EJToday: Top Environmental Politics Headlines

U.S. Suffers 15 Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters During 1st Half Of 2025 [9]

"The U.S. suffered 15 billion-dollar weather disasters during the first half of 2025, said insurance broker Gallagher Re in its latest quarterly report issued July 16. The average number of January-June inflation-adjusted billion-dollar disasters over the previous 10 years in the U.S. was 15; the record was 23, set in 2024. The Gallagher Re quarterly reports help fill a void left by the elimination of NOAA’s program to track billion-dollar weather disasters, which was terminated this year."

Climate Change [10]
Disasters [11]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Politics [13]
Journalism & Media [14]
People & Population [15]
Science [16]
Water & Oceans [17]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: Yale Climate Connections [20], 07/18/2025
- Read more about U.S. Suffers 15 Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters During 1st Half Of 2025 [9]
"Interior Secretary Says Alcatraz Will Be Renovated For Criminals" [21]

"Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Attorney General Pam Bondi toured the halls of Alcatraz prison at Golden Gate National Recreation Area on Thursday, marveling over some of the names of "the rock's" most notorious prisoners to announce that the crumbling facility would be renovated to house "the most dangerous criminals and illegals."

Environmental Politics [13]
Infrastructure [22]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Natural Resources [24]
People & Population [15]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
California [25]
Source: National Parks Traveler [26], 07/18/2025
- Read more about "Interior Secretary Says Alcatraz Will Be Renovated For Criminals" [21]
Senate Passes $9 Billion In Spending Cuts To Public Broadcasting, Foreign Aid [27]

"The Senate has passed about $9 billion in federal spending cuts requested by President Donald Trump, including deep reductions to public broadcasting and foreign aid, moving forward on one of the president’s top priorities despite concerns from several Republican senators."

Environmental Politics [13]
Journalism & Media [14]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: AP [28], 07/17/2025
- Read more about Senate Passes $9 Billion In Spending Cuts To Public Broadcasting, Foreign Aid [27]
20 States Sue FEMA For Canceling Grant Program To Prevent Natural Disasters [29]

"Twenty Democratic-led states filed suit Wednesday against the Federal Emergency Management Agency, challenging the elimination of a long-running grant program that helps communities guard against damage from natural disasters."

Climate Change [10]
Disasters [11]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [30]
Environmental Politics [13]
Government [31]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Natural Resources [24]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: AP [32], 07/17/2025
- Read more about 20 States Sue FEMA For Canceling Grant Program To Prevent Natural Disasters [29]
Trump Hails $90 Billion Push to Make Pennsylvania A Gas-Fired AI Hub [33]

"Flanked by titans of the fossil fuel, tech and finance industries, President Donald Trump on Tuesday hailed $90 billion in private investments aimed at building a massive artificial intelligence hub around Pennsylvania’s natural gas resources."

Climate Change [10]
Economy & Business [34]
Energy & Fuel [35]
Environmental Politics [13]
Infrastructure [22]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [36]
Source: Inside Climate News [37], 07/17/2025
- Read more about Trump Hails $90 Billion Push to Make Pennsylvania A Gas-Fired AI Hub [33]
"OSHA Just Reduced the Value of a Worker’s Life" [38]

"The Trump administration slashed fines for safety violations by small businesses and other employers and plans to reduce already rare workplace inspections. Experts say that will lead to more worker injuries, illnesses and deaths."

Chemicals [39]
Disasters [11]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [30]
Environmental Politics [13]
Laws & Regulations [23]
People & Population [15]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: Inside Climate News [40], 07/17/2025
- Read more about "OSHA Just Reduced the Value of a Worker’s Life" [38]
"Just 9 Percent Think FEMA Should Be Eliminated: Survey" [41]

"Very few Americans say in a new poll that it’s a good idea to scrap the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) entirely, a position President Trump has embraced in recent months."

Climate Change [10]
Disasters [11]
Environmental Politics [13]
Government [31]
People & Population [15]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: The Hill [42], 07/17/2025
- Read more about "Just 9 Percent Think FEMA Should Be Eliminated: Survey" [41]
Trump Axes NOAA Tool To Help Communities Prepare For Future Rainfall [43]

"The Commerce Department has indefinitely suspended work on a tool to help communities predict how rising global temperatures will alter the frequency of extreme rainfall, according to three current and former federal officials familiar with the decision, a move that experts said will make the country more vulnerable to storms supercharged by climate change."

