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Page Updated:
Feb. 25, 2026

• • House Select Committee
  on the Climate Crisis

  Climate Change: The Science
  is In -We Know the Cause

  The U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis is charged with delivering ambitious climate policy recommendations to Congress, in order to achieve substantial and permanent reductions in pollution and other activities that contribute to the climate crisis.

  The select committee was authorized by House Resolution 6 on January 9, 2019, and will publish a set of public policy recommendations for congressional climate action by March 31, 2020.

  Its members include experts in environmental justice, coastal flooding, clean energy development and other issues that are vital for addressing the climate crisis.

  Click now for their website.

• • Memorable Presidential
  Environmental Quotes

  Six Memorable Presidential
  Environmental Quotes

  Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson and Barack Obama had something to say

  Some didn't always follow up on those quotes.

  Click now to read the article
  From the Earth Matters News.
• • Political Scorecard

  How Did Congress Do in 2022

  Mar. 6, 2023, (League pf Conservation Voters) -The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) provides maps showing how both the Senate and House voted on environmental issues (LCV)

  It's not quite time to celebrate.

• • Senator Mocked ‘Green Energy Crap.’ His House Runs On It

  Montana Republican Tim Sheehy Voted to Scrap Solar Tax Credits After Installing Panels and Battery Storage at His Bozeman Home
  
  {E&E NEWS}
  
  

  Feb. 23, 2026 -While running for Senate, former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy criticized “goofy, subsidized green energy crap” and said after taking office last year that military “readiness doesn’t include green solar power generation projects.”

  The Montana Republican installed rooftop solar and battery storage systems at his Bozeman home several years ago, according to property records, satellite imagery and two local renewable energy industry officials who were granted anonymity to preserve commercial relationships.

• • Blue States Tee Up Fight Over Water Permitting Rule

  Democratic Attorneys General Signaled They Will Sue If the Trump Administration Moves Forward With Plans to Limit State Oversight of Water Pollution
  
  {E&E NEWS}
  
  

  Feb. 19, 2026 -Democratic states are preparing to challenge a Trump administration plan that would limit their oversight of water pollution from major energy projects.

  The administration’s proposal to prevent states from blocking or imposing environmental conditions on pipelines, dams and other infrastructure violates the Clean Water Act and runs afoul of Supreme Court precedent, attorneys general from 16 blue states and Washington said Tuesday.

• • As Trump Obliterates Climate Efforts, States Try to Fill the Gap

  Across the Country, Democratic-Led States Are Accelerating Their Initiatives to Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions

  
  

  Feb. 18, 2026 -In Colorado, historically a hub of coal mining, legislators are planning to give drivers a $2,000 discount on new electric vehicles, more than double the current amount offered by the state.

  In Virginia, where data centers are driving a record surge in electricity demand, lawmakers want to make it easier for counties to approve sprawling solar farms.

• • US Pressures Global Energy Body to Drop Net Zero Modeling

  Trump’s Energy Chief Chris Wright Told Other Ministers in Paris That a Net Zero World Was Fantasy
  
  {POLITICO}
  
  

  Feb. 18, 2026 -The United States is calling on the world's most influential energy organization to abandon net zero emissions scenario modeling that has informed much of the global green transition, arguing the targets are unrealistic.

  U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright made the call to other energy ministers at a closed-door ministerial meeting of the International Energy Agency in Paris on Wednesday, two people who were part of the discussions told POLITICO.

• • Potomac Sewage Spill Becomes Ecological Disaster and Political Fight

  A D.C. Utility Had Been Working For Weeks to Repair a Collapsed Sewer Line When Trump Blamed Maryland’s Governor For the Contamination on Monday

  
  

  Feb. 17, 2026 -An enormous sewage spill that sent hundreds of millions of gallons of raw human waste into the Potomac River is threatening the health of the river and the safety of those who use it.

  In what appears to be the largest discharge of its kind in the nation’s history, untreated sewage began gushing into the Potomac on Jan. 19, when a section of a sewer line collapsed near the Clara Barton Parkway in Montgomery County, Md., about five miles upstream of Washington. The 72-inch-wide pipe, called the Potomac Interceptor, normally carries up to 60 million gallons of waste a day.

  After conducting 11,376 individual tests on 79 of the world’s top-selling dog foods, researchers found that our furry companions are being exposed to “dangerous levels” of heavy metals, plasticizers, and carcinogens — with dry kibble being the primary offender.

• • Iowa’s Water Crisis Could Help Tip the Scales for Control of US House

  85 Percent of Iowans in “Toss-Up” Congressional Districts Would Be More Likely to Vote For a Candidate Who Prioritizes Clean Water and Cuts to Industrial Agriculture Pollution

  
  

  Feb. 17, 2026 -Two key congressional races will be decided by Iowa voters who say clean water is a top priority, a new survey finds.

  Eighty-five percent of voters in Iowa’s first and third U.S. House districts say they would be more likely to vote for an elected official who prioritizes protecting clean water, including cutting industrial agriculture pollution. Global Strategy Group conducted the poll on behalf of Food & Water Action, the political and lobbying arm of environmental watchdog organization Food & Water Watch.

• • Climate Change Is Erased From a Manual for Federal Judges

  After Republican Criticism, a Group That Offers Professional Resources to Judges Withdrew a Climate Science Chapter From Its Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence

  
  

  Feb. 10, 2026 -In a new attack on the science of climate change, a federal agency has stripped a chapter on global warming from a manual written to help judges understand important scientific questions they may face in their courtrooms.

  The chapter was deleted after a group of Republican state attorneys general complained about it to the Federal Judicial Center, a government agency that provides resources to judges. In recent years, judges in the United States have had to contend with a widening array of cases related to climate change, putting jurists in the position of having to understand the complexities of the science and research behind its causes and effects.

• • The E.P.A. Is Barreling Toward
  a Supreme Court Climate Showdown

  The Agency is Racing to Repeal a Scientific Finding That Requires It to Fight Global Warming

  
  

  Feb. 10, 2026 -It is often said in Washington that Donald Trump’s advisers, cabinet members and allies are playing to an audience of one: the president.

  But Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, appears to be playing to an audience of six: the conservative justices on the Supreme Court.

