friend and political donor to Lujan Grisham and the head of a Farmington-based oilfield services conglomerate Tiffany Polak, policy adviser for Occidental Petroleum; a former deputy director of the state’s Oil Conservation Division Kathy Ytuarte, the former director of administrative services at the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association A review of Lujan Grisham’s published calendars shows that alliance board members and representatives of companies publicly associated with the alliance have collectively visited the governor’s office 20 times since she took office in 2019. Copyright 2025 Capital & Main.

UN Climate Leader Urges Action to Match Promises at Climate Week NYC

By Katy Daigle and Simon JessopNEW YORK (Reuters) -Speakers at Climate Week NYC delivered a clear message to world leaders on Monday: the global...

By Katy Daigle and Simon JessopNEW YORK (Reuters) -Speakers at Climate Week NYC delivered a clear message to world leaders on Monday: the global energy transition is happening now and it's happening fast, at the event which brings together leaders, advocates and the U.N. General Assembly.The U.N.'s top climate official opened a morning session at the annual event by urging the world to turn promises into practical solutions.“This new era of climate action must be about bringing our process closer to the real economy,” said Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.The premier of Antigua and Barbuda urged wealthy counterparts to speed their efforts, with climate change having become an existential crisis for nations like his.“For small islands, it turns every storm into a fiscal catastrophe,” Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne said.LEADERS PRESSED TO SHOW CLIMATE PROGRESS EVEN AS AID IS CUTWorld leaders at the U.N. General Assembly this week will be pressed to show progress on climate, particularly after recent cutbacks in development aid as wealthy countries also juggle war and economic stability.G20 members Britain, Japan and Australia recently announced new climate plans, or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). More countries are expected to share their updates this week, including China."We now look to China, the world's top emitter, to fully commit to the Paris Agreement it helped craft by issuing an NDC that charts a credible path to that country’s goal of net zero before 2060," said John Podesta, former climate advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden."This means roughly a 30% emissions reduction, covering all greenhouse gases, by 2035, below peak 2024 levels, which new data demonstrates that they reached."BENEFITS OF CLEAN ENERGY BOOM 'NOT SHARED BY ALL'With the U.N. climate summit, COP30, in November, Stiell also took time to celebrate progress that has been made, noting that investment in renewables had increased tenfold in 10 years."The clean energy transition is booming across almost all major economies," he said, adding it hit $2 trillion last year."But this boom is uneven. Its vast benefits are not shared by all," Stiell said. "Meanwhile, climate disasters are hitting every economy and society harder each year. So we need to step it up fast."He also said a new global initiative called Build Clean Now would help to fast-track clean industry shifts.Also on Monday, an alliance working to boost renewables said it plans to spur $7.5 billion in investment toward green energy in developing countries, including India.CLIMATE CHANGE STILL A 'SYSTEMIC RISK' GLOBALLY"Despite political debate globally, varying regulations between markets, emerging de-regulation and reports of corporates deprioritizing ESG, climate change remains a critical systemic risk across the world," said Omar Ali, EY Global Financial Services Leader.A boost to joint decision-making came last week, after countries ratified the High Seas Treaty, which sets into motion the first legal framework for protecting the vast ocean areas that lie beyond any national jurisdiction. The treaty contains 75 points covering areas such as protecting, caring for and ensuring responsible use of marine resources, and includes a provision for requiring environmental impact assessments for economic activities in international waters.WWF International director general Kirsten Schuijt called it a "monumental achievement for ocean conservation" and "a positive catalyst for collaboration across international waters."(Reporting by Simon Jessop and Katy Daigle; Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici and Virginia Furness; Editing by Bernadette Baum)Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

New Study Shatters Long-Standing Myths About Primate Origins

Primates originated in cold environments, not the tropics. Their past adaptations reveal insights for conservation today. Many people picture our earliest primate ancestors moving through dense tropical forests, yet new evidence suggests they actually endured cold environments. As an ecologist who has spent years studying chimpanzees in Uganda and lemurs in Madagascar, I am deeply [...]

