EJToday: Top Headlines

"An Effort to Kill Off Lawsuits Against Oil Giants Is Gaining Steam" [9]

"The Trump administration has declared litigation to hold oil companies responsible for climate change a threat to the American economy and has taken aggressive steps to fight it." "Over the past decade, some three dozen states and local governments have sued the biggest oil companies in the world, arguing that the industry hid what it knew about the dangers of global warming."

Climate Change [10]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Journalism & Media [12]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Science [14]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: NYTimes [17], 05/16/2025
- Read more about "An Effort to Kill Off Lawsuits Against Oil Giants Is Gaining Steam" [9]
"Summer-Like Slug Of Heat Pushes Across Much Of North America" [18]

"One of the most eye-popping late-spring heat waves on record made its way from the Pacific Coast into the center of North America this week. Numerous towns and cities have notched their hottest days and/or warmest nights ever experienced this early in the season, and some have soared to readings unheard of anytime before June."

Climate Change [10]
Disasters [19]
Water & Oceans [20]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: Yale Climate Connections [21], 05/16/2025
- Read more about "Summer-Like Slug Of Heat Pushes Across Much Of North America" [18]
Ice Roads, a Lifeline For First Nations, Disappearing As Canada Warms [22]

"Indigenous peoples are navigating the slow collapse of winter roads — and an even slower pace of help."

Climate Change [10]
Disasters [19]
Infrastructure [23]
Natural Resources [24]
People & Population [25]
Technology [26]
Transportation [27]
Public [15]
Alaska and Hawaii [28]
Canada [29]
Source: Grist [30], 05/16/2025
- Read more about Ice Roads, a Lifeline For First Nations, Disappearing As Canada Warms [22]
"After Disasters, AmeriCorps Was Everywhere. What Happens When It’s Gone?" [31]

"After devastating fires tore through Los Angeles in January, a crew of more than 300 young people showed up to help, many of them members of the national service program AmeriCorps." "Elon Musk's DOGE has gutted the 30-year-old national service agency."

Activism [32]
Climate Change [10]
Disasters [19]
Government [33]
People & Population [25]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: Grist [34], 05/16/2025
- Read more about "After Disasters, AmeriCorps Was Everywhere. What Happens When It’s Gone?" [31]
"Trump Admin Moves to 'Neuter' America's Most Important Wildlife Law" [35]

"For more than 50 years, the Endangered Species Act has helped scores of species — from whooping cranes to red wolves to California condors — claw their way back from the edge of extinction. Its success has made it supremely popular with the American public — far more popular, for instance, than Congress. But now, like all those species it helps protect, the law itself is in grave peril. The Trump administration, Congress, and their allies have launched a barrage of legislation, litigation and regulatory maneuvers in recent months that together could tear the teeth out of our most powerful wildlife conservation statute."

Biodiversity [36]
Environmental Politics [37]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Natural Resources [24]
Wildlife [38]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: Public Domain [39], 05/16/2025
- Read more about "Trump Admin Moves to 'Neuter' America's Most Important Wildlife Law" [35]
"Trump Administration Moves to End Major Conservation Rule" [40]

"The Trump administration is set to reverse a sweeping conservation rule for public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the latest in a series of actions to reverse Biden-era environmental protections. Announced without much public fanfare in early April, the sudden reversal of the rule, which sought to put conservation on an equal playing field with industrial activities, is a blow to conservation efforts, said environmental groups."

Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Politics [37]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Natural Resources [24]
Water & Oceans [20]
Wildlife [38]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: Sierra [41], 05/16/2025
- Read more about "Trump Administration Moves to End Major Conservation Rule" [40]
"Trump Admin Launches Far-Reaching Audit Of Energy Awards" [42]

"The Trump administration on Thursday announced a wide-ranging review of more than $15 billion in federal awards approved under President Joe Biden."

Climate Change [10]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Politics [37]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: E&E News [43], 05/16/2025
- Read more about "Trump Admin Launches Far-Reaching Audit Of Energy Awards" [42]
Toxic Cleanups in San Francisco Take 4+ Years Longer in Communities of Color [44]

"Toxic site cleanups take longer in parts of San Francisco where fewer residents are white, a new data analysis from the San Francisco Public Press shows. The analysis also shows that a higher proportion of residents who are Black, Indigenous and other people of color in an area correlates directly with longer cleanup durations."