  On Thursday, Mr. Zeldin will move to repeal a scientific determination that requires the federal government to combat climate change.

• • Poll Shows Democrats Hold Edge Over Trump in Energy Cost Battle

  Energy Affordability is Expected to Play a Role in This Year's Midterms
  
  {E&E NEWS}
  
  

  Feb. 9, 2026 -Slightly more Americans think Democrats, not Republicans, are the party most committed to reducing energy prices, a new POLITICO poll has found — yet another sign of potential trouble for President Donald Trump and the GOP on the issue of affordability.

  Thirty-seven percent of U.S. adults believe Democrats care more about protecting them from spiking natural gas, heating and utility bills, compared with 25 percent who believe Republicans do, according to the poll of 2,093 people conducted by Public First on behalf of POLITICO.

• • Trump Allies Near ‘Total Victory’
  in Wiping Out U.S. Climate Regulation

  Their Efforts Seem Poised to Pay Off

  
  

  Feb. 9, 2026 -In the summer of 2022, Democrats in Congress were racing to pass the biggest climate law in the country’s history and President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was declaring that global warming posed a “clear and present danger” to the United States.

  But behind the scenes, four Trump administration veterans were plotting to obliterate federal climate efforts once Republicans regained control in Washington, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times and interviews with more than a dozen people familiar with the matter.

• • Climate Science Removed From Judicial
  Manual After GOP Complaints

  Republican Attorneys General Argued the New Chapter Would Put Judges “Firmly On One Side” of Climate Lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry
  
  {CLIMATEWIRE}
  
  

  Feb. 9, 2026 - The climate science section of a new judicial reference manual has been scrapped after a group of Republican attorneys general complained it was biased against the fossil fuel industry.

• • Republican Working On New Clean Energy Tax Push

  The Legislation Seeks to Revive Incentives Gutted Last Year in the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act
  
  {E&E News}
  
  

  Feb 5, 2026 -One of only two House Republicans to vote against last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act is looking to restart the clean energy tax credit fight.

  Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania is preparing to introduce legislation that would reinstate solar and wind incentives that Republicans last year eviscerated, an action he maintains was “nonsensical.”

  “If you want to lower energy costs, you got to utilize every single source you have,” he said in an interview with POLITICO’s E&E News.

• • Fate of Colorado River Hangs In Balance As Political Battle Brews

  An Unprecedented Meeting of Governors Over the Issue Raises the Political Stakes

  
  

  Jan. 30, 2026 -For a life-sustaining natural resource relied on by tens of millions of people and fought over by seven states and two countries, the fate of the Colorado River often flies under the national political radar.

  The struggle over how to share the dwindling river has mostly been hashed out in the insular world of water managers, experienced technocrats who often keep their jobs as governors come and go. Alliances among Colorado River Basin states cross partisan lines. And even though the federal government controls the flow from reservoirs, the White House generally stays out of the fray.

• • America Officially Leaves the Paris Climate Agreement

  For the Second Time

  
  

  Jan. 27, 2026 -As of Tuesday, the United States is no longer a party to the Paris agreement on climate change, becoming the only country in the world to abandon the international commitment to slow global warming.

  The formal departure from the climate accord comes one year after President Trump signed an executive order to begin the process of withdrawal. Earlier this month Mr. Trump said the United States would also leave the United Nations treaty that underlies the Paris agreement, which was unanimously ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1992 and signed by President George H.W. Bush.

• • Sheldon Whitehouse Takes On
  ‘Climate Hushers’ in the Democratic Party

  The Rhode Island Democrat Isn’t Happy With Colleagues Moving Away From Talking About Climate Change
  
  {E&E NEWS}
  
  

  Jan 23, 2026 -One of Congress’ loudest climate hawks is trying to fend off a push within his party to abandon the issue of climate change at a time when left-leaning agenda-setters plot to reclaim both chambers of Congress.

  In a long social media thread Tuesday, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) declared that anyone who thinks Democrats should avoid talking about climate change “are wrong about pretty much everything.”

  The posts are part of the debate within the Democratic Party about the best messaging ahead of the midterm elections, and as leaders grapple with their 2024 loss to Donald Trump.

• • Energy Dept. Is Canceling $30 Billion in Clean Energy Loans

  The Announcement Underscored the Drastic Change in the Energy Landscape Under Trump

  
  

  Jan. 22, 2026 - The Energy Department said on Thursday that it was in the process of revising or canceling more than $83 billion in loans for clean energy technologies that had been approved under the Biden administration.

  The announcement came from the agency’s loan programs office, which played a central role in the Biden administration’s efforts to develop new technologies to fight climate change. Under President Joseph R. Biden Jr., that office finalized or issued conditional commitments for roughly $104 billion in lending for battery factories, transmission lines, hydrogen plants and many other projects.

• • Trump’s E.P.A. Has Put a Value on Human Life

  Zero Dollars

  
  

  Jan. 21, 2026 -Government officials have long grappled with a question that seems like the purview of philosophers: What is the value of a human life?

  Under both Democratic and Republican administrations, the answer has been in the millions of dollars. The higher the value, the more the government has required businesses to spend on their operations to prevent a single death.

  But for the first time ever, at the Environmental Protection Agency the answer is effectively zero dollars.

• • Sherrill Keeps Her Promise to Take
  Action Against N.J.’s Soaring Electric Rates

  Minutes After Inauguration, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill Froze Utility Rates and Declared an Energy State of Emergency
  
  {energy central}
  
  

  Jan. 21, 2026 -Fulfilling her central campaign pledge, the new governor pledged to freeze rate hikes and signed an executive order granting the BPU the authority to pause new utility rate increase requests. A second order declared a statewide energy emergency, mandating rapid solicitation of new solar and storage projects.

  Yes, but: Experts warn a blanket freeze may face legal hurdles, since the state can’t control PJM capacity auction prices—which account for a significant portion of what New Jersey pays for power.

• • Trump Erased the Senate’s 1992 Vote On a Climate Treaty

  Can He Do That?
  
  {E&E NEWS}
  
  

  Jan. 20, 2026 -A legal debate is swirling about President Donald Trump’s intention to withdraw the U.S. from the world’s oldest climate treaty.

