"President Trump is stocking the Environmental Protection Agency with officials who have served as lawyers and lobbyists for the oil and chemical industries, many of whom worked in his first administration to weaken climate and pollution protections."
Former Congressman Lee Zeldin, the Trump administration nominee to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has scant expertise in the field and little appeal to environmental groups. But at a Senate hearing earlier this month, the Trump loyalist aimed to score points by confirming the existence of climate change and deflating rumors of an agency move out of the Capital. The latest EJ TransitionWatch takes a look at Zeldin's prospects.
To many, plants are a merely green backdrop, indistinguishable and inconsequential. But, freelancer Karen Mockler says that such “plant blindness” belies an urgent need for our notice. More than a third of the world’s trees and thousands of other plant species face extinction. Their plight — and their many blessings — offer perceptive journalists a wealth of reporting and storytelling opportunities. Mockler on why to write about plants.
"The LA fires have left domestic workers and day laborers jobless. They may soon be hired for wildfire cleanup work, where they can be exposed to ash and other toxins."
"Climate science deniers from a US-based thinktank have been working with rightwing politicians in Europe to campaign against environmental policies, the Guardian can reveal."
"Billionaire former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Thursday that his foundation would fund the UN climate change agency after President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement. Bloomberg’s pledge will cover the 22 percent of its $96.5 million budget previously provided by the US for 2024-2025."
"President Trump’s picks to lead the nation’s energy and environment-focused agencies all sailed through committee votes on Thursday morning."
"The partisan divide over natural resource protections took a hard shift to the right with the inauguration of President Trump, who reversed moves the Biden administration took to protect natural resources in Alaska from mining and energy development and hunting bears with baits."
"Automakers and even some Republicans may fight to preserve funds, and environmental activists will likely sue, but some experts said that some changes may not survive legal challenges."
"President Donald Trump on his first day in office declared an “energy emergency” and set in motion the demolition of scores of environmental protections that his administration will have to defend in court. Legal observers say some of Trump’s ambitions will be harder than others to justify — even before a high court dominated by conservatives, including three of the president’s own picks."
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