CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit arguing that the Trump administration has sped through an industry-friendly rewrite of the National Environmental Policy Act.

As one of the nation's first major environmental laws, NEPA requires that any construction project proposed on federal lands -- such as highways, buildings, and airports -- be assessed for potential impact on the environment and consider local residents' input.

Kym Hunter, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, said every administration is required to follow certain procedures when attempting a policy change.

"And what the Trump administration does here," she said, "is cut every single corner in its rush to go ahead and pull down these environmental regulations that have been in place for the past four decades."

The White House Council on Environmental Quality has said the rule change to relax the NEPA requirements, which went into effect last month, was made to speed up lengthy environmental assessments. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has said he would undo the NEPA rollback.

Ron Ross of Charlotte, who heads the Northwood Estates Community Organization, said the rollback particularly will affect communities of color. For decades, he noted, urban-renewal projects placed Charlotte's Black residents in the path of pollution from major construction projects.

"Now exists I-77, interchanges, Highway 16, all of those are in the area," he said, "as well as the continuation of industrial facilities being located in our community."

Ross said communities of color often lack the resources and time to battle proposals that compromise local air and water quality, and believes the NEPA changes will create additional obstacles.

"In our communities, again, we have a dilemma," he said. "Do we worry about trying to provide food for our kids and make sure they're doing OK? Or do we worry about the environment? And again, all of those things are tied together."

In the lawsuit, groups that include Clean Air Carolina and the North Carolina Wildlife Federation said they rely on NEPA processes to flag projects that might impact air quality and climate change, from toll bridges and highway projects to concentrated animal-feeding operations.

The NEPA Final Rule Notice is online at govinfo.gov, the lawsuit is at southernenvironment.org, and the White House Council on Environmental Quality is at whitehouse.gov/ceq.


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What if your trash could be the key to a more sustainable wardrobe?

The group Keep Orlando Beautiful is proving it is possible with its annual "Trash 2 Trends" initiative, where discarded materials -- literal garbage -- are transformed into stunning, runway-worthy outfits.

It is not just about a flashy event, it is about inspiring everyone to rethink how they consume and dispose of clothing. The fashion industry is one of the largest polluters globally, responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions and nearly 20% of wastewater production. Fast fashion, which relies on synthetic materials such as polyester and nylon, contributes to microplastic pollution.

Madison Szathmary, coordinator for Keep Orlando Beautiful, said many people do not realize their clothes are made out of plastic.

"Every time you're washing something that's made out of spandex, nylon, polyester -- little plastic fiber from the clothing is getting into your washing machine and ending up in the water reclamation stream," Szathmary explained. "We want people to be able to buy used when they can."

You can also recycle what you already have at home, which is known as upcycling. Trash 2 Trends shows creativity can combat climate change by turning waste into wearable art. The creativity is on full display during Keep Orlando Beautiful's annual fundraiser but the real goal is to encourage everyone to embrace sustainable fashion in their daily lives.

You don't have to be a runway artist to make a difference. Szathmary encouraged everyone to embrace "slow fashion," a more intentional approach to clothing, prioritizing quality over quantity.

"Having an intentional closet," Szathmary added. "We call that slow fashion instead of fast fashion. And you can really, once you have a style and once you know what you like, there are opportunities to find that stuff not only at thrift stores but with your friends. You can swap clothing with your friends."

Szathmary noted the effect of small changes can be huge. By reusing and repairing clothing, we can reduce the demand for new textiles, which often rely on fossil fuels and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. The fashionable trends were on full display at last week's Climate Correction Conference in Orlando.


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Local leaders in California are slamming the Trump administration's moves to gut dozens of environmental policies on climate change and pollution in low-income communities.

Last week Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin said the agency will loosen restrictions on oil and gas and reconsider the "endangerment finding" underpinning regulations on greenhouse gases.

Felipe Perez, city council member and former mayor of Firebaugh, said farmworkers in the Central Valley rely on the feds to limit air pollution from nearby oil rigs.

"The people that work in the field, we have to go to work even though the pollution is too high," Perez pointed out. "We have to go because we have to feed our families."

The EPA also eliminated the department that fights for environmental justice and killed the Biden-era Justice40 plan, which directed 40% of infrastructure money to low-income communities of color.

Daniel Ramos, mayor pro tem of Adelanto in San Bernardino County, said the Trump administration has frozen millions of dollars earmarked by Congress for improvements to the city's wastewater treatment facility.

"Stripping away funding and programs that have already been signed into law, counted on and, in our case awarded, will definitely have a detrimental impact on those Justice 40 communities," Ramos stressed.

Igor Tregub, a city council member in Berkeley who was born in Ukraine, said the move to lift rules promoting electric vehicles increases reliance on oil and gas, which he called a threat to national and international security.

"This is a boost to the kinds of fossil-fuel industries that fund authoritarian forces like Putin's, that have a desire to take over peaceful democracies like Ukraine's," Tregub noted.

Zeldin defended the moves, insisting they will "usher in a golden age of American success" and calling former President Joe Biden's environmental policy a "green new scam."

A recent poll finds that voters in Virginia and around the country view unionization efforts as widely beneficial to workers - and are more supportive of clean energy projects that have strong labor practices.

The survey by the nonprofits Data for Progress and BlueGreen Alliance shows more than 60% of respondents support companies taking a neutral stance if their employees decide whether to form a union.

A similar percentage also say employers should be encouraged to sign a neutrality agreement.

Danielle Deiseroth, executive director of Data for Progress, said the poll found most people believe unions improve the workplace.

"So our polling found that there was a pretty broad consensus in general that unionization helps workers secure better benefits," said Deiseroth, "such as better health insurance and more paid time off, improved wages, improved worker safety."

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are more than 200,000 union members in the Commonwealth.

For the first time, unionization rates in clean energy surpassed rates in the broader energy sector.

Respondents also said they are more likely to support climate infrastructure projects if a private company commits to strong labor practices. Deiseroth said that makes sense.

"From our polling, we see that, unsurprisingly, voters are very supportive of that," said Deiseroth. "Voters want to see their taxpayer dollars going to support good job creation in the country that applies significantly to the clean energy sector."

The Commonwealth is home to numerous major clean energy projects. That includes Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, which is the largest offshore wind project in the U.S.