  At its center are questions about whether it’s legal for a president to unilaterally leave a treaty approved by the Senate — and if a future president could reenter it without the Senate voting again.

  The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change serves as the foundation for international efforts to address global warming and is the precursor to the 2015 Paris Agreement. Participation in Paris depends on being a signatory to the convention.

• • UK Urged to Ratify High Seas Treaty to
  Avoid Being Shut Out of Ocean Cop Summit

  As International Treaty Comes Into Force, Bill to Make It Law in Britain Movies At ‘Glacial Pace’ Through Parliament

  
  

  Jan. 17, 2026 -The UK risks being shut out of a historic oceans summit because parliament has failed to ratify the UN’s high seas treaty, environmental charities and campaigners have warned.

  The high seas treaty, formally known as the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, comes into force on Saturday, after two decades of talks.

• • Climate Insiders Want to Stop Talking About ‘Climate Change’

  They Still Want to Decarbonize, But They’re Over the Jargon
  
  {HEATMAP}
  
  

  Jan. 14, 2026 -Where does the fight to decarbonize the global economy go from here? The past 12 months, after all, have been bleak. Donald Trump has pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement (again) and is trying to leave a precursor United Nations climate treaty, as well.

  He ripped out half the Inflation Reduction Act, sidetracked the Environmental Protection Administration, and rechristened the Energy Department’s in-house bank in the name of “energy dominance.” Even nonpartisan weather research — like that conducted by the National Center for Atmospheric Research — is getting shut down by Trump’s ideologues. And in the days before we went to press, Trump invaded Venezuela with the explicit goal (he claims) of taking its oil.

• • E.P.A. Moves to Limit States’ Ability to Block Pipelines

  The Agency Wants to Curtail a Section of the Clean Water Act That Democratic Governors Have Used to Restrict Fossil Fuel Development
  
  
  

  Jan. 13, 2026 -The Trump administration on Tuesday moved to limit the ability of states to block the construction of oil and gas pipelines, coal export terminals and other energy projects that could pollute local waterways.

  The proposed rule from the Environmental Protection Agency would curtail a section of the Clean Water Act that states have used for decades to restrict fossil fuel development. It is expected to set up a legal battle with Democratic state officials across the country.

• • Trump Dents Budget of Abu Dhabi-Based Renewable Energy Agency

  They Know Perovskite Solar Cells Are Coming
  
  {SEMAFOR}
  
  

  Jan. 12, 2026 -The Trump administration has weakened the budget of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) after falling behind on payments totaling $10 million, according to a person familiar with the matter.

  The Abu Dhabi-based group joins dozens of other agencies hobbled by the US’ broader retreat from global causes: IRENA is one of 66 international organizations, many of them linked to climate action, that the Trump administration said at the start of the year it would withdraw from.

• • Pritzker Signs Major Energy Reform Bill Amid Projected Shortages

  Illinois Enacted Sweeping Energy Reforms to Avert Shortages and Counter President Trump’s Policies
  
  {energy central}
  
  

  Jan. 11, 2026 -The Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act lifts the state’s longstanding moratorium on new large-scale nuclear plants, incentivizes battery storage, and establishes VPPs to pool residential energy.

  Gov. JB Pritzker framed the law as a necessary shield against the Trump administration, arguing that Illinois must forge its own path to reliability after state regulators warned of impending energy shortfalls last month.

• • Congress to Vote On Upholding 20-
  Year Mining Ban Near Boundary Waters

  If Congress Rescinds the Ban, It Would Open the Door to Restoring Mining Leases Belonging to Twin Metals Minnesota
  
  {ENVIRONMENT AMERICA}
  
  

  Jan. 9, 2026 -A resolution planned for introduction in Congress on Friday will force legislators to go on the record within 60 days about whether or not they will protect the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Northern Minnesota from devastating mining operations. Federal lawmakers can either vote to uphold a 20-year mining ban in an area just outside the protected wilderness — or opt to overturn that rule and bar similar policies in the future.

  “The Boundary Waters is the nation’s most visited wilderness area. About 150,000 people from around the world visit it each year to navigate its waters and they want to see bears, beavers, lynx, moose and many more of Minnesota’s most beloved species,” said Katelynn Rolfes, conservation advocate for Environment Minnesota.

• • White House Completes Plan to Curb Bedrock Environmental Law

  The Trump Administration Has Finalized a Plan to Gut the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
  
  {energy central}
  
  

  Jan. 8, 2026 -The White House Council on Environmental Quality rescinded key regulations for the 56-year-old bedrock law, with chair Katherine Scarlett declaring that “NEPA’s regulatory reign of terror has ended” and promising to eliminate the “needless layering of bureaucratic burden” that delays energy projects.

  The executive action lands just as Congress debates federal permitting overhaul, but the move likely torches any remaining bipartisan goodwill. Democrats argue the administration is using “reform” as a cover to silence public input and limit judicial review.

• • The Data Center Rebellion is Here,
  and It’s Reshaping the Political Landscape

  As the Buildout of AI Infrastructure Alarms Communities, It is Fast Emerging as a Potent Electoral Issue Across the Political Divide
  
  
  

  Jan. 6, 2026 One float stood out among the tinsel and holiday cheer at the annual Christmas parade here: an unsightly data center with blinding industrial lights and smoke pouring out of its roof, towering menacingly over a helpless gingerbread house.

  This city bordering Tulsa is a battleground, one of many across the country where companies seeking to build massive data centers to win the AI race with China are coming up against the reality of local politics.

• • From ‘Global Cooling’ to ‘Beautiful Coal’:
  Trump’s Startling Climate Claims of 2025

  Trump Ratcheted Up His Questionable Claims About the Environment and How to deal, If At All, With the Threats to It
  
  
  

  Dec. 29, 2025 -In the past decade at the forefront of US politics, Donald Trump has unleashed a barrage of unusual, misleading or dubious assertions about the climate crisis, which he most famously called a “hoax”.

  This year has seen Trump ratchet up his often questionable claims about the environment and how to deal, if at all, with the threats to it. In a year littered with untruths and wild declarations, these are the five that stood out as the most startling.

