5 Environmental Stories You Don’t Want to Miss

By Catherine Schuknecht

April 22, 2016

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Photo courtesy of iStock/Andrew F Kazmierski

OH SHENANDOAH: The wildfire that started in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park on Saturday has consumed 8,000 acres of parkland. Close to 350 firefighters are working to contain the fire within the park's boundaries.

THREE’S A CROWD: Two officials from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and one city employee have been charged for involvement in the contamination of drinking water in Flint, Michigan. These are the first criminal charges filed in connection with the water crisis.

MONEY FOR MINES: The Koch brothers are at it again. Tax forms have revealed that the billionaire siblings are funding an organization that is fighting a proposal to protect the land around Arizona’s Grand Canyon from uranium mining by declaring it a national monument.

VW PAYS: On Thursday, Volkswagen agreed to fix or buy back close to 500,000 diesel cars containing illegal emissions software used to cheat U.S. regulator tests.

PARIS AGREEMENT: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry joined representatives from about 170 countries at the United Nations on Friday (Earth Day!) to sign the historic Paris Agreement aimed at keeping the global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius.