Students: We’re Tanalian Middle School from Port Alsworth, Alaska, and Channel One News starts right now!
Emily: Tanalian Middle School from sunny Port Alsworth, Alaska! Thanks, guys — we loved it. I am Emily Reppert. Let's do this.
First up, it is a showdown over cleaner cars. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia are suing the Trump administration to stop a rollback of tough pollution rules.
California is leading the charge, suing the Environmental Protection Agency over its plan to cut back on fuel efficiency standards for cars. The guidelines were set up by the Obama administration to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars. Now the states argue the EPA's actions to change the car standards will violate the Clean Air Act.
Governor Jerry Brown: If Pruitt doesn’t get it, and if Trump doesn't get it either, they gotta go.
Emily: EPA administrator Scott Pruitt told a congressional committee on Thursday that he wants to work with California on setting up new fuel efficiency standards.
Scott Pruitt: And I'm hopeful and optimistic that we'll be able to have a decision that will benefit the entire country.
Emily: All right, next up, we know there are a lot of amazing teachers out there, and every year, one of them gets named the National Teacher of the Year and is recognized at the White House. This year, the winner is Mandy Manning of Joel E. Ferris High School in Spokane, Washington.
President Donald Trump: Her incredible devotion has earned her the adoration — total adoration, actually — and respect of students and colleagues throughout her school district, community and the entire state. Now it is my privilege to present Mandy with the National Teacher of the Year award. This is a truly special award, and Mandy, congratulations.
Emily: Congrats, Ms. Manning.
The hot summer means a break from school and more time outdoors. But it also means more bugs and bug bites. Ticks and insects are making more people sick, and the problem is only getting worse.
The Centers for Disease Control are sounding the alarm over a new report that finds the number of people getting sick from bug bites is spreading rapidly. Infections from mosquitoes, ticks and fleas have more than tripled since 2004, and at least nine diseases have been reported for the first time in the U.S.
Dr. John LaPook: Warmer temperatures can lead to a longer breeding season, and that can allow things like ticks and mosquitoes to spread geographically. Also, the world is getting smaller and smaller — there's so much traveling.
Emily: The 16 diseases tracked by the CDC include well-known diseases like Lyme and Zika, which have seen a dramatic rise since 2004. Lyme disease alone accounts for 63 percent of the illnesses tracked, with cases doubling to about 36,000 a year. And the CDC says, because of underreporting, the real number is likely closer to 300,000.
And Words in the News just popped up in that last story: Lyme disease. It is a bacterial infection you get from the bite of an infected tick. Symptoms include fever, skin rash and muscle pain. Doctors say to protect yourself: Cover up when outside, especially in a wooded area, use insect repellent and, after coming inside, check your body for ticks.
All right, next up, science and math — probably two subjects you learn about every day in school. But that is not the case everywhere, which is why an organization in Cambodia is working to bring more STEM education and training opportunities to students in a very unique way. Arielle Hixson is in Cambodia with today's Get Your Geek On.
Arielle: On the winding roads of rural Cambodia, this bus makes an incredible journey to schools across the country, and riding along is an incredible gift.
Seng: I am really happy the NGO brought this subject to teach at my school.
Arielle: There are activities based on science, technology, engineering and math designed to change a student's life.
Allen D. Tan: Don't get a lot of really cool programming and to set up a mini science festival.
Arielle: Students get to interact with STEM tools, some for the very first time.
Pov Panha: I feel happy that I could see all of these things.
Arielle: While experimenting with beakers, puzzles and even magnetics, a lightbulb goes off. Through their experience with STEM activities and its magical wonders, students see a new world of possibilities.
Eourn Sithun: This is important because we are a developing country. We need science; we need math.
Arielle: The STEM bus is always on the road, traveling for weeks at a time with volunteers hoping to make a difference.
Raksmey Chorpuan: I love science. I want to inspire kids to love STEM field the way I do for the sake of country development.
Arielle: Cambodia has suffered through several wars and violence for decades, leaving the country behind the rest of the world. About 17 percent of the country lives in extreme poverty on less than $2 a day. And about 1 in 5 people can't read or write. With improving education and introducing young people to STEM, this bus could be an epic step for Cambodia to one day be one of the world's most developed countries.
Is STEM a way for children who are living in poverty here in Cambodia to reach a different level? To somehow, at some point, fill those jobs that are needed in the STEM community?
Tan: Absolutely, and an important thing to note is that STEM jobs are not just about being a scientist in a lab. We're talking about a technical workforce; that is something that an emerging economy like this — there is so many jobs in that area, especially one that is moving to manufacturing, like Cambodia.
Arielle: On the surface it might look like all science and tech, but in the end, it is all about empowering a new generation of young Cambodians to reach new heights.
Tan: We're not able to teach them those subjects in one day, but we are able to spark their interest so when they make those choices about what to study further, about what to go after and what to be passionate about, that they have an idea of those subjects and can make that choice if they want to.
Arielle Hixson, Channel One News.
Emily: Awesome story, Arielle!
And for more stories from the world of science, just head to ChannelOne.com.
All right, when we get back, it is a battle taking place between ranchers and vegetarian fake meat.
Emily: All right, from veggie burgers to even vegetarian sausage, meat alternatives are becoming more and more popular.
Tom: You know, that is right, Emily, and they often still call it meat, even though it is not from an animal. But now the cattle industry is saying that is not right.
On this sprawling Northern California ranch, Kelly Fogarty's family has raised Black Angus cattle for five generations.
Kelly Fogarty: We spend a lot of time out here with them.
Tom: Fogarty also represents hundreds of ranchers as the executive vice president of the U.S. Cattlemen's Association. For them defining meat is easy.
Fogarty: We want them to think of this. We don't want them to think of a laboratory — we don't want them to think of something that's created under a microscope.
Tom: The association is concerned about the increase of animal-free products that have names like this one: Beefy Beyond Beef Crumble, a plant-based product the company says tastes like real beef. The Cattlemen's federal petition argues "the labels beef or meat should inform consumers that the product is derived naturally from animals … as opposed to alternative proteins such as plants … or artificially grown in a laboratory."
But Ethan Brown, the CEO of Beyond Meat, says it is time to rethink that definition.
Ethan Brown: The reason we want to use the word “meat” is that we firmly believe that this is a piece of meat — that if you look at meat not in terms of its origin, but if you look at meat in terms of its composition, we are hitting all of those key points of composition.
Tom: In some stores these animal-free alternatives are currently sold alongside their competitors.
Fogarty: We just don't want there to be any confusion when it comes to our product.
Tom: But Brown argues that the consumer understands what meat alternatives are.
Brown: I think the consumer is smart. I think the consumer knows what plant-based meat is.
Tom: Meat alternative sales were up 6 percent last year and are valued at around $500 million. That is still crumbs compared to the real meat industry that makes more than $50 billion every year. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture says it is considering the cattle ranchers’ petition and could finally decide which foods meat the definition.
Tom Hanson, Channel One News.
Emily: All right, guys, that is going to do it for us. Have a great day, and we will see you right back here tomorrow.
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