• • Democratic Governors Are Fighting Trump’s War on Wind Energy

  Leaders in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island are Racing to Save Offshore Wind Farms Targeted By Trump
  
  
  

  Dec. 23, 2025 -Less than 24 hours after President Trump dealt a catastrophic blow to five major offshore wind farms on Monday, the Democratic governors of several Northeastern states began plotting a strategy to save them.

  In a hastily arranged conference call on Tuesday morning, the governors started to craft a two-pronged plan. They discussed suing the Trump administration over its pause on leases for the five wind farms under construction off the East Coast, while simultaneously negotiating with the White House on a possible deal to let the projects proceed.

• • As the Whitmer Administration Enters Its Final
  Year, Environmental Advocates Lament Wasted Opportunities

  Now, Tax Incentives the Governor Granted Data Centers Stand to Trigger “Off Ramps” to More Fossil Fuel Use
  
  
  

  Dec. 22, 2025 -In late 2023, an unlikely state in the country’s industrial heartland passed nation-leading climate laws—Michigan. The “bold” and “ambitious” plan drew praise for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a potential Democratic 2028 presidential candidate.

  But the laws, which require Michigan to generate all of its electricity from carbon-free sources by 2040, are likely going to be derailed.

• • In Murphy’s Final Weeks, NJ Climate Advocates
  Race to Lock in 100 Percent Clean Power

  A Bill Would Harden the State’s 2035 Clean-Electricity Goal Into Statute, Tighten Pollution Rules For Power Plants and More
  
  
  

  Dec. 20, 2025 -In the final weeks of Gov. Phil Murphy’s tenure, New Jersey climate advocates are trying to do something governors rarely manage on their way out the door: bind their successors to an ambitious climate promise.

  A sweeping measure, known as the New Jersey Clean Energy Act of 2024, would write into law Murphy’s goal of running the state on 100 percent clean electricity by 2035, a target he first set by executive order in 2023.

• • Georgia’s Lame-Duck Utility Commission
  OKs Massive, Pricey Gas Buildout

  In a Final Act Before Leaving Office, Georgia Regulators Have Authorized a Massive $16.3B Fossil Fuel Expansion, Gambling That a Forecasted AI Boom Will Pay For It
  
  {energy central}
  
  

  Dec. 18, 2025 -In a unanimous decision, the state’s five Republican commissioners—two of whom were just voted out of office—approved Georgia Power’s plan to build nearly 10 GW of new gas plants and batteries. The “lame-duck” vote preempts the arrival of incoming Democratic commissioners who ran on lowering utility bills.

  The utility argues the massive buildout is needed to serve skyrocketing data center demand. But critics (and even the commission’s own staff) warned that only a fraction of this demand is contractually guaranteed.

• • SPEED Act Passes in House Despite
  Changes That Threaten Clean Power Projects

  The Bill’s Measures Would Significantly Curtail the Scope and Timelines For the Federal Environmental Review Process
  
  
  

  Dec. 18, 2025 -The House of Representatives cleared the way for a massive overhaul of the federal environmental review process on Thursday, despite last-minute changes that led clean energy groups and moderate Democrats to pull their support.

  The Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act, or SPEED Act, overcame opposition from environmentalists and many Democrats who oppose the bill’s sweeping changes to a bedrock environmental law.

• • House Permitting Vote At Risk Over Offshore Wind Backlash

  A Small Group of Republicans Is Threatening to Block a Bill to Fast-Track Energy and Infrastructure Permitting
  
  {energy central}
  
  

  Dec. 16, 2025 -Reps. Andy Harris (R-MD), Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), and other offshore wind opponents say they’ll vote against the procedural rule needed to bring the SPEED Act to the House floor, arguing the bill would make it harder for President Trump to revoke project permits.

  House leaders agreed to allow floor votes on amendments targeting offshore wind and permit revocation, but opponents expect those to fail and are instead trying to stop the bill outright.

• • The Oilman Who Pushed Trump to Go All In on Fossil Fuels

  Harold Hamm, an Oklahoma Oil Tycoon, Has Played a Central Role In Reshaping Energy Policy By Allying Himself With President Trump
  
  
  

  Dec. 12, 2025 -The executives dining at the White House to celebrate President Trump’s $300 million ballroom — and their role in financing it — were a who’s who of American industry. Many hailed from companies that are household names, like Microsoft, OpenAI and Comcast.

  Seated among them was Harold G. Hamm, the 13th child of Oklahoma sharecroppers and founder of an oil company, Continental Resources, that is little known outside of energy circles.

• • House Permitting Bill Would Block Trump From Pulling Permits

  A House Committee Just Advanced a Permitting Deal With a Surprising Twist
  
  {energy central}
  
  

  Nov. 23, 2025 -While Dems want this clause in the SPEED Act to protect offshore wind from the Trump administration, the oil and gas lobby is quietly backing it out of fears a future progressive President could weaponize the same permit-stripping tools against fossil fuel projects in 2029.

  Still, most Dems voted “no.” Their grievance? The bill doesn't solve the current bottleneck: Interior Sec. Doug Burgum’s alleged tactic of requiring personal sign-off on minor bureaucratic steps, which can stall projects indefinitely without technically “revoking” anything.

• • GOP Governor Criticizes Trump’s Efforts
  to Block Wind Energy: ‘Disappointing’

  Stitt Also Criticized the Obama and Biden Administrations For Killing the Keystone XL Pipeline
  
  {SEMAFOR}
  
  

  Dec. 9, 2025 -Oklahoma’s Republican governor, Kevin Stitt, criticized the Trump administration for its handling of wind energy projects during a Semafor event focused on permitting reform.

  “It’s very disappointing,” Stitt told Semafor’s Ben Smith when asked about the administration’s efforts to kill wind projects, like a nearly-finished project in Rhode Island and Connecticut. “That just looks like politics when you’re canceling those.”

• • Trump Faces Rare Rift With Florida
  Republicans Over Offshore Drilling Plan

  Florida Republicans Are Fuming as the Trump Administration Proposes to Open Up New Drilling In the Eastern Gulf of Mexico
  
  {THE HILL}
  
  

  Nov. 13, 2025 - “The new maps released today by @SecretaryBurgum and @Interior outlining potential new offshore oil drilling sites in the Gulf of America are HIGHLY concerning—and we will be engaging directly with the department on this issue,” Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) wrote in a post on the social platform X.