The first primates were about the size of a mouse lemur: tiny. Credit: Jason GilchristPrimates originated in cold environments, not the tropics. Their past adaptations reveal insights for conservation today. Many people picture our earliest primate ancestors moving through dense tropical forests, yet new evidence suggests they actually endured cold environments. As an ecologist who has spent years studying chimpanzees in Uganda and lemurs in Madagascar, I am deeply interested in the habitats that influenced our evolutionary history. These discoveries challenge long-held ideas about when and where our lineage first developed. Understanding the origins of human evolution is central to understanding ourselves. The same environmental pressures that shaped our ancestors continue to shape us today and will influence our future as well. Climate as a driver of evolution Climate has always played a critical role in determining which species thrive, which adapt, and which vanish. With global temperatures rising, insights from the past are more valuable than ever. A recent study led by Jorge Avaria-Llautureo at the University of Reading, along with colleagues, examined the geographic origins of primates and the climates of those ancient regions. The findings were unexpected: instead of emerging in warm, tropical habitats as previously assumed, the earliest primates appear to have lived in cold, arid environments. Teilhardina was one of the first primates. Credit: Mark Klingler, Carnegie Museum of Natural HistoryThese environmental challenges are likely to have been crucial in pushing our ancestors to adapt, evolve and spread to other regions. It took millions of years before primates colonized the tropics, the study shows. Warmer global temperatures don’t seem to have sped up the spread or evolution of primates into new species. However, rapid changes between dry and wet climates did drive evolutionary change. Earliest primates and their traits One of the earliest known primates was Teilhardina, a tiny tree dweller weighing just 28 grams – similar to the smallest primate alive today, Madame Berthae’s mouse lemur. Being so small, Teilhardina had to have a high-calorie diet of fruit, gum and insects. Fossils suggest Teilhardina differed from other mammals of the time as it had fingernails rather than claws, which helped it grasp branches and handle food – a key characteristic of primates to this day. Teilhardina appeared around 56 million years ago (about 10 million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs) and species dispersed rapidly from their origin in North America across Europe and China. It is easy to see why scientists had assumed primates evolved in warm and wet climates. Most primates today live in the tropics, and most primate fossils have been unearthed there too. Cold origins and surprising habitats But when the scientists behind the new study used fossil spore and pollen data from early primate fossil environs to predict the climate, they discovered that the locations were not tropical at the time. Primates actually originated in North America (again, going against what scientists had once believed, partly as there are no primates in North America today). Over 56 million years, primates have evolved into all sorts of shapes and sizes. Credit: Monkeys: Our Primate Family exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland/Jason GilchristSome primates even colonized Arctic regions. These early primates may have survived seasonally cold temperatures and a consequent lack of food by living much like species of mouse lemur and dwarf lemur do today: by slowing down their metabolism and even hibernating. Challenging and changeable conditions are likely to have favored primates that moved around a lot in search of food and better habitat. The primate species that are with us today are descended from these highly mobile ancestors. Those less able to move didn’t leave any descendants alive today. Lessons for conservation today The study demonstrates the value of studying extinct animals and the environment they lived in. If we are to conserve primate species today, we need to know how they are threatened and how they will react to those threats. Understanding the evolutionary response to climate change is crucial to conserving the world’s primates, and other species beyond. When their habitats are lost, often through deforestation, primates are prevented from moving freely. With smaller populations, restricted to smaller and less diverse areas, today’s primates lack the genetic diversity to adapt to changing environments. But we need more than knowledge and understanding to save the world’s primate species, we need political action and individual behavior change, to tackle bushmeat consumption – the main reason primates are hunted by humans – and reverse habitat loss and climate change. Otherwise, all primates are at risk of extinction, ourselves included. Reference: “The radiation and geographic expansion of primates through diverse climates” by Jorge Avaria-Llautureo, Thomas A. Püschel, Andrew Meade, Joanna Baker, Samuel L. Nicholson and Chris Venditti, 5 August 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2423833122 Adapted from an article originally published in The Conversation. Never miss a breakthrough: Join the SciTechDaily newsletter.

Ted Cruz claims without evidence that China is funding U.S. climate lawsuits

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz has said China is funding climate lawsuits against American oil and gas companies to weaken the U.S. He hasn't provided evidence to support the claim.

