Economy & Business

Open Door to Industry for Trump Environmental Agency Appointees

It’s not just the heads of Trump administration environmental agencies who come from the industries they now are entrusted to regulate. The latest TipSheet explains that it’s also the political appointees below them — officials responsible for overseeing air, water, toxic chemicals, Superfund, forests and drilling — who are now likely examples of regulatory capture. A short list. Plus, more from our new Trump 2.0 EJWatch special section.

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"Cuts To U.S. Weather And Climate Research Could Put Public Safety At Risk"

"One month into the new Trump administration, firings of scientists and freezes to U.S. research funding have caused an unprecedented elimination of scientific expertise from the federal government. Proposed and ongoing cuts to agencies like the National Weather Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, could hobble efforts to keep Americans safe during and after disasters."

Source: Yale Climate Connections, 02/24/2025

"Rural Ohioans Oppose Solar Farms, Right? Not So, Developer Finds"

"A large majority of public commenters support Open Road Renewables’ plan to build a big agrivoltaics project in central Ohio." "A new analysis shows that a clear majority of people submitting comments on a planned central Ohio solar farm support the project — a stark contrast with how opponents have portrayed public sentiment."

Source: Canary Media, 02/20/2025

From Oil Boom to Lithium Rush — Reporting the Realities

A coming lithium rush in Arkansas drew the notice of journalist Katie Myers, who used a grant from the Fund for Environmental Journalism to explore whether extraction activities near once-booming energy communities could avoid the economic and environmental impacts of another boom-and-bust cycle for a largely Black region with histories of land dispossession, plantation slavery and Jim Crow segregation. Lessons learned in the latest FEJ StoryLog.

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Insurance Meltdown a Foreseeable Climate Disaster

Whether fires in California or flooding in North Carolina, climate disasters are revealing a major fault line in U.S. emergency response — a serious insurance shortfall that may lead to financial catastrophe. The new Issue Backgrounder explores the risks of underinsured disasters, the limits to the national flood insurance programs and FEMA aid, and the predictable scapegoating that has created solution gridlock.

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"Undocumented Workers Prepare to Clean Up L.A.’s Fires Amid ICE Raids"

"In the aftermath of the devastating wildfires that tore through Los Angeles last month, undocumented day laborers will likely make up a significant portion of the workforce tasked with clearing debris and rebuilding homes. As they navigate the environmental hazards of this work, they’re also facing the Trump administration’s escalating crackdown on immigrants."

Source: Capital & Main, 02/14/2025

"Coca-Cola Says It May Use More Plastic Due To Trump Tariffs"

"Coca-Cola may have to sell more drinks in plastic bottles in the US if President Donald Trump's tariffs end up making aluminium cans more expensive, the company's chief executive, James Quincey, said in a call with investors."

Source: BBC News, 02/14/2025

"Colorado And Connecticut Lowered Utility Bills By Reining In Lobbying"

"Electric and gas utilities routinely charge ratepayers for costs related to political advocacy, ads to burnish their brand, and even luxury perks for executives and employees, according to a recent report by the utility watchdog group Energy and Policy Institute, or EPI. Such expenses add up to millions of dollars paid by customers toward utilities’ efforts to raise prices and stall climate progress."

Source: Grist, 02/14/2025

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