  “Preserving our state’s natural beauty is deeply important to the millions who call the Sunshine State home, our visitors, and those whose livelihoods depend on tourism,” Moody wrote.

• • Groups Sue to Reverse Trump’s Cuts
  to Energy Projects in Democratic States

  A Coalition of Renewable Energy Groups and the City of St. Paul Filed Suit Alleging the White House Illegally Cut $7.5B in Clean Energy Funds For Democrat-Led States During the Federal Shutdown
  
  {energy central}
  
  

  Nov. 11, 2025 -The lawsuit names budget director Russell Vought and argues the administration’s actions were “intentional discrimination” designed to punish blue states that opposed President Trump, violating the 5th Amendment equal protection clause.

  The cuts reportedly wiped out 321 grants across 16 states, and the plaintiffs warn the funding is unlikely to be restored even after the shutdown ends.

• • 5,500 Toxic Sites in the U.S. at Risk of Flooding as Seas Rise

  Rising Sea Levels Have Put Thousands of Facilities Containing Hazardous Materials At Risk of Flooding This Century
  
  {EOS}
  
  

  Nov. 14, 2025 - Global sea level rise is accelerating, leading to an increase in coastal flooding that scientists expect to worsen. As seas rise, floodwater reaches infrastructure that was not built to withstand it.

  These extreme events can release toxins into the environment. For example, an estimated 10 million pounds of pollutants from refineries, petrochemical facilities, and manufacturing sites spilled into the environment following flooding from Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

• • Meet the Republicans Who Killed Solar Subsidies — After Using Them

  Several GOP Lawmakers Who Voted to Kill the Federal Solar Tax Credit Had Already Used It to Subsidize Their Own Homes
  
  {energycentral}
  
  

  Nov. 12, 2025 -At least three Republicans—Ken Calvert (CA), John Curtis (UT), and Thomas Massie (KY)—personally benefited from the 30% tax credit before supporting legislation to end it under President Trump’s sweeping “Big Beautiful Bill.”

  Republicans defend the repeal as fiscal discipline, arguing the credit “was never meant to be permanent,” even as data shows rooftop solar adoption—now on 7% of US homes—could drop 17% over the next decade without it.

• • The Politics Soaking an Underwater Pipeline Approval

  New York Just Greenlit a Controversial Underwater Gas Pipeline, and the Political Fallout is Already Surfacing
  
  {energy central}
  
  

  Nov. 10, 2025 -Last Friday, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration granted permits for Williams Companies’ Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) project, linking Pennsylvania gas to New York. The 2017 proposal, long stalled by opposition, also won the nod from New Jersey regulators the same day.

  The politics: Hochul defended the move as a practical step to avoid downstate energy shortages next summer, calling it part of an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy. Environmental groups and progressive Dems accused her of betraying state climate goals, while GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik called her a “hypocrite.”

• • A Flood of Green Tech From China Is Upending Global Climate Politics

  Emerging Countries Are Embracing Renewable Energy Thanks to a Glut of Cheap Equipment
  
  
  

  Nov. 10, 2025 -As the United States torpedoes climate action and Europe struggles to realize its green ambitions, a surprising shift is taking hold in many large, fast-growing economies where a majority of the world’s people live.

  Countries like Brazil, India, and Vietnam are rapidly expanding solar and wind power. Poorer countries like Ethiopia and Nepal are leapfrogging over gasoline-burning cars to battery-powered ones. Nigeria, a petrostate, plans to build its first solar-panel manufacturing plant. Morocco is creating a battery hub to supply European automakers. Santiago, the capital of Chile, has electrified more than half of its bus fleet in recent years.

• • Climate: The Big Issue Democrats Have Stopped Talking About

  An Analysis of Lawmakers’ Appearances and Social Media Posts Show They Are Going Quiet On Climate
  
  
  

  Nov. 10, 2024 -A few years ago, climate change was everywhere. Democrats, buoyed by the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, talked constantly about the transition to clean energy and the threat of rising extreme weather events. In 2022, over 1,000 companies across the globe reported science-based climate targets — more than in the previous seven years combined. The world was still heady with energy from the landmark Paris agreement; countries were passing hundreds of climate laws every year amid a wave of climate marches and activism.

  Now, all that has changed. Since the beginning of 2025, according to data analyzed by The Washington Post, Democrats have pulled back from talking about climate change.

• • Despite Headwinds, One Climate Group
  Sees Opportunity Ahead for Clean Power

  Giving Green Describes How Advances in So-Called “Clean Firm Power” Technologies and Action On Permitting Reform Can Keep the U.S. On a Forward Path
  
  
  

  Nov. 8, 2024 -Given the recent plight of America’s renewable energy industry, one could be forgiven for viewing its near future with pessimism.

  Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has launched an all-out assault against two of the most prominent sources of clean energy—wind and solar.

  Trump has lambasted the technologies as the “scam of the century” while providing what critics describe as giveaways to the fossil fuel industry, increasing lease sales for drilling and mandating that millions of acres of federal lands be made available for mining.

• • Trump Administration Moves to Loosen
  Restrictions It Once Supported On a Harmful Pollutant

  The Shift In Approach Has Upended a Broad Bipartisan Consensus On the Need to Quickly Phase Out Domestic Use of Hydrofluorocarbons, Or HFCs
  
  
  

  Nov. 7, 2025 -Near the end of his first term, President Donald Trump signed into law a bill that aimed to reduce harmful, planet-warming pollutants emitted by refrigerators and air conditioners. The bipartisan measure brought environmentalists and major business groups into rare alignment on the contentious issue of climate change and won praise across the political spectrum.

  Five years later, the second Trump administration is reversing course, as it moves to loosen a federal rule — based on the 2020 law — that requires grocery stores, air-conditioning companies and others to reduce powerful greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment.

• • NYC Mayor-Elect Mamdani to Face
  Pressing Climate, Environment Issues

  Zohran Mamdani Will Need to Enforce the City’s Building Decarbonization Law, Enact His Green School Policy and More
  
  
  

  Nov. 5, 2025 -It was 10 p.m. on election night. Twenty minutes prior, most news organizations had called the New York City mayoral race for state assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, a previously obscure politician who rose to power through an unrelenting campaign for affordability.

