Chemical Plant Mishandled Hazardous Waste for Years, Then Shuttered
"Questions remain about cleanup at the North Carolina site, which had been hailed as a solution for dealing with plastic waste."
Source: Inside Climate News, 07/13/2026
EJToday: Top Environmental Politics Headlines
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Enviros Challenge Trump DOE Order to Keep Florida Coal Plant Running
"The Trump administration is facing a new legal challenge over an emergency order keeping a Florida coal-fired power plant, which had been scheduled for retirement, in operation." "Advocacy groups said the order failed to establish an energy emergency. The Department of Energy partly attributed one to anticipated demand associated with data centers."
Source: Inside Climate News, 07/13/2026Before Reflecting Pool, Contractor Bungled Project On Tijuana River
"A year before Greenwater Services got a $1.7 million contract to clean the algae-infected Reflecting Pool, it had received another no-bid government contract to deploy at the trash-plagued Tijuana River."
Source: Washington Post, 07/13/2026Exxon’s Robert Levy Is Joining the DOJ's Environment Division
"The longtime Big Oil attorney has major ties to conservative legal groups."
Source: DeSmog, 07/13/2026EPA Moves To Cut Truck Pollution Requirements
"The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it is proposing to loosen requirements for pollution controls that rein in emissions from heavy duty trucks." "The administration said the technical changes are expected to allow for more flexibility for truck companies, when compared to a Biden-era rule."
Source: The Hill, 07/10/2026EPA Joins DOJ’s Legal Defense of Musk’s xAI
"The Trump administration is working to correct an apparent mistake in its unusual petition to end an environmental lawsuit by the NAACP against Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company. Now, the Justice Department says, its motion is also backed by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin."
Source: E&E News, 07/10/2026AI’s No-Win Choice: Using Huge Amounts Of Water Or Energy
"Tech companies face a fundamental choice with no winning answer for keeping data centers cool."
Source: E&E News, 07/10/2026Judge Tosses $3.8B Defamation Suit by Trump Media vs. Washington Post
"A federal judge on Thursday ruled in favor of The Washington Post, throwing out a $3.8 billion defamation lawsuit filed in 2023 by President Donald Trump’s social media company, Trump Media and Technology Group." "The social media company failed to identify convincing evidence that The Post acted with actual malice, a federal judge in Tampa ruled."
Source: Washington Post, 07/09/2026Smithsonian Head Disputes White House Report In Memo To Staff
"Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III issued a defense of the National Museum of American History to staffers on Tuesday, in response to a caustic White House report accusing the museum of pushing “extreme political activism.”
Source: Washington Post, 07/09/2026The ‘Time-Consuming’ Permits Dozens Of Data Centers Are Skipping
"A court ruling shrinking the scope of the Clean Water Act has allowed new data centers to speed through the federal permitting process. Communities are feeling the effects."
Source: E&E News, 07/09/2026EPA’s Pesticide Approvals Prompt Fears of PFAS Contamination on Farms
"Less than a week after President Donald Trump signed an executive order supporting regenerative agriculture practices that he said would “reduce overall use” of chemical pesticides, his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a flurry of controversial approvals."
Source: Civil Eats, 07/09/2026Greens Petition EPA To Add Warnings To Pesticides Linked To Cancer
"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should require cancer warnings on all pesticide products containing ingredients the agency has found show evidence of carcinogenicity, according to an emergency petition filed Wednesday by the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental health advocacy group."
Source: The New Lede, 07/09/2026Trump EPA Air Chief Heads For The Exit
"Aaron Szabo, the head of EPA’s air office who has overseen a dramatic scaling back of climate regulations, is leaving the agency."
Source: E&E News, 07/08/2026How a Billionaire-Owned Concrete Plant Took Over a Detroit Community
"As the city recovers from the largest municipal bankruptcy in history, major construction has reshaped it. New concrete businesses have opened in response. A concrete mixing plant has opened in the Cadillac Heights neighborhood, a process aided by the decisions of city officials."
Source: BridgeDetroit, 07/08/2026Alabama Seeks To Fill Wetlands, Streams for Controversial Highway
"Alabama officials are seeking federal permission to fill a stretch of wetlands and streams to move forward on the Birmingham Northern Beltline, a decades-long highway project that critics say is unnecessary and will destroy huge swaths of sensitive forests, wetlands and streams."
Source: Inside Climate News, 07/08/2026
