As Workers Clean Up After The LA Fires, Can The State Keep Them Safe?
"The LA fires have left domestic workers and day laborers jobless. They may soon be hired for wildfire cleanup work, where they can be exposed to ash and other toxins."

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"The LA fires have left domestic workers and day laborers jobless. They may soon be hired for wildfire cleanup work, where they can be exposed to ash and other toxins."
"More than 50,000 people were under evacuation orders or warnings Wednesday as a huge and fast-moving wildfire swept through rugged mountains north of Los Angeles, but fire officials said a rapid ground and air assault was giving them the upper hand."
"To the extent that X ever was the “public square” of the internet, it is clearly no longer such a place. The platform — known as Twitter until it was rechristened in 2023 by Elon Musk — has become an echo chamber for extremist conspiracy theories and hate speech — or, depending on what you’re looking for, a porn site."
"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving to withdraw its interim regulatory decision on paraquat, announcing that it needs more time to examine the potential health effects of the weed killing chemical that has been widely used in agriculture for decades, but also linked for years to the incurable brain ailment known as Parkinson’s disease."
"A former chemical-industry executive who fought against stronger regulations under the first Trump administration is returning to take a critical role at the Environmental Protection Agency, two people with knowledge of the appointment said, raising concerns of corporate influence on chemical safety regulations."
"The man tapped by President Donald Trump to be second-in-command of the federal agency that protects the public from environmental dangers is a lawyer who has represented companies accused of harming people and the environment through pollution." "David Fotouhi, a lawyer who recently challenged a ban on asbestos, worked to roll back climate regulations and water protections while serving in the Environmental Protection Agency during Trump’s first administration."
"President Donald Trump on his first day in office declared an “energy emergency” and set in motion the demolition of scores of environmental protections that his administration will have to defend in court. Legal observers say some of Trump’s ambitions will be harder than others to justify — even before a high court dominated by conservatives, including three of the president’s own picks."
"Automakers and even some Republicans may fight to preserve funds, and environmental activists will likely sue, but some experts said that some changes may not survive legal challenges."
"The partisan divide over natural resource protections took a hard shift to the right with the inauguration of President Trump, who reversed moves the Biden administration took to protect natural resources in Alaska from mining and energy development and hunting bears with baits."
"The Tohono O’odham Nation signed a co-stewardship agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for federal lands with deep cultural and religious ties for the tribal nation."
"President Donald J. Trump’s plan to return Denali, the Alaska Native name for North America’s tallest peak, to its earlier name, Mount McKinley, has run into opposition from Alaska lawmakers."
"The Trump administration has instructed federal health agencies to pause all external communications, such as health advisories, weekly scientific reports, updates to websites and social media posts, according to nearly a dozen current and former officials and other people familiar with the matter."
"During his first day in office, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a flurry of executive orders that could bolster the fossil fuel industry amid mounting losses from the climate crisis."
"The Trump administration has ordered federal agencies to “immediately pause the disbursement of funds” under the landmark federal climate and energy laws passed during the Biden administration, a move that will throw tens of billions of dollars of lawfully designated federal funding into limbo — and one that is likely to be challenged in court."
"President Donald Trump ordered his administration to consider eliminating subsidies and other policies that favor electric vehicles, laying the groundwork for moves that risk slowing adoption of cleaner cars in the US."