Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco

A regional network is racing to save the Midwest's native seeds As climate change intensifies wildfires and other extreme weather events, demand for native seeds is surging.

"As climate change intensifies wildfires and other extreme weather events, demand for native seeds is surging." @juanpab.bsky.social for @grist.org
grist.org/solutions/a-...

A network is racing to save the Midwest’s native seeds As climate change intensifies wildfires and other extreme weather events, demand for native seeds is surging.

"These species genetically adapted over thousands of years and sustain the region’s ecosystems. That evolutionary inheritance makes them indispensable for restoring the nation’s remaining prairies, wetlands, and woodlands." Latest from @juanpab.bsky.social

www.wbez.org/environment/...

Appalachia’s iconic salamander was slated for federal protection. It’s still in limbo. As climate change remakes the mountains, the fight to save the hellbender is becoming a fight for home.

Appalachia’s iconic salamander was slated for federal protection. It’s still in limbo.

Most of Illinois is in a drought, and the state is unprepared Outdated water use laws, destruction of wetlands, demands of data centers and extreme weather are a dangerous mix.

I'm in the @chicago.suntimes.com today:

Illinois is dangerously dry, and we have no legal framework to manage large water users.

Illinois' historic water abundance bred complacency.

We still rely on centuries old English water law, totally unequipped for modern population & industrial usage.

Migratory bird stopover patterns linked to urbanization and social landscapes - Nature Cities Urban ecology traditionally focuses on single cities, yet cities play key roles in ecological processes such as migration. Radar analysis across the continental USA reveals that nearly half of stopove...

A study I led came out in Nature Cities yesterday!

We used radar to study the role that urban landscapes play in migratory bird stopover. Spoiler: birds use cities a lot, and the patterns of their use reflect social processes and the inequities embedded in them.

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Jesse Jackson’s vision for America embraced environmental justice Jackson connected conservation, clean air and safe drinking water to civil rights.

Jackson presidential campaigns embraced environmental justice, though he was pragmatic about projects like a natural gas pipeline when he thought it would be economically beneficial to Black communities, writes @juanpab.bsky.social. 🧵
chicago.suntimes.com/environment/...

Scientists Push for More Ambitious Climate Targets - Inside Climate News Researchers say a line has been crossed. For systems like coral reefs and ice sheets, the climate is already past safe.

The fact that some Earth systems—like coral reefs—have already passed tipping points shows that the 1.5C climate target was not ambitious enough. If there's a 'safe' limit, it's more like 1C, scientists said this week.

Seed Companies and Customers Say Paper Seed Catalogs are Not Obsolete — Yet Online catalogs have been around for a log time now, but seed companies continue to send out paper seed catalogs. Do people still use them?

In 2022 we wrote about how paper seed catalogues are still a highlight for people despite the prevalence of online seed catalogues. Checking 4 years later: Are y'all still perusing the paper catalogues? foodprint.org/blog/paper-s...

Bubble chart showing Trump administration actions in 2025 to remove or weaken protections on public lands. Three large circles represent: ESA habitat rollbacks (87.5M acres), Alaska public lands (44.9M acres), and Roadless forests (39.4M acres). Two smaller bubbles show mineral withdrawals (991K acres) and BLM land plans (2.7M acres).

The administration targeted 88 million acres for potential development: land previously set aside for conservation. BLM held 22 lease sales and approved 6,027 oil/gas permits, the highest since 2010. @juanpab.bsky.social illustrates which landscapes are now at risk. (6/n)

The consequences of Trump’s war on climate in 7 charts Seven snapshots reveal how climate rollbacks altered the trajectory of U.S. energy, environmental protection, and economic security.

The consequences of Trump’s war on climate in 7 charts

Breaking:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans defeat Venezuela war powers resolution, bowing to Trump’s pressure as Vance casts tie-breaking vote.

WATCH: Bears QB Caleb Williams gets emotional as he gives Ben Johnson a game ball

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams grew emotional as he gave his coach a game ball following the Bears’ unbelievable 31-27 comeback win against the Packers at Soldier Field.

Broadview detainees during Operation Midway Blitz were self-deporting at alarming rates, analysis finds

A WBEZ and Sun-Times analysis shows detainees initially booked at Broadview were nearly twice as likely as detainees nationwide to self-deport. Legal experts said inhumane conditions, coercion and a lack of legal counsel were contributing factors.

Judge rules against Paul Vallas in suit over payments to shore up Black vote Paul Vallas alleged that Chimaobi Enyia ripped him off by doing little work in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars to build support for Vallas with Black voters.

Paul Vallas — the perennial candidate who normally loves to talk — has no comment on this one www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/18/j...

Trump administration to strip protections for wetlands and streams, leaving Illinois habitat at risk At the heart of the proposal announced earlier this week is a new, stricter definition to the long-debated legal term, “Waters of the United States."

"Agricultural, chemical and mining industry groups celebrated the EPA’s push to curb federal water regulations"

Of course they celebrated—their business model depends on polluting our water.

story by @juanpab.bsky.social www.wbez.org/environment/...

2025 Environmental Journalism Award Winners Announced Environmental journalism award honors top 12 writers globally. Winning outlets include Mongabay, Grist, DeSmog and Heatmap News.

Congratulations to our 2025 SEAL Environmental Journalism Awards winners! Each honoree brings accountability to power, empathy to data, and urgency to the conversation on environmental policy.

Read more about this year's winners:
sealawards.com/twelve-journ...

Lawmakers Press EPA for $3B in Stalled Lead Pipe Replacement Funds - Inside Climate News This story is a partnership between Inside Climate News, Grist and WBEZ, a public radio station serving the Chicago metropolitan region. A group of Illinois congressional delegates is calling for the ...