  In a long line to enter Mamdani’s election night party at the Brooklyn Paramount, Naftali, 31, who declined to give his last name, was in good spirits.

• • Challenge: Raising Trillions to Fight Climate Change

  With or Without the U.S. Presidential Cooperation
  
  

  Nov. 12, 2024 - Getting big cash commitments would be hard enough without wars, a pandemic and inflation having drained the reserves of rich countries that are expected to help poorer ones cope with climate hazards.

  It just got even harder. The election of Trump as president of the U.S. all but guarantees that the world’s richest country will not chip in.

• • Climate Hawks 2020 Endorsements

  What It Takes to Be Endorsed

  (CLIMATEHAWKS), -What we consider in issuing endorsements: First and foremost, a candidate’s public statements regarding climate change. Do you mention specific climate change action in your stump speech? Did you show up at a People’s Climate March? Do you have a thoughtful statement on your website? We also look at viability, although we will back longshots when we find a compelling reason to do so.

  We do not endorse mediocre Democrats, no matter how vehemently a Republican opponent may deny climate science. We only endorse when we are convinced that the candidate will commit to strong climate action in Congress.

  We like primaries. And in 2018 we won 6 out of 8 primaries in which we endorsed — a better track record than any of the larger groups whose endorsement records were compiled by FiveThirtyEight.

  Climate Hawks Vote does not accept contributions from fossil-fuel corporations, executives, or lobbyists. We are a federal Super PAC, which means that we are an independent expenditure committee and can’t endorse in state/local races. We do network with others on the lookout for climate hawks who can think globally and lead locally.

• • Conservatives and Liberals Want
  a Green Energy Future - But..

  They Want it For Different Reasons

  May 5, 2020,(The Conversation)-Political divisions are a growing fixture in the United States today, whether the topic is marriage across party lines, responding to climate change or concern about coronavirus exposure. Especially in a presidential election year, the vast divide between conservatives and liberals often feels nearly impossible to bridge.

  Our research examines what people know about the energy sources in use today in the United States, and what types of energy they would like to see the nation using in 2050. Energy connects to many important issues, including climate change, jobs and economic growth, equity and social justice, and international relations. It would be easy to assume that America’s energy future is a highly polarized topic, especially when the Trump administration is clashing with many states led by Democrats over energy policies.

  Click now to learn what the 'BUT' means.

• • Trump's Early Environmental Rollbacks

  23 Environmental Rules Rolled
  Back in Trump’s First 100 Days

  May 2, 2017 (NY Times Climate Forward) - President Trump, with help from his administration and Republicans in Congress, has reversed course on nearly two dozen environmental rules, regulations and other Obama-era policies during his first 100 days in office.

  Citing federal overreach and burdensome regulations, Mr. Trump has prioritized domestic fossil fuel interests and undone measures aimed at protecting the environment and limiting global warming.

• • The Climate President Action Plan

  10 Climate Actions
  the Next President
  Can Take Without Congress

  Dec. 23, 2019 (ClimatePresident.org)-The United States faces an indisputable climate emergency. The solution to the crisis is also inarguable: We must transform our extractive economy to a regenerative and inclusive one.

  The actions called for in this Presidential action plan can be implemented by the President acting alone without any Congressional action. These ten actions form the necessary foundation for the country's true transformation to a safer, healthier, and more equitable world for everyone.

• • Why Not a Green Marshall Plan?

  Elizabeth Warren Has
  Added a Green Marshall
  Plan to Her List of Proposals

  June 4, 2019  ( Mother Jones)- Elizabeth Warren has ascended in recent Democratic presidential polls atop a growing stack of audacious proposals to wipe out student debt, break up giant companies like Amazon and Facebook , and slap new taxes on the ultra-rich.

  Yet the senator from Massachusetts is taking a different approach to the climate crisis, weaving a patchwork that will likely amount to Warren’s answer to the Green New Deal.

• • Who Are the Climate Mayors?

  We Are Climate Mayors

  Climate Mayors, founfed in 2014, is a bi-partisan, peer-to-peer network of U.S. mayors working together to demonstrate leadership on Climate Chane through meaningful actions in their communities, and to express and build political will for effective federal and global policy action.

  The Climate Mayors coalition has emerged as a key voice anddemonstration of the ongoing commitment of U.S. cities to accelerate climate progress.

• • Congress Should Be
  Supporting Clean Energy Incentives

  Tell Congress to Support
  Clean Energy Incentives

  July, 2019  (Environment Florida)) -

  By going big on renewable energy, we can stop polluting our communities and planet with dirty energy sources and make real strides in tackling the climate crisis. Tell your representatives to expand their support for clean energy incentives.

  
  Click now to sign on.
• • Jay Inslee’s Campaign Pledge: No Fossil Fuel Money

  Jay Inslee’s Pledge to
  Reject Fossil Fuel Money

  Mar. 1, 2019 (Huffington Post)) -Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed a pledge Tuesday promising to reject donations from the fossil fuel industry ahead of a likely run for the White House that he’s vowed to uniquely center on climate change.

  In an interview with HuffPost, Inslee, 67, said he added his name to the list of more than 1,300 politicians across the United States who took the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge.

  Almost every Democratic candidate running in 2020 has signed the pledge.

  Click now to read more.

• • The Green New Deal Explained

  What Is the Green New Deal?
  A Climate Proposal, Explained

  NY Times Climate Forward, Feb. 21, 2019  - The Green New Deal is a congressional resolution that lays out a grand plan for tackling climate change.

  Introduced by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, both Democrats, the proposal calls on the federal government to wean the United States from fossil fuels and curb planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions across the economy. It also aims to guarantee new high-paying jobs in clean energy industries.

  Interested? Click now for whole story.

• • Burn It or Eat It (Trump’s Choices)

  Food Vs. Fuel: What Trump's Ethanol
  Policy Means For the Food System

  Oct. 25, 2018 (Forbes) -The Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward with President Trump’s directive to lift a federal ban on high ethanol blended gas during the summer months, though not quickly enough for Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who Reuters reports is urging the EPA to lift the ban on a much quicker timeline. Lifting the ban is a policy shift that’s being celebrated by large-scale corn growers and decried by biofuel opponents. But the policy has implications for the food system too, as many food system reformers say the last thing U.S. farmers should be growing is more corn.

