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EPA Enforcement Falls to Record Low Under Trump 2.0 [1]

The enforcement of environmental laws suffered a dramatic collapse during the Trump administration’s first year, several studies have found. Even the most serious violations, typically referred to the Department of Justice, are left unpursued because of DOJ staffing declines. The latest Backgrounder has the details, a look at the administration’s rationale for the decline and the implications for the environment and public health.

SEJ Publication Types: 
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat: 
Air [3]
Chemicals [4]
Climate Change [5]
Economy & Business [6]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Politics [8]
Environmental Studies [9]
Government [10]
Health [11]
Journalism & Media [12]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Policy [14]
Pollution [15]
Waste [16]
Water & Oceans [17]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [18]
Visibility: 
Public [19]
  • Read more about EPA Enforcement Falls to Record Low Under Trump 2.0 [1]

Is Our Inextricable Link to Water the Key to Human Survival? [20]

The new book by renowned thinker and author Jeremy Rifkin, “Planet Aqua,” immerses the reader in a fascinating premise: that we live not on a land planet but within a great hydrosphere, and that water is no mere resource but a life-sustaining source. BookShelf editor Tom Henry explores how Rifkin’s wide-reaching narrative strives to upend conventional wisdom about our Earth.

SEJ Publication Types: 
BookShelf [21]
Topics on the Beat: 
Environmental Health [7]
Water & Oceans [17]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [18]
International [22]
Asia [23]
Europe [24]
Visibility: 
Public [19]
  • Read more about Is Our Inextricable Link to Water the Key to Human Survival? [20]

‘There Has To Be Glitter’: Rio Carnival Loves Beach-Polluting Microplastics [25]

"A bill banning the sale and use of plastic and metallic glitter has yet to go through in Brazil as the capital’s sandy shores bear cost of carnival’s shine"

Chemicals [4]
Laws & Regulations [13]
People & Population [26]
Pollution [15]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [27]
Water & Oceans [17]
Public [19]
South America [28]
Source: Guardian [29], 02/23/2026
  • Read more about ‘There Has To Be Glitter’: Rio Carnival Loves Beach-Polluting Microplastics [25]

"Group Files Suit Over Lack Of Saltmarsh Sparrow Action" [30]

"The Center for Biological Diversity filed suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Feb. 11 for failing to make a preliminary decision about whether to expand protection for the saltmarsh sparrow, a bird whose population is in sharp decline around the Chesapeake Bay and the marshes along the East Coast."

Biodiversity [31]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Wildlife [32]
Public [19]
National (U.S.) [18]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [33]
Source: Bay Journal [34], 02/23/2026
  • Read more about "Group Files Suit Over Lack Of Saltmarsh Sparrow Action" [30]

As Climate Crisis Upended Homeowners Insurance, Industry Resisted Regulation [35]

"When an international organization sought to create guidelines on climate risk, insurance lobbying groups pushed back."

Climate Change [5]
Disasters [36]
Economy & Business [6]
Environmental Politics [8]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Water & Oceans [17]
Public [19]
National (U.S.) [18]
Source: Capital & Main [37], 02/23/2026
  • Read more about As Climate Crisis Upended Homeowners Insurance, Industry Resisted Regulation [35]

Research Uncovers Shocking Level of Trade in Protected Chambered Nautiluses [38]

"The beautiful marine mollusks have international protections, but sale of their shells continues by the tens of thousands."

Biodiversity [31]
Economy & Business [6]
Fish & Fisheries [39]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Water & Oceans [17]
Public [19]
National (U.S.) [18]
International [22]
Source: The Revelator [40], 02/23/2026
  • Read more about Research Uncovers Shocking Level of Trade in Protected Chambered Nautiluses [38]

Trump Approves Federal Emergency Declaration For Potomac River Sewage Spill [41]

"Donald Trump approved a federal emergency declaration Saturday related to a sewer main break north of Washington DC that threatens to put a stink on the US’s 250th anniversary celebrations in the US capital this summer."

Disasters [36]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Politics [8]
Infrastructure [42]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Pollution [15]
Waste [16]
Water & Oceans [17]
Public [19]
National (U.S.) [18]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [33]
Source: Guardian [43], 02/23/2026
  • Read more about Trump Approves Federal Emergency Declaration For Potomac River Sewage Spill [41]

Groundbreaking Indigenous Treaty on Whales’ Rights Could Change Laws [44]

"A declaration recognizing whales as legal rights-holders is influencing legislation in New Zealand and sparking an international push to translate Indigenous customs into binding protections."

