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Analysis: Trump Administration Attacks Science, As Environment Suffers

It’s not just scientists who are being lost to the new administration’s extensive firings of federal workers. A Backgrounder Analysis argues it’s the science itself. It’s happening at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but also across agencies that conduct research to protect health and the environment, whether around toxic chemicals or on the battleground of climate change science. A frank look at the reality and what’s being lost for journalists and the communities they serve.

Will Science Be Stifled at the EPA?

Anti-science policies are being instituted by the Trump administration at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other federal offices, reports the latest Backgrounder. That makes it especially challenging to keep politics out of decision-making around everything from natural disasters to public health. An examination of scientific integrity under Trump 2.0 and what environmental journalists should watch for.

Trump 2.0 EJWatch

Trump 2.0 EJWatch is a special section spotlighting SEJournal stories and EJToday headlines that track the impact of the new Trump administration on the environment, energy and journalism. Launched in February 2025, Trump 2.0 EJWatch takes the baton from Environmental Journalism TransitionWatch, a limited-run weekly report published following Election Day 2024 until shortly after Trump’s inauguration.

EPA Science Integrity Threatened by House Republicans

The closest thing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has to a press policy is actually its scientific integrity policy. But as WatchDog Opinion writer Joseph Davis writes in the latest EJ TransitionWatch, the EPA’s scientific integrity policy is under direct attack by a powerful congressman. What’s behind the attack? And could the EPA’s science be under assault next?

2025 Journalists' Guide to Environment + Energy

In this special report, “2025 Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy,” the SEJournal looks ahead in our ninth annual guide to key issues in the coming year. Check out the guide’s special forward-focused TipSheets, Backgrounders, WatchDogs, a new EJ TransitionWatch column and more. Plus, an overview analysis.

What Would Trump 2.0 Mean for the Environment?

If former President Donald Trump recaptures the White House this fall, it would likely bring back a radical deregulatory, climate change-oblivious, fossil fuel-intensive environmental policy. But could the fallout be even greater? The new Issue Backgrounder examines how the Project 2025 agenda of Trump’s allies takes aim, in particular, at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Will New EPA Policy Make It Easier To Interview Its Experts?

Environmental journalists commonly grouse about obstacles the press office at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency throws up when reporters want to talk to its scientists. Might a newly proposed scientific integrity policy help change that? The WatchDog Opinion column, which regularly joins in the censuring, says there’s a chance it could. But will it? Why the outlook is cloudy.

Fine Particle Pollution Will Soon Spawn a Stormcloud of News

New rules on soot may soon be on the way and will likely stir up the long-standing controversy over air pollution from particulate matter. The latest TipSheet has the backstory on the pending regulations, reviews human health impacts and offers a range of story ideas and reporting resources for environmental journalists to tell the story on a local and regional basis.

EPA's Unfinished Agenda

Transparency and scientific integrity are good for public health and the environment, not to mention PR and politics. Yet WatchDog Opinion argues they’ve not been fully embraced by the Biden EPA. There are reasons for hope, however, in the form of a cataloging of violations and in an EPA-specific policy. Why it all matters for how environmental journalists do their jobs.

The Year Ahead Will Spark Abundant Environment News — Both Good and Bad

Even as the climate crisis countdown story continues, a wide range of environment and energy issues are on journalists’ watchlist for the year ahead, per an analysis from our “2022 Journalists’ Guide to Energy & Environment.” The overview looks at 13 key trends to track in 2022 and beyond — including infrastructure, pandemics, environmental justice, energy, chemicals, plastics and, of course, climate.

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