The Earth’s magnetic field is an extremely important component contributing to the existence of life on our home planet, providing a protective shield against the otherwise harsh solar wind. The magnetosphere, much like Earth’s other spheres, is not static, and instead undergoes constant regional fluctuations, including the periodic phenomenon of complete polar reversals. These geomagnetic reversals are a concern to scientists, in that we neither have any way of predicting when they will happen, nor do we actually know how such a phenomenon would affect life on Earth.
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Staff members of the Environmental Protection Agency have been instructed to freeze all grants in the agency’s extensive funding program, including, but not limited to, funds for environmental research, education, industrial site redevelopment, and air quality monitoring. Furthermore, staff have also received orders not to talk about the issue with anyone outside the agency, including the public and the press.

This news broke when an anonymous EPA staff member informed the congressional office about the development earlier this week, and it is unknown as to whether the freeze will be temporary or not. The Huffington Post published a message that was reportedly given to EPA staff on January 23, outlining tight controls on external communication:
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As has become a tradition on Inauguration Day, the official website for the White House, www.whitehouse.gov, was updated at noon to reflect the policies of the incoming administration, lead by President Donald J. Trump. While the headings under the "Issues" menu were updated to include the promises made by Trump during his campaign, there were a number of important issues that conspicuously went missing, notably the headings for Climate Change, Health Care and Civil Rights.
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In recent months, a number of U.S. states have been enacting new legislation to govern the use of renewable energy within their territories — for both better and for worse. Illinois, Michigan and Ohio have passed new laws that range from protecting current green energy law, to progressive new ones.

These moves by IL, MI and OH are contrary to the intended ecological policies of the new administration under President Donald Trump, policies that themselves run contrary to good ecological — and ultimately economical — sense.
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