Environmental Studies

"Federal firings expected to undermine oil and gas permitting"

"Forecasters with the National Weather Service were among those who lost their jobs, raising questions about the service’s ability to continue providing the free, accurate, up-to-the minute information on potential hazards like heat waves, blizzards, tornadoes and hurricanes that is critical to industries such as agriculture and aviation, as well as the weather reports the general public relies on."

"Democrats on Capitol Hill erupted at the news that Donald Trump’s EPA plans to scrap a landmark scientific finding that underpins U.S. climate policy."

"The Trump administration has begun firing employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of the world’s premier centers for climate science."

"Utah could become the first state to ban fluoride in its drinking water, alarming public health experts and dentists who note the mineral’s role in reducing tooth decay across the nation. The Republican-controlled statehouse sent the legislation to Gov. Spencer Cox (R) last week after both chambers passed it largely along party lines."

"Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin has privately urged the White House to strike down a scientific finding underpinning much of the federal government’s push to combat climate change, according to three people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly."

"The Trump administration has blocked work that is central to major international climate change research, and barred federal scientists and diplomats from attending a key global climate event in China this week, according to three officials close to the situation who spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly."

"A Louisiana landscape of centuries-old sugar cane plantations and enduring Afro-Creole culture along the Mississippi River had been eligible for receiving rare federal protection following a multi-year review by the National Park Service."

"One of President Donald Trump’s most damaging strikes at the foundation of U.S. climate policy is buried deep in a sweeping Inauguration Day executive order focused on “Unleashing American Energy.” Half way through the lengthy document is a directive that would obliterate an obscure but critically important calculation the government uses to gauge the real-world costs that climate change is imposing on the U.S. economy."

"President Donald Trump in recent days has relied on a White House policy shop — the Council on Environmental Quality — to take a sledgehammer to what’s known as the “Magna Carta” of environmental laws."