Over $10 billion in Federal Aid Owed to US Disaster Survivors

US disaster survivors yet to receive $10 billion in aid

The number comes from an estimate for long-term disaster recovery funding in communities in Los Angeles country and St. Louis, Missouri alone. The last long-term recovery funds allocated were for Hurricane Milton in Florida two years ago. But in 2025 alone, three major disasters struck: a tornado in St. Louis, floods in Texas Hill Country, and wildfires in Los Angeles, all of which are waiting for long-term recovery money from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

More than $111 billion has been allocated to the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program, but Congress must approve distribution of the money disaster-by-disaster. Survivors of the 2020 earthquakes in Puerto Rico waited 655 days before funding was allocated. In Los Angeles, survivors of the wildfires 21 months ago are yet to receive funds.

Google and McKinsey make Brazilian carbon removal deal

Google and McKinsey have made a long-term purchase agreement to buy 320,000 metric tons of carbon removal credits over 10 years. The deal will involve the restoration of 8,700 hectares of degraded and semi-degraded pastureland in an attempt to create ‘silvopasture’: the integration of trees into cattle pastures.

The actions fall under larger commitments as part of the broader Symbiosis Coalition, involving Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Salesforce. The group pledges more than 20 million tons of offsets by 2030. 

The project will support work by Working Trees, a climate technology company, which will plant rows of timber and native tree species into existing cattle pastures. The company says the methodology improves cattle productivity while allowing for revenues through timber, benefiting landowners even after carbon-credit incomes fade.

Uber successfully throws out black cab lawsuit

The lawsuit filed in 2024 alleged that Uber gave “misleading and inaccurate information” to Transport for London at the time of licensing in 2012. Uber denied those allegations but also said the lawsuits were filed after the six-year period for bringing such a claim, arguing they should be thrown out. Claimants sought £200 million for around 13,000 black cab drivers, and another £140 million on behalf of two defunct ride-sharing companies: Kabbie and Iride.

Judge Simon Birt of London’s High Court ruled that the claimants could have discovered the alleged deception, and filed before 2018, dismissing the claims on the grounds of the limitation period. “We are pleased that the court has dismissed all of these claims entirely at the earliest opportunity and the ruling today has put these legacy matters firmly in the past,” said an Uber spokesperson.

Uber will now fight a larger case in London next week, involving a £1 billion tax dispute.

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California lifestyle to face major upheaval as a result of climate change

California’s Fifth Climate Change Assessment has reported that in a few decades, summers in California will be hotter and stretch for months longer. It predicted that there would be more widespread and extreme floods, more wildfires, larger storms, and more droughts. Average temperatures are likely to increase in the state by 4 degrees Fahrenheit by the middle of the century, and by 5 to 8 degrees by 2100.

Summer conditions are projected to last 135 days on average by mid-century, compared to an average of 90 days between 1981 and 2010. The warmer climate will create a 40 percent reduction in the Sierra Nevada’s snowpack, which feeds the state’s reservoirs. 

The report comes as the Trump administration has taken actions against climate policy in California, ordering a pipeline to restart off Santa Barbara, a new coal export terminal in Oakland, and curbing the power of California’s Coastal Commission.

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of impakter.com — Cover Photo Credit: timatymusic from Wikimedia Commons