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"One day last July, Vernon Spear scratched his forearm on a crab pot as he pulled it out of the Choptank River from his pier in Cambridge, MD. He put hydrogen peroxide on the tiny cuts, thinking that would disinfect them. That night, his forearm swelled up, and he spiked a high fever."
"The Trump administration was sued on Tuesday by 18 Democratic-led states, Washington, D.C. and New York City over a new federal rule they say would harm the climate by giving companies more time to stop using dangerous hydrofluorocarbons in commercial refrigeration equipment."
"Smoke from wildfires — which are burning more of the Northern Hemisphere as Earth warms — attacks nearly every system in the human body, killing tens of thousands of people a year, numerous medical studies show."
"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."
"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 president joined Republican officials who slammed the National Academies of Sciences for a chapter about climate science in an educational guide for judges."
"The Trump administration is seeking to loosen federal rules intended to protect historic sites, alarming outside groups who say the changes would allow government agencies and developers to pursue major projects — such as President Donald Trump’s planned triumphal arch — without soliciting public input."
"The nation’s biggest green groups have joined the fray over data centers — and they’re starting to notch some victories after 18 months of stinging environmental setbacks under the Trump administration."
"The state’s air monitors are often miles from its biggest polluters and residents have little way of knowing what they’re breathing. That’s no accident."
"Democrats see an opening in rural states for the first time in decades. In Iowa, it’s about water."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"California bars utilities from cutting off power to customers who fall behind on their bills when it’s dangerously hot outside – a basic safety protection. Losing power in some rural areas can also mean losing water, and in cities, having no way to cool down can be dangerous, even deadly, when hot weather spans several days."
"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."
