EJToday: Top Headlines

Dramatic Drop As Monarch Butterfly Count Nears Record 30-Year Low [9]

"The number of monarch butterflies spending the winter in the western United States has dropped to its second-lowest mark in nearly three decades as pesticides, diminishing habitat and climate change take their toll on the beloved pollinator."

Agriculture [10]
Biodiversity [11]
Environmental Studies [12]
Natural Resources [13]
Wildlife [14]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: AP [17], 02/05/2025
- Read more about Dramatic Drop As Monarch Butterfly Count Nears Record 30-Year Low [9]
"Trump Wants More Drilling, But The Oil Market Is Already Saturated" [18]

Trump has repeatedly said eliminating barriers to drilling will unlock vast untapped reserves of “liquid gold” and ignite a new era of national prosperity. But most of the drilling leases already granted to companies in the oil-rich Gulf are idle and unused, and they’ll stay that way until the United States’ record-breaking production rates wane and the high costs of drilling offshore drop precipitously.

Climate Change [19]
Economy & Business [20]
Energy & Fuel [21]
Water & Oceans [22]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: Verite News [23], 02/05/2025
- Read more about "Trump Wants More Drilling, But The Oil Market Is Already Saturated" [18]
"FDA Must Set Limits On PFAS In Food, Lawsuit Says" [24]

"US regulators are failing to address concerns about toxic PFAS chemicals in foods despite having the scientific tools to do so, according to a lawsuit filed by an environmental group in Tucson, Arizona."

Activism [25]
Agriculture [10]
Chemicals [26]
Consumer [27]
Environmental Health [28]
Food [29]
Laws & Regulations [30]
Pollution [31]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: The New Lede [32], 02/05/2025
- Read more about "FDA Must Set Limits On PFAS In Food, Lawsuit Says" [24]
"Data Scientists Restore a Climate Justice Tool Taken Down by Trump" [33]

"One day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, a digital mapping tool used by federal and state agencies to identify environmentally disadvantaged communities was taken offline. Within 48 hours, a coalition of data scientists known as the Public Environmental Data Project had resurrected a functional but unofficial copy of the tool on an independent domain."

Environmental Justice [34]
Journalism & Media [35]
People & Population [36]
Technology [37]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: Inside Climate News [38], 02/05/2025
- Read more about "Data Scientists Restore a Climate Justice Tool Taken Down by Trump" [33]
"How Tearing Down Small Dams Is Helping Restore Northeast Rivers" [39]

"More than 30,000 small dams currently block river tributaries from Maine to Maryland. New initiatives to remove them are aimed at restoring natural flows, improving habitat for aquatic life, and reopening thousands of river miles to migratory fish, from shad to American eels."

Biodiversity [11]
Fish & Fisheries [40]
Infrastructure [41]
Laws & Regulations [30]
Natural Resources [13]
Water & Oceans [22]
Public [15]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [42]
Source: YaleE360 [43], 02/05/2025
- Read more about "How Tearing Down Small Dams Is Helping Restore Northeast Rivers" [39]
"How Climate Change Could Upend the American Dream" [44]

"Americans have long accumulated wealth by owning their homes, but a new study predicts that spiking insurance rates and climate disasters now herald an era of widespread losses."

Climate Change [19]
Consumer [27]
Disasters [45]
Economy & Business [20]
People & Population [36]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: ProPublica/NYTimes [46], 02/04/2025
- Read more about "How Climate Change Could Upend the American Dream" [44]
"Senate Confirms Fracking CEO Chris Wright To Lead Energy Department" [47]

"The Senate on Monday confirmed Chris Wright, the CEO of fracking company Liberty Energy, to lead the Energy Department. The vote was 59-38."

Climate Change [19]
Energy & Fuel [21]
Environmental Politics [48]
Laws & Regulations [30]
Transportation [49]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: The Hill [50], 02/04/2025
- Read more about "Senate Confirms Fracking CEO Chris Wright To Lead Energy Department" [47]
"Elon Musk’s Pet U.S. Attorney Threatens Anyone Reporting on DOGE" [51]

"The shadow president wants total secrecy around his seizure of government agencies."

