Chemicals

Pesticide Spraying Near Calif. School Concerns Parents. Why It’s Legal.

"Although California laws prevent schools and nearby farmers from applying pesticides when students are present, cities are largely an exception. On May 1, Patterson city staff sprayed pesticides at Floragold Park next to Apricot Valley Elementary school while kids were outside."

Source: Modesto Bee, 05/22/2026

Firms Rush Toward Deep-Sea Mining As Trump Regulators Fast-Track Permits

"In the year since President Donald Trump signed an executive order promising to create a deep-sea mining industry from scratch, businesses have raised millions of dollars from investors, stock prices have soared and federal regulators have raced to fast-track a permitting process."

Source: AP, 05/22/2026

Trump Eases HFC rule, Claiming It Will Lower Surging Grocery Costs

"The Trump administration on Thursday loosened federal rules that require grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment, a step that President Donald Trump said would help lower grocery costs."

Source: AP, 05/22/2026

"Europe’s Green-Energy Future Has a Problem: Reindeer"

"In northern Norway, Sami people fear a copper mine will disrupt their traditional lifestyles."

"Each summer, Nils Mikkelsen Utsi guides his reindeer to highland pastures overlooking a fjord, known to locals as Repparfjord, in northern Norway. There, under the Arctic midnight sun, female reindeer give birth and Mr. Utsi marks the ears of the calves. His ancestors have done this for generations.

“This is my reindeer district,” he said. “This is my life.”

Source: New York Times, 05/21/2026

The Worst Climate Future Is Less Likely, But The Best One Is Slipping Away

"Scientists are jettisoning their worst and best case scenarios for a warming world as no longer plausible. That shows how modest gains in the fight to curb climate change have dialed back the most catastrophic of future heating but also confirmed that there’s no chance to limit warming to the international goal set in 2015."

Source: AP, 05/20/2026

FWS Clears Weedkiller Atrazine, Saying It Won’t Cause Extinction

"The Trump administration has determined that atrazine, a weedkiller used widely on corn and other crops, does not pose an extinction risk to threatened or endangered wildlife, effectively justifying its continued use, according to a federal review made public this week." "The finding effectively paves the way for continued use of atrazine, a widely used herbicide that has been linked to birth defects and cancer in humans."

Source: New York Times, 05/20/2026

Minnesota Sues 3M, Says PFAS From Cottage Grove Continue To Pollute Water

"The state of Minnesota has filed a new lawsuit against Maplewood-based 3M, alleging that PFAS from the company’s manufacturing plant in Cottage Grove continue to contaminate groundwater and the Mississippi River."

Source: MPR News, 05/19/2026

TVA Put Out Booklet Downplaying Coal Ash Risks. Experts Call it ‘Dishonest.’

"A 35-page booklet distributed in a public meeting by the Tennessee Valley Authority about coal ash is filled with “lies” and misleading information, according to coal ash researchers."

Source: Inside Climate News, 05/19/2026

Calif. Hazardous Waste Rules Slammed as Years Late and ‘Polluter-Friendly’

"Wherever they turn, residents in and around Santa Fe Springs, California, contend with toxic hazards." "Proposed hazardous waste oversight changes are years behind schedule and fail to account for a community’s health risks from pollution, environmental groups warn."

Source: Capital & Main, 05/19/2026

Oily Sludge Is Flooding Their Dream Home. Okla. Regulators Don't Help.

"The Merediths were forced to abandon their house after it filled with black goo, reaching gas concentrations at explosive levels. Despite evidence of oil and gas pollution, the state “wanted to act like it would go away,” the family says."

Source: Frontier/ProPublica, 05/19/2026

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