Environmental Justice / Public News Service

The Sierra Club said pollutants can worsen heart conditions, asthma and other respiratory illnesses, especially on days when air quality drops. (Adobe stock)

Friday, May 9, 2025

New Sierra Club dashboard tracks IN coal pollution

Indiana residents now have a new way to track pollution from coal plants across the state. The Sierra Club's new online national dashboard shows how …

A hunter stands in the Minnesota Heritage Forest Project area, which is protected from heavy industrial use under a new land deal covering nine counties. (Photo courtesy of Jay Brittain)

Friday, May 9, 2025

Mighty Mississippi in MN gets extra shield thanks to land deal

The Mississippi River is the drinking water source for 20 million people and its starting point in northern Minnesota has new protections following co…

The nonprofit Elected Officials to Protect America is holding a two-day Energy Security Summit this week in Washington D.C. (Benjamin Wong)

Wednesday, May 7, 2025

CA elected officials, advocates decry proposed cuts to climate programs

Elected officials spoke out Tuesday at an energy security summit in Washington D.C., calling on Congress to protect federal climate investments and …

Wednesday, May 7, 2025

Pollution in PA worsens amid ongoing clean-vehicle policy debate

Air pollution in Pennsylvania is getting worse, according to a new report citing transportation emissions as the primary culprit. The American Lung …

Wednesday, May 7, 2025

As WA air quality worsens, Congress rolls back protections

Air pollution in Washington is getting worse, according to a new report citing transportation emissions as the primary culprit. Eight of the 12 …

A number of Virginia cities in rural parts of the state, such as Charlottesville, Lynchburg and others, rank nationally for high air quality and low air pollution levels. (Adobe Stock)

Wednesday, May 7, 2025

Report: Resistance to stricter vehicle emissions will affect air quality

A new report found the country needs cleaner vehicles to combat worsening air quality across Virginia but Republican lawmakers are looking to repeal s…

The Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act included tax credits and incentives to promote electric vehicle adoption in New Mexico. (See Less/Adobe Stock)

Wednesday, May 7, 2025

U.S. veterans who hold elective office want environmental investments restored

A bipartisan group of current and former elected officials said the continued use of fossil fuels threatens global security and they want funding for …

Nebraska emitted about 81 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2021, 26th highest in the country, according to the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy. (Adobe Stock)

Wednesday, May 7, 2025

New report stresses EVs for Nebraskans' lung health

A new report from the American Lung Association found air pollution continues to be a problem even as Congress stymies efforts to bolster the electric…

More than three in four Utahns polled believe current oil and gas development fees on national public lands should not be reduced. (Adobe Stock)

Wednesday, May 7, 2025

House panel eyes boosting oil, gas drilling; most Utahns don't agree

This week, the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee is considering overhauling Biden-era restrictions on oil and gas leasing which could affect …

Almost three in four Nevada voters polled believe current oil and gas development fees on national public lands should not be reduced. (Adobe Stock)

Poll: Nevadans oppose ramping up oil, gas development

The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources will consider reversing Biden-era restrictions on oil and gas leasing in states like Nevada on Tuesday…

Bloomington, California, residents protest a warehouse project proposed for their neighborhood in September 2024. (Concerned Neighbors of Bloomington)

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Environmental groups fight plan to add warehouses in CA's Inland Empire

A big warehouse project proposed for the Inland Empire is being challenged in court Wednesday by a coalition of environmental justice groups…

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, passenger vehicles emit about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, on average. (Chris Ahern Photo/Adobe Stock)

Detroit area pollution worsens, as 'clean vehicle' debate rolls on

Air pollution in the Motor City area is getting worse, according to a new report citing transportation emissions as the primary culprit. The …

Maricopa, Gila, Pima and Pinal counties all received a letter grade of

Monday, May 5, 2025

AZ has some of nation's dirtiest air. Tailpipe pollution is part of problem

Arizona is ranked as having some of the worst areas for polluted air, according to a new report by the American Lung Association and advocates said …

Air pollution harms everyone's health but is a particular danger to babies, the elderly, people with heart or lung disease and people who work outside. (mmg1design/Adobe Stock)

13 CA counties get 'F' in new clean air report

California has some of the dirtiest air in the nation, according to the American Lung Association's new State of the Air report. Researchers looked …

Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed to hold corporations and trade associations accountable for climate damages, including a case in Colorado against ExxonMobil and Suncor Energy. (Adobe Stock)

Monday, May 5, 2025

Study lays out scientific path to recoup climate costs

As Boulder and local governments across the U.S. turn to courts to pay for rebuilding after wildfires, floods and other extreme weather events linked …

Churchill, Clark and Washoe counties all have received a letter grade of

NV gets poor grades for air quality. Advocates urge strong emission standards

Nevada's counties have ranked as having some of the poorest air quality, according to a new report by the American Lung Association and advocates …

According to Food and Water Watch, animals raised for food in the United States generate about 941 billion pounds of manure each year from a population of 1.7 billion. (Adobe stock)

