Environmental Politics

"On a pristine Rhode Island beach teeming with noisy seabirds, a group of biologists armed with nets sneak up on a pair of American oystercatcher chicks."

"The Colorado River’s largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, have declined to their lowest combined levels on record.
Researchers say the new low underscores the urgent need to cut water use in the seven states that depend on the river."

"The oil industry and its allies gained a major supporter in their yearslong effort to derail climate science programs at the National Academies: the president of the United States."

"The Trump administration is dismantling a wide array of federal energy-efficiency programs at the same time that war in Iran is raising oil prices, climate change is fueling record heat that is driving up demand for air conditioning and new data centers are straining America’s electricity supply."

"In what many environmental organizations are touting as a victory, a federal judge last week ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency violated the Clean Air Act by failing to meet its legal deadline to identify areas failing to meet its 2024 particulate matter standard."

"The Trump administration has killed the regulatory review of sewage sludge contaminated with Pfas and spread on farmland as fertilizer, a practice that has sickened farmers, destroyed their livelihoods, killed livestock, polluted water supplies, and poisoned meat and food products sold to the public."

"More than 700 US veterinarians are asking Congress to leave out an industry-backed provision from the Farm Bill that would preempt states from having stricter animal welfare laws than other states. The provision — often referred to as the “Save Our Bacon Act” — was included in the House draft Farm Bill released in May, but was omitted in the Senate draft released last month."

"The U.S. Bureau of Land Management scheduled a September 2026 lease sale for 2,800 acres of Wayne National Forest, a preserve long sought by the oil and gas industry. This could mean fracking Ohio’s only national forest for the first time."

"A coalition of 18 states and Washington, D.C., has moved to join an industry lawsuit challenging the Department of Defense’s freeze on onshore wind projects in America."

"Research shows Black neighborhoods bear the brunt of diesel pollution. New EPA changes could make that burden worse."
For decades, highways and industrial corridors have exposed Black communities to disproportionate levels of diesel pollution. As the Trump administration eases clean truck standards, environmental advocates warn those neighborhoods could once again pay the highest price."