Environmental Health

"The pipeline company led by President Donald Trump’s biggest energy donor is trying to upend the way the federal government enforces pipeline safety law."

"When Leslie Stewart moved to her home in a rural expanse of Lincoln County outside of Oklahoma City more than 20 years ago, she thought she’d found a slice of heaven. ... But several years ago, her neighbor began applying sewage sludge, which consists largely of human waste left over from municipal wastewater treatment facilities, as a fertilizer on his farmland, causing a rancid smell so powerful it nearly took her breath away."

"After decades of pressure from farmworkers and their allies, California launched a statewide system to warn communities before they’re exposed to toxic pesticides. But health concerns remain."

"The Supreme Court appears poised to keep at least some Clean Air Act disputes in federal courts outside of D.C. — preventing what at least one justice described as “home court advantage” for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)."

"The Trump administration has eviscerated a grant program designed to make U.S. industry cleaner and more competitive by improving measurement of emissions from building materials. The Environmental Protection Agency says it has canceled $116 million in grants to 21 recipients that include universities and trade groups, according to information obtained by the Sierra Club through a public records request."

"

"As Texas stares down a water shortfall, its leaders are looking at vast volumes of brown, briney oilfield wastewater as a hopeful source of future supply. They don’t have many other options. But extracting clean water from this toxic slurry will require enormous amounts of energy, just as Texas fights to keep up with the rapidly growing power demands of a high-tech industrial buildout."

"Advocates fear the agency will “justify avoiding any enforcement whatsoever” of millions of tons of coal ash nationwide."

"President Trump has signed an executive order directing state and local governments to "play a more active and significant role" in preparing for disasters. For months, Trump has said he's considering getting rid of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the country's disaster response arm."

"Although young plaintiffs and their supporters were disappointed by the U.S. Supreme Court effectively ending their constitutional climate lawsuit on Monday, they also emphasized the positive and far-reaching impacts of Juliana v. United States over the past decade."

"A new report illustrates a concerning dynamic: Record heat last year pushed countries to use more planet-warming fossil fuels to cool things down."