Indiana water at risk as manure fuels hidden contamination

By Nina B. Elkadi for Sentient.Broadcast version by Joe Ulery for Indiana News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collaboration …

Among those surved, 70% of Nevadans believe inadequate water supply is a serious problem, according to Colorado College's State of the Rockies Conservation in the West Poll. (Kit Leong / Adobe Stock)

Proposed EPA water rule could affect NV's water quality

Both water quantity and quality are important in the dry climate of Nevada. Now, a proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency could roll back …

Originally operated by Entergy, Palisades was acquired by Holtec International in June 2022. <br />(JHVEPhoto/Adobe Stock)

DOE invests millions to revive MI nuclear plant, amid growing criticism

The owner of Michigan's Palisades Nuclear Plant is getting another $47 million to restart the facility. It is the third installment of a $1.5 …

Western Watersheds Project Executive Director Erik Molvar says a permitting change announced by the U.S. Department of the Interior this week will mean

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Feds unveil 'emergency permitting' for energy projects in MT, U.S.

This week, the Trump administration announced what it terms "emergency permitting" for energy projects, streamlining a sometimes yearslong process …

About 500,000 children in the U.S. are exposed to lead, disproportionately on poor and Black and brown families. (Adobe Stock)

Experts say lead in Milwaukee schools is an environmental justice issue

As the city of Milwaukee continues to grapple with addressing unsafe levels of lead across public schools, experts are calling it an environmental …

A total of 16,000 NOAA workers, including those who forecast severe storms, have been fired by DOGE. (Derrick Neill/Adobe Stock)

Second wave of weather employees fired ahead of NM wildfire season

By Dawn Attride for Sentient.Broadcast version by Roz Brown for New Mexico News Connection reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collaboratio…

The Environmental Protection Agency said exemptions to clean air regulations will

Pollution exemptions granted to AR coal plants

Two coal plants in Arkansas have received an exemption from the Trump administration and will have two additional years to comply with updated clean a…

Nearly 10,000 West Virginia children per year will suffer asthma attacks because of ozone from the oil and gas industry, according to a report from the Clean Air Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

WV facilities seek exemptions from limits on toxic pollution

West Virginia communities will see increased air pollution with little oversight under a new Trump administration proposal offering presidential exemp…

California is considering a bill to study the cost to taxpayers of climate-related disasters. Similar measures have already passed in New York and Vermont. (Strikernia/Adobe Stock)

CA lawmakers consider charging oil companies for climate-related damage

The "Make Polluters Pay Superfund" bill goes before the California Assembly Natural Resources Committee Monday. The bill would direct the California …

America's 63 national parks and 433 National Park Service-managed sites such as New Mexico's White Sands have been ordered to remain open, despite significant worker cuts. (nps.gov)

DOGE cuts at NM's national parks create alarm, anxiety

New Mexico's national parks generally operate year-round - but they might not operate at 100% efficiency this year due to employee firings, layoffs …

Scientists warn removing access to federal climate data limits support for communities most at risk in a changing climate, and hides the effects already being felt from wildfires, prolonged drought and extreme flooding. (Adobe Stock)

Scientists race to rescue taxpayer-funded data purged from websites

As the Trump administration continues to purge troves of information related to climate change and other topics from government websites, a coalition …

Online datasets already archived include FEMA's Future Risk Index and the U.S. Department of Energy's Local Investments Map. (Adobe Stock)

Groups race to archive federal environmental data before it disappears

As U.S. government website purging continues, the Open Environmental Data Project is one of several groups working to preserve public access to …

As states spend millions responding to natural disasters, New Mexico's proposed Community Benefit Fund could prove beneficial ahead of a new crisis. (MarthaMarks/Adobe Stock)

Climate change activists see hopeful signs in New Mexico's next state budget

New Mexico conservation advocates say the state's budget awaiting the governor's signature would make great strides in addressing climate change and p…

Thousands of datasets on a variety of issues have been taken off government websites. (Adobe Stock)

Environmental coalition works to preserve federal climate data

Since President Donald Trump took office, thousands of public government datasets have been removed from federal websites. Often, the data involves …

A McKinsey analysis suggested global demand for data-center capacity could rise at an annual rate of between 19% and 22% from 2023 to 2030 to reach an annual demand of 171 to 219 gigawatts. (Adobe Stock)

High-impact data centers could pose WV energy, environment threats

Large, energy-intense buildings used in Bitcoin mining, cloud computing and artificial intelligence data processing industries could become more …

The Little Village Environmental Justice Organization has become as much as a landmark to the community as the Little Village Arch and was awarded the national Food Sovereignty Prize in 2024. (City of Chicago 2021)

Chicago nonprofit transforms former toxic site to feed community

By Angela Burke for Civil Eats.Broadcast version by Judith Ruiz-Branch for Illinois News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Pub…

Thousands of datasets from federal agency websites have been scrubbed since the new administration took office. (Adobe Stock)

