EJToday is a daily weekday digest of top environment/energy news and information of interest to environmental journalists, independently curated by Editor Joseph A. Davis. Sign up below to receive in your inbox. For queries, email EJToday@SEJ.org. For more info, read an EJToday FAQ. Plus, follow EJToday on social media at @EJTodayNews, and flag stories of note by including the @EJTodayNews handle on your posts. And tell us how to make EJToday even better by taking this brief survey.
Want to join the EJToday team? Volunteer time commitments can vary from just an hour a month up to a daily contribution, and would involve helping to curate content of interest. To learn more, reach out to the director of publications, Adam Glenn, at sejournaleditor@sej.org.
Note: Members have additional options to choose from (you'll need your log-in info).
"A group of 18 state attorneys general are pushing EPA to delete its public online database of chemical facilities, citing vulnerabilities to hackers or other security threats."
"“America’s 250th anniversary celebration is supposed to be an occasion for strengthening public trust in our democratic institutions,” said one advocate. “Freedom 250 is a privately managed slush fund.”"
"EPA on Monday proposed allowing data centers, power plants and other industrial facilities to begin certain construction work before obtaining required federal air permits."
"xAI has added 19 natural gas turbines to its second data center campus in Southhaven, Mississippi, over the past two months, according to internal emails seen by WIRED. The additions come as xAI is fighting a lawsuit from the NAACP and several environmental groups, alleging that the company is violating the Clean Air Act by operating more than two dozen natural gas turbines at the site without appropriate air permits."
"A class action settlement proposed in the nationwide Roundup litigation would award $675 million to lawyers who negotiated the settlement, while plaintiffs suffering from cancer would receive, on average, $10,000 to $165,000 each, according to a new court filing in the case."
"The Trump administration unlawfully began painting the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool basin blue without conducting the required consultations before altering a registered historic landmark, a new lawsuit alleged Monday."
"President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency wrote a memo last spring laying out how to kill the disaster agency."
"While running the FDA, Makary led efforts to get companies to ditch food dyes and was popular among followers of the MAHA movement."
"The Wall Street Journal received grand jury subpoenas for reporters’ records as part of a Justice Department leak investigation, as the outlet said that they would oppose the effort. The Journal reported Monday evening that the subpoenas, dated March 4, came after President Donald Trump complained about leaks tied to the war in Iran."
"In early March, in the lobby of the Department of Health and Human Services, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stood alongside medical leaders and other cabinet members to make an announcement. The administration had secured agreements with over 50 medical schools to provide at least 40 hours of nutrition education as part of a medical-school degree, Kennedy said—nearly a third of the roughly 160 accredited medical schools in the United States.
"President Donald Trump said Monday he will move to suspend the federal tax on gasoline to help Americans shoulder surging fuel prices caused by the Iran war. The president cannot suspend the federal tax on his own. Congress would have to approve the move."
"Coal-fired power plants across the country released more mercury last year as power demand surged, reversing a yearslong downward trend in the emissions of a toxic metal that impairs brain development."
"A Washington-area nonprofit Monday asked a federal court to halt President Donald Trump’s efforts to resurface the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, saying that the president failed to undergo required federal reviews before applying a blue color to the basin."
"The Trump administration announced earlier this month that hundreds of baby formula samples it tested for toxic chemicals “meet a high safety standard”, but public health advocates warn this claim contradicts data showing a majority were contaminated with dangerous substances, such as Pfas or phthalates."
"President Trump chose Cameron Hamilton to direct federal disaster response. As acting head of FEMA last year, he had opposed abolishing the agency and was ousted."
