EJToday: Top Headlines

Close Friend of JD Vance Skirts Normal Channels to Take Over NIEHS [9]

"Despite a federal hiring freeze, the Trump administration just appointed a scientist who calls Vance one of his “closest friends” to head the nation’s key environmental health research arm."

Environmental Health [10]
Environmental Politics [11]
Environmental Studies [12]
Government [13]
People & Population [14]
Science [15]
Public [16]
National (U.S.) [17]
Source: Inside Climate News [18], 10/23/2025
- Read more about Close Friend of JD Vance Skirts Normal Channels to Take Over NIEHS [9]
"Trump Demolishes White House East Wing" [19]

"President Donald Trump’s move to demolish part of the White House to make way for a $250 million ballroom is eliciting outrage and calls for more oversight before any further changes are made."

Environmental Politics [11]
Government [13]
Infrastructure [20]
Laws & Regulations [21]
Planning & Growth [22]
Public [16]
National (U.S.) [17]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [23]
Source: E&E News [24], 10/23/2025
- Read more about "Trump Demolishes White House East Wing" [19]
"From Mexico to Ireland, Fury Mounts Over a Global A.I. Frenzy" [25]

"As tech companies build data centers worldwide to advance artificial intelligence, vulnerable communities have been hit by blackouts and water shortages."

Climate Change [26]
Economy & Business [27]
Energy & Fuel [28]
Environmental Politics [11]
Infrastructure [20]
Laws & Regulations [21]
Pollution [29]
Technology [30]
Public [16]
National (U.S.) [17]
International [31]
Mexico [32]
Europe [33]
Source: NYTimes [34], 10/23/2025
- Read more about "From Mexico to Ireland, Fury Mounts Over a Global A.I. Frenzy" [25]
Anti-Science Bills Hit Statehouses, Ending Public Health Protections [35]

"More than 420 anti-science bills attacking longstanding public health protections – vaccines, milk safety and fluoride – have been introduced in statehouses across the U.S. this year, part of an organized, politically savvy campaign to enshrine a conspiracy theory-driven agenda into law."

Environmental Health [10]
Environmental Politics [11]
Government [13]
Laws & Regulations [21]
People & Population [14]
Science [15]
Public [16]
National (U.S.) [17]
Source: AP [36], 10/23/2025
- Read more about Anti-Science Bills Hit Statehouses, Ending Public Health Protections [35]
"US Hits Top Russian Oil Companies With Sanctions, EU Bans Russian LNG" [37]

"U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed Ukraine-related sanctions on Russia for the first time in his second term, targeting oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft as his frustration grows with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war."

Energy & Fuel [28]
Environmental Politics [11]
Military [38]
Natural Resources [39]
Public [16]
National (U.S.) [17]
International [31]
Source: Reuters [40], 10/23/2025
- Read more about "US Hits Top Russian Oil Companies With Sanctions, EU Bans Russian LNG" [37]
Melissa To Become Major Hurricane In Caribbean With Intense Winds, Flooding [41]

"As Tropical Storm Melissa crawls through the Caribbean, it will strengthen to a hurricane and unleash torrential rain that may trigger major to extreme flooding and mudslides, endangering lives and property."

Climate Change [26]
Disasters [42]
Water & Oceans [43]
Public [16]
National (U.S.) [17]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [44]
Central America & the Caribbean [45]
Source: AccuWeather [46], 10/23/2025
- Read more about Melissa To Become Major Hurricane In Caribbean With Intense Winds, Flooding [41]
Gulf South Residents, Greens Sue Trump EPA Over Toxic Pollution Exemptions [47]

"Frontline community groups teamed up with national environmental organizations Wednesday to sue the Trump administration for letting chemical manufacturing plants off the hook for toxic, carcinogenic air pollution."

Chemicals [48]
Energy & Fuel [28]
Environmental Health [10]
People & Population [14]
Pollution [29]
Public [16]
National (U.S.) [17]
Source: Inside Climate News [49], 10/23/2025
- Read more about Gulf South Residents, Greens Sue Trump EPA Over Toxic Pollution Exemptions [47]
Trump Officials Refer Biden-Era FEMA Staff To DOJ For Criminal Charges [50]

"The Trump administration has sent a referral to the Department of Justice recommending Biden-era Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) staff face criminal charges, alleging politicization of emergency funding."