A firefighter battles the Canyon Fire in August in Hasley Canyon, Calif. As temperatures rise with human-caused climate change, wildfire risk is getting worse. (Marcio Jose Sanchez | AP)States and localities have filed waves of lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry to make energy companies pay for damages that communities face from climate change. Threatened with potentially huge financial penalties, industry and its supporters recently turned to the Supreme Court for help — without success. Now, Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican, has launched a new line of attack that could help industry by focusing on the money that’s allegedly behind the climate cases. At a June hearing on Capitol Hill, Cruz accused China of funding the lawsuits in order to cripple U.S. oil and gas producers and to strengthen Beijing’s position in global energy markets. If the community court cases succeed, Cruz said U.S. energy production would fall and prices would rise. “And the biggest winner in all of this: China, who’s paying the bills,” he said. However, Cruz’s office has not offered evidence that China or a China-linked nonprofit that Cruz identified by name has funded climate lawsuits in the United States. A spokesperson for Cruz, Macarena Martinez, provided NPR with a response from ChatGPT that reads, in part: “What’s not publicly demonstrated (so far) is a direct, documented grant-to-lawsuit pipeline.” Cruz’s unsubstantiated claim is part of a yearslong effort by the fossil-fuel industry and its allies to fight lawsuits that state and local governments have filed against oil and gas companies, according to environmental advocates and Democratic lawmakers. The litigation alleges that corporations misled the public for decades about the dangers of burning fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change. The lawsuits seek money to help communities cope with the risks and harms from global warming, including more extreme storms, floods and heat waves. For years, Republican lawmakers have probed the funding sources for America’s environmental movement. That scrutiny has focused more recently on climate litigation as cases proliferated around the country. This summer, a group of Republican state attorneys general called for a federal law to protect energy companies from “activist-funded climate lawsuits.” Ryan Meyers, general counsel for the American Petroleum Institute, a trade group for the oil and gas industry, said in a statement to NPR that the climate lawsuits are “baseless” and a “coordinated campaign” against energy companies. “Climate policy belongs in Congress,” Meyers said, “not a patchwork of courtrooms.” The American Petroleum Institute would not comment on the record about Cruz’s allegation that China is funding the lawsuits. John Chung-En Liu, an associate professor of sociology at National Taiwan University who has studied Chinese climate propaganda on social media, says framing U.S. climate litigation as a China-funded campaign is “an easy tactic” to whip up opposition. “China doesn’t have a very good name in Washington, D.C.,” Liu says, and Beijing does try to influence politics and public opinion globally on a range of issues. China’s embassy in Washington did not respond to messages seeking comment for this story. Sen. Ted Cruz departs a meeting with Senate Republicans in the U.S. Capitol in June. Cruz has claimed that China is funding climate lawsuits in the United States. His office has not offered evidence to support that allegation. (Al Drago/Getty Images | Getty Images North America)‘We should be very careful to actually know what’s real and what’s not’ The alleged funding scheme that Cruz described in June revolves around a nonprofit called Energy Foundation China. Headquartered in San Francisco with an office in Beijing, the group is led by a former official at China’s National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation. Last year, GOP lawmakers asked Energy Foundation China for documents related to its funding of U.S. organizations. At the Senate hearing this summer, Cruz said Energy Foundation China is “one of the primary vehicles” for an international alliance between “leftist billionaires, radical environmental organizations and the Chinese Communist Party.” “And this money isn’t going to tree-planting campaigns or to science fairs,” Cruz said. “It’s flowing directly to aggressive litigation outfits, like the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Rocky Mountain Institute and the World Resources Institute.” Energy Foundation China has given money to all three of those groups, according to tax filings. But Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, said at the June hearing that Cruz hadn’t provided evidence that the money was used to pay for U.S. lawsuits — as opposed to trying to cut climate pollution in China. “If it turns out that China is supporting lawsuits in the United States, that would be extremely troubling. And so I think we should be very careful to actually know what’s real and what’s not,” says Ilaria Mazzocco, a senior fellow who focuses on Chinese business and economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A spokesperson for the Rocky Mountain Institute, Adam Beitman, said in a statement to NPR that the nonprofit does not participate in litigation, and that all of the funding it has received from Energy Foundation China “is focused squarely on the energy transition inside of China.” A spokesperson for the World Resources Institute, Alison Cinnamond, said her organization does not participate in litigation, nor does it direct legal action by other groups. “WRI’s work in China focuses on issues like air quality, sustainable cities, energy efficiency, and resilience — areas that are essential for global well-being,” Cinnamond said in a statement. Michael Wall, the chief litigation officer for the Natural Resources Defense Council, says the nonprofit has used funding from Energy Foundation China exclusively for programs to cut climate pollution in China. In the U.S., NRDC has sued government agencies and corporations that have violated environmental laws, Wall says, and the nonprofit is defending state laws in New York and Vermont to force fossil fuel companies to help cover the costs of climate change. An executive at Energy Foundation China, Vance Wagner, said in a statement that the nonprofit is an independent organization that funds research and other initiatives to address climate change in China, which is the biggest source of heat-trapping pollution globally. Wagner said the group doesn’t fund or engage in activism, litigation or lobbying in any country. An oil pumpjack is seen near a field of wind turbines in