The Potomac is one of the most prominent rivers in the United States, a defining ecological feature of Washington, D.C., at the same time it reveals the city’s history of racial inequality and disenfranchisement. Writer, historian, educator and herbalist Charlotte Taylor Fryar recounts that tale in her ambitious “Potomac Fever,” reviewed in the latest BookShelf by contributing editor Jennifer Weeks, herself a Washington native.
Among the widespread federal firings that look like they’re putting the public increasingly at risk are those that strip away government oversight of dam safety. The latest TipSheet looks at what’s at stake and offers up a dozen story ideas, questions to ask and reporting resources to help environmental journalists spot the dam dangers nearest them.
"The White House is weighing an executive order that would fast-track permitting for deep-sea mining in international waters and let mining companies bypass a United Nations-backed review process, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the deliberations."
"The British Columbia government quietly granted one of Canada’s biggest oil and gas companies an exemption for thousands of pipelines that should have been deactivated before a legal deadline, according to documents obtained under freedom of information legislation."
"Brazil’s Supreme Court backed down and withdrew its proposal to open up Indigenous territories to mining and economic activities from a controversial bill that critics say violates the Constitution."
"The EPA’s slashing of more than $1 billion in grant funding has hit hard in Western communities that have felt climate impacts from flooding, wildfire smoke and melting permafrost."
"The Trump administration identified 16 sites for the development of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers Thursday on land owned by the Department of Energy."
"As the Trump administration cuts or scrutinizes clean industry projects, Congress moves to bolster R&D and deployment of low-carbon concrete, cement, and asphalt."
"House Democratic leaders across several panels are asking the Department of Energy’s internal watchdog to probe potential cuts of climate-related programs."
"The levies are expected to drive up costs for U.S. companies that rely on renewable energy technology from abroad and scramble supply chains worldwide."
Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/publications/bookshelf/how-potomac-imparts-capital-s-story
[2] https://www.sej.org/publications/tipsheet/dam-safety-firings-leave-downstream-residents-risk
[3] https://www.sej.org/headlines/white-house-weighs-executive-order-fast-track-deep-sea-mining-sources
[4] https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/white-house-weighs-executive-order-fast-track-deep-sea-mining-sources-say-2025-03-31/
[5] https://www.sej.org/headlines/bc-quietly-let-oil-and-gas-giant-sidestep-rules-4300-pipelines
[6] https://thenarwhal.ca/b-c-quietly-allowed-an-oil-and-gas-giant-to-sidestep-rules-for-more-than-4300-pipelines/
[7] https://www.sej.org/headlines/after-outcry-brazil-supreme-court-nixes-mining-indigenous-lands
[8] https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/after-outcry-brazil-supreme-court-nixes-proposal-for-mining-on-indigenous-lands/
[9] https://www.sej.org/headlines/epa-cuts-could-leave-small-rural-towns-choking-smoke
[10] https://wapo.st/41VhFiE
[11] https://www.sej.org/headlines/trump-admin-announces-plans-build-ai-data-centers-federal-land
[12] https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5230334-trump-ai-data-centers/
[13] https://www.sej.org/headlines/bipartisan-bill-boost-green-building-materials-glides-through-house
[14] https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/clean-industry/bipartisan-bill-green-building
[15] https://www.sej.org/headlines/democrats-call-doe-ig-probe-climate-funding-cuts
[16] https://www.eenews.net/articles/democrats-call-on-doe-ig-to-probe-climate-funding-cuts/
[17] https://www.sej.org/headlines/how-tariffs-could-upend-transition-cleaner-energy
[18] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/03/climate/trump-tariffs-energy-renewables.html
[19] https://www.sej.org/search_results
[20] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=264
[21] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=261
[22] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=262
[23] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=263
[24] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=266
[25] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=267
[26] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=268
[27] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=269
[28] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=4950