EJToday: Top Environmental Politics Headlines

Watchdog Sues Trump Interior Dept, Demanding Docs on Freedom 250 Funding [9]

"“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.”"

Climate Change [10]
Economy & Business [11]
Energy & Fuel [12]
Environmental Politics [13]
Government [14]
Journalism & Media [15]
Laws & Regulations [16]
Natural Resources [17]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: Common Dreams [20], 05/13/2026
- Read more about Watchdog Sues Trump Interior Dept, Demanding Docs on Freedom 250 Funding [9]
EPA Plan: Let Work Start On Data Centers, Power Plants Before Air Permits [21]

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

Climate Change [10]
Economy & Business [11]
Energy & Fuel [12]
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Justice [23]
Environmental Politics [13]
Environmental Studies [24]
Infrastructure [25]
Laws & Regulations [16]
Pollution [26]
Technology [27]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: E&E News [28], 05/13/2026
- Read more about EPA Plan: Let Work Start On Data Centers, Power Plants Before Air Permits [21]
Musk's xAI Adds 19 New Gas Turbines Despite Ongoing Lawsuit [29]

"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."

Air [30]
Climate Change [10]
Economy & Business [11]
Energy & Fuel [12]
Environmental Politics [13]
Laws & Regulations [16]
Pollution [26]
Technology [27]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [31]
Source: WIRED [32], 05/13/2026
- Read more about Musk's xAI Adds 19 New Gas Turbines Despite Ongoing Lawsuit [29]
Bayer’s Proposed Roundup Settlement Pays Lawyers, Snubs Plaintiffs: Critics [33]

"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."

Agriculture [34]
Chemicals [35]
Consumer [36]
Economy & Business [11]
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Justice [23]
Environmental Politics [13]
Laws & Regulations [16]
People & Population [37]
Pollution [26]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: The New Lede [38], 05/13/2026
- Read more about Bayer’s Proposed Roundup Settlement Pays Lawyers, Snubs Plaintiffs: Critics [33]
"Trump Reflecting Pool Paint Job Draws New Lawsuit Over Review" [39]

"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."

Economy & Business [11]
Environmental Politics [13]
Infrastructure [25]
Journalism & Media [15]
Laws & Regulations [16]
Natural Resources [17]
Water & Oceans [40]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [41]
Source: Bloomberg Environment [42], 05/13/2026
- Read more about "Trump Reflecting Pool Paint Job Draws New Lawsuit Over Review" [39]
"Can Trump's New FEMA Pick Save the Beleaguered Disaster Agency?" [43]

"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."

Disasters [44]
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Politics [13]
Government [14]
Laws & Regulations [16]
People & Population [37]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: Bloomberg [45], 05/13/2026
- Read more about "Can Trump's New FEMA Pick Save the Beleaguered Disaster Agency?" [43]
"Marty Makary Out as FDA Commissioner" [46]

"While running the FDA, Makary led efforts to get companies to ditch food dyes and was popular among followers of the MAHA movement."

Chemicals [35]
Consumer [36]
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Politics [13]
Food [47]
Laws & Regulations [16]
People & Population [37]
Science [48]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: Civil Eats [49], 05/13/2026
- Read more about "Marty Makary Out as FDA Commissioner" [46]
"Can MAHA Change the Way Medical Schools Teach Nutrition?" [50]

"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.

Activism [51]
Consumer [36]
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Politics [13]
Food [47]
Health [52]
People & Population [37]
Science [48]
Technology [27]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: Civil Eats [53], 05/13/2026
- Read more about "Can MAHA Change the Way Medical Schools Teach Nutrition?" [50]
Trump Says He’ll Move To Suspend US Gasoline Tax, But He Needs Congress [54]

"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."

Climate Change [10]
Consumer [36]
Energy & Fuel [12]
Environmental Politics [13]
Laws & Regulations [16]
Transportation [55]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: AP [56], 05/12/2026
- Read more about Trump Says He’ll Move To Suspend US Gasoline Tax, But He Needs Congress [54]
Nonprofit Sues To Stop Trump Changes To Reflecting Pool, A Historic Site [57]

"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."

Environmental Politics [13]
Infrastructure [25]
Laws & Regulations [16]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: Washington Post [58], 05/12/2026
- Read more about Nonprofit Sues To Stop Trump Changes To Reflecting Pool, A Historic Site [57]
"Trump Nominates Ousted FEMA Leader to Run the Agency Again" [59]

"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."

Disasters [44]
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Politics [13]
People & Population [37]
Water & Oceans [40]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: New York Times [60], 05/12/2026
- Read more about "Trump Nominates Ousted FEMA Leader to Run the Agency Again" [59]
Trump DOI Cancels Rule That Made Conservation A ‘Use’ Of Public Lands [61]

"The Interior Department is canceling a rule that put conservation on equal footing with development, as President Donald Trump’s administration eases restrictions on industries and seeks to boost drilling, logging, mining and grazing on taxpayer-owned land."

Activism [51]
Environmental Politics [13]
Government [14]
Laws & Regulations [16]
Natural Resources [17]
People & Population [37]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: AP [62], 05/12/2026
- Read more about Trump DOI Cancels Rule That Made Conservation A ‘Use’ Of Public Lands [61]
RFK Jr. Driving a Vast Inquiry Into Vaccines, Despite His Public Silence [63]

"Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said little publicly about vaccines in recent months, at the behest of a White House worried that his unpopular stance will hurt Republicans in November’s midterm elections. But he has not abandoned his quest for evidence that they are unsafe."

Activism [51]
Consumer [36]
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Politics [13]
People & Population [37]
Technology [27]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: New York Times [64], 05/12/2026
- Read more about RFK Jr. Driving a Vast Inquiry Into Vaccines, Despite His Public Silence [63]
Why This Tribe Is Buying Up 100s Of Acres Of Farmland — And Flooding It [65]

"Scott Boyd walks through deep mud where the Stillaguamish River empties into Puget Sound, an arm of the Pacific Ocean."

Agriculture [34]
Biodiversity [66]
Environmental Politics [13]
Fish & Fisheries [67]
Natural Resources [17]
People & Population [37]
Water & Oceans [40]
Public [18]
Northwest (OR WA) [68]
Source: NPR [69], 05/12/2026
- Read more about Why This Tribe Is Buying Up 100s Of Acres Of Farmland — And Flooding It [65]
New U.S. Wildland Fire Service Prepares For Extreme Fire Season [70]

"Across the country, wildland firefighters are staring down what could be one of the most severe fire seasons in recent history. Among those figuring out how to prepare is the U.S. Wildland Fire Service, a brand new agency created by the Trump administration."

Climate Change [10]
Disasters [44]
Environmental Politics [13]
Forests [71]
Government [14]
People & Population [37]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: NPR [72], 05/12/2026
- Read more about New U.S. Wildland Fire Service Prepares For Extreme Fire Season [70]

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