Nolan, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images | Getty Images North America)Republican attorneys general want to shield energy companies from lawsuits Days before Cruz accused China of bankrolling the climate cases, more than a dozen Republican state attorneys general sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi asking the Justice Department to recommend federal legislation to give energy companies a “liability shield” to protect them from climate litigation. The Justice Department’s Office of Policy and Legislation is charged with developing legislative proposals, among other duties. Earlier this month, for example, the department sent Congress proposed legislation that would prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming care to children. In the letter to Bondi, the Republican attorneys general wrote that the legal protection they want to create for energy companies is similar to a 2005 law called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which generally shields gun manufacturers and dealers from civil lawsuits when firearms are used in criminal activity. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, a Republican who signed the letter to Bondi, then served as an expert witness at Cruz’s hearing about China. “I think that where Congress can be helpful in these [climate] cases is in getting to the bottom of where the money is coming from,” Kobach said at the hearing. Cruz’s allegation of Chinese funding was designed “to create political cover” for Congress to give fossil fuel companies legal immunity from climate litigation, says Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, which supports climate lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry by filing legal briefs and providing plaintiffs with documents. The Justice Department did not respond to messages seeking comment. So far, the climate lawsuits filed by states and localities have had mixed results. Some cases have been dismissed by judges who ruled that climate pollution is an issue for the federal government to deal with. But other lawsuits are moving toward trial. In January, the Supreme Court rejected an effort by oil and gas companies to block a climate lawsuit filed by Honolulu. And in March the justices turned down a request by Republican attorneys general to stop climate lawsuits filed by states including California, Connecticut, Minnesota and Rhode Island. “All these communities are asking is that the oil industry pay their fair share of the damages that they knowingly cause,” Wiles says. “It’s completely reasonable.” In a legal brief challenging a lawsuit that Boulder, Colorado filed against oil and gas companies, the Justice Department recently told the Supreme Court that allowing climate litigation to move forward in state courts exposes energy companies to billions of dollars in damages, as well as a confusing assortment of local regulations. Workers carry solar panels this spring to be installed in the desert in China’s northern Ningxia region. China is the world’s biggest producer of green technology, like solar panels and electric vehicles. (STR/AFP via Getty Images | AFP)Lawsuit critics say oil and gas companies are victims of Big Philanthropy Opponents of the climate lawsuits have long claimed that activists and deep-pocketed philanthropies have been colluding with Democratic politicians to hurt U.S. oil and gas companies. In 2023, Cruz and Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, asked for financial information from Sher Edling, a law firm that’s filed many of the climate lawsuits brought by states and localities. Last year, The Free Beacon, a conservative news site, published a Congressional memo that detailed funding that several nonprofits have given to Sher Edling. Since that money came from tax-exempt organizations, taxpayers effectively have been “bearing the cost” of Sher Edling’s legal work, according to the memo, which was written by Republican staffers on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. The memo added: “Although not illegal, this structure allows the green mafia to achieve its political goals while lowering its tax bill.” The Congressional memo names three nonprofits that gave money to Sher Edling: New Venture Fund, the Tides Foundation and Resources Legacy Fund. Tax filings show that all three got funding from Energy Foundation China, but two of them got those grants before they started funding Sher Edling. Of the three, Resources Legacy Fund in 2017 got $185,00 from Energy Foundation China, according to an Energy Foundation China tax filing. The money was meant “to promote education and analysis to build markets for clean, affordable energy that protects public health.” That same year, Resources Legacy Fund gave Sher Edling about $432,000 for “land or marine conservation,” according to a Resources Legacy Fund tax filing. Resources Legacy Fund did not respond to messages seeking comment. Neither did the Tides Foundation. New Venture Fund declined to comment. Sher Edling declined to comment for this story. Wall of the Natural Resources Defense Council rejected the idea that philanthropic funding has unfairly disadvantaged oil and gas companies in court. “There’s simply no comparison between the resources the oil industry has and the resources that nonprofits have,” he says. “Litigation is a way for people to participate in the governmental process by working to ensure that the laws that protect them are enforced and carried out.” In a letter to Cruz and Comer last year that was obtained by NPR, a lawyer for Sher Edling wrote that fossil fuel companies that are defendants in the climate cases “fear that the communities will prevail in those lawsuits — and so they now hope that you will run interference for them. Respectfully, you should not.” When Cruz accused China of funding U.S. climate lawsuits this summer, he said Beijing’s goal is to establish “global energy dominance and control.” China is the world’s biggest producer of green technology, like solar panels and electric vehicles. And Republican lawmakers and conservative activists for years have argued that climate policies that shift the U.S. away from fossil fuels would make America dependent on Chinese supply chains. But Liu of National Taiwan University says Beijing is probably content to have the U.S. focus on oil and gas, rather than to challenge China in other parts of the energy market. “China wants to be the leader in the key technology in the future, so that they don’t have to be controlled by the West,” Liu says, adding: “If we are following this train of thought, then they will prefer [the] U.S. not taking climate very seriously, and let China take over all the EVs, take over solar and wind.”

