"Reconciliation Could Stymie Lawsuits Against Trump"
"The Senate dropped a House provision critics said was a shield for President Donald Trump, but new language may make it harder for groups to sue."
Source: E&E News, 06/18/2025
EJToday: Top Headlines
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"7,500 Interior Workers Took Trump Buyouts Or Early Retirement"
"The Interior Department has shed nearly 11 percent of its staff during the Trump administration, a reduction of nearly 7,500 employees who took buyout offers or early retirement in the past five months, according to data obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News."
Source: E&E News, 06/18/2025Court To Hear Chevron, Exxon Bid To Move La. Wetlands Cases To Federal Court
"The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear arguments from Chevron and Exxon that coastal wetlands lawsuits filed by two Louisiana parishes should be transferred to federal court — a decision that could ripple across dozens of similar cases seeking billions of dollars in damages."
Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 06/18/2025"Trump vs. Birds: Proposed Budget Eliminates Critical Research Programs"
"Two federal programs that experts consider indispensable for bird research and conservation in the United States could be eliminated under the Trump administration’s proposed budget for 2026."
Source: The Revelator, 06/18/2025Lobbyist Claims That NY Plastic Bill Harms People Of Color Called ‘Misleading’
"The oil and petrochemical lobby is attempting to fend off a New York state proposal to slash plastic waste by arguing that it will disproportionately burden people of color, advocates and assembly sources say, despite widespread evidence that the plastic supply chain poses serious health risks to Black and brown communities."
Source: Guardian, 06/18/2025Judge Rules Some NIH Grant Cuts Illegal, Calling Them "Discrimination"
"A federal judge ruled Monday it was illegal for the Trump administration to cancel several hundred research grants, adding that the cuts raise serious questions about racial discrimination."
Source: AP, 06/18/2025"Kraft Heinz To Remove Synthetic Dyes From All Products By 2027"
"Kraft Heinz, the food giant behind dozens of popular brands including Oscar Mayer, Jell-O, Velveeta and Kool-Aid, will not launch any new foods with synthetic dyes and will remove the dyes from its current products by the end of 2027, the company said Tuesday."
Source: The New Lede, 06/18/2025Trump Shutters Agency That Investigates Industrial Chemical Explosions
"Hazardous chemical accidents happen in the U.S. about every other day. Who will investigate them now?"
Source: Verite/Grist, 06/18/2025Trump EPA Is Telling Some Staff To Stop Policing The Oil And Gas Industry
"The Environmental Protection Agency has told staff overseeing the country’s industrialized Midwest — a region plagued by a legacy of pollution — to stop enforcing violations against fossil fuel companies, multiple sources told CNN."
Source: CNN, 06/17/2025"E.P.A. Plans to Reconsider a Ban on Cancer-Causing Asbestos"
"The Trump administration plans to reconsider a ban on the last type of asbestos still used in the United States, according to a court filing on Monday."
Source: NYTimes, 06/17/2025Fourth Power Plant Approved in Newark Despite Residents' Tearful Protests
"The Ironbound neighborhood in Newark, N.J., has two distinct sections: an immigrant-rich area of rowhouses, ethnic restaurants and shops, and a clogged industrial zone with three power plants, the state’s largest incinerator and biggest sewage facility, a slew of factories and a near-constant parade of diesel trucks."
Source: Inside Climate News, 06/17/2025Trump Orders Merger Of Wildland Firefighting Into Single Force, Despite Chaos
"President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered government officials to consolidate wildland firefighting into a single program, despite warnings from former federal officials that it could be costly and increase the risk of catastrophic blazes."
Source: AP, 06/17/2025Trump Fires Democratic Commissioner Of Independent NRC
"President Donald Trump has fired a Democratic commissioner for the federal agency that oversees nuclear safety as he continues to assert more control over independent regulatory agencies."
Source: AP, 06/17/2025US Proposes Listing Pangolins, Most Trafficked Mammal, As Endangered Species
"U.S. officials proposed Monday to protect the pangolin, a small, nocturnal mammal covered in scales, under the Endangered Species Act. The pangolin is “the most trafficked mammal in the world” in large part for its scales, used in traditional Chinese medicine, and meat, according to the World Wildlife Fund."
Source: AP, 06/17/2025"CDC Virus Expert Resigns After RFK Jr.’s Purge Of Vaccine Advisers"
"A senior scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who oversaw respiratory virus surveillance has resigned and raised concerns about the future of vaccine policy as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. upends the agency’s long-standing approach to immunization."
Source: Washington Post, 06/17/2025
