From Business Insider website: An analyst breaks down how natural disasters like hurricanes and fires impact Home Depot and Lowe’s
How Big Hardware Chains Deal With Disasters
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Effects of Shutdown
Federal Shutdown Fears: Loss of Scientific Data, Research Delays. National Hurricane Center staff would normally be working on forecast improvements: ‘We can’t do any research and development for the next hurricane season.’
Even though the ideology of President Donald Trump’s administration has been to deny climate science, communities across the country and institutions around the world have continued to rely on the U.S. government to grapple with the climate crisis. Whether it’s dealing with the devastating impacts of global warming, or supporting research efforts to better understand it, the government shutdown has abruptly stymied that work.
Update: Scientists despair as US government shutdown drags on. Space missions can continue to collect data, but thousands of federal researchers are forced to stay at home without pay.
Thanks to Chris Jones for this citation.
Trump Threatens to Cut Off CA Fire Recovery Money
President Trump says he’s cutting off FEMA money for California fires
President Donald Trump on Wednesday again threatened to cut off federal funds to fight California wildfires, claiming the money is being wasted. “Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forest fires that, with proper Forest Management, would never happen,” Trump tweeted. “Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money. It is a disgraceful situation in lives & money!”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., replied, saying Trump’s “threat insults the memory of scores of Americans who perished in wildfires last year & thousands more who lost their homes.”
Update: From the Guardian: Trump’s threat to cut California wildfire relief leaves state officials baffled. “He criticized the state for ‘forest management’, a claim that was debunked and admonished the last time he made it.”
Update on Jan.11th: From Snopes, a factchecking site: Fact Check FEMA Order re CA Wildfires.
Destabilizing Effects of Shutdown
Trump’s Long Shutdown Could Destabilize the World.Political dysfunction is about more than which party is winning. The international system is depending on Washington’s leadership.
In the long run, the national commitment to effective government and meaningful regulation is necessary and unavoidable. Eroding it by a long-term shutdown will be costly — not today or tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of our lives.
State of Emergency Powers
Article in Atlantic Magazine: What the President Could Do If He Declares a State of Emergency. From seizing control of the internet to declaring martial law, President Trump may legally do all kinds of extraordinary things.
New Way to Track Refugees from Wildfires
Paradise lost; its residents found
Cell phone location data helps uncover where the residents of Paradise, Calif., went as the historic fire bore down on their homes.
Rethinking Wildfire Risk
Trump Cannot Use Emergency Declaration to Build a Wall
Articles by two top law school professors:
No, Trump Cannot Declare an ‘Emergency’ to Build His Wall.“If he did, and used soldiers to build it, they would all be committing a federal crime.”
Donald Trump Is The Real National Emergency, Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig Says
Decline in Religious Practice Affects Recovery
Consequences of Federal Shutdown
Update on Jan. 5: Toll on Science and Research Mounts as Government Shutdown Continues
Here’s How the Government Shutdown Affects the Federal Emergency Management Agency
From the Wash Post: Consequences of the government shutdown strike the private sector.
As the partial government shutdown enters Day 14, its effects are starting to cascade far beyond the hulking agency buildings in Washington. Private companies with federal contracts are coping with chaos, confusion and uncertainty, while businesses large and small that rely on the operations of the vast federal bureaucracy are starting to feel sand in their gears.
From the NYTimes: Government Shutdown Leaves Workers Reeling: ‘We Seem to Be Pawns’
From a Harvard Law Professor: Trump’s Wall is Constitutionally Illegitimate.
No reading of our constitution would ever uphold the view that a president can stop the functioning of government, to insist upon a program unsupported by the public
