EJToday: Top Headlines

Trump Selects Dr. Heidi Overton, White House Aide, To Lead FDA [9]

"President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he will nominate Heidi Overton, a top aide at the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, to serve as the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration."

Consumer [10]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Politics [12]
Government [13]
Health [14]
Laws & Regulations [15]
People & Population [16]
Policy [17]
Science [18]
Technology [19]
Public [20]
National (U.S.) [21]
Source: Washington Post [22], 08/21/2026
- Read more about Trump Selects Dr. Heidi Overton, White House Aide, To Lead FDA [9]
How Florida Quietly Removed Climate Change Content From Textbooks [23]

"Publishers acceded to state requests watering down information on climate change’s impact, WUSF/Hechinger Report investigation finds. Now the state has turned to updating its science standards"

Climate Change [24]
Disasters [25]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Politics [12]
Journalism & Media [26]
Laws & Regulations [15]
Science [18]
Public [20]
National (U.S.) [21]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [27]
Source: Hechinger Report [28], 08/21/2026
- Read more about How Florida Quietly Removed Climate Change Content From Textbooks [23]
Fish And Wildlife Service Pauses Plan To Change Wetlands Policy [29]

"The Trump administration has hit the brakes on its plan to roll back a Fish and Wildlife Service wetland conservation policy following pushback from prominent Republicans and tens of thousands of duck hunters."

Agriculture [30]
Biodiversity [31]
Environmental Politics [12]
Laws & Regulations [15]
Natural Resources [32]
People & Population [16]
Water & Oceans [33]
Wildlife [34]
Public [20]
National (U.S.) [21]
Source: E&E News [35], 08/21/2026
- Read more about Fish And Wildlife Service Pauses Plan To Change Wetlands Policy [29]
Governors’ Races Increasingly Buffeted By Toxic Politics Of Data Centers [36]

"More governors are shifting their stances or taking more steps to squeeze data centers as the midterm elections near and public opinion sours on the energy-hungry behemoths that tech giants and developers are building to fuel artificial intelligence products and cloud computing. The backlash to the massive server warehouses is enveloping races for governor in some of the nation’s biggest states and presidential battlegrounds."

Climate Change [24]
Consumer [10]
Economy & Business [37]
Energy & Fuel [38]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Politics [12]
Government [13]
Infrastructure [39]
Laws & Regulations [15]
Planning & Growth [40]
Pollution [41]
Technology [19]
Public [20]
National (U.S.) [21]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [42]
Source: AP [43], 08/21/2026
- Read more about Governors’ Races Increasingly Buffeted By Toxic Politics Of Data Centers [36]
Great Waste In The Great Lakes: Plastic Pollution Is Clogging Our Waters [44]

"More than 40 million people in the United States and Canada depend on the Great Lakes for drinking water. Each glass of treated lake water is laden with tiny bits of plastic — microplastics — made of toxic chemicals linked to cancer and other diseases. Also contaminated are fish, staples of Midwestern fish fries and fish boils, and an important part of the diet of Indigenous tribes, certain immigrant populations and communities of color."

Biodiversity [31]
Chemicals [45]
Consumer [10]
Economy & Business [37]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Justice [46]
Environmental Politics [12]
Fish & Fisheries [47]
Food [48]
Laws & Regulations [15]
People & Population [16]
Pollution [41]
Water & Oceans [33]
Public [20]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [49]
Source: Chicago Tribune [50], 08/21/2026
- Read more about Great Waste In The Great Lakes: Plastic Pollution Is Clogging Our Waters [44]
How Trump Is Trying to Crush California’s Environmental Policies [51]

"The Trump administration has taken a series of extraordinary steps to attack California’s position as a national leader in environmental protection, enlisting at least a half-dozen federal agencies to undermine the state’s efforts to pivot away from fossil fuels."

Climate Change [24]
Conflict/Corruption [52]
Economy & Business [37]
Energy & Fuel [38]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Politics [12]
Government [13]
Laws & Regulations [15]
Pollution [41]
Transportation [53]
Public [20]
National (U.S.) [21]
California [54]
Source: New York Times [55], 08/21/2026
- Read more about How Trump Is Trying to Crush California’s Environmental Policies [51]
Trump Lifts Summer Gasoline Restrictions Early As Prices Remain Stubborn [56]

"The Trump administration is ending summertime smog restrictions on gasoline early this year in a bid to offer relief for high prices at the pump."

Chemicals [45]
Consumer [10]
Energy & Fuel [38]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Politics [12]
Government [13]
Laws & Regulations [15]
People & Population [16]
Pollution [41]
Transportation [53]
Public [20]
National (U.S.) [21]
Source: The Hill [57], 08/21/2026
- Read more about Trump Lifts Summer Gasoline Restrictions Early As Prices Remain Stubborn [56]
Japan's Farmers Go Nocturnal As Deadly Heat Intensifies [58]

"Long after sunset, Motoaki Iijima’s illuminated greenhouse north of Tokyo glows like a lantern as the flower farmer harvests pink and orange gerberas, avoiding a daytime sun fierce enough to be deadly."