Trump will reportedly link autism to pain reliever Tylenol - but many experts are sceptical

Some studies have suggested an association between the two, but experts say there is no causal relationship.

Trump officials are expected to link the use of pain reliever Tylenol in pregnant women to autism, according to US media reports. At an Oval Office event on Monday, the US president will reportedly advise pregnant women in the US to only take Tylenol, known as paracetamol elsewhere, to relieve high fevers.At the Charlie Kirk memorial service on Sunday, Trump said he had an "amazing" announcement coming on autism, saying it was "out of control" but they might now have a reason why.Some studies have shown a link between pregnant women taking Tylenol and autism, but these findings are inconsistent and do not prove the drug causes autism. Tylenol is a popular brand of pain relief medication sold in the United States, Canada and some other countries. Its active ingredient is acetaminophen, which is called paracetamol outside North America.Tylenol maker Kenvue has defended the use of the drug in pregnant women.In a statement to the BBC, it said: "We believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism. We strongly disagree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned with the health risk this poses for expecting mothers."Acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women, it added, and without it, women face a dangerous choice between suffering through conditions like fever or use riskier alternatives.The BBC has contacted the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for comment. In April, the leader of HHS, Robert F Kennedy Jr, pledged "a massive testing and research effort" to determine the cause of autism in five months.But experts have cautioned that finding the causes of autism - a complex syndrome that has been researched for decades - would not be simple. The widely held view of researchers is that there is no single cause of autism, which is thought to be the result of a complex mix of genetic and environmental factors.The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology said doctors across the country have consistently identified Tylenol as one of the only safe pain relievers for pregnant women."[S]tudies that have been conducted in the past, show no clear evidence that proves a direct relationship between the prudent use of acetaminophen during any trimester and fetal developmental issues," the group has said. The drug is recommended by other major medical groups as well as other governments around the world. In August, a review of research led by the dean of Harvard University's Chan School of Public Health found that children may be more likely to develop autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders when exposed to Tylenol during pregnancy. The researchers argued some steps should be taken to limit use of the drug, but said the pain reliever was still important for treating maternal fever and pain, which can also have negative effects for children. But another study, published in 2024, found no relationship between exposure to Tylenol and autism. "There is no robust evidence or convincing studies to suggest there is any causal relationship," said Monique Botha, a professor in social and developmental psychology at Durham University. Dr Botha added that pain relief for pregnant women was "woefully lacking", with Tylenol being one of the only safe options for the population. Autism diagnoses have increased sharply since 2000, and by 2020 the rate among 8-year-olds reached 2.77%, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Scientists attribute at least part of the rise to increased awareness of autism and an expanding definition of the disorder. Researchers have also been investigating environmental factors.In the past, Kennedy has offered debunked theories about the rising rates of autism, blaming vaccines despite a lack of evidence.

Lyme Disease: What To Know About Symptoms, Treatment & Prevention

By Charlotte Mao, MD, MPH, Bay Area Lyme Foundation HealthDay ReporterMONDAY, Sept. 22, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Lyme disease is the most common...

