"A federal judge in Texas has tossed a defamation suit brought by FBI Director Kash Patel against former FBI assistant director-turned-MSNBC contributor Frank Figliuzzi."
"A Trump administration appointee has delayed publication of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that shows benefits related to the Covid vaccine, leading to concerns that the administration is engaging in behind-the-scenes tactics to undermine vaccines."
SEJournal is providing full coverage of all eight of the day-long tours from the annual Society of Environmental Journalists’ conference, April 15-18, in Chicago. In Part 2, contributors Meg Duff, Nathaniel Eisen, Nhung Nguyen and Marlowe Starling provide detailed reports from tours focused on the transitioning steel industry, microgrids, climate-friendly crop practices and evolving Midwestern agricultural systems.
Also check out the first round of tour coverage and read all the great work from our team of early-career freelance journalists, part of SEJournal’s live #SEJ2026 Live conference reporting.
Nearly as rejuvenating as attending the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual gathering is perusing the après-conference spoof by contributing quipster David Helvarg. While it seemed he was mostly there unabashedly preselling his forthcoming book, he somehow found time to send up SEJ’s earnest sessions, lambast its blown-up tours and rib its beat dinners. Read his Chicago roast.
"Earth Day was born in 1970 during a moment of human solidarity in troubled times. Violent Vietnam war protests, burning Black communities and girdles and bras publicly trashed by feminists spoke of great social divides." "Fifty-six years after the first one rallied 20 million people across America, “we need to do things that make us feel more powerful.”"
"A new Gallup survey found that a record-low 35 percent of American respondents rated the quality of their country’s environment positively, just more than a week before Earth Day."
"After Canadian wildfires brought extremely poor air quality to Detroit in the summers of 2023 and 2025, Michigan is updating how it communicates air quality risks to residents this year."
"The Treasury secretary said it is “difficult to deconstruct” the reasons for global warming, which he described as a belief of the “elite.”"
"The NAACP and its Mississippi State Conference are suing Elon Musk’s xAI, alleging that it did not get a permit before emitting large amounts of pollution into a Memphis-area community."
