"The Environmental Protection Agency has announced plans to regulate five types of phthalates, chemicals that are widely used in plastics and other common products."
"The Environmental Protection Agency is once again delaying the enforcement of regional haze guidelines. The agency has given states a three-year extension to submit plans to clean up harmful air pollution at national parks and improve public health, according to Sierra Club."
"Federal Emergency Management Agency supervisors are advising their staff to prepare for the elimination of 1,000 jobs this month as part of changes that Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, is overseeing at the agency, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions."
"Four million Americans live within 1 mile of a data center. The communities closest to them are 'overwhelmingly' non-white."
"In government records that have flown under the radar, the EPA is questioning its legal authority to revise pollution rules more than once when new science shows unacceptable health risks."
"The Trump administration's decision to withdraw the United States from the foundational U.N. climate treaty, which the U.S. Senate unanimously adopted more than 30 years ago, may be illegal, according to some legal experts who say that Congress would need to approve its exit."
The 2026 Poynter Journalism Prizes will honor the extraordinary journalism produced in 2025, with categories that take into account the important stories that unfolded in that time. All news websites, news services (including radio, TV stations and magazines) and newspapers in the United States are eligible to enter. Deadline: Feb 13, 2026.
A global changemaker challenge focused on the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. Teens who enter can win up to $1,000 and be connected with a professional journalist, via Planet Forward, as well as an amazing global network of teens working to make the world a better place! Deadline: Jan 25, 2026.
"Every animal with a brain needs sleep — and even a few without a brain do, too. Humans sleep, birds sleep, whales sleep and even jellyfish sleep."
"A court invoked Ecuador’s rights of nature laws in halting a highway project to protect the Jambato harlequin toad, requiring the government to prove construction won’t drive the species to extinction."
Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/headlines/here-s-why-new-epa-rules-everywhere-chemicals-could-fall-short
[2] https://wapo.st/4puTMa7
[3] https://www.sej.org/headlines/epa-delays-enforcement-regional-haze-guidelines
[4] https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2026/01/epa-delays-enforcement-regional-haze-guidelines
[5] https://www.sej.org/headlines/fema-staff-bracing-dismissal-1000-disaster-workers
[6] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/climate/fema-staff-cuts-1000-workers.html?unlocked_article_code=1.DFA.8ykT.HOHpwLKb6pek&smid=url-share
[7] https://www.sej.org/headlines/after-white-town-rejected-data-center-developers-targeted-black-area
[8] https://capitalbnews.org/data-center-south-carolina-black-community/
[9] https://www.sej.org/headlines/trump-s-epa-could-limit-its-own-ability-strengthen-air-pollution-rules
[10] https://www.propublica.org/article/air-pollution-regulations-epa-trump
[11] https://www.sej.org/headlines/trump-withdrawal-bedrock-un-climate-treaty-raises-legal-questions
[12] https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/trump-withdrawal-bedrock-un-climate-treaty-raises-legal-questions-2026-01-08/
[13] https://www.sej.org/calendar/deadline-poynter-journalism-prizes
[14] https://www.sej.org/calendar/deadline-planet-forward-teens-dream-changemaker-video-challenge
[15] https://www.sej.org/headlines/secret-world-animal-sleep
[16] https://apnews.com/projects/extreme-animal-sleep/
[17] https://www.sej.org/headlines/ecuador-s-battle-toad-vs-road-toad-wins
[18] https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07012026/endangered-jambato-toad-wins-against-ecuador-highway-construction/
[19] https://www.sej.org/search_results
[20] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=20
[21] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=17
[22] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=18
[23] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=19
[24] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=22
[25] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=23
[26] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=24
[27] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=25
[28] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=4915