  Corn is a complicated crop. It’s highly efficient, nutrient-packed and yet, on the other hand, the U.S. probably grows too much of it. Corn has earned its fair share of criticism — it’s starchy, grown industrially and ubiquitous in ultra-processed food — but this leading cereal crop has also more than earned its place as an agricultural success story.

  Click now to stay on top of the situation.

• • How the Border Wall Affect Wildlife Near the Border

  ‘This Is Not Like a Fence in a Backyard’
  — Trump’s Border Wall vs. Wildlife

  The Revelator Podcasts, Apr. 11, 2019 - As was discussed recently on the Sciencentric podcast, the wall’s true impact becomes more evident when you envision all of the things that accompany it: Roads, vehicles, lights, and acres upon acres of cleared habitat. That’s bad news for jaguars, bears, birds, bees and hundreds, if not thousands, of other species.

  Check out the video interview, where host Eric R. Olson and John Platt also discuss The Revelator, my work on “Extinction Countdown,” and what technologies might work instead of a wall.

  
  Click now to watch the interview.
• • Trump Wants to Tell the Polar Bears Where to Get Off

  Help Protect the Arctic Refuge
  Before It’s Too Late!

  NRDC -The Trump administration is closer than ever to tearing open the heart of Alaska’s pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for dangerous oil and gas drilling — and if they succeed, it will have devastating, irreversible consequences for our waters, wildlife, climate, and the region’s Gwich’in people.

  NRDC is fighting back in and out of the courtroom in an unprecedented battle to protect the Arctic Refuge and its fragile Arctic coastline.

• • Trump is Not the 1st to Assault Env. Protection

  History of US Presidential Assaults
  on Environmental Health Protection

  Apr. 26, 2018 American Public Health Association - The Trump administration has undertaken an assault on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an agency critical to environmental health. This assault has precedents in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

  The early Reagan administration (1981–1983) launched an overt attack on the EPA, combining deregulation with budget and staff cuts, whereas the George W. Bush administration (2001–2008) adopted a subtler approach, undermining science-based policy.

  Wait, there’s more…

• • Some Republicans Support Carbon Fee/Dividend

  Exceeding Paris

  Contain Forewords by: Ted Halstead, George P. Schultz, Lawrence Summers, Rob Walton, Christine Todd Whitman and Janet Yellen.

  The Baker-Shultz plan would achieve approximately 32% in greenhouse gas reductions by 2025, thereby exceeding our Paris commitment by a wide margin

  The Baker-Shultz Carbon Dividends Plan is not only the most environmentally ambitious plan, but also the most politically-viable. Why? Because it addresses the legitimate concerns of all key stakeholders in the climate debate and enables each to realize an important victory.

  Click to read the PDF from the
  Climate Leadership Council.

• • Attention Humanists: You Have a Role to Play

  Ask What You Can Do for Your Climate(1)

  Apr. 18, 2017 -While the federal government is becoming a follower rather than a leader on climate change, humanists can fight on the state, local, and personal levels

  IF THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL, then climate change is personal, too. As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump campaigned against the Paris Agreement negotiated in December 2015 at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. With President Trump signing an executive order to roll back federal efforts to reduce global warming, humanists must do more at the state and local levels to fight climate change. If you’re up for it, there are many things you can do to help.

  
  Click now if you’re ready to learn more.
• • We Can Take Active Role in the Climate Crisis

  Ask What You Can Do for Your Climate<2>

  Join a Climate Reality Chapter,and be part of a sustainable future. You’ve heard about “the future.” It’s not that far away, and your children and grandchildren will be living in it, long after you’re gone.

  Chapters give you the opportunity to draw on Climate Reality’s support and expertise, while creating and executing plans for climate action that make the most sense for your community.

  Already, Climate Reality chapters have become a vital force for progress, helping expand clean energy alternatives, tackling the legacy of fossil fuels in low-income communities, and pushing for carbon pricing policies, to name just a few of the many campaigns underway across the US.

  
  Click now if you’re ready to take action too.

• • Science Under Attack:

  Sidelining Researchers and Their Work

  Dec. 28, 2019 (NY Times Climate Forward -In just three years, the Trump administration has diminished the role of science in federal policymaking while halting or disrupting research projects nationwide, marking a transformation of the federal government whose effects, experts say, could reverberate for years.

  Political appointees have shut down government studies, reduced the influence of scientists over regulatory decisions and in some cases pressured researchers not to speak publicly. The administration has particularly challenged scientific findings related to the environment and public health opposed by industries such as oil drilling and coal mining. It has also impeded research around human-caused climate change, which President Trump has dismissed despite a global scientific consensus.

• • Politicians Voting Against
  Climate Change Get More Corporate Cash

  Voters Seem to Care About Climate
  Change, But Do Big Corporations?

  Oct. 23, 2020, (Bloomberg Green)-As Americans vote in an election that will redefine national climate priorities, the biggest U.S. companies—even those with ambitious green agendas—are throwing their support behind lawmakers who routinely stall climate legislation.

  Bloomberg Green examined political donations by businesses in the S&P 100 and large U.S.-based corporate contributors to climate change identified by the Climate Action 100+, which seeks to help them lower their emissions.

• • Dems to Fossil Fuel Contributions: No Thanks

  DNC Votes to Ban Fossil
  Fuel Company Donations

  June 12, 2018 -The move is a step toward purging oil, gas and coal industry influence on the Democratic Party’s climate policies.

  The Democratic National Committee voted over the weekend to ban donations from fossil fuel companies, HuffPost has learned.

  The resolution — proposed by Christine Pelosi, a party activist and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s daughter — bars the organization from accepting contributions from corporate political action committees tied to the oil, gas and coal industries. The executive committee voted unanimously to approve the motion.

• • Clean Energy Research Not a Priority

  White House Seeks 72% Cut to
  Clean Energy Research,Underscoring
  Its Preference for Fossil Fuels

  Feb. 1, 2018 -The Trump administration is poised to ask Congress for deep budget cuts to the Energy Department’s renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, slashing them by 72 percent overall in fiscal 2019, according to draft budget documents obtained by The Washington Post.

