EJToday: Top Headlines

Kitchen Countertop Workers Are Dying. Lawmakers Want To Ban Their Suits [9]

"An epidemic of a deadly lung disease among hundreds of workers who cut kitchen and bathroom countertops has regulators on opposite sides of the country considering two drastically different responses this week."

Air [10]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Justice [12]
Environmental Politics [13]
Laws & Regulations [14]
People & Population [15]
Pollution [16]
Technology [17]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: NPR [20], 01/15/2026
- Read more about Kitchen Countertop Workers Are Dying. Lawmakers Want To Ban Their Suits [9]
"What A Fracking-Waste Dispute Says About Ohio’s Energy Double Standard" [21]

"Ohio is letting the oil and gas industry put more toxic waste underground despite community concerns — even as the state defers to local opponents of clean energy."

Chemicals [22]
Consumer [23]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Politics [13]
Laws & Regulations [14]
People & Population [15]
Pollution [16]
Water & Oceans [24]
Public [18]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [25]
Source: Canary Media [26], 01/15/2026
- Read more about "What A Fracking-Waste Dispute Says About Ohio’s Energy Double Standard" [21]
Kennedy and Fluoridated Water Skeptics Turn to Obstructing Other Sources [27]

"Florida and Utah have banned fluoridation, with multiple other states looking to do the same. Critics of fluoride in drinking water point to supplements as an alternative, but many are creating barriers to these very products."

Chemicals [22]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Politics [13]
Laws & Regulations [14]
Water & Oceans [24]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: ProPublica [28], 01/15/2026
- Read more about Kennedy and Fluoridated Water Skeptics Turn to Obstructing Other Sources [27]
"Maine Adopts Tougher Limits On PFAS In Drinking Water" [29]

"The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention has lowered the state limit on forever chemicals, or PFAS, in drinking water to align with rigorous federal standards established by the Biden administration."

Chemicals [22]
Environmental Health [11]
Laws & Regulations [14]
People & Population [15]
Pollution [16]
Water & Oceans [24]
Public [18]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [30]
Source: Portland Press Herald [31], 01/15/2026
- Read more about "Maine Adopts Tougher Limits On PFAS In Drinking Water" [29]
"Why Greenland Matters for a Warming World" [32]

"What happens in Greenland doesn’t stay in Greenland. Turns out, the fate of the world’s largest island has outsize importance for billions of people on the planet. That’s because of the one thing that Greenland is quickly losing: ice."

Climate Change [33]
Disasters [34]
Environmental Politics [13]
Military [35]
People & Population [15]
Water & Oceans [24]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Antarctica & Arctic [36]
Europe [37]
Source: NYTimes [38], 01/15/2026
- Read more about "Why Greenland Matters for a Warming World" [32]
Iran’s Regime Has Survived War. Environmental Crises May Bring It Down. [39]

"Decades of water depletion, dam building and repression of scientists and environmentalists have driven Iran toward ecological crises that are fueling protests rocking the country."

Agriculture [40]
Climate Change [33]
Disasters [34]
Energy & Fuel [41]
Government [42]
Infrastructure [43]
Natural Resources [44]
Water & Oceans [24]
Public [18]
Middle East [45]
Source: Inside Climate News [46], 01/15/2026
- Read more about Iran’s Regime Has Survived War. Environmental Crises May Bring It Down. [39]
‘Bombshell’: Doubt Cast On Discovery Of Microplastics Throughout Human Body [47]

"High-profile studies reporting the presence of microplastics throughout the human body have been thrown into doubt by scientists who say the discoveries are probably the result of contamination and false positives. One chemist called the concerns 'a bombshell.'"

