"These Blue States Aren’t Getting Fire Prevention Money From Trump"
"FEMA slowed grants intended to help states such as California and Colorado prepare for and prevent wildfires, a Washington Post analysis shows."
Source: Washington Post, 05/11/2026
EJToday: Top Environmental Politics Headlines
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"Black Hills Drilling Project Canceled After Backlash From Tribes"
"A South Dakota mining company has canceled a drilling project in the Black Hills after opposition from Native American tribes and local groups."
Source: AP, 05/11/2026"Close Calls At Michigan’s Dams Are A Climate Warning To America"
"Flooding across northern Michigan last month pushed rivers to record levels, testing the limits of the state’s aging dams so severely that officials in one city nearly ordered evacuations as water threatened to spill over the top of a key barrier — a close call that highlights the growing risk that intensifying storms pose to similar infrastructure around the country."
Source: Grist, 05/11/2026Hantavirus Response Shows How Trump Cuts Have Compromised US Preparedness
"The Trump administration has slashed funding for infectious disease research and has far fewer employees, including disease detectives, to respond to outbreaks."
Source: New York Times, 05/08/2026"America the Undammed"
"More miles of the country’s rivers were reconnected last year thanks to dam removals than at any other time in history."
Source: New York Times, 05/08/2026"Ted Turner, A Media Mogul Who Tried To Repair The Land"
"Ted Turner built a media empire, then turned much of his wealth and attention toward land, wildlife, clean energy, and conservation. His vast private landholdings became working examples of restoration, from bison herds and native trout to longleaf pines and red-cockaded woodpeckers."
Source: Mongabay, 05/08/2026"Microsoft May Abandon Its Clean Energy Powered Data Centre Targets"
"Microsoft Corp. may shelve one of the industry’s most ambitious clean-energy targets as it tries to remove hurdles that could hold it back in the race to power data centres, according to people with knowledge of the matter."
Source: Bloomberg, 05/08/2026"Trump’s Firing Plan Terrified Feds. Now, They Wait."
"President Donald Trump has yet to launch a crucial part of his workforce agenda that could rip civil service protections from thousands of federal employees." "A new employee classification is meant to purge the career workforce of impartial expertise and instead steer it toward the president’s political goals, critics say."
Source: E&E News, 05/08/2026"Storm Season Is Here and the National Weather Service Is Short-Handed"
"The National Weather Service is struggling to recover from last year’s deep staff cuts, raising doubts among some meteorologists about whether the agency is ready for severe storms or hurricane season, which starts next month."
Source: New York Times, 05/07/2026"Trump Admin Opens Door to Resumed ‘Cyanide Bomb’ Use on BLM Land"
"The Trump administration has quietly opened the door to the resumed use of so-called “cyanide bombs” on Bureau of Land Management parcels across the country, according to an internal April 2026 memo."
Source: Public Domain, 05/07/2026Texas Bills Could Have Protected Residents From Deadly Floods
"Texas lawmakers have for years rejected legislation that could have protected residents in the state’s flood-prone areas. Three bills would have banned youth camps or nearly all development in areas most at risk of dangerous flooding. Experts said the bills could have saved lives."
Source: ProPublica/Texas Tribune, 05/07/2026"Health Advocates Demand Federal Action In Nitrate “Health Emergency”"
"More than 80 health and environmental groups are calling on federal agencies to use emergency powers to protect Americans from a “public health emergency” driven by industrial farming practices that are dangerously polluting drinking water."
Source: The New Lede, 05/07/2026Georgia Officials Knew Carpet Mills Were Polluting Water. People Did Not
"Growing up in northwest Georgia, Stormy Bost lived her life in the water. During summers she plucked crawdads from the neighborhood creek and played in its cool depths, racing home for dinner to beat the setting sun."
Source: AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 05/07/2026European Firms Reflag Ships To Tap Indian Ocean Tuna Quotas, Report Finds
"The European fishing fleet has long been a powerhouse at catching tuna, with a fleet of massive vessels known as purse seiners that can hold as much as 4 million pounds (1.8 million kilograms) of fish at a time. Dozens of them roam the Indian Ocean, fishing for skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna destined for cans on grocery store shelves."
Source: AP, 05/07/2026Alaska Agents Can Kill Bears From Helicopters To Protect Caribou: Judge
"Alaska wildlife agents can resume shooting and killing black and brown bears — including from helicopters — as part of a plan to help recover a caribou herd that was once an important source of food for Alaska Native hunters, a judge ruled Wednesday."
Source: AP, 05/07/2026