Nonprofit races to save science, environmental-justice website data

As U.S. government website purges continue, one nonprofit is racing to track and save as much data as possible. The Open Environmental Data Project …

The Trump administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a ruling ordering the rehiring of thousands of federal workers, including in the Environmental Protection Agency. (Adobe Stock)

EPA workers in Chicago protest cuts to agency

Nearly 100 probationary workers for the Environmental Protection Agency in Chicago have had their jobs cut and then reinstated in the last month…

Reducing new clean energy projects would increase air pollution in Texas by over 17 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2030 and 83 million metric tons in 2035, equivalent to the annual air pollution from four and 21 coal-fired power plants, respectively. (Andrii/Adobe Stock)

Report: Cuts to Inflation Reduction Act would impact TX economy

Texas would be one of five states to suffer the most if the Trump administration repeals the Inflation Reduction Act, according to a report from the …

New Mexico's 2021 methane waste rules require oil and gas operators to capture 98% of their produced natural gas by Dec. 31, 2026, and prohibit routine venting and flaring. (RobertCoy/Adobe Stock)

NM's state methane regulations expected to thwart federal rollbacks

Federal rules meant to better control harmful methane emissions will not take effect since Congress and President Donald Trump have intervened but the…

Jury finds Greenpeace liable in Dakota Access Pipeline case

Greenpeace has been ordered to pay several hundred million dollars stemming from the Dakota Access Pipeline protests and some are saying the verdict l…

Filmmaker Michael Nash aims to feature his acclaimed film

From the moon to mailboxes: Filmmaker puts climate refugees in spotlight

Last year, filmmaker Michael Nash achieved the extraordinary when his documentary "Climate Refugees" was sent to the moon as part of a Lunar Museum …

In January 2014, approximately 10,000 gallons of chemicals used to process coal spilled from a storage tank into the Elk River in West Virginia, a water source which serving 300-thousand people in the Charleston area.(Adobe Stock)

Bill aims to weaken WV coal and gas industry chemical tank regulations

Lawmakers in the West Virginia Senate have passed a bill to remove mandated inspections for chemical storage tanks in the oil, coal and gas …

Chuckwalla National Monument is one of two created in mid-January by President Joe Biden, just before he left office. (Bob Wick/BLM)

Two CA national monuments in peril as feds announce plan to rescind them

Two new national monuments in California are in jeopardy after the White House announced a plan to revoke them and then appeared to retreat. On …

In 2023, human-caused fires accounted for 71% of all fires across the state, on all land jurisdictions, according to the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management. (Adobe Stock)

AZ groups file lawsuits to limit effects of Elon Musk's DOGE

The Sierra Club and other partners are suing Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency over the mass firing of federal workers across mult…

Expanded oil and gas subsidies, included in current versions of upcoming federal tax legislation, would support a massive expansion of LNG projects to more than double national export capacity by 2030. (Jeeraphun/Adobe Stock)

Religious leaders gather in TX to fight oil and gas subsidies

Forty religious leaders from different denominations gathered in Texas this week to call for an end to fossil-fuel subsidies and expansion of related …

A recent Ohio River Valley Initiative report says the Shell petrochemical plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, has failed to deliver the promised economic benefits since its announcement more than a decade ago. (Dawid/Adobe Stock)

PA faith leader part of TX protest of oil, gas subsidies

A Buddhist minister from Pennsylvania joined 40 religious leaders in Texas this week to demand an end to fossil-fuel subsidies and expansion of oil an…

From data centers to clean-energy projects to factory farms, rural communities are being asked to shoulder a number of key projects factoring into how society functions, potentially leading to a major dynamic shift in how local residents organize their response. (Adobe Stock)

Power of rural organizing reflected in SD carbon pipeline law

The future of a big carbon capture project in the Midwest was thrown off balance after a new South Dakota law was adopted. Rural property owners made …

Polluted, acidic water leaving KD #1 Surface Mine on Lens Creek near Marmet. (Kanawha Forest Coalition)

WV officials expected to let coal company evade water-pollution cleanup

Watchdog groups said the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection seems poised to allow coal company Keystone West Virginia to walk away f…

As of January, the Aldo Leopold House became the first cabin rental on National Forest land in New Mexico. (fsusda.gov)

NM conservationists celebrate Aldo Leopold amid cuts to Forest Service

Amid U.S. Forest Service firings and layoffs by the Trump administration, conservationists are honoring a former employee this week considered by …

The Texas House of Representatives has passed a bill to require all Texas prisons to have air conditioning by 2029 but the prison system only has to comply if the state provides the funding. (pict rider/Adobe Stock)

Faith leaders call out inhumane heat conditions in TX prisons

Only 30% of prisons in Texas have central air conditioning and faith leaders and advocates for those incarcerated are raising concerns about inhumane …

There are currently 23 oil and gas facilities in federal waters off the coast of California, including one near Santa Barbara. (Oceana)

Conservation groups sue feds to protect coast from offshore drilling

A coalition of environmental groups is suing the Trump administration to reinstate protections against new offshore drilling. President Donald Trump …

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