MONDAY, Sept. 22, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne illness in the United States, a potentially disabling infection caused by bacteria transmitted through the bite of an infected tick to people and pets.Another possible route of transmission, which is less well known and understudied, is from an infected pregnant mother to her unborn baby.Each year, the U.S. sees about 500,000 new cases of Lyme disease, according to statistics released in 2018 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Here’s what to know about how Lyme disease spreads, symptoms to watch for, treatment options and how to live well even if symptoms persist.What Is Lyme disease?Lyme disease is an infection caused mainly by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi in the United States. The bacteria are transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks: the Western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus) and Eastern blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis), sometimes called a deer tick.The disease was first recognized in the 1970s after an outbreak in Lyme, Connecticut. Today, Lyme has been reported in all 50 states. However, while the geographic areas inhabited by ticks that carry Lyme-causing bacteria have expanded, ticks carrying these bacteria have not been identified in every state at this time.The highest rates are in the Northeast, Upper Midwest, and parts of Northern California and the Pacific Northwest.How Is Lyme disease transmitted?Ticks pick up the Lyme bacteria by feeding on infected animals, such as mice or birds. When an infected tick bites a person, the bacteria can be transmitted through the tick’s saliva.Ticks go through three life stages: larva, nymph and adult. Nymphs, which are roughly the size of a poppy seed, cause most human infections because they are easy to miss and active in warmer months when people are more often outdoors.How long a tick must be attached to a person’s skin before it transmits disease can vary. One European study documented six cases of confirmed Lyme disease in which tick attachment lasted less than six hours and nine more where transmission occurred in less than 24 hours.While it can take 24 to 36 hours for the bacteria to travel from the tick’s midgut to its salivary glands, transmission can start immediately in an estimated 10% of infected ticks that already carry bacteria in their saliva (due to having taken a partial blood meal before detaching and reattaching to a new host). Removing ticks promptly, ideally before they attach, is thus one of the best ways to prevent infection.What are the symptoms of Lyme disease?Symptoms can vary from mild to severe and may appear days, weeks or even months after the tick bite. Not everyone notices a tick or remembers being bitten. Symptoms vary from person to person and can be intermittent or changing and overlap across different stages, which makes diagnosis more confusing. Potential symptoms include but are not limited to:Early localized disease (days to weeks after infection):Expanding rash, sometimes with a bull’s-eye appearance (erythema migrans) — Importantly, a classic bullseye appearance with central clearing of the rash occurs in a minority of U.S. patients (about 20% reported in one study), although up to 80% of patients may have a rash of varying shapes Fatigue Fever and chills Headache Muscle and joint aches Swollen lymph nodes Early disseminated disease (weeks to months after infection):Multiple rashes on the body Facial weakness or paralysis, usually on one side but can be both (Bell’s palsy) Severe headaches and neck stiffness Pain, tingling or numbness in the arms or legs Cardiac problems, most commonly conduction disturbances (“heart block”) but also a variety of rhythm disturbances, pericarditis or myocarditis Late disease (months to years after infection):Joint swelling or pain, typically in a single or a few large joints such as the knee Neurological problems, such as numbness, tingling, vision/hearing problems or cognitive/memory issues. Reported across all stages of disease:Neuropsychiatric or behavioral manifestations (mood swings, anxiety, depression) Presumed dysautonomia symptoms, such as dizziness, lightheadedness, increased heart rate when standing, and temperature regulation issues, have also been described. Some people never develop the classic rash or other early symptoms, or these signs go unrecognized, so they first present with early disseminated or late-stage symptoms. Why is Lyme disease sometimes missed?Lyme disease is sometimes called “the great imitator” because its symptoms resemble those of other conditions such as flu, chronic fatigue syndrome or autoimmune disorders. Diagnosis is based on a combination of symptoms, possible tick exposure and lab tests.The standard blood tests detect antibodies to Lyme bacteria and not the infection itself. Therefore, these tests may not show a positive result in people with early infection, as their bodies have not yet produced enough antibodies. Importantly, it can also fail to detect later-stage disease, contributing to many missed diagnoses. For this reason, doctors rely on symptoms and exposure history in addition to lab tests when making a clinical diagnosis.How can you prevent Lyme disease?The best way to avoid Lyme disease is to prevent tick bites. Here’s how:Use U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-registered insect repellents containing DEET, picaridin or IR3535. Treat clothing and gear with permethrin. Wear long sleeves, long pants and closed shoes when in grassy or wooded areas. Tuck pants into socks to block ticks from crawling up legs. Stay in the center of trails and avoid tall grass or leaf litter. Check your body, clothing, gear and pets for ticks after outdoor activities. Shower within two hours of coming indoors to help remove ticks before they attach. If you find an attached tick, remove it promptly with fine-tipped tweezers, grasping it close to the skin and pulling straight out.Once removed, consider sending the tick for testing to determine what pathogens it may be carrying. This will give you a good gauge of what to look out for.Of note, if the tick is carrying pathogens, it does not necessarily mean they were passed to you, and if the tick is not carrying pathogens, you should still consider that it is possible you were bitten by another tick that went unnoticed.How Is Lyme disease treated?Early Lyme disease is typically treated with oral antibiotics, such as doxycycline, amoxicillin or cefuroxime. