EJToday: Top Headlines

Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast: Milder Than Normal Thanks To El Nino [9]

"A developing El Nino that is forecast to get quite strong will likely dampen the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season, but it won’t make the potentially deadly storms disappear, federal and outside meteorologists predict."

Climate Change [10]
Disasters [11]
People & Population [12]
Water & Oceans [13]
Public [14]
National (U.S.) [15]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [16]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [17]
Source: AP [18], 05/22/2026
- Read more about Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast: Milder Than Normal Thanks To El Nino [9]
Trump Eases HFC rule, Claiming It Will Lower Surging Grocery Costs [19]

"The Trump administration on Thursday loosened federal rules that require grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment, a step that President Donald Trump said would help lower grocery costs."

Chemicals [20]
Climate Change [10]
Consumer [21]
Food [22]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Pollution [24]
Technology [25]
Public [14]
National (U.S.) [15]
Source: AP [26], 05/22/2026
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Firms Rush Toward Deep-Sea Mining As Trump Regulators Fast-Track Permits [27]

"In the year since President Donald Trump signed an executive order promising to create a deep-sea mining industry from scratch, businesses have raised millions of dollars from investors, stock prices have soared and federal regulators have raced to fast-track a permitting process."

Biodiversity [28]
Chemicals [20]
Climate Change [10]
Economy & Business [29]
Environmental Politics [30]
Fish & Fisheries [31]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Natural Resources [32]
Pollution [24]
Water & Oceans [13]
Public [14]
National (U.S.) [15]
International [33]
Source: AP [34], 05/22/2026
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RFK Jr. Fires Leaders Of Group That Guides Preventive Health Screenings [35]

"The Trump administration has fired the two leaders of an influential health group that determines when insurance must provide free preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies, for millions of Americans. In letters dated May 11, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. notified the two doctors who chaired the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that he was terminating their appointments immediately, before the end of their multiyear terms."

Activism [36]
Consumer [21]
Environmental Health [37]
Health [38]
Laws & Regulations [23]
People & Population [12]
Technology [25]
Public [14]
National (U.S.) [15]
Source: AP [39], 05/22/2026
- Read more about RFK Jr. Fires Leaders Of Group That Guides Preventive Health Screenings [35]
Pork Lobbyist Leads “Nonpartisan” Group Opposing State Animal Welfare Laws [40]

"In March, a letter to the editor appeared in the Los Angeles Times imploring Congress to take action against a California law that requires farmers provide hogs, calves and chickens with enough room to turn around, lie down and stretch. A chief problem with the law, according to the letter, is that it applies to animals raised in other states if products from those animals are sold into California."

Agriculture [41]
Consumer [21]
Environmental Politics [30]
Food [22]
Government [42]
Journalism & Media [43]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Public [14]
National (U.S.) [15]
California [44]
Source: The New Lede [45], 05/22/2026
- Read more about Pork Lobbyist Leads “Nonpartisan” Group Opposing State Animal Welfare Laws [40]
"ICE Changes Environmental Review Plan for Detention Centers" [46]

"US Immigration and Customs Enforcement appears to be shifting its strategy as it faces environmental review headwinds in its campaign to buy and convert warehouses into detention centers across the country. The Department of Homeland Security is now conducting National Environmental Policy Act reviews for two proposed facilities in New Jersey and Maryland, marking a policy shift after the agency initially exempted the projects from the months-long study process."

Economy & Business [29]
Environmental Health [37]
Environmental Justice [47]
Environmental Studies [48]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Military [49]
People & Population [12]
Public [14]
National (U.S.) [15]
Source: Bloomberg Environment [50], 05/22/2026
- Read more about "ICE Changes Environmental Review Plan for Detention Centers" [46]
"$6 Gas And Refinery Fears Collide With California’s Climate Ambitions" [51]

"California is considering giving oil refineries and other major polluters billions in free pollution permits under a major overhaul of its carbon market. The fight is exposing a deeper question inside Gov. Gavin Newsom's climate agenda: Can California lower emissions without driving up gas prices?"

Air [52]
Climate Change [10]
Consumer [21]
Economy & Business [29]
Energy & Fuel [53]
Environmental Health [37]
Infrastructure [54]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Pollution [24]
Technology [25]
Transportation [55]
Public [14]
California [44]
Source: CalMatters [56], 05/22/2026
- Read more about "$6 Gas And Refinery Fears Collide With California’s Climate Ambitions" [51]
Pesticide Spraying Near Calif. School Concerns Parents. Why It’s Legal. [57]

"Although California laws prevent schools and nearby farmers from applying pesticides when students are present, cities are largely an exception. On May 1, Patterson city staff sprayed pesticides at Floragold Park next to Apricot Valley Elementary school while kids were outside."