Climate Change [10]
Disasters [11]
Environmental Politics [13]
Government [31]
Infrastructure [22]
Planning & Growth [44]
Water & Oceans [17]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: Washington Post [45], 07/17/2025
- Read more about Trump Axes NOAA Tool To Help Communities Prepare For Future Rainfall [43]
"House Republicans Buck Trump On NOAA Cuts" [46]

"House Republican appropriators would cut NOAA by nearly $400 million for fiscal 2026, but they’re rejecting deeper reductions proposed by the White House."

Biodiversity [47]
Disasters [11]
Energy & Fuel [35]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Politics [13]
Infrastructure [22]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Natural Resources [24]
Pollution [48]
Water & Oceans [17]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: E&E News [49], 07/16/2025
- Read more about "House Republicans Buck Trump On NOAA Cuts" [46]
"Texas Failed To Spend Federal Aid For Disaster Protection" [50]

"In the past decade, as extreme weather killed nearly 700 people in Texas, the state relinquished $225 million in federal grant money that it was supposed to spend on protecting residents from disasters, federal records show." "States across the country have not used billions of dollars from FEMA intended to reduce damage from flooding and other disasters."

Climate Change [10]
Disasters [11]
Economy & Business [34]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [30]
Environmental Politics [13]
Infrastructure [22]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [51]
Source: E&E News [52], 07/16/2025
- Read more about "Texas Failed To Spend Federal Aid For Disaster Protection" [50]
"The Nightmare Mess Left by One Closed Pulp Mill" [53]

"Documents expose the huge cleanup BC faces for Port Alice and 11 more shut mills. Will new projects also slip off the hook?"

Biodiversity [47]
Chemicals [39]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [30]
Environmental Politics [13]
Infrastructure [22]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Pollution [48]
Waste [54]
Public [18]
Canada [55]
Source: The Tyee [56], 07/16/2025
- Read more about "The Nightmare Mess Left by One Closed Pulp Mill" [53]
Enviros Sue EPA To Reassess A Toxic Chemical Used At A Pa. Oil Refinery [57]

"Sandwiched between the Delaware River and closely spaced homes, the Monroe Energy oil refinery in Trainer exemplifies the need for better regulation of a dangerous chemical used around the country to produce high-octane gasoline, environmental groups said." "Monroe Energy in Delaware County is among more than 40 still using hydrofluoric acid, despite safer alternatives"

Activism [58]
Chemicals [39]
Disasters [11]
Energy & Fuel [35]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Politics [13]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Pollution [48]
Technology [59]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: Pennsylvania Capital-Star [60], 07/16/2025
- Read more about Enviros Sue EPA To Reassess A Toxic Chemical Used At A Pa. Oil Refinery [57]
Humans Are Wiping Out Wetlands That Life Depends On, New Report Says [61]

"Wetlands provide freshwater, food, storm protection and climate regulation. Yet over the last 50 years, humans have destroyed one-fifth of them." "A landmark report for the global agreement on wetlands paints a dire picture of the state of the world’s water bodies that underpin all life on Earth."

Agriculture [62]
Biodiversity [47]
Climate Change [10]
Environmental Politics [13]
Environmental Studies [63]
Fish & Fisheries [64]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Natural Resources [24]
Water & Oceans [17]
Wildlife [65]
Public [18]
International [66]
Source: Inside Climate News [67], 07/16/2025
- Read more about Humans Are Wiping Out Wetlands That Life Depends On, New Report Says [61]
"Critics Fear Trump Will Use Flawed DOE Report To Push Pro-Coal Agenda" [68]

"Grid experts say DOE’s new forecast of major blackout risks by 2030 misuses data to justify the Trump administration’s push to force dirty plants to stay open."

Climate Change [10]
Disasters [11]
Energy & Fuel [35]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Politics [13]
Infrastructure [22]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Pollution [48]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: Canary Media [69], 07/16/2025
- Read more about "Critics Fear Trump Will Use Flawed DOE Report To Push Pro-Coal Agenda" [68]
How Removing Old New England Dams Is Opening Rivers To New Wildlife [70]

"The silvery water of the Royal River glistens as sunlight strikes its surface on an overcast afternoon. The modest waterway flows an easy 39 miles from southern Maine’s Sabbathday Lake to the Atlantic coast at Casco Bay, attracting kayakers, paddleboarders, and great blue heron."

Activism [58]
Biodiversity [47]
Environmental Politics [13]
Fish & Fisheries [64]
Infrastructure [22]
Natural Resources [24]
Water & Oceans [17]
Public [18]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [71]
Source: Christian Science Monitor [72], 07/16/2025
- Read more about How Removing Old New England Dams Is Opening Rivers To New Wildlife [70]

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