"The Environmental Protection Agency said Monday it is repealing rules that limit planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas and announced it is taking a separate but related step to prevent future administrations from regulating climate pollution from power plants."
The Farm Bill — omnibus legislation that affects the food supply of millions of Americans, as well as their air, water and soil — is bogged down in hyperpartisan division. But as Backgrounder outlines, environmental journalists would be wise to track how Congress ultimately uses it to address matters like land and water conservation, rural water supply and pollution, pesticides and more.
"Laws in Louisiana and other states now curb the use of community-collected data. In Louisiana, public air monitors are often located miles from major industrial polluters and fail to test for some of the most dangerous chemicals."
"A federal appeals court on Friday struck down an order from the Trump administration that forced a coal plant in Michigan to stay open past its scheduled retirement date — dealing a blow to President Trump’s efforts to promote the coal industry."
"An ambitious bill to keep toxic “forever chemicals” off California produce lost its teeth after the chemical and agricultural industry spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying against it."
"The company will pay the sum over the next 15 years for contamination caused by its plant on the border of Cumberland and Bladen counties."
"Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s push for minerals and militarization raises fears about the violence more mining could inflict on local communities and critical ecosystems."
"The world is set to burn record amounts of coal this year, in large part because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday."
"The number of victims receiving aid has tripled in recent years, a Post analysis finds, as the illness’s toll becomes more apparent."
"On Friday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit against the city of Jackson, Mississippi, which alleged the city knowingly let residents drink lead-contaminated water." "A Trump-appointed judge also said Americans have no “constitutional right to truthful information” during a public health crisis."