Lawmakers Press #EPA for $3B in Stalled Lead Pipe Replacement Funds

@juanpab.bsky.social reports for a partnership of @insideclimatenews.org @grist.org and @wbez.org

insideclimatenews.org/news/1311202...

Can A Billion-Dollar Barricade Keep Carp Out Of The Great Lakes? A giant infrastructure project aims to block invasive carp from entering Lake Michigan, but Chicago’s polluted water already keeps them out.

Keeping human-introduced carp out of the Great Lakes

Today's SciFri podcast: "Can A Billion-Dollar Barricade Keep Carp Out Of The Great Lakes?" with Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco (@juanpab.bsky.social), WBEZ environment reporter, and Dr. Cory Suski, U of Illinois.

www.sciencefriday.com/segments/inv...

ICE has powerful facial recognition app Illinois cops are barred from using — with little apparent oversight The Trump administration has contracts with Clearview AI, a firm banned from doing business with Illinois police agencies. “This is what dystopian nightmares are made of, this kind of continual expans...

Shortly after Trump took office, DHS wiped from its website a policy regulating facial recognition use.

Face rec tools — like Clearview AI, which Illinois cops are barred from using, and Mobile Fortify — are now being used to support Trump’s deportation campaign.

www.wbez.org/immigration/...

Nanci Koschman, long-grieving mother, dies 21 years after her son was killed by Mayor Daley's nephew In the face of a Chicago police cover-up, she couldn't get answers until a Sun-Times investigation prompted the appointment of a special prosecutor and Richard J. "R.J." Vanecko's conviction.

David Koschman’s long-grieving mother dies 21 years after her son was killed by Mayor Daley's nephew

“She never got back to normal. She just wanted to be with David and [her late husband] Bob.”

chicago.suntimes.com/koschman/202...

Hurricane Melissa threatens catastrophic flooding in Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba The storm's slow movement is expected to bring a deluge of rain to multiple countries in the Caribbean, and prolong its dangerous impacts over a period of several days.

Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica are bracing for Hurricane Melissa. The storm is expected to quickly grow into a powerful category 3 or stronger hurricane. n.pr/4orMwfH

RSVP to Michael Grunwald: "We Are Eating the Earth" | Partiful Join us for a thought-provoking conversation with NYT bestselling author and award-winning journalist Michael Grunwald as he presents his groundbreaking new book, "We Are Eating the Earth: The Race to...

CHICAGO! I'll be downtown to talk about our food and our planet on Tuesday evening, at an event sponsored by
@paulsoninstitute.bsky.social. I tried to be polite when the book came out, but these days I'm feeling spicier, please check it out! Info & RSVP here: partiful.com/e/HYP2nDeX6Q...

Illinois one step closer to keeping invasive carp out of Great Lakes For decades, officials have worried the fish could wreak disaster on the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem and the multibillion-dollar tourism, boating and fishing industries that rely on it. Now, ...

Another step forward for the Brandon Road Interbasin Project.

We’ll continue our work protecting the Great Lakes and easing the burden on Illinoisans.

RSVP to Michael Grunwald: "We Are Eating the Earth" | Partiful Join us for a thought-provoking conversation with NYT bestselling author and award-winning journalist Michael Grunwald as he presents his groundbreaking new book, "We Are Eating the Earth: The Race to...

Chicago people! I’ll be talking about the earth, particularly the eating of it, on October 28 at the Merchandise Mart. Register here, Chicago takes food seriously right?

partiful.com/e/HYP2nDeX6Q...

Corals are disappearing, pushing Earth to its first major ‘tipping point’ A new report says Earth has reached a dire milestone with the widespread death of warm-water coral reefs. It's not too late to save what remains.

Corals are disappearing, pushing Earth to its first major ‘tipping point’

A new report says Earth has reached a dire milestone with the widespread death of warm-water coral reefs. But it's not too late to save what remains.

grist.org/oceans/coral...

#Coral #Ocean #Climate #Science #GreenSky

#BREAKING The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals PARTIALLY grants the stay sought by the Trump Administration.

The stay is GRANTED as to federalization of the National Guard.

But it is DENIED as to deployment.

So deployment still BLOCKED, but troops "do not need to return to their home states."

ICE's Broadview facility has become a de facto detention center, minus the rules and oversight ICE regularly held immigrants far beyond the hours they set for the Broadview processing center, data through July shows. Immigrants held there say there are no beds, limited food and toilets are out in the open.

ICE regularly held immigrants far beyond the hours they set for the Broadview processing center, data through July shows. Immigrants held there say there are no beds, limited food and toilets are out in the open with no soap or toothpaste.
trib.al/um8BERF

Gov. Pritzker says DHS will deploy 100 'military troops' to Illinois, citing need to protect ICE officers Pritzker said the Illinois National Guard obtained a memo that DHS sent to the Defense Department which sought to request 100 military personnel for Illinois.

BREAKING: Gov. JB Pritzker said the IL National Guard obtained a DHS memo stating it was seeking the deployment of 100 military troops to Illinois “claiming a need for the protection of ICE personnel and facilities.”

From @tinasfon.bsky.social

Chicago Has Hundreds of Thousands of Toxic Lead Pipes—and Millions of Unspent Dollars to Replace Them - Inside Climate News City officials on Monday said they plan to accelerate spending to replace lead service lines in 2026. The city also remains far behind telling Chicagoans of the health risks.

Chicago Has Thousands of Lead Pipes — and Millions of Unspent Dollars

@keertigopal.bsky.social and @juanpab.bsky.social report for @insideclimatenews.org

insideclimatenews.org/news/2209202...

Since 2023, the city has drawn between $70 million and $90 million of an approximately $325 million federal loan for lead service line replacements that expires next year

via @keertigopal.bsky.social and @juanpab.bsky.social grist.org/economics/ch...