EPA Chief Lee Zeldin is good at tailoring his message to MAGA media. But that sometimes puts him at odds with EPA's official justifications for actions -- whether it be a rule or the cancellation of a grant. And that could be a liability if he moves over to DOJ: www.eenews.net/articles/fro...
In E&E News, @zialyle.bsky.social & I talked with @mirandawrites.bsky.social about the new paper Zia led finding climate risks at drinking water utilities (www.nature.com/articles/s43...). EPA eliminated a program that helped water utilities prepare for climate change. www.eenews.net/articles/epa...
Washington State came up with a crafty bit of policy to get around Trump's order to keep the Centralia coal plant open — tax the plant into oblivion.
(Disclaimer: requires cap and trade law.)
heatmap.news/energy/washi...
NEW with @ruthreader.bsky.social: Some Democrats see an opening to win over MAHA voters ahead of November as the movement's frustrations with the Trump administration reach a breaking point www.politico.com/news/2026/03...
“We were very fortunate that the collapse occurred downstream from the primary drinking water intakes,” said Michael Nardolilli, executive director of the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin. “It’s better to be lucky than good, but there’s only so much luck that can go around here.”
Great story, with charts and detailed breakdowns, about the exodus of EPA career staff (especially research scientists) over the past year from my colleague @kevinbogardus.bsky.social
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
There is no evidence that vaccines cause autism, but there is growing research that shows a link between wildfire smoke exposure in pregnant mothers and autism diagnoses. Two studies published in the last month indicate wildfire smoke has profound neurological impacts: grist.org/health/growi...
“This sounds more like the commander [was] looking out for public safety & ensuring he can deliver benefits like recreation & flood control for all the taxpayers, not just those that complain about good development standards,” said a former Army Corps official, who sees the firing as highly unusual.
“The affordability issue is already a challenge, & this is going to exacerbate that even further,” said Tony Parrott, who heads up the sewer district in Louisville, Kentucky. “If we’re losing that layer of wetlands as a tool, it means we’re going to have to make larger investments on the back end.”
EPA's push to limit the scope of the Clean Water Act continued today, with the agency releasing a new rule that could make it harder for states to block energy projects that have the potential to pollute waterways.
Public records released via an environmental group's Freedom of Information Act request show few residents took the initiative to respond, and those who did were critical and "embarrassed" by the Trump administration's effort.
“I don’t think we have enough good data to know how much [water] is being used,” said Virginia state Sen. Richard Stuart, a Republican in the Virginia legislature whose district has become a hub for data centers.
A neutral arbiter agrees: @politico.com violated our contract and its own journalistic standards when it deployed AI.
Our readers deserve news, not slop!
wbng.org/2025/12/01/p...
New: Conde Nast fired four employees who were among a group that confronted the company's head of human resources on Wednesday over the decision to fold Teen Vogue into Vogue/recent cuts. Employees who were fired included journalists from the New Yorker, Wired, and Bon Appétit.
Recently, I started to look into how PFAS chemicals came to be a Pennsylvania town's drinking water. I had heard the PFAS might have come from a surprising source: an EPA-approved cleanup plan at a Superfund site.
Now, EPA has found that the use of sewage sludge during cleanup was a likely factor.
EPA still has a "walking around money" left over in fy 2026. But it's choosing to furlough some people while others remain on the job and drawing a paycheck. It appears to be keeping those working on deregulation and other priorities. @ellieborst.bsky.social and I: www.eenews.net/articles/epa...
You may have read about Kipnuk, an Alaska village devastated by a typhoon months after EPA nixed $$ for climate resilience projects.
Huslia, in interior Alaska, similarly lost a $20 million EPA grant to help protect itself.
"We don’t want the history of our village to keep getting flushed away."
SCOOP from me:
I uncovered that the Interior Department just quietly defunded *two* multimillion dollar research programs studying how whales move and behave near U.S. wind farms actively being built.
Trump blames wind turbines for whale deaths, then cuts vital research on the topic. 🧵
EPA "keeps saying it will come soon, and we keep waiting, and now we’re in a shutdown," one environmental advocate said of the funding delay.
Trump & his Cabinet say wind & solar are making electricity more expensive.
Federal data say the opposite.
Our analysis showed states w/ > avg wind/solar generation & > avg acceleration of wind/solar since ‘21 were likelier to have < avg power prices.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
The Trump administration has ended a longstanding partnership between EPA and a national nonprofit that supports state wetland programs.
The agreement was a major source of funding for the National Association of Wetland Managers, which is now having to cut four of its nine staff positions.
Will allowing coal plants to continue with outdated water pollution controls actually save Americans' money, as the Trump administration has said? Maybe not, according to the agency's own cost-benefit analysis.
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
For at least two days last month, federal workers could not clean up the black oily goop in this Louisianan town beca of funding issues and a legitimate threat of gun violence.
My latest:
It's not clear how many projects are affected. But it'll be interesting to see how this plays among lawmakers in flood-prone states.
"It’s important that we come to a sensible, commonsense solution & not one that just says, ‘Nonstructural is all done here,’” Sen. Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said yesterday.
Studies on future "nonstructural" flood control projects are paused at the Army Corps of Engineers. Rather than hold back floodwaters through things like levees & seawalls, these projects aim to reduce flood harms, by elevating homes, flood-proofing properties & offering people buyouts.