Disasters [42]
Environmental Politics [11]
Government [13]
Laws & Regulations [21]
Public [16]
National (U.S.) [17]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [44]
Source: The Hill [51], 10/23/2025
- Read more about Trump Officials Refer Biden-Era FEMA Staff To DOJ For Criminal Charges [50]
American E-Waste Is Causing A ‘Hidden Tsunami’ In Southeast Asia: Report [52]

"Millions of tons of discarded electronics from the United States are being shipped overseas, much of it to developing countries in Southeast Asia unprepared to safely handle hazardous waste, according to a new report released Wednesday by an environmental watchdog."

Environmental Health [10]
Laws & Regulations [21]
Pollution [29]
Technology [30]
Waste [53]
Public [16]
National (U.S.) [17]
Asia [54]
Source: AP [55], 10/23/2025
- Read more about American E-Waste Is Causing A ‘Hidden Tsunami’ In Southeast Asia: Report [52]
Scientists Hope Underwater Fiber Cables Can Help Save Endangered Orcas [56]

"As dawn broke over San Juan Island, a team of scientists stood on the deck of a barge and unspooled over a mile of fiber-optic cable into the frigid waters of the Salish Sea. Working by headlamp, they fed the line from the rocky shore down to the seafloor — home to the region’s orcas."

Biodiversity [57]
Natural Resources [39]
Technology [30]
Water & Oceans [43]
Wildlife [58]
Public [16]
Northwest (OR WA) [59]
Source: AP [60], 10/23/2025
- Read more about Scientists Hope Underwater Fiber Cables Can Help Save Endangered Orcas [56]
Trump Tariff Fight With China Means Trouble for Vast Wilderness in Brazil [61]

"Brazilian farmers are lobbying to roll back deforestation restrictions in order to sell more soybeans to the huge Chinese market."

Agriculture [62]
Climate Change [26]
Economy & Business [27]
Environmental Politics [11]
Forests [63]
Laws & Regulations [21]
Public [16]
National (U.S.) [17]
Asia [54]
South America [64]
Source: NYTimes [65], 10/22/2025
- Read more about Trump Tariff Fight With China Means Trouble for Vast Wilderness in Brazil [61]
"Trump EPA Seeks To Weaken Scrutiny For Some Of US’s Most Toxic Chemicals" [66]

"New rule would prohibit states from banning dangerous chemicals, and could invalidate hundreds of protections"

"A new rule proposed by the Trump administration would dramatically weaken safety reviews for some of the nation’s most toxic chemicals that are already on the market, public health advocates and an EPA employee warn.
Chemicals [48]
Environmental Health [10]
Environmental Politics [11]
Environmental Studies [12]
Laws & Regulations [21]
People & Population [14]
Pollution [29]
Public [16]
National (U.S.) [17]
Source: Guardian [67], 10/22/2025
- Read more about "Trump EPA Seeks To Weaken Scrutiny For Some Of US’s Most Toxic Chemicals" [66]
"Infectious Diseases Are Killing Deer And Risking Rural US Economies" [68]

"Climate crisis contributing to spread of diseases as hunting industry takes a hit from growing number of dead deer"

Biodiversity [57]
Consumer [69]
Environmental Health [10]
People & Population [14]
Wildlife [58]
Public [16]
National (U.S.) [17]
Source: Guardian [70], 10/22/2025
- Read more about "Infectious Diseases Are Killing Deer And Risking Rural US Economies" [68]
L.A. Pumps Owens Valley Groundwater, But Tribes Want It Back [71]

"In the Owens Valley, Los Angeles not only siphons water from streams, but also pumps groundwater from wells. Leaders of Native tribes are calling for the city to take less water and are pushing for negotiations on water rights. They say pumping from wells has dried up springs and meadows."

Agriculture [62]
Climate Change [26]
Environmental Justice [72]
Environmental Politics [11]
Laws & Regulations [21]
People & Population [14]
Water & Oceans [43]
Public [16]
California [73]
Source: LA Times [74], 10/22/2025
- Read more about L.A. Pumps Owens Valley Groundwater, But Tribes Want It Back [71]
"Record Annual Rise In Atmospheric CO2 Levels Alarms UN Climate Body" [75]

"The United Nations warned Wednesday that CO2 levels in the atmosphere saw their biggest annual jump on record in 2024, driven by fossil fuel emissions, wildfires and weakening natural absorption by land and oceans. The findings come ahead of November’s COP30 climate summit in Brazil, with scientists warning of a “vicious cycle” of feedback effects that could push the planet past critical tipping points."

Climate Change [26]
Energy & Fuel [28]
Environmental Politics [11]
Laws & Regulations [21]
Pollution [29]
Science [15]
Public [16]
International [31]
Source: France 24 [76], 10/22/2025
- Read more about "Record Annual Rise In Atmospheric CO2 Levels Alarms UN Climate Body" [75]

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