Chemicals [22]
Environmental Health [11]
Pollution [16]
Science [48]
Public [18]
International [49]
Source: Guardian [50], 01/15/2026
- Read more about ‘Bombshell’: Doubt Cast On Discovery Of Microplastics Throughout Human Body [47]
Wyoming County Approves What Could Become the Largest Data Center in US [51]

"Wyoming is poised to become an artificial-intelligence powerhouse after Laramie County commissioners last week unanimously voted to move forward with the construction of a 1.8 gigawatt data center designed to eventually scale up to 10 gigawatts, which would be the largest single AI campus in the U.S. "

Climate Change [33]
Economy & Business [52]
Energy & Fuel [41]
Infrastructure [43]
Laws & Regulations [14]
Planning & Growth [53]
Water & Oceans [24]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [54]
Source: Inside Climate News [55], 01/15/2026
- Read more about Wyoming County Approves What Could Become the Largest Data Center in US [51]
House Passes Bill Codifying Trump Order To Rinse Away Showerhead Rule [56]

"The Republican-controlled House on Tuesday advanced legislation aimed at fulfilling President Donald Trump’s long-running desire to “make showers great again” by voting to loosen federal efficiency standards for showerheads."

Consumer [23]
Environmental Politics [13]
Laws & Regulations [14]
Water & Oceans [24]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: AP [57], 01/15/2026
- Read more about House Passes Bill Codifying Trump Order To Rinse Away Showerhead Rule [56]
"EPA Plans To Curb States’ Clean Water Act Permitting Power" [58]

"The Trump administration issued a proposal Tuesday that would clamp down on state water quality reviews and veto authority under the Clean Water Act."

Energy & Fuel [41]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Justice [12]
Environmental Politics [13]
Infrastructure [43]
Laws & Regulations [14]
Pollution [16]
Transportation [59]
Water & Oceans [24]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: E&E News [60], 01/14/2026
- Read more about "EPA Plans To Curb States’ Clean Water Act Permitting Power" [58]
"Alito’s Recusal in Oil Case Renews Questions About Justice’s Investments" [61]

"Nearly one-quarter of the associate justice’s $1 million in individual stock holdings are in fossil fuel companies."

Climate Change [33]
Economy & Business [52]
Energy & Fuel [41]
Environmental Justice [12]
Environmental Politics [13]
Infrastructure [43]
Laws & Regulations [14]
People & Population [15]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: Inside Climate News [62], 01/14/2026
- Read more about "Alito’s Recusal in Oil Case Renews Questions About Justice’s Investments" [61]
"Detroiters Grapple With Unknowns As Lead, Arsenic Found At Demo Sites" [63]

"Arsenic and lead are among the contaminants found at dozens of Detroit neighborhood demolition sites, according to the first round of test results released by the city late last month amid state and local investigations — at least one criminal — into potentially toxic dirt used as backfill across hundreds of vacant lots."

Chemicals [22]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Justice [12]
Laws & Regulations [14]
Pollution [16]
Waste [64]
Public [18]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [25]
Source: Detroit Free Press [65], 01/14/2026
- Read more about "Detroiters Grapple With Unknowns As Lead, Arsenic Found At Demo Sites" [63]
"Gaza’s Living Conditions Worsen As Strong Winds And Hypothermia Kill 5" [66]

"Strong winter winds collapsed walls onto flimsy tents for Palestinians displaced by war in Gaza, killing at least four people, hospital authorities said Tuesday."

Disasters [34]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Justice [12]
Environmental Politics [13]
Military [35]
People & Population [15]
Water & Oceans [24]
Public [18]
Middle East [45]
Source: AP [67], 01/14/2026
- Read more about "Gaza’s Living Conditions Worsen As Strong Winds And Hypothermia Kill 5" [66]
"US Carbon Emissions Rose In 2025 As Coal Produced More Power" [68]

"The new data bucked the general trend of declining emissions, as booming electricity demand and higher natural gas prices gave coal a temporary opening in the market."

Climate Change [33]
Energy & Fuel [41]
Laws & Regulations [14]
Pollution [16]
Technology [17]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: Canary Media [69], 01/14/2026
- Read more about "US Carbon Emissions Rose In 2025 As Coal Produced More Power" [68]
"As MAHA Wages War On Pesticides, The GOP Is Caught In The Middle" [70]

"The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement’s crusade against pesticides is creating divisions in the Republican Party, as some members back the industry while others stand with MAHA activists."

Agriculture [40]
Chemicals [22]
Consumer [23]
Environmental Health [11]
Laws & Regulations [14]
Pollution [16]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [19]
Source: The Hill [71], 01/14/2026
- Read more about "As MAHA Wages War On Pesticides, The GOP Is Caught In The Middle" [70]

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