Environmental Politics

Big Oil’s Huge Spending On Lobbying Hobbled Key California Climate Measures

"One bill that would have required oil companies to help pay for damages from climate-driven disasters failed and another that would levy heavy fines on refineries that release toxic air contaminants was watered down."

Source: Inside Climate News, 02/07/2025

"Trump Dismantles Environmental Justice Team, Staff Put on Leave"

"The EPA on Thursday put 168 employees within its environmental justice office on administrative leave as the Trump administration executes presidential actions to roll back diversity initiatives."

Source: Bloomberg Environment, 02/07/2025

"EPA To Prioritize AI, Lobbyists And Staff Cuts In ‘Mission To Traumatize’"

"A new and starkly different vision for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been outlined by the Trump administration – one that involves mass staff cuts, an influx of industry lobbyists and, unusually, the promotion of artificial intelligence as a key agency priority."

Source: Guardian, 02/07/2025

Press Freedom Issues Come to Fore As Trump 2.0 Launches

Salvaging disappearing web pages from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, fostering (and protecting) government whistleblower sources and sussing out the First Amendment’s prospects under the new attorney general at the Justice Department — the latest WatchDog Opinion scans the Trump administration’s information terrain. Plus, check out the latest actions from the Society of Environmental Journalists’ freedom of information efforts.

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Burgum Directive Weakens Public Land Protections to Push Fossil Fuels

"National monuments, migratory birds, endangered and threatened species: Some of the nation’s most vulnerable natural resources are in jeopardy after Doug Burgum issued—on his first full day as secretary of the Department of the Interior—a seven-page directive weakening their protections to further fossil fuel development."

Source: Inside Climate News, 02/06/2025

"Republicans Move To Repeal Lead Limits Imposed By Biden-Era Rules"

"Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration are attempting to repeal the Biden administration’s groundbreaking rules that require all the country’s lead pipes to be replaced over the next 13 years and lower the limit on lead in water."

Source: Guardian, 02/06/2025

DOGE Staffers Enter NOAA Headquarters And Incite Reports Of Cuts And Threats

"Staffers with Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge) reportedly entered the headquarters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) in Silver Spring, Maryland, and the Department of Commerce in Washington DC today, inciting concerns of downsizing at the agency."

Source: Guardian, 02/06/2025

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