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and CDC recommend 10 to 14 days of antibiotics for early-stage Lyme disease with the caveat that regimens “may need to be adjusted depending on factors such as age, medical history, underlying health conditions, pregnancy status or allergies.” The International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS), recommends four to six weeks of antibiotics, with the duration tailored to the patient’s response and clinical circumstances; ILADS guidelines also state that, when necessary, antibiotic therapy should be extended. Patients with certain neurological or cardiac forms of illness may require intravenous treatment with drugs such as ceftriaxone or penicillin.  More advanced neurological or joint disease sometimes requires treatment with longer and more complex regimens or IV antibiotics. Many people can recover fully with prompt treatment, but some continue to experience symptoms for months or years after finishing antibiotics.What about lingering symptoms?Persistent symptoms after treatment, sometimes called persistent Lyme disease (PLD) or Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS), can include, but are not limited to, fatigue, pain and cognitive difficulties. The cause is debated. The possibility of unidentified coinfections contributing to lingering symptoms should be excluded with testing. Additional hypotheses for the cause of persistent symptoms include incompletely eradicated Lyme bacteria, lingering immune responses (autoimmunity), residual tissue damage and other complicating factors acting individually or in combination.Scientific studies funded by Bay Area Lyme Foundation have shown that Lyme infection can persist post-treatment due to Lyme bacteria that are not completely eradicated.On the horizon: Next steps in researchResearchers across the country, including teams supported by Bay Area Lyme Foundation and its affiliates, are working to close critical gaps in Lyme disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment.Current priorities include creating more sensitive and specific diagnostic tests that not only better detect infection early on but also improve recognition of past and late-stage disease, distinguish active from past infections, and confirm when treatment has been successful.Efforts are also underway to identify new therapeutic options for patients with persistent symptoms, to explore vaccines, develop novel prevention tools, and to deepen scientific understanding of Lyme bacteria and the immune system’s response to it.How Bay Area Lyme Foundation is powering progressBay Area Lyme Foundation funds innovative research and fosters collaboration among scientists, clinicians and public health experts to accelerate solutions for Lyme disease.The Foundation’s initiatives include supporting the development of next-generation diagnostics and advancing potential new treatments. It is the founding/operating Lyme Disease Biobank, a vital resource of well-characterized biological samples — including donated blood, urine and tissue  — for researchers worldwide.With its mission to make Lyme disease easy to diagnose and simple to cure, Bay Area Lyme Foundation is committed to reducing the impact of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases for patients everywhere.The bottom lineLyme disease is common, but with awareness, early diagnosis and effective treatment, most people recover fully.To reduce the burden of the disease and help those with persistent symptoms, continued research into new, more accurate diagnostics and improved treatments is essential.Prevention is key: Protect yourself against tick bites, check for ticks after being outdoors, and seek medical care promptly if you develop symptoms.Charlotte Mao, MD, MPH, Bay Area Lyme Foundation, is a pediatric infectious diseases physician whose area of clinical focus is Lyme disease and associated infections. She is a member of Bay Area Lyme Foundation’s Advisory Board and Science Committee. Graduating from Harvard Medical School, she completed her pediatric residency and pediatric ID fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital. Her prior area of subspecialty during 25 years at Boston Children’s Hospital was pediatric HIV clinical care and clinical research. She turned her focus to Lyme disease and associated infections on gaining extensive clinical experience with pediatric Lyme disease in the referral infectious disease clinic there. Later joining the Department of Pediatric Infectious Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital, she provided consultative pediatric infectious disease specialty care in a multidisciplinary clinic for children with complex Lyme disease and associated infections at the Dean Center for Tickborne Illness at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. Click here to read her published paper entitled Microbes and Mental Illness: Past, Present, and Future.Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Climate activists gather in New York for ‘Sun Day’ solar energy and anti-billionaire rallies