Agriculture [30]
Climate Change [24]
Economy & Business [37]
Environmental Health [11]
People & Population [16]
Public [20]
Asia [59]
Source: Reuters [60], 08/21/2026
- Read more about Japan's Farmers Go Nocturnal As Deadly Heat Intensifies [58]
A Pizza-Sized Ocean Predator And A Tribe Are Trying To Protect Each Other [61]

"On a spring morning so blustery that the National Weather Service issued a small craft advisory, a Samish Indian Nation research boat, called the Chinook (Yómech), set out from Anacortes, Washington, just east of the San Juan Islands."

Activism [62]
Biodiversity [31]
Environmental Justice [46]
Fish & Fisheries [47]
People & Population [16]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [63]
Water & Oceans [33]
Public [20]
Northwest (OR WA) [64]
Source: NPR [65], 08/21/2026
- Read more about A Pizza-Sized Ocean Predator And A Tribe Are Trying To Protect Each Other [61]
12 Picks For Your Last Book Of The Summer [66]

"August though it is, there’s still at least one good book left of summer. So this month’s post offers 12 possible choices for your final summer read: six non-fiction and six fiction."

Journalism & Media [26]
Public [20]
National (U.S.) [21]
International [67]
Source: Yale Climate Connections [68], 08/21/2026
- Read more about 12 Picks For Your Last Book Of The Summer [66]
Enviros Sue Over Trump Push For Deep-Sea Mining Around American Samoa [69]

"A legal environmental group sued the U.S. government on Tuesday to halt the Trump administration’s plans announced last month to auction off sections of water surrounding American Samoa for potential deep-sea mining."

Activism [62]
Biodiversity [31]
Climate Change [24]
Economy & Business [37]
Energy & Fuel [38]
Environmental Politics [12]
Environmental Studies [70]
Fish & Fisheries [47]
Government [13]
Infrastructure [39]
Laws & Regulations [15]
Pollution [41]
Technology [19]
Water & Oceans [33]
Public [20]
National (U.S.) [21]
International [67]
Australia & Oceania [71]
Source: AP [72], 08/20/2026
- Read more about Enviros Sue Over Trump Push For Deep-Sea Mining Around American Samoa [69]
Data Centers Could Use More Power Than All Alabama Homes. Who Will Pay? [73]

"Alabama Power has guaranteed that residents’ power bills won’t increase as a result. Can the state’s largest utility keep its promise?"

Climate Change [24]
Consumer [10]
Economy & Business [37]
Energy & Fuel [38]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Justice [46]
Environmental Politics [12]
Infrastructure [39]
Laws & Regulations [15]
Public [20]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [27]
Source: Inside Climate News [74], 08/20/2026
- Read more about Data Centers Could Use More Power Than All Alabama Homes. Who Will Pay? [73]
As Seas Rise, Scientists Race to Save Coastal Marshes From Drowning [75]

"A majority of coastal wetlands are on track to shift inland or disappear in the coming decades without intervention. That will have major consequences."

Agriculture [30]
Biodiversity [31]
Climate Change [24]
Economy & Business [37]
Energy & Fuel [38]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Politics [12]
Fish & Fisheries [47]
Food [48]
Infrastructure [39]
Laws & Regulations [15]
Natural Resources [32]
People & Population [16]
Science [18]
Water & Oceans [33]
Wildlife [34]
Public [20]
National (U.S.) [21]
Canada [76]
Mexico [77]
Source: Inside Climate News [78], 08/20/2026
- Read more about As Seas Rise, Scientists Race to Save Coastal Marshes From Drowning [75]
Court Upholds EPA Rule Forcing Polluters To Pay For PFAS Pollution [79]

"An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule putting polluters on the hook to clean up toxic “forever chemicals” was upheld in court on Tuesday despite an industry challenge."

Chemicals [45]
Consumer [10]
Disasters [25]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Politics [12]
Food [48]
Laws & Regulations [15]
Pollution [41]
Water & Oceans [33]
Public [20]
National (U.S.) [21]
Source: The Hill [80], 08/20/2026
- Read more about Court Upholds EPA Rule Forcing Polluters To Pay For PFAS Pollution [79]
4 In 10 Americans Say Extreme Weather Damaged Their Towns In Past Year [81]

"Nearly 4 in 10 Americans say their communities were damaged by extreme weather events over the past year, according to a new survey released Tuesday."

Biodiversity [31]
Climate Change [24]
Disasters [25]
Environmental Health [11]
Environmental Justice [46]
Environmental Politics [12]
Food [48]
Government [13]
Health [14]
Infrastructure [39]
Laws & Regulations [15]
People & Population [16]
Water & Oceans [33]
Public [20]
National (U.S.) [21]
Source: The Hill [82], 08/20/2026
- Read more about 4 In 10 Americans Say Extreme Weather Damaged Their Towns In Past Year [81]

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