Activism [45]
Biodiversity [31]
Environmental Politics [8]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Water & Oceans [17]
Wildlife [32]
Public [19]
International [22]
Australia & Oceania [46]
Source: Inside Climate News [47], 02/23/2026
  • Read more about Groundbreaking Indigenous Treaty on Whales’ Rights Could Change Laws [44]

"Jesse Jackson’s Vision For America Embraced Environmental Justice" [48]

"Peggy Shepard walked into her living room on Tuesday morning when her husband told her Jesse Jackson, the civil rights titan from South Carolina, had died. “Immediately tears started coming,” said Shepard, co-founder and executive director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice, a New York City-based nonprofit."

Activism [45]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Justice [49]
Environmental Politics [8]
People & Population [26]
Public [19]
National (U.S.) [18]
Source: Grist/WBEZ [50], 02/23/2026
  • Read more about "Jesse Jackson’s Vision For America Embraced Environmental Justice" [48]

"House GOP Targets Green Groups Over Willow Fight" [51]

"House Republicans are investigating environmental groups over their efforts to stop a major oil and natural gas project in Alaska."

Biodiversity [31]
Environmental Politics [8]
Journalism & Media [12]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Natural Resources [52]
People & Population [26]
Public [19]
National (U.S.) [18]
Alaska and Hawaii [53]
Source: E&E News [54], 02/23/2026
  • Read more about "House GOP Targets Green Groups Over Willow Fight" [51]

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Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/publications/backgrounders/epa-enforcement-falls-record-low-under-trump-20 [2] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/backgrounders [3] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/air [4] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/chemicals/toxics [5] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/climate-change [6] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/business [7] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-health [8] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics [9] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmentalists [10] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government [11] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/health [12] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media [13] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/laws [14] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/policy [15] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/pollution [16] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/waste [17] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water [18] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national [19] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81 [20] https://www.sej.org/publications/bookshelf/our-inextricable-link-water-key-human-survival [21] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/bookshelf [22] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international [23] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/asia [24] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/europe [25] https://www.sej.org/headlines/there-has-be-glitter-rio-carnival-loves-beach-polluting-microplastics [26] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/people-population [27] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/religion-faith-and-spirituality [28] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/south-america [29] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/19/brazil-glitter-ban-rio-carnival-beaches-microplastic-pollution-health [30] https://www.sej.org/headlines/group-files-suit-over-lack-saltmarsh-sparrow-action [31] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/biodiversity-1 [32] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/wildlife [33] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/mid-atlantic [34] https://www.bayjournal.com/news/climate_change/group-files-suit-over-lack-of-saltmarsh-sparrow-action/article_7e22c7ad-eb99-4e1d-90ce-6f2b9331cd7c.html [35] https://www.sej.org/headlines/climate-crisis-upended-homeowners-insurance-industry-resisted-regulation [36] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster [37] https://capitalandmain.com/as-climate-crisis-upended-homeowners-insurance-the-industry-resisted-regulation [38] https://www.sej.org/headlines/research-uncovers-shocking-level-trade-protected-chambered-nautiluses [39] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/fisheries [40] https://therevelator.org/chambered-nautilus-trade/ [41] https://www.sej.org/headlines/trump-approves-federal-emergency-declaration-potomac-river-sewage-spill [42] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/infrastructure [43] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/21/trump-emergency-potomac-sewage-spill [44] https://www.sej.org/headlines/groundbreaking-indigenous-treaty-whales-rights-could-change-laws [45] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/activism [46] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/australia-oceania [47] https://insideclimatenews.org/news/22022026/new-zealand-indigenous-whale-rights-declaration/ [48] https://www.sej.org/headlines/jesse-jackson-s-vision-america-embraced-environmental-justice [49] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice [50] https://grist.org/equity/jesse-jacksons-vision-for-america-embraced-environmental-justice/ [51] https://www.sej.org/headlines/house-gop-targets-green-groups-over-willow-fight [52] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land [53] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/alaska-and-hawaii [54] https://www.eenews.net/articles/house-gop-targets-green-groups-over-willow-fight/ [55] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81?page=19 [56] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81?page=16 [57] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81?page=17 [58] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81?page=18 [59] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81?page=21 [60] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81?page=22 [61] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81?page=23 [62] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81?page=24 [63] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81?page=4708