Pollution

"The Trump administration slashed pipeline safety enforcement in 2025, bringing about half the average number of cases as in previous years." 

"High-profile studies reporting the presence of microplastics throughout the human body have been thrown into doubt by scientists who say the discoveries are probably the result of contamination and false positives. One chemist called the concerns 'a bombshell.'"

"The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention has lowered the state limit on forever chemicals, or PFAS, in drinking water to align with rigorous federal standards established by the Biden administration."

"Ohio is letting the oil and gas industry put more toxic waste underground despite community concerns — even as the state defers to local opponents of clean energy."

"An epidemic of a deadly lung disease among hundreds of workers who cut kitchen and bathroom countertops has regulators on opposite sides of the country considering two drastically different responses this week."

"After decades of PFAS contamination, North Carolina’s attorney general is challenging an EPA proposal to narrow reporting requirements for toxic 'forever chemicals.'"

"The House passed a bill last week that would “repurpose” $500 million meant for cleaning up environmental and safety hazards caused by decades of coal mining."

"The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement’s crusade against pesticides is creating divisions in the Republican Party, as some members back the industry while others stand with MAHA activists."

"The new data bucked the general trend of declining emissions, as booming electricity demand and higher natural gas prices gave coal a temporary opening in the market."

"Arsenic and lead are among the contaminants found at dozens of Detroit neighborhood demolition sites, according to the first round of test results released by the city late last month amid state and local investigations — at least one criminal — into potentially toxic dirt used as backfill across hundreds of vacant lots."