EJToday: Top Headlines

"The White House is touting Banga’s experience with financial inclusion and climate change".

"The Biden administration on Thursday nominated Ajay Banga, a former Mastercard executive who is now vice chairman at the private equity firm General Atlantic, to be the next president of the World Bank.

Banga is still subject to a months-long confirmation process before the bank’s board reaches a final decision. As the bank’s largest shareholder, the United States has typically chosen its leader, although other countries could still put forward nominations of their own.

"The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced another $550 million that it is putting toward addressing environmental inequity after previously outlining $100 million in funding for the issue."

"In a split decision the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling that North Carolina’s “ag-gag law” is unconstitutional and infringes on free speech."

"Donald Trump’s record of rolling back environmental protections was highlighted by critics on Wednesday as the ex-president visited the town of East Palestine, Ohio, and called the federal response to the toxic train derailment there earlier this month a “betrayal”.

"A new wind energy lease sale plan released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management slashes the Gulf’s offshore wind energy development areas by two-thirds, potentially reducing the amount of jobs and clean energy the region’s leaders had hoped wind farms would generate in the coming years."

"The Australian government plans to make an area about the size of Germany in the Southern Ocean a marine zone, strengthening protections around Macquarie Island for millions of penguins and seals."

"Polar bears in the Arctic and plankton in the Pacific. Cardinals in Atlanta and crocodiles in South Africa." "Researchers created a map showing where PFAS compounds, linked to cancer in humans, have been detected in wildlife. It spans the globe."