Environmental Studies

Utah’s Desert Could Fry If America’s Biggest Data Center Gets Built

"Plans for a celebrity-backed “hyperscale” data center in rural Utah, so massive that it would consume more than double the state’s current electricity use, have generated an intense public and political backlash in a state where the motto is “industry” and a Republican supermajority tends to be deferential to development."

Source: Grist, 05/22/2026

"ICE Changes Environmental Review Plan for Detention Centers"

"US Immigration and Customs Enforcement appears to be shifting its strategy as it faces environmental review headwinds in its campaign to buy and convert warehouses into detention centers across the country. The Department of Homeland Security is now conducting National Environmental Policy Act reviews for two proposed facilities in New Jersey and Maryland, marking a policy shift after the agency initially exempted the projects from the months-long study process."

Source: Bloomberg Environment, 05/22/2026

US Researchers Face New Limits On Publishing With Foreign Collaborators

"Grants managers at two of the U.S. government’s largest funders of scientific research have recently placed unprecedented limitations on the ability of U.S. scientists to publish with co-authors from other countries, researchers say."

Source: Science, 05/21/2026

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

"E.P.A. to End Some Limits on ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water"

"The Trump administration announced Monday that it will drop some limits on “forever chemicals” in drinking water that officials had determined can cause cancer and other serious health problems — angering some key activists who had supported President Trump’s campaign."

Source: New York Times, 05/19/2026

DHS Waives 29 Environmental Laws for Border Barriers Along Big Bend

"Today, under authority of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act and the Real ID Act, the new Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin waived 29 environmental and conservation laws in the Big Bend Sector."

Source: Our Public Lands & Waters, 05/18/2026

"Something Startling Is Happening In The Gulf Of Mexico"

"Climate change is causing oceans worldwide to warm. But that year, summertime sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico began heating up at about twice the rate seen in the global oceans."

Source: Yale Climate Connections, 05/14/2026

EPA Plan: Let Work Start On Data Centers, Power Plants Before Air Permits

"EPA on Monday proposed allowing data centers, power plants and other industrial facilities to begin certain construction work before obtaining required federal air permits."

Source: E&E News, 05/13/2026

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