Activism [25]
Economy & Business [20]
Environmental Politics [48]
Government [52]
Journalism & Media [35]
Laws & Regulations [30]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: American Prospect [53], 02/04/2025
- Read more about "Elon Musk’s Pet U.S. Attorney Threatens Anyone Reporting on DOGE" [51]
"East Palestine Residents Allege Wrongful Deaths From 2023 Derailment" [54]

"A new lawsuit filed by more than 700 residents of East Palestine, Ohio, makes the first wrongful-death allegations in connection with the 2023 derailment that spilled toxic chemicals in the village."

Activism [25]
Chemicals [26]
Disasters [45]
Environmental Health [28]
Laws & Regulations [30]
Pollution [31]
Transportation [49]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [55]
Source: The Hill [56], 02/04/2025
- Read more about "East Palestine Residents Allege Wrongful Deaths From 2023 Derailment" [54]
Court Restores Fishing Gear Protections For Endangered Whale Species [57]

"Commercial fishermen who hoped for a loosening of fishing regulations during President Donald Trump’s administration faced a setback when a federal appeals court reinstated rules meant to protect a dwindling whale species from getting entangled in fishing gear."

Biodiversity [11]
Fish & Fisheries [40]
Laws & Regulations [30]
Water & Oceans [22]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [42]
Source: AP [58], 02/04/2025
- Read more about Court Restores Fishing Gear Protections For Endangered Whale Species [57]
Tribes Push to Control Reservation Water as Wyoming Seeks To Send it Outside [59]

"The Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho have long fought for water sovereignty on the Wind River Indian Reservation, but their effort is being challenged by federal legislation and a changing water landscape."

Environmental Justice [34]
Government [52]
Infrastructure [41]
Laws & Regulations [30]
Natural Resources [13]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [60]
Water & Oceans [22]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [61]
Source: Inside Climate News [62], 02/04/2025
- Read more about Tribes Push to Control Reservation Water as Wyoming Seeks To Send it Outside [59]
Levels Of Microplastics In Human Brains May Be Rapidly Rising: Study [63]

"The exponential rise in microplastic pollution over the past 50 years may be reflected in increasing contamination in human brains, according to a new study."

Chemicals [26]
Consumer [27]
Energy & Fuel [21]
Environmental Health [28]
Laws & Regulations [30]
Natural Resources [13]
People & Population [36]
Pollution [31]
Water & Oceans [22]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
International [64]
Source: Guardian [65], 02/04/2025
- Read more about Levels Of Microplastics In Human Brains May Be Rapidly Rising: Study [63]
"Inside The Energy Department’s Partnership With The Plastics Industry" [66]

"Nearly five years ago, the United States Department of Energy, or DOE, began an unusual partnership with the country’s largest lobbying group for the plastics industry." "Critics argue that the agency’s work with a lobbying group is a conflict of interest."

Chemicals [26]
Consumer [27]
Economy & Business [20]
Environmental Health [28]
Environmental Politics [48]
Pollution [31]
Waste [67]
Water & Oceans [22]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: Grist/ExxonKnews [68], 02/04/2025
- Read more about "Inside The Energy Department’s Partnership With The Plastics Industry" [66]
Rats! More Rodents Are Infesting Cities As Scientists Blame Warmer Temps [69]

"Rat infestation in many world cities appears to be soaring, especially in Washington, and a new study blames warming temperatures, urbanization and other human actions."

Biodiversity [11]
Climate Change [19]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
International [64]
Source: AP [70], 02/04/2025
- Read more about Rats! More Rodents Are Infesting Cities As Scientists Blame Warmer Temps [69]
Advisers Push CDC To Explain Data Removal, Say When Info Will Be Restored [71]

"Top advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are asking the agency’s acting director to explain the abrupt removal of information and data from CDC websites, and say when it will be restored." "Agencies took down info on topics including gender, vaccines, and climate change"

Environmental Health [28]
Environmental Politics [48]
Government [52]
Journalism & Media [35]
Laws & Regulations [30]
Pollution [31]
Science [72]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: STAT News [73], 02/04/2025
- Read more about Advisers Push CDC To Explain Data Removal, Say When Info Will Be Restored [71]

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