"On the eve of the Selma Jubilee, commemorating the “Bloody Sunday” march that helped catalyze support for the Voting Rights Act 57 years ago, the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency toured Alabama’s Black Belt to witness a different kind of struggle: the battle for clean water and basic sanitation."
"The prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, opening an investigation into alleged war crimes, has authority to bring charges for damage to the environment that is widespread, long-term and severe."
"It’s not a question of whether national soot standards will be tightened, but by how much — a decision with sizable implications for Americans’ health and industry regulations."
The Biden administration, which has been making environmental justice a top goal, has released a new screening tool that complements existing environmental equity databases, but with especially strong attention to a range of categories like clean transit, clean water, housing issues, life expectancy and more (although, interestingly, not race). The latest Reporter’s Toolbox has a guide to the new screening tool.
"The House passed legislation today [Thursday] to deliver comprehensive health care and benefits to veterans affected by toxic exposure, after President Biden pressed Congress during his State of the Union address to take action on the issue."
"The Environmental Protection Agency’s approach to removing toxins from the Housatonic River, first outlined in broad terms two years ago, now is official."
"The filters distributed in Benton Harbor, Michigan during the city’s recent lead water crisis worked properly, according to a study state officials said was conducted to give residents assurance."
"All three officials have played a significant role in pressuring scientists to dismiss the risks posed by products the EPA is assessing, according to whistleblowers."
"The fire at Europe's largest nuclear power plant was extinguished Friday after Russian shelling lit ablaze a building on its site and prompted international fears of a nuclear disaster."
"The National Institutes of Health this week ordered a sweeping review of government policies for experiments involving potentially dangerous viruses and other pathogens, a move the agency said will balance the benefits and risks of such research but is unrelated to the debate over the coronavirus pandemic’s origin."
