EJToday: Top Headlines

"Many Towns Are Unprepared To Handle Train Derailments And Hazmat Spills" [9]

"A train derails and spills at least 1,000 gallons of hazardous materials in the U.S. about once every two months. Nearly half of those derailments resulted in evacuations; more than a quarter resulted in a fire or explosion since 2015, an analysis of federal derailment data showed. And many communities along the rail lines aren’t prepared to keep people safe when it happens."

Chemicals [10]
Disasters [11]
Energy & Fuel [12]
Environmental Health [13]
Government [14]
Infrastructure [15]
People & Population [16]
Pollution [17]
Transportation [18]
Public [19]
National (U.S.) [20]
Source: Howard Center [21], 08/21/2025
- Read more about "Many Towns Are Unprepared To Handle Train Derailments And Hazmat Spills" [9]
A Toxic Landfill Was on the Brink of Expanding. Residents Fought Back and Won [22]

"A decades-long battle to transform a Southeast Chicago lakefront property into a public park is starting to bear fruit. But where the new toxic sludge will go has yet to be determined."

Biodiversity [23]
Chemicals [10]
Consumer [24]
Environmental Health [13]
Environmental Justice [25]
Environmental Politics [26]
Natural Resources [27]
Planning & Growth [28]
Pollution [17]
Waste [29]
Public [19]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [30]
Source: Inside Climate News [31], 08/21/2025
- Read more about A Toxic Landfill Was on the Brink of Expanding. Residents Fought Back and Won [22]
Geothermal Network in Colorado Could Help Rural Town Diversify Its Economy [32]

"Hayden, a long-established coal community, is pitching companies to come take advantage of “reliable, cost-effective heating and cooling” at its light industrial park once its new geothermal network is complete."

Climate Change [33]
Economy & Business [34]
Energy & Fuel [12]
Government [14]
Infrastructure [15]
Planning & Growth [28]
Public [19]
National (U.S.) [20]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [35]
Source: Inside Climate News [36], 08/21/2025
- Read more about Geothermal Network in Colorado Could Help Rural Town Diversify Its Economy [32]
"China Rushes To Build Out Solar, And Emissions Edge Downward" [37]

"China has been installing solar panels at a blistering pace, far faster than anywhere else in the world, and the investment is starting to pay off. A study released Thursday found that the country’s carbon emissions edged down 1% in the first six months of the year compared to a year earlier, extending a trend that began in March 2024."

Climate Change [33]
Economy & Business [34]
Energy & Fuel [12]
Infrastructure [15]
Planning & Growth [28]
Pollution [17]
Technology [38]
Public [19]
Asia [39]
Source: AP [40], 08/21/2025
- Read more about "China Rushes To Build Out Solar, And Emissions Edge Downward" [37]
Businesses Face 'Chaos' As EPA Aims To Repeal Its Climate Authority [41]

"The Trump administration's plan to undo a landmark finding that climate pollution threatens public health and welfare poses lots of risks for corporate America."

Climate Change [33]
Economy & Business [34]
Environmental Politics [26]
Laws & Regulations [42]
Planning & Growth [28]
Public [19]
National (U.S.) [20]
Source: NPR [43], 08/21/2025
- Read more about Businesses Face 'Chaos' As EPA Aims To Repeal Its Climate Authority [41]
"USDA Limits Funding For Solar, Wind On Farmland" [44]

"The Agriculture Department is curtailing its support for solar and wind energy on farmlands."

Agriculture [45]
Climate Change [33]
Energy & Fuel [12]
Environmental Politics [26]
Infrastructure [15]
Laws & Regulations [42]
Technology [38]
Public [19]
National (U.S.) [20]
Source: The Hill [46], 08/21/2025
- Read more about "USDA Limits Funding For Solar, Wind On Farmland" [44]
As Hurricane Season Collides With Immigration Agenda, Undocumented Worry [47]

"If a major hurricane approaches Central Florida this season, Maria knows it’s dangerous to stay inside her wooden, trailer-like home. In past storms, she evacuated to her sister’s sturdier house. If she couldn’t get there, a shelter set up at the local high school served as a refuge if needed. But with accelerating detentions and deportations of immigrants across her community of Apopka, 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Orlando, Maria, an agricultural worker from Mexico without permanent U.S. legal status, doesn’t know if those options are safe."

Agriculture [45]
Climate Change [33]
Disasters [11]
Environmental Health [13]
Environmental Justice [25]
Laws & Regulations [42]
People & Population [16]
Public [19]
National (U.S.) [20]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [48]
Source: AP [49], 08/21/2025
- Read more about As Hurricane Season Collides With Immigration Agenda, Undocumented Worry [47]
"Interior Deputizes Border Agents To National Park Sites Amid DC Takeover" [50]

"The Interior Department is deputizing federal border agents and sending them to National Park Service sites amid the federal law enforcement takeover of Washington, D.C., Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Wednesday."

