EJToday: Top Headlines

"Looming Water Supply 'Bankruptcy' Puts Billions At Risk, UN Report Warns" [9]

"The world is facing irreversible water "bankruptcy", with billions of people struggling to cope with the consequences of decades of overuse as well as shrinking supplies from lakes, rivers, glaciers and wetlands, U.N. researchers said on Tuesday."

Climate Change [10]
Consumer [11]
Environmental Health [12]
Natural Resources [13]
Water & Oceans [14]
Public [15]
International [16]
Source: Reuters [17], 01/21/2026
- Read more about "Looming Water Supply 'Bankruptcy' Puts Billions At Risk, UN Report Warns" [9]
"Trump’s Plan To Make Data Centers Pay For Power Plants Has Big Flaws" [18]

"The Trump administration wants PJM Interconnection, the country’s biggest power market, to force data center developers to pay directly for the new power plants they need. It’s the latest attempt to curb skyrocketing energy costs for the roughly 67 million people PJM serves from Virginia to Illinois."

Climate Change [10]
Consumer [11]
Energy & Fuel [19]
Environmental Politics [20]
Infrastructure [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [23]
Source: Canary Media [24], 01/21/2026
- Read more about "Trump’s Plan To Make Data Centers Pay For Power Plants Has Big Flaws" [18]
"Judges Signal Support For ‘Forever Chemicals’ Superfund Rule" [25]

"A federal appellate court panel did not seem swayed by industry groups’ plea to toss EPA’s hazardous substance designations for two types of PFAS."

Chemicals [26]
Consumer [11]
Environmental Health [12]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Water & Oceans [14]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [23]
Source: E&E News [27], 01/21/2026
- Read more about "Judges Signal Support For ‘Forever Chemicals’ Superfund Rule" [25]
"After Helene, Rural North Carolina Turns To Solar And Battery Hubs" [28]

"More than a year after the storm’s devastation, clean-energy microgrids are springing up in remote areas thanks to a program that could become a national model."

Climate Change [10]
Disasters [29]
Energy & Fuel [19]
Infrastructure [21]
People & Population [30]
Technology [31]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [23]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [32]
Source: Canary Media [33], 01/21/2026
- Read more about "After Helene, Rural North Carolina Turns To Solar And Battery Hubs" [28]
"Brazil's Seed Collectors Combat Amazon Deforestation" [34]

"Restoration of forestland and other areas is taking root, but lags far behind the rapid rate of deforestation in the Amazon."

Activism [35]
Agriculture [36]
Biodiversity [37]
Climate Change [10]
Forests [38]
People & Population [30]
Public [15]
South America [39]
Source: Thomson Reuters Fdn. [40], 01/21/2026
- Read more about "Brazil's Seed Collectors Combat Amazon Deforestation" [34]
"Trump Admin Redirects Carbon Capture Funds To Prop Up Old Coal Plants" [41]

"The Energy Department is planning to prop up old and shuttered coal plants using more than half a billion dollars that Congress originally set aside to advance carbon capture technologies and improve energy resiliency and environmental protection in rural areas."

Chemicals [26]
Climate Change [10]
Energy & Fuel [19]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Politics [20]
Infrastructure [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Pollution [42]
Technology [31]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [23]
Source: E&E News [43], 01/20/2026
- Read more about "Trump Admin Redirects Carbon Capture Funds To Prop Up Old Coal Plants" [41]
How EPA Ethics Officials Cleared Former Industry Insiders To Be Regulators [44]

"Environmental Protection Agency ethics officials have interpreted impartiality guidelines in a way that has allowed several former industry insiders to oversee dramatic changes to chemical regulations, documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show."

Agriculture [36]
Biodiversity [37]
Chemicals [26]
Consumer [11]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Politics [20]
Laws & Regulations [22]
People & Population [30]
Pollution [42]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [23]
Source: Washington Post [45], 01/20/2026
- Read more about How EPA Ethics Officials Cleared Former Industry Insiders To Be Regulators [44]
"No Link Between Acetaminophen in Pregnancy and Autism, a New Study Finds" [46]

"A scientific review of 43 studies on acetaminophen use during pregnancy concluded that there was no evidence that the painkiller increased the risk of autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders."

