Water & Oceans

"Scientists On Alert As NOAA Restricts Contact With Foreign Nationals"

"Staff members at a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been told this week to stop all contact with foreign nationals, including on international treaties and seafood catch limits, stoking confusion and fear among government scientists as the Trump administration begins to shape its vision for their work."

Source: Washington Post, 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

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

"How Tearing Down Small Dams Is Helping Restore Northeast Rivers"

"More than 30,000 small dams currently block river tributaries from Maine to Maryland. New initiatives to remove them are aimed at restoring natural flows, improving habitat for aquatic life, and reopening thousands of river miles to migratory fish, from shad to American eels."

Source: YaleE360, 02/05/2025

"Trump Wants More Drilling, But The Oil Market Is Already Saturated"

Trump has repeatedly said eliminating barriers to drilling will unlock vast untapped reserves of “liquid gold” and ignite a new era of national prosperity. But most of the drilling leases already granted to companies in the oil-rich Gulf are idle and unused, and they’ll stay that way until the United States’ record-breaking production rates wane and the high costs of drilling offshore drop precipitously.

Source: Verite News, 02/05/2025

"Trump Picks Scientist Involved In ‘Sharpiegate’ Scandal To Lead NOAA"

"President Donald Trump has named Neil Jacobs, an atmospheric scientist who was found to have violated scientific integrity policies during the “Sharpiegate” scandal of the first Trump administration, to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."

Source: Washington Post, 02/05/2025

"Inside The Energy Department’s Partnership With The Plastics Industry"

"Nearly five years ago, the United States Department of Energy, or DOE, began an unusual partnership with the country’s largest lobbying group for the plastics industry." "Critics argue that the agency’s work with a lobbying group is a conflict of interest."

Source: Grist/ExxonKnews, 02/04/2025

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