Environmental Studies

"Environmental advocates are suing the Trump administration over what they described as a secretive plan to undermine climate science."

"The Trump administration wants to eliminate the energy-efficiency program, but bakers, builders, hot tub lobbyists, and chemical companies are trying to save it."

"An executive order signed by President Donald Trump late Thursday aims to give political appointees power over the billions of dollars in grants awarded by federal agencies. Scientists say it threatens to undermine the process that has helped make the U.S. the world leader in research and development."

"The current Trump administration has made 70% more changes to government environmental websites during its first 100 days than the first Trump administration did, and those changes are bolder, according to a report published by the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI)."

"The Environmental Protection Agency said it would stop updating research that hundreds of companies use to calculate their greenhouse gas emissions after the agency suspended the database’s creator because he had signed a letter criticizing the Trump administration’s approach to scientific research."

"Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright said officials are reviewing previously published National Climate Assessments and may update them. Earlier this year, the Trump administration fired more than 400 scientists working on the next federal climate report and removed the website that housed the previous ones."

"In a move that could shake up scientific publishing, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) last week proposed specific limits on how much it would reimburse grantees who pay publishers to make their articles open access, or free to read. The suggested limits, which include possible caps of $2000 to $6000 per paper, may block scientists from publishing in top-tier journals with much higher fees, unless they or their institution come up with the difference."

"The newest draft of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement lacks meaningful pollution reduction targets and allows states to evade legal accountability, according to concerned environmental advocates and experts who have reviewed the document."

"Plastics are a “grave” danger to humans and the planet, responsible for an estimated $1.5 trillion annually in health-related costs, and nations need to center human health as they finalize the global plastics treaty, scientists said in a new report released Monday."

"“This is a very baffling moment in time,” said one researcher. “I never would have thought we had to advocate for science.”"