Pollution

"The EPA’s retreat from its role guarding clean air and water will have lasting effects on public health, critics fear."

"The Trump administration announced an agreement with the Venezuelan government on Friday to develop a vast amount of Venezuela's oil reserves.

The U.S. government says it is entering into a joint venture with a private Venezuelan company, according to an official who spoke to NPR on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the deal. The Trump administration says the U.S. would get 55% of the oil from the joint venture. That's equivalent to about 65 billion barrels of oil that's under the ground.

"Construction on — or at least preparations for — a border wall through Texas’s Big Bend National Park and the larger Big Bend region have been halted through Sept. 15, and possibly longer, a federal judge said from the bench Friday."

"California sued the Trump administration and Golden State Wind over the federal government’s deal with the company to cancel an offshore wind project lease, alleging the transaction violated multiple federal laws."

"The Trump administration on Friday moved to relax fuel efficiency standards for medium- and heavy-duty commercial trucks."

"Many Venezuelans suspected that there was going to be a price to pay for President Trump’s brazen capture of their autocratic leader, Nicolás Maduro, who was arrested by U.S. forces in January. On Friday, that cost became clear when Mr. Trump announced that the U.S. would be taking majority control of a vast part of Venezuela’s oil reserves — national resources long considered by many in the country to be a birthright."

"The largest planned AI datacenter in New Jersey is being accused of violating federal law after a visual investigation found the site running dozens of unpermitted gas-powered generators." 

"The Trump administration has approved two new datacenter chemicals to which exposure can result in “sudden death” and a range of other serious health risks, like cancer, eye corrosion, neurological damage and reproductive harm, a new lawsuit warns."

"As the new school year kicks off, school districts are facing a challenging math problem: the high cost of diesel. The price of a gallon of diesel is up nearly $2 compared with this time last year. That is meaningful for schools, considering that around 90% of the United States' 480,000 school buses run on diesel."