"Elegy For The Washington Post Climate Team"
"The Washington Post produced high-quality and wide-ranging climate coverage. Then it fired most of its climate reporters."
Source: Yale Climate Connections, 02/18/2026
EJToday: Top Headlines
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Dem Senators Launch Inquiry Into EPA’s Repeal Of Endangerment Finding
"More than three dozen Democratic senators have begun an independent inquiry into the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) following a huge change in how the agency measures the health benefits of reducing air pollution that is widely seen as a major setback to US efforts to combat the climate crisis."
Source: Guardian, 02/17/2026Trump EPA Dropped Controversial DOE Report From Endangerment Finding Repeal
"When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rescinded its bedrock endangerment finding Thursday, it explicitly excluded a controversial report issued last year by the U.S. Department of Energy that argued the dangers of human-induced climate change were being overstated."
Source: Inside Climate News, 02/17/2026"With Latest Rollback, the U.S. Essentially Has No Clean-Car Rules"
"The United States will essentially have no laws on the books that enforce how efficient America’s passenger cars and trucks should be."
Source: NYTimes, 02/17/2026"Calif. Walloped By Winter Storm With High Winds And Heavy Rain And Snow"
"California was walloped Monday by a powerful winter storm carrying treacherous thunderstorms, high winds and heavy snow in mountain areas."
Source: AP, 02/17/2026Hazardous South L.A. Oil Wells Plugged After Decades Of Community Pressure
"California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced this week that state oil and gas regulators have permanently closed one of the most infamous drill sites in Los Angeles, bringing an end to a decades-long community campaign to prevent dangerous gas leaks and spills from rundown extraction equipment."
Source: LA Times, 02/17/2026"Trash Piles Up In Havana As US Oil Chokehold Halts Garbage Trucks"
"Garbage has begun to pile up on street corners in the Cuban capital of Havana, attracting hordes of flies and reeking of rotten food, in one of the most visible impacts of the U.S. bid to prevent oil from reaching the Caribbean's largest island."
Source: Reuters, 02/17/2026US Ocean Regulator Criticized Over Changes To Right Whale Protection Rule
"The U.S.'s ocean regulator plans to make industry-friendly changes to a longstanding rule designed to protect vanishing whales, prompting criticism from environmental groups who cite the recent death of an endangered whale."
Source: AP, 02/17/2026"The Voracious Vine That ‘Ate the South’ Can Also Fuel Wildfires"
"Brought to the United States as an ornamental porch decoration, the kudzu vine has reshaped itself into ladder fuel for wildfires."
Source: Inside Climate News, 02/17/2026Toughening Louisiana Coast Against Worsening Storms: 4 Years And 30,000 Trees
"Across the calm waters behind a pumping station near Lake Borgne, hundreds of saplings stand out in the mist, wrapped in white plastic cylinders. To get there and to other sites like it, organizers have ferried dozens of volunteers week after week in airboats. They have a trailer equipped with supplies. Rubber boots in all different sizes. Bins full of snacks for the end of a hard day’s work."
Source: AP, 02/17/2026"'We Will Not Be Erased': Stonewall Pride Flag Raised In Defiance"
"In defiance of a Trump administration edict, New York City officials and activists have raised the rainbow pride flag again at the Stonewall National Monument, the birthplace of the LGBTQ+ rights movement, after it was removed by the National Park Service."
Source: USA TODAY, 02/17/2026"Trump Guts Basis For Climate Regulation, Setting Up A Courtroom Clash"
"President Donald Trump’s campaign to quash climate change policies notched its biggest win yet Thursday, as EPA eliminated the legal basis for regulations aimed at restricting greenhouse gas emissions from tailpipes and smokestacks that are heating the planet."
Source: E&E News, 02/13/2026GOP House Bill Guts Laws Protecting US Consumers From Toxic Chemicals
"A new Republican House bill proposes sweeping changes to US toxic chemical laws that would gut protections for consumers, workers and the environment, public health advocates mobilising against the legislation warn."
Source: Guardian, 02/13/2026"Black Residents Win Key Ruling in ‘Cancer Alley’ Environmental Racism Case"
"Lawyers for residents say that zoning that concentrates pollution in Black districts is a violation of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery."
Source: Capital B, 02/13/2026Salty, Oily Drinking Water Left Mouth Sores. Okla. Refused to Find Out Why.
"When one couple’s water turned toxic, state oil regulators delayed key tests that could find a source of contamination. The state didn’t tell the couple for over a month that tests showed their drinking water was contaminated with high levels of barium, which can cause heart problems."
Source: The Frontier, 02/13/2026