Chemicals [26]
Consumer [11]
Environmental Health [12]
Health [47]
Science [48]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [23]
Source: NYTimes [49], 01/20/2026
- Read more about "No Link Between Acetaminophen in Pregnancy and Autism, a New Study Finds" [46]
"World’s First Treaty to Protect the High Seas Becomes Law" [50]

"An international agreement to safeguard marine life is now in effect. Known as the High Seas Treaty, it represents the first time that international waters, which lie outside of any country’s jurisdiction and cover nearly half the globe, can be protected."

Biodiversity [37]
Environmental Politics [20]
Fish & Fisheries [51]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Natural Resources [13]
Pollution [42]
Technology [31]
Water & Oceans [14]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [23]
International [16]
Source: NYTimes [52], 01/20/2026
- Read more about "World’s First Treaty to Protect the High Seas Becomes Law" [50]
"How Wall Street Turned Its Back on Climate Change" [53]

"Six years after the financial industry pledged to use trillions to fight climate change and reshape finance, its efforts have largely collapsed."

Climate Change [10]
Economy & Business [54]
Energy & Fuel [19]
Environmental Politics [20]
Infrastructure [21]
Pollution [42]
Technology [31]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [23]
International [16]
Source: NYTimes [55], 01/20/2026
- Read more about "How Wall Street Turned Its Back on Climate Change" [53]
"Colorado’s Wolves In The Political Crosshairs As Trump Targets The State" [56]

"A program to reintroduce the predators is essentially blocked, with Colorado leaders saying the state is being punished for jailing election denier Tina Peters."

Biodiversity [37]
Environmental Politics [20]
Government [57]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Wildlife [58]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [23]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [59]
Source: Washington Post [60], 01/20/2026
- Read more about "Colorado’s Wolves In The Political Crosshairs As Trump Targets The State" [56]
"White House Told CBS To Run Trump Interview Unedited Or Get Sued" [61]

"White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CBS News to air an interview with President Donald Trump in full or face a lawsuit, according to an audio recording of the exchange reviewed by The Washington Post."

Biodiversity [37]
Environmental Politics [20]
Journalism & Media [62]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Wildlife [58]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [23]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [59]
Source: Washington Post [63], 01/20/2026
- Read more about "White House Told CBS To Run Trump Interview Unedited Or Get Sued" [61]
"Zeldin Talks Data Centers, Permitting With House GOP" [64]

"The EPA administrator discussed deregulation and energy demand over lunch with Republicans."

Climate Change [10]
Economy & Business [54]
Energy & Fuel [19]
Environmental Politics [20]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Pollution [42]
Technology [31]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [23]
Source: E&E News [65], 01/20/2026
- Read more about "Zeldin Talks Data Centers, Permitting With House GOP" [64]
After One Scientist Questions New Microplastics Findings, Others Fire Back [66]

"A prominent scientist criticized microplastics research methods. Others are defending the work."

Chemicals [26]
Energy & Fuel [19]
Environmental Health [12]
Food [67]
Health [47]
People & Population [30]
Pollution [42]
Science [48]
Water & Oceans [14]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [23]
International [16]
Source: NYTimes [68], 01/20/2026
- Read more about After One Scientist Questions New Microplastics Findings, Others Fire Back [66]
Study Measures Unequal Toll Of Climate Change In Rio De Janeiro Favelas [69]

"Michele Campos feels like crying every summer when temperatures in Rio de Janeiro climb above 40°C (100°F), heating up the cement that covers every corner of the favela of Chapeu Mangueira where she lives and making life unbearable in her windowless bedroom."

Climate Change [10]
Disasters [29]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [70]
Environmental Politics [20]
Environmental Studies [71]
Infrastructure [21]
People & Population [30]
Public [15]
South America [39]
Source: Reuters [72], 01/20/2026
- Read more about Study Measures Unequal Toll Of Climate Change In Rio De Janeiro Favelas [69]

Pages