Agriculture [41]
Chemicals [20]
Consumer [21]
Environmental Health [37]
Environmental Justice [47]
Environmental Politics [30]
Government [42]
Laws & Regulations [23]
People & Population [12]
Pollution [24]
Technology [25]
Public [14]
National (U.S.) [15]
California [44]
Source: Modesto Bee [58], 05/22/2026
- Read more about Pesticide Spraying Near Calif. School Concerns Parents. Why It’s Legal. [57]
Utah’s Desert Could Fry If America’s Biggest Data Center Gets Built [59]

"Plans for a celebrity-backed “hyperscale” data center in rural Utah, so massive that it would consume more than double the state’s current electricity use, have generated an intense public and political backlash in a state where the motto is “industry” and a Republican supermajority tends to be deferential to development."

Biodiversity [28]
Climate Change [10]
Energy & Fuel [53]
Environmental Studies [48]
Infrastructure [54]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Natural Resources [32]
Technology [25]
Water & Oceans [13]
Wildlife [60]
Public [14]
National (U.S.) [15]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [61]
Source: Grist [62], 05/22/2026
- Read more about Utah’s Desert Could Fry If America’s Biggest Data Center Gets Built [59]
"The Subtle Yet Insidious Ways Climate Change Affects Mental Health" [63]

"The stress of climate change is taking a toll on mental health across the world – and not just among those who have survived disasters."

Climate Change [10]
Environmental Health [37]
Environmental Politics [30]
Environmental Studies [48]
Health [38]
People & Population [12]
Public [14]
National (U.S.) [15]
International [33]
Source: Yale Climate Connections [64], 05/22/2026
- Read more about "The Subtle Yet Insidious Ways Climate Change Affects Mental Health" [63]
‘Practical Stewardship’: House GOPers Release Interior-EPA Spending Bill [65]

"The fiscal 2027 legislation’s cuts are smaller than the White House proposed. The bill also blesses the Wildland Fire Service."

Biodiversity [28]
Climate Change [10]
Economy & Business [29]
Environmental Health [37]
Environmental Politics [30]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Natural Resources [32]
Pollution [24]
Wildlife [60]
Public [14]
National (U.S.) [15]
Source: E&E News [66], 05/21/2026
- Read more about ‘Practical Stewardship’: House GOPers Release Interior-EPA Spending Bill [65]
"‘Perfect Storm’: How Trump’s Aid Cuts Are Fueling the Ebola Outbreak" [67]

"As an Ebola outbreak rages in central and East Africa, public health workers say that the response has been stymied by the Trump administration’s cuts to foreign aid and global health organizations." "One health provider who works on the ground says that basic medical equipment like masks and hand sanitizers are in short supply due to funding cuts."

Disasters [11]
Economy & Business [29]
Environmental Health [37]
Environmental Justice [47]
Environmental Politics [30]
Government [42]
Health [38]
Infrastructure [54]
People & Population [12]
Technology [25]
Public [14]
National (U.S.) [15]
International [33]
Africa [68]
Source: WIRED [69], 05/21/2026
- Read more about "‘Perfect Storm’: How Trump’s Aid Cuts Are Fueling the Ebola Outbreak" [67]
Wet Weather in Argentina Helped Fuel the Cruise Ship Hantavirus Outbreak [70]

"The hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship has created a global public health crisis. But the driver of it is a rodent that weighs about an ounce, and climate shifts this year that have helped increase the odds of transmission."

Climate Change [10]
Environmental Health [37]
Health [38]
People & Population [12]
Science [71]
Technology [25]
Wildlife [60]
Public [14]
South America [72]
Source: WIRED [73], 05/21/2026
- Read more about Wet Weather in Argentina Helped Fuel the Cruise Ship Hantavirus Outbreak [70]
Scientists Accuse Livestock Industry of Downplaying its Climate Emissions [74]

"A group of the world’s leading climate scientists are warning governments and the livestock industry against adopting an “accounting trick” that will imperil the all-out global effort required to control heat-trapping emissions."

Agriculture [41]
Climate Change [10]
Environmental Politics [30]
Laws & Regulations [23]
Pollution [24]
Science [71]
Public [14]
International [33]
Source: Inside Climate News [75], 05/21/2026
- Read more about Scientists Accuse Livestock Industry of Downplaying its Climate Emissions [74]
Hit By Weather And Costs, Kansas Wheat Crop Could Be Worst Since 1972 [76]

"Record-setting drought and hotter-than-average temperatures mixed with sharp drops have impacted much of the U.S. early this year, including the Plains region. Drought conditions have worsened the spread of the wheat streak mosaic virus and barley yellow dwarf virus, which impact the potential of the crop. Combined with climbing input costs related to fertilizer, diesel fuel and tariffs, longtime wheat farmers say they are feeling a lot of pain."

Public [14]
National (U.S.) [15]
Source: AP [77], 05/21/2026
- Read more about Hit By Weather And Costs, Kansas Wheat Crop Could Be Worst Since 1972 [76]

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