Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Good morning! This is Lily Belle Poling, one of The Current‘s summer fellows, and you’ll be hearing from me in Coast Watch for a couple weeks. Today we’ve got news on the resignation of the country’s top disaster coordination official, heat waves and the death of a green sea turtle in Glynn County. We’re also taking a look at Twin Pine Mineral’s sale of the land it was planning to mine adjacent to Okefenokee Swamp.
Questions, tips or concerns? Send me a note at staff@thecurrentga.org
EXPLAINER: ENVIRONMENT
Brace for a hot, Southern summer
This week, a major heat wave enveloped much of the central and eastern United States, and summer is just getting started.
Hundreds of Americans, even those who seem healthy, succumb to heat-related illnesses each year.
“Mild heat stress can quickly progress to life-threatening heat stroke if a person is exposed to dangerous conditions for too long,” Brian Bossok, a College of Charleston professor of public health, writes in The Conversation.
Beware of heat cramps and heat rash, and seek cool environments and cool fluids if you experience these symptoms, which can progress into heat exhaustion.
NEWS: ENVIRONMENT
Okefenokee Swamp saved from mining threat
Late last week, The Conservation Fund sealed a $60 million deal to acquire the land near the Okefenokee Swamp set to endure mining by Twin Pines Minerals.
The Conservation Fund frequently acquires land to protect it from development, and Friday’s deal was the result of three years of negotiations with Twin Pines Minerals.
The Alabama-based company planned to mine the land for titanium dioxide, a compound frequently used for white pigment, despite the site’s close proximity to a Georgia haven of biological diversity. However, Twin Pines Minerals had been waiting over a year for the requisite permits and has previously experienced financial woes which stalled its progress.
NEWS: GOVERNMENT
Leader of top FEMA disaster coordination office resigns
As President Donald Trump moves to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, Jeremy Greenberg, who led its National Response Coordination Center, resigned.
Greenberg’s former office is responsible for the federal government’s response to storms, and his resignation came less than two weeks into hurricane season.
The National Response Coordination Center is now helmed by David Richardson, an interim leader with no prior emergency management experience, NPR‘s Rebecca Hersher reports. His installation led to a mass exit of senior FEMA officials, Reuters reported, which disrupted the agency’s planning for hurricane season.
The first tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season formed this week, the National Hurricane Center announced Tuesday. It’s name? Andrea.
Also in the news
- A roughly 400-pound nesting green sea turtle, rare for Georgia, died over the weekend after it was found stranded on St. Simon’s Island. The turtle suffered wounds from a boat strike, and the Georgia Sea Turtle Center couldn’t save it, The Brunswick News reports.
- Like ‘em or not, plastic bag fees and bans at the grocery store make a big difference. That’s according to a new study published in the peer-reviewed research journal Science, which examined 180 local programs in the United States that either charge for plastic shopping bags or prohibit them. Those programs contributed to a 25 to 47 percent decrease in the amount of plastic bag litter collected during shoreline cleanups.
We want to meet your friends! If you like this newsletter be sure to share it. And, if someone shared this with you, click here to sign up for regular delivery!
Buddy Carter nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize
U.S. Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter has nominated President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, citing his “extraordinary and historic role” in brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, in an effort to gain the president’s favor in his bid to take on U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff in next year’s marquee election race.
Local GOP, Democratic leaders comment on deepening Middle East conflict
Coastal Georgians, including Republican leaders and Democratic senators, are reacting to the Middle East developments with concern, with some expressing support for President Trump’s actions and others warning of potential retaliation.
Chatham County, CAT board members go to court to block board overhaul
A lawsuit filed by six members of the current CAT board argues that the new law to replace the board violates the state constitution by removing current board members before the end of their terms without a “judicial trial” and dilutes the appointment power of the Chatham County Commission.
The Current GA is part of The Trust Project.
Read our policies.
Support independent, solutions-based investigative journalism without bias, fear or favor on issues affecting Savannah and Coastal Georgia.
WITH GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM
You must be logged in to post a comment.