Consumer [24]
Environmental Politics [26]
Infrastructure [15]
Laws & Regulations [42]
Military [51]
Natural Resources [27]
Public [19]
National (U.S.) [20]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [52]
Source: The Hill [53], 08/21/2025
- Read more about "Interior Deputizes Border Agents To National Park Sites Amid DC Takeover" [50]
"FEMA Now Requires Disaster Victims to Have an Email Address" [54]

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will now require disaster survivors to register for federal aid using an email address—a departure from previous policy where email addresses were optional. The move, FEMA employees tell WIRED, puts people across the US with little to no access to internet services at risk of losing out on crucial federal financial assistance after disasters."

Climate Change [33]
Disasters [11]
Environmental Health [13]
Environmental Justice [25]
Environmental Politics [26]
Government [14]
Laws & Regulations [42]
People & Population [16]
Public [19]
National (U.S.) [20]
Source: WIRED [55], 08/21/2025
- Read more about "FEMA Now Requires Disaster Victims to Have an Email Address" [54]
Erin To Churn Up Dangerous Swells And Winds From Florida To New England [56]

"Hurricane Erin churned slowly toward the eastern U.S. on Tuesday, stirring up treacherous waves that already have led to dozens of water rescues and shut down beaches along the coast in the midst of summer’s last hurrah. While forecasters remain confident the center of the monster storm will remain far offshore, the outer edges are likely to bring damaging tropical-force winds, large swells and life-threatening rip currents into Friday."

Climate Change [33]
Disasters [11]
Water & Oceans [57]
Public [19]
National (U.S.) [20]
Source: AP [58], 08/20/2025
- Read more about Erin To Churn Up Dangerous Swells And Winds From Florida To New England [56]
Court Puts The Brakes On Contested Land Transfer For Arizona Copper Mine [59]

"A U.S. appeals court has temporarily blocked the transfer of federal forest land in Arizona to a pair of international companies that plan to mine one of the largest copper deposits in North America. ... The land includes Oak Flat — an area used for centuries for religious ceremonies, prayer and gathering of medicinal plants by the San Carlos Apache people and other Native American tribes."

Biodiversity [23]
Environmental Justice [25]
Laws & Regulations [42]
Natural Resources [27]
People & Population [16]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [60]
Public [19]
National (U.S.) [20]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [61]
Source: AP [62], 08/20/2025
- Read more about Court Puts The Brakes On Contested Land Transfer For Arizona Copper Mine [59]
As Great Salt Lake Dries Up, Clouds Of Dangerous Dust Blow Into Boomtowns [63]

"Dozens of dust events probably happen each year across the 120-square-mile playa once covered by the Great Salt Lake. But there are no comprehensive state or federal records of them."

Agriculture [45]
Climate Change [33]
Environmental Politics [26]
Pollution [17]
Water & Oceans [57]
Public [19]
National (U.S.) [20]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [35]
Source: Washington Post [64], 08/20/2025
- Read more about As Great Salt Lake Dries Up, Clouds Of Dangerous Dust Blow Into Boomtowns [63]
"Another Gold Rush Could Bring Open Pit Mines To South Dakota’s Black Hills" [65]

"A gold rush brought settlers to South Dakota’s Black Hills roughly 150 years ago, chasing the dream of wealth and displacing Native Americans in the process. Now, a new crop of miners driven by gold prices at more than $3,000 an ounce are seeking to return to the treasured landscape, promising an economic boost while raising fears of how modern gold extraction could forever change the region."

Natural Resources [27]
People & Population [16]
Public [19]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [66]
Source: AP [67], 08/20/2025
- Read more about "Another Gold Rush Could Bring Open Pit Mines To South Dakota’s Black Hills" [65]
"This Class Of Toxic Pesticides Is Now Prevalent In Michigan Waters" [68]

"A commercially valuable but unpronounceable toxicant with multiple chemical variations is being increasingly found at harmful levels in Michigan waters. Sound familiar? It’s not PFAS or PCBs this time. Now, it’s neonicotinoids, or “neonics” — a type of synthetic pesticide that’s widely used on corn and soybeans."

Agriculture [45]
Chemicals [10]
Environmental Health [13]
Pollution [17]
Public [19]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [30]
Source: MLive [69], 08/20/2025
- Read more about "This Class Of Toxic Pesticides Is Now Prevalent In Michigan Waters" [68]
"Wildfire Fighters, Unmasked in Toxic Smoke, Are Getting Sick and Dying" [70]

"The smoke from the wildfires that burned through Los Angeles in January smelled like plastic and was so thick that it hid the ocean. Firefighters who responded developed instant migraines, coughed up black goo and dropped to their knees, vomiting and dizzy."

Climate Change [33]
Disasters [11]
Environmental Health [13]
People & Population [16]
Pollution [17]
Public [19]
National (U.S.) [20]
California [71]
Source: NYTimes [72], 08/20/2025
- Read more about "Wildfire Fighters, Unmasked in Toxic Smoke, Are Getting Sick and Dying" [70]

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