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).
"The Trump administration is canceling a Biden-era effort to speed up power line construction in parts of Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Nebraska and the Dakotas."
"A group of over 30 scientists, health professionals, and public health advocates is urging the Senate not to weaken the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a move they say will put children in harm’s way from toxic chemicals and pollutants."
"U.S. citizens in San Juan, Puerto Rico, are spending hours waiting for water trucks after water rationing went into effect amid drought on the island archipelago. Puerto Rico Gov. Jenniffer González declared a state of emergency in late July as the water in key dams dropped below levels that can support communities."
"The US government’s experimentation with AI in rulemaking carries the risk that actions associated with the technology may be overturned in court, former federal officials warn."
"When sailing alone, even sleep is dangerous. Matt Rutherford knows this all too well. As he travels the Arctic, far from his home port of Annapolis, Md., the moments Rutherford does get to rest are precious. "It just becomes extremely difficult to get any sleep because if you hit the ice, you essentially die," he said."
"As a pink-and-gold sunset faded over the waterside Ben Hotel, Republican state utility officials streamed out of a reception where they had been imbibing with executives from the industries they regulate."
"The recurring climate phenomenon is expected to peak later this year, but it is already causing dry spells and crop failures on three continents."
"After nearly two weeks on the road with her five children, Luul Mohamed finally arrived in the southwestern Somali city of Baidoa with no food and little sense of what would happen next."
"A vast oil spill from a leaking tanker has started to hit Oman's coastline, its environment agency confirmed on Wednesday, in what threatens to become one of the world’s worst in years after spreading largely unchecked for weeks."
"Less than two years after opening, a liquefied natural gas terminal near New Orleans is seeking a multi-billion-dollar expansion under a new Trump administration “emergency” permitting process that shortens environmental review and may weaken protections for surrounding wetlands and waterways."
"As a wildfire in May approached the site of one of the worst nuclear meltdowns in U.S. history, state and local officials scrambled to respond to the blaze and to establish proper real-time radiation and air monitoring to protect Southern California families, internal emails show."
"As Trump’s agencies shrink, narrow their role and reduce enforcement, politically connected Energy Transfer is steering a slow clean-up of fuel it spilled into drinking water near the Delaware River."
"Pesticide manufacturers have voluntarily cancelled registrations for products containing paraquat in California — kickstarting a statewide phase-out of the controversial herbicide linked to Parkinson’s disease, according to a California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) announcement on Monday."
"Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order on Tuesday directing a new task force to work on tighter regulations aimed at restricting data centers’ air and noise pollution, tempering water and energy usage and preventing utility bill spikes."
"While we think of predators as being dangerous, an otherwise harmless deer meandering into the road is far more likely to take you out than a bear or a wolf or a mountain lion is to stalk and eat you. Occasional news stories about pumas (Puma concolor) might suggest that they are a significant threat to humans. They are not—only around 30 deaths have been recorded since official record-keeping began in 1868."
