"States Push Climate Superfund Bills Despite Trump’s Opposition"
"The legislation would make oil and gas firms pay for climate damages from burning their products. Trump has referred to such laws as 'extortion.'"
Source: Canary Media, 02/18/2026
EJToday: Top Headlines
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Senate Dems Say Trump EPA Curries Corporate Favor By Weakening Air Rules
"Ozone and particulate matter air pollutants cause over 100,000 premature deaths per year and affect the health of millions of Americans. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said last month that his agency would stop considering those costs when drafting new regulations."
Source: Inside Climate News, 02/18/2026Texas Alleges ‘Habitual Non-Compliance’ of Water Rules at Dow Chemical
"The Texas Attorney General’s office filed a lawsuit Friday afternoon against Dow Chemical Co., North America’s largest chemical manufacturer, describing hundreds of water pollution violations from its industrial complex on the rural Gulf Coast in Seadrift."
Source: Inside Climate News, 02/18/2026"House Agriculture Panel Releases Farm Bill Text And Sets Markup"
"Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee on Friday released text for the farm bill and announced they will mark up the bill on Feb. 23 — with the framework drawing immediate criticism from the top Democrat on the panel who accused Republicans of filling the package with poison pills."
Source: The Hill, 02/18/2026Thermal Drone Footage Shows Musk's AI Power Plant Flouting Clean Air Rules
"Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company is continuing to fuel its data centers with unpermitted gas turbines, according to a Floodlight visual investigation. Thermal drone footage shows xAI is still burning gas at a facility in Southaven, Miss., despite a recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruling reiterating that doing so requires a state permit in advance."
Source: Floodlight, 02/18/2026"What Are The Biggest Climate Polluters Near You?"
"[D]o you know if there are major climate polluters near you? Thanks to several publicly available mapping tools, it’s never been easier to find out."
Source: Yale Climate Connections, 02/18/2026"Elegy For The Washington Post Climate Team"
"The Washington Post produced high-quality and wide-ranging climate coverage. Then it fired most of its climate reporters."
Source: Yale Climate Connections, 02/18/2026Dem Senators Launch Inquiry Into EPA’s Repeal Of Endangerment Finding
"More than three dozen Democratic senators have begun an independent inquiry into the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) following a huge change in how the agency measures the health benefits of reducing air pollution that is widely seen as a major setback to US efforts to combat the climate crisis."
Source: Guardian, 02/17/2026Trump EPA Dropped Controversial DOE Report From Endangerment Finding Repeal
"When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rescinded its bedrock endangerment finding Thursday, it explicitly excluded a controversial report issued last year by the U.S. Department of Energy that argued the dangers of human-induced climate change were being overstated."
Source: Inside Climate News, 02/17/2026"With Latest Rollback, the U.S. Essentially Has No Clean-Car Rules"
"The United States will essentially have no laws on the books that enforce how efficient America’s passenger cars and trucks should be."
Source: NYTimes, 02/17/2026"Calif. Walloped By Winter Storm With High Winds And Heavy Rain And Snow"
"California was walloped Monday by a powerful winter storm carrying treacherous thunderstorms, high winds and heavy snow in mountain areas."
Source: AP, 02/17/2026Hazardous South L.A. Oil Wells Plugged After Decades Of Community Pressure
"California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced this week that state oil and gas regulators have permanently closed one of the most infamous drill sites in Los Angeles, bringing an end to a decades-long community campaign to prevent dangerous gas leaks and spills from rundown extraction equipment."
Source: LA Times, 02/17/2026"Trash Piles Up In Havana As US Oil Chokehold Halts Garbage Trucks"
"Garbage has begun to pile up on street corners in the Cuban capital of Havana, attracting hordes of flies and reeking of rotten food, in one of the most visible impacts of the U.S. bid to prevent oil from reaching the Caribbean's largest island."
Source: Reuters, 02/17/2026US Ocean Regulator Criticized Over Changes To Right Whale Protection Rule
"The U.S.'s ocean regulator plans to make industry-friendly changes to a longstanding rule designed to protect vanishing whales, prompting criticism from environmental groups who cite the recent death of an endangered whale."
Source: AP, 02/17/2026"The Voracious Vine That ‘Ate the South’ Can Also Fuel Wildfires"
"Brought to the United States as an ornamental porch decoration, the kudzu vine has reshaped itself into ladder fuel for wildfires."
Source: Inside Climate News, 02/17/2026