  Many of the sharp cuts would probably be restored by Congress, but President Trump’s budget, due out in February, will mark a starting point for negotiations and offer a statement of intent and policy priorities.

• • Donald Trump: Making the Oceans Not-So-Great Again

  Donald Trump Aims to
  Weaken Ocean Protections

  Mar. 16, 2020 (CleanTechnica) -We are approaching the 10th anniversary of the British Petroleum (BP) disaster, which killed 11 men, injured 17 others, and spilled more than 130 million gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. The disaster polluted more than 1,300 miles of coastline, devastated marine life, and cost the Gulf Coast billions in lost revenue.

  The Trump Administration’s aggressive deregulatory agenda threatens to undo many of the safeguards for ocean and coastal ecosystems, including those that regulate the offshore oil industry. We cannot have a repeat of the BP disaster and we need common sense protections for the ocean now more than ever.

• • Strip Mining on Protected
  Tennessee Cumberland Plateau

  Trump May Approve
  Strip Mining on Tennessee’s
  Protected Cumberland Plateau

  Feb. 13, 2020 (inside climate news) -LAFOLLETTE, Tennessee—Even as the nation's demand for coal tumbles, the Trump administration is considering a permit that would allow strip mining on protected ridgelines in Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau over the objection of environmental groups and the state's Republican attorney general.

  The wild, scenic terrain is within 75,000 acres designated, at the state's behest, as unsuitable for surface coal mining in 2016 by the Obama administration's Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation, the agency responsible for regulating coal mining in the state.

• • Good Riddance to Climate Denier From NSC

  Climate Denialist to Depart
  White House National Security Council

  Sep. 11, 2019 (New York Times)- William Happer, the White House architect of a stalled plan to attack the established science of climate change, is leaving the Trump administration on Friday, according to three people familiar with his plans.

  Dr. Happer, a physicist who gained notoriety by claiming that the greenhouse gases contributing to warming the planet are beneficial to humanity, and for likening attacks on fossil fuels to “the demonization of the poor Jews under Hitler” in a 2014 interview, served on the National Security Council as President Trump’s deputy assistant for emerging technologies.

• • No Lessons Learned From Deepwater Horizon

  Trump Plan Would Open Nearly All
  the Gulf of Mexico to Oil Drilling

  Jan. 4, 2018 - The Trump administration on Thursday (Jan. 4) announced plans for the largest expansion of offshore oil and gas drilling in U.S. history, putting up for lease federal waters in the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic oceans and millions of acres in the Gulf of Mexico, including protected areas in the eastern Gulf.

  Click now for article from azCentral.

• • Clean Energy and Electric Cars Hit By GOP

  Tax Overhaul Hammers
  Clean Energy and Electric Cars

  (M.I.T. Technology Review) Dec. 8, 2017 - Legislators from both chambers are now hashing out their differences in the reconciliation committee in hopes of delivering a final bill to the White House before the end of the year. Clean-energy lobbyists are scrambling to push back on provisions they and others fear could stunt development or deployment of technologies needed to lower the nation’s greenhouse-gas emissions.

• • DOW's Campaign Contributions
  Stopped the Banning of Chlorpyrifos

  How Dow Chemical Influenced
  the EPA to Ignore the
  Scientific Evidence on Chlorpyrifos

  (Union of Concerned Scientists) -On March 29, 2017, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that his agency would decline to ban chlorpyrifos, despite years of scientific study and deliberation indicating that the pesticide poses a clear risk to children, farmworkers, and users of rural drinking water.

  This was a 180-degree turn from the science-based conclusion reached just a few months before by the EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, which found that chlorpyrifos has harmful effects on children’s brain development. Both EPA scientists and the American Academy of Pediatrics have urged the EPA to ban the insecticide.

  Click now to read on.

• • The Top Ten Toxic Threats

  The E.P.A.’s Top 10 Toxic
  Threats, and Industry’s Pushback

  Oct. 21, 2017 - The E.P.A.has published a list of 10 toxic threats it will evaluate first under a law passed last year intended to crack down on hazardous chemicals.

  They are among 90 chemicals identified by the agency that may harm children, damage nerve tissue, cause cancer, contaminate the environment, accumulate in the bloodstream or show up in consumer products. As the review begins, industry and other interest groups are urging the E.P.A. to limit any restrictions.

  Click for the list that should
  not be on your top ten.

• • Climate Change Collapsing Australia’s Ecosystems

  Ecosystems Across Australia Are Undergo Climate Change

  The Converstion

  Research, recently published in Nature Climate Change, describes a series of sudden and catastrophic ecosystem shifts that have occurred recently across Australia.

• • CC Advisory Committee Dropped

  Administration Disbands Climate
  Change Advisory Committee

  Aug 20, 2017 - The Trumpv administration of has decided to disband a federal advisory panel on climate change - in a further sign of the White House's view on environmental policy.

  The panel is part of the National Climate Assessment, a group aimed at helping officials and policy makers integrate the US Government's climate change analysis into their long-term planning.

• • Climate Skeptic Heads Top Science Post

  New USDA Research Head
  Thinks Climate Science Is 'Junk'

  July 20, 2017 - President Trump has nominated a well-known climate change doubter to the top science job at the Department of Agriculture.

  The nomination, which had been expected, was announced in a statement by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. Sam Clovis, an early campaign adviser to Trump, will serve as undersecretary for research, education and economics.

• • Is the State of the Great Lakes a State Problem?

  Trump Says 'Yes' -
  Congress Says 'No'

  July 14, 2017 - Together, the five lakes hold nearly one-fifth of the earth’s surface freshwater. They’re home to 3500 species of plants and animals, including 170 species of fish. Not to mention the drinking water for about 35 million people, in eight states plus Canada. They have been a major highway for transportation, trade and migration. And more than 1.5 million jobs are directly connected to the lakes.

  But the Trump administration views the health of the Great Lakes as a local issue. Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow and budget director Mick Mulvaney squared off at a budget hearing a couple months ago on the topic. You can watch the exchange here:

• • Shades of White House Climate Denial

  5 Shades of Climate Denial,
  All on Display in the White House

  June 9.2017 - - From ‘it’s not real’ to ‘it’s not urgent,’ take a tour through the many shades of climate change denial wielded by Donald Trump's administration.