EJToday is a daily weekday digest of top environment/energy news and information of interest to environmental journalists, independently curated by Editor Joseph A. Davis. Sign up below to receive in your inbox. For queries, email EJToday@SEJ.org. For more info, read an EJToday FAQ. Plus, follow EJToday on social media at @EJTodayNews, and flag stories of note by including the @EJTodayNews handle on your posts. And tell us how to make EJToday even better by taking this brief survey.
Want to join the EJToday team? Volunteer time commitments can vary from just an hour a month up to a daily contribution, and would involve helping to curate content of interest. To learn more, reach out to the director of publications, Adam Glenn, at sejournaleditor@sej.org.
Note: Members have additional options to choose from (you'll need your log-in info).
"State regulators, consumer advocates, and environmental groups say the Department of Energy is acting illegally in forcing aging, costly power plants to stay open."
"No, chemtrails are not real, the Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday, in a notable instance of the Trump administration debunking a conspiracy theory that gained traction amid catastrophic flooding in Central Texas."
"President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told a panel of U.S. senators on Wednesday that he would make it “a top priority” to fill staffing shortages created by recent firings and buyouts across the National Weather Service, while also standing by the administration’s proposal to make drastic cuts to weather and climate research budgets."
"As the administration slashes spending on science, NASA is running low on new missions."
"First, a filthy Chesapeake Bay represented all that wasn’t working with America’s stewardship of its natural environment. Then, the bay became a success story. The sloughs of poorly treated sewage at the bottom of slime-green lagoons disappeared, and oyster populations, once nearly wiped out, made a near-miraculous comeback. ... In recent years, however, progress has stalled."
"Lawsuits after ICE raids and No Kings march say officers targeted reporters, raising alarms about press freedom even in states with strong protections"
"The Department of Energy report is widely viewed as groundwork for the White House to order coal and gas plants slated for closure to run for longer."
"Employees at energy and environmental agencies are bracing for deep cuts to their workforces and sweeping restructuring after the Supreme Court toppled a lower court’s injunction that had paused the Trump administration’s plans."
"With 7 of its most ambitious rules for cars, trucks and trains repealed, California officials now must find new ways to clean up the nation’s worst air pollution. But officials face growing pushback about affordability and costs."
"The Bird Banding Laboratory has turned duck hunters into citizen scientists. What happens if it is defunded?"
"The deadly Texas floods are drawing renewed scrutiny to Trump administration cuts at the nation’s weather and climate research agencies."
"The three scientists joined the administration after it dismissed hundreds of experts who were assessing how global warming is affecting the country."
"The White House is planning to eliminate the board, a small agency that investigates chemical disasters to understand what went wrong."
"The National Weather Service issued timely alerts, meteorologists say, but few were listening in the hours before the early morning flash floods." "The catastrophic floods that struck central Texas on Friday show that accurate weather forecasts alone aren’t enough to save lives."
"The Trump administration says it will uphold a Biden-era ban on the ongoing use of asbestos after previously saying it would reconsider the rule."