Chemicals [45]
Environmental Justice [46]
Laws & Regulations [13]
People & Population [25]
Pollution [47]
Public [15]
California [48]
Source: SF Public Press [49], 05/16/2025
- Read more about Toxic Cleanups in San Francisco Take 4+ Years Longer in Communities of Color [44]
"China’s Mega Dam Project Poses Big Risks for Asia’s Grand Canyon" [50]

"China’s plans to build a massive hydro project in Tibet have sparked fears about the environmental impacts on the world’s longest and deepest canyon. It has also alarmed neighboring India, which fears that China could hold back or even weaponize river water it depends on."

Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Politics [37]
Government [33]
Infrastructure [23]
Military [51]
Natural Resources [24]
People & Population [25]
Water & Oceans [20]
Public [15]
Asia [52]
Source: YaleE360 [53], 05/16/2025
- Read more about "China’s Mega Dam Project Poses Big Risks for Asia’s Grand Canyon" [50]
"Green Gold: Why Seagrass Is A Hidden Climate Hero" [54]

"The destruction of seagrass could derail progress in reining in planet-warming emissions and cost billions in environmental damage."

"JOHANNESBURG - Alongside forests, soil and wetlands, another powerful natural carbon absorber critical to tackling climate change lies hidden beneath the ocean surface: seagrass.

The loss of these underwater meadows, also known as blue carbon, could hobble efforts to tackle climate change, both financially and environmentally, a new study has found.

So what exactly is this marine vegetation, and what else did the research find?
Biodiversity [36]
Climate Change [10]
Fish & Fisheries [55]
Natural Resources [24]
Water & Oceans [20]
Public [15]
International [56]
Source: Thomson Reuters Fdn. [57], 05/16/2025
- Read more about "Green Gold: Why Seagrass Is A Hidden Climate Hero" [54]
"EPA Ditches Historic ‘Forever Chemicals’ Rule" [58]

"The Trump administration will roll back a landmark regulation on “forever chemicals” in drinking water, two weeks after EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin promised to address contamination from the toxic, man-made substances."

Chemicals [45]
Consumer [59]
Environmental Health [60]
Environmental Politics [37]
Infrastructure [23]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Pollution [47]
Science [14]
Technology [26]
Water & Oceans [20]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: E&E News [61], 05/15/2025
- Read more about "EPA Ditches Historic ‘Forever Chemicals’ Rule" [58]
Georgia Shields Maker Of Roundup Weed Killer From Some Cancer Claims [62]

"In a victory for global agrochemical maker Bayer, Georgia has become the second state to shield pesticide manufacturers from some lawsuits claiming that they failed to warn customers of potential dangers."

Agriculture [63]
Chemicals [45]
Environmental Health [60]
Environmental Justice [46]
Environmental Politics [37]
Laws & Regulations [13]
People & Population [25]
Pollution [47]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [64]
Source: AP [65], 05/15/2025
- Read more about Georgia Shields Maker Of Roundup Weed Killer From Some Cancer Claims [62]
"EPA Tells Scientists To Apply For New Jobs Within The Agency" [66]

"Political leaders at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have told scientists there to apply to new jobs, implying that those who do not may be fired, according to an official with a union representing the agency’s employees."

Environmental Health [60]
Environmental Politics [37]
Laws & Regulations [13]
People & Population [25]
Pollution [47]
Science [14]
Technology [26]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: The Hill [67], 05/15/2025
- Read more about "EPA Tells Scientists To Apply For New Jobs Within The Agency" [66]
"Another PFAS-Containing Pesticide Headed For US Registration" [68]

"US regulators are poised to approve a pesticide made with a controversial class of toxic chemicals, stoking concerns of new risks for farms across the country."

Agriculture [63]
Chemicals [45]
Environmental Health [60]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Natural Resources [24]
Pollution [47]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: The New Lede [69], 05/15/2025
- Read more about "Another PFAS-Containing Pesticide Headed For US Registration" [68]
NOAA Seeks To Reassign Employees To Understaffed Weather Service Offices [70]

"The Trump administration is seeking to reassign other employees to “critically understaffed” offices in the National Weather Service (NWS), according to an internal document. The move to reassign these other employees comes after the administration fired hundreds of people at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including some staff at the NWS."

Climate Change [10]
Disasters [19]
Environmental Health [60]
Environmental Politics [37]
Government [33]
Science [14]
Public [15]
National (U.S.) [16]
Source: The Hill [71], 05/15/2025
- Read more about NOAA Seeks To Reassign Employees To Understaffed Weather Service Offices [70]

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