"Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is planning a detention facility for children and their families on one the nation’s most Pfas-contaminated sites, which also serves as a hub for the president’s deportation program."
"A new agency for offshore energy development that’s seen its workforce shrink in recent years — and is targeted for funding cuts next year by the Trump administration — will be taking on a quickly growing portfolio of responsibilities."
"U.S. President Donald Trump yesterday fired all 24 members of the National Science Board (NSB), the body that oversees the National Science Foundation (NSF). Many science advocates see it as the latest step by his administration to erode—some would say destroy—the independence of the 76-year-old research agency."
"More than 50 countries will gather in Colombia to try to develop real-world timetables to phase out oil and gas amid global energy shocks and petrostate stalling."
"The Trump administration is creating a new office that critics say could weaken the environmental oversight of oil drilling and seabed mining in territorial waters." "The new federal office will undo a change made after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. Critics say it could reduce environmental oversight."
"President Donald Trump invoked the Cold War-era Defense Production Act on Monday to shore up federal funding for a host of energy projects — involving oil, gas, coal and the grid — as the White House moved to buffer climbing electricity and fuel costs."
"Two veteran officials from the first Trump administration — Michael Abboud and Molly Vaseliou — have left EPA’s Office of External Affairs."
"The Department of Health and Human Services had canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in funding previously committed to help develop mRNA vaccines."
"Moderna is launching a large-scale clinical trial of a shot to combat bird flu in humans after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s department had canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in funding previously committed to aid in vaccine development.
SEJournal is providing full coverage of all eight of the day-long tours from the annual Society of Environmental Journalists’ conference, April 15-18, in Chicago. In Part 2, contributors Meg Duff, Nathaniel Eisen, Nhung Nguyen and Marlowe Starling provide detailed reports from tours focused on the transitioning steel industry, microgrids, climate-friendly crop practices and evolving Midwestern agricultural systems.
Also check out the first round of tour coverage and read all the great work from our team of early-career freelance journalists, part of SEJournal’s live #SEJ2026 Live conference reporting.
Nearly as rejuvenating as attending the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual gathering is perusing the après-conference spoof by contributing quipster David Helvarg. While it seemed he was mostly there unabashedly preselling his forthcoming book, he somehow found time to send up SEJ’s earnest sessions, lambast its blown-up tours and rib its beat dinners. Read his Chicago roast.