Sun Day national action supported renewable energy, day after ‘Make Billionaires Pay’ march ahead of Climate WeekHundreds of environmentalists gathered in New York City’s Stuyvesant Square Park and a nearby Quaker meeting house on Sunday to rally in support of solar power and other forms of renewable energy. The event was part of a national “day of action” billed Sun Day, founded by veteran environmental activist Bill McKibben and first Earth Day coordinator Denis Hayes.“It’s so sad to watch the sun going to waste,” McKibben said at a press conference, standing beside environmentalists and their children. “Every single day, energy from heaven going to waste while we drill down to hell for another dose of the stuff that is wrecking this planet.” Continue reading...

Hundreds of environmentalists gathered in New York City’s Stuyvesant Square Park and a nearby Quaker meeting house on Sunday to rally in support of solar power and other forms of renewable energy. The event was part of a national “day of action” billed Sun Day, founded by veteran environmental activist Bill McKibben and first Earth Day coordinator Denis Hayes.“It’s so sad to watch the sun going to waste,” McKibben said at a press conference, standing beside environmentalists and their children. “Every single day, energy from heaven going to waste while we drill down to hell for another dose of the stuff that is wrecking this planet.”McKibben was joined at the press conference by other activists, as well as officials from New York and his home state of Vermont.“We have the ability here to protect our children, to protect our future,” said New York’s lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado.The event in the park followed an all-afternoon celebration of clean power, with displays of solar panels, child-friendly lessons on renewable technology, and panel discussions. One popular panel featured McKibben and New York City’s comptroller, Brad Lander.In other parts of the country, activists held more than 500 other actions meant to highlight the creative ways Americans are ditching fossil-based energy. In Virginia, volunteers climbed rooftops to install solar panels on affordable homes built by Habitat for Humanity. In North Carolina, families gathered at a farm powered by solar panels. And in Michigan, organizers held a car show to show off electric vehicles; families also held a beach clean up nearby.Renewable energy sources have seen unprecedented growth in recent years. Last year, they accounted for over 90% of total energy expansion globally, one analysis found. And the US generated less than half of its energy from fossil fuels for the first time this past March.Yet the day of action came amid unprecedented attacks on climate protections and the renewable energy transition by the Trump administration. Since January, his administration has rolled back grants for solar, kicked off an all-of-government approach to shut down wind, halted and delayed wind projects, and launched more than 150 other anti-environmental and anti-renewable energy actions. The plans are threatening not only the climate but also Americans’ pocketbooks, said Vermont senator Peter Welch.“Clean energy is really good for affordability. It lowers the utility bills people are struggling to pay and creates really good jobs,” Welch said in an interview. “What Trump is doing is wrecking that economic potential. Customers are going to get hammered.”Despite these attacks, the event had an overall air of optimism. McKibben said though the US is backsliding on climate progress, much of the rest of the world is continuing to build out renewable power.“The pattern around the world is unmistakable,” he said in an interview. “The reason that it’s happening is partly because of the climate crisis but also largely because this is the cheapest form of energy, and it’s getting cheaper every year.”The Sun Day action came ahead of Climate Week in New York City, an annual event that convenes government officials, corporate actors and activists for a vast array of climate-focused events. It also came one day after the “Make Billionaires Pay” march, for which 25,000 people took to the streets in New York City.“Billionaires caused the climate chaos, spearheaded the rise of authoritarianism and they continue to profit from our suffering. But they forgot one thing: there are more of us than there are of them,” said Renata Pumarol, an organizer with the environmental justice non-profit Climate Defenders, in a statement about the Saturday protest.Sun Day participants did not shy away from naming the fossil fuel companies who have been the primary cause of global warming. But it focused largely on solutions aimed at taking on the climate crisis instead of the actors behind it.McKibben, for instance, praised Utah’s move three months ago to legalize the installation of solar panels on balconies – something that is illegal in all other US states. And New York assemblymember Emily Gallagher previewed a state bill she will introduce next week aimed at helping renters access solar panels.At the press conference, McKibben noted that though the forecast for Sunday showed cloudy skies, the day was bright and warm.“The collective power of all of us is enough to bring out the sun,” he said.

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