FEMA must consider renewables when rebuilding Puerto Rico's electrical grid, federal judge says. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

EPA has told staff not to participate in events hosted by the Environmental Law Institute in their professional capacity. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

Dozens of Congressional Dems tell appeals court the EPA "gold bars" video is "patently irrelevant" to the climate grants case; instead, it "concerns efforts to award different grant money <after> the November 2024 election."

White House released its new AI action plan today, centered around deregulation and faster permitting. "Stagnation is a political choice, and the Trump administration is choosing better." news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

DC Circuit rules that the EPA does have the authority to claw back $16 billion in climate grants, overturning a lower court decision. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

EPA has fired some of the employees who signed the dissent letter critical of Lee Zeldin. At least 10 other tenured employees got a notice of proposed removal. The rest had their administrative leave extended. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

Google's a little worried about the Trump administration's idea of mining the sea floor off the coast of American Samoa. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

PennEnvironment notes it (along with the Clean Air Council) sued US Steel in 2019, saying "the crumbling, poorly maintained, highly polluting Clairton plant posed a health threat to communities across the Mon Valley, as well as to its own workers."

Many of the Trump administration’s environmental justice grant cuts are, paradoxically, hurting white communities that overwhelmingly support him. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

Trump's plan to build AI data centers on federal lands and Superfund sites isn't sitting well with environmentalists or EJ activists. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

New political hires today, brought on to help advance the Trump administration's energy/mining agenda: Taylor Childress and Scott Prutting (not Pruitt) at Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council

It's not that unusual to let people pay extra for faster government service, as the One Big Beautiful Bill does for NEPA reviews, sources say. But will it actually improve permitting? news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

EPA employees who signed a letter critical of Lee Zeldin have been placed on administrative leave. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

Emily Domenech, new head of the federal Permitting Council, says her goal is to get more data centers, AI facilities, and mines not just through the process faster, but also to a "yes." (No paywall.) news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

The EPA is rolling out an agency-wide AI chat tool and is encouraging all employees to use it as much as possible to analyze data, write statements, and do environmental monitoring. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

Citing "a time when our members are facing unprecedented attacks," AFGE is hosting a webinar on suicide prevention for federal and DC government workers.

David Uhlmann, who led EPA enforcement under Biden, is joining a boutique enviro law firm and returning to academia. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

McGill platform becomes safe space for conserving US climate research under threat (Globe & Mail) www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

President Trump's budget request would cut EPA's funding to its lowest level since the year of Chernobyl and the Buckner play. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

New GSA program awards employees with cash rewards if their agency cuts travel, training, and contract spending by at least 30% by July 31.

Why does the dismissal of the National Climate Assessment authors matter? Because industry and local govt's rely on it, and national security and US prestige are on the line. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

Nuclear accidents are “traumatic for the human beings involved but have little appreciable effect on the biosphere.” @elizkolbert.bsky.social in the New Yorker. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

The White House is quietly circulating guidance to the agencies about how they should change their internal permitting rules. (Agency-level rules had been seen by enviros as a bulwark against the recent nixing of the White House rules.) news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to turn the funding taps back on, nationwide. "Agencies do not have unlimited authority to further a president's agenda." news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

Climate United response to EPA's request for emergency stay in frozen grants case: "Climate United will not--and legally cannot--go on a multi-million dollar spending spree with federal funds for our own benefit." news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

EPA to staff: agency will monitor compliance with back-to-work requirements via badge swipes, laptop activity, and timecards. Failure to comply--which can include not being "forthcoming and candid"--will trigger formal discipline, up to and including removal from federal service.

The federal permitting rules under NEPA go up in smoke today, in theory paving the way for a building boom. Only developers aren't seeing it that way. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

EPA is pilot-testing a new tool to automate the "what did you do last week" emails. "Collecting your accomplishments in a standard way will make it easier for you."

23 states to Interior: "If America is going to continue to lead the way in other forms of tech development (like semiconductor manufacturing and quantum computing), it will need substantial amounts of stable power—power that coal can provide." ago.wv.gov/Documents/Le...

Some of the probationary staff axed by EPA are back--but still on administrative leave. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

NYC is looking for ways to assure funding for seawalls and other resiliency projects, a particularly crucial job with so much uncertainty under Trump. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

More than 1,000 EPA employees have filed grievances against the agency's return-to-office mandate. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

EPA has tweaked its enforcement strategy to stop focusing on methane emissions from O/G facilities, step back on using environmental justice considerations, and take other steps, re: internal memo. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

Attn. journalists: National Press Club is doing its Career Day on March 28. Meet job recruiters, network with colleagues, get a free professional headshot, etc. www.eventbrite.com/e/career-day...

The Coalition for Green Capital, one of the groups that got billions under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, is suing Citibank for allegedly freezing its accounts. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

Lauren Boebert: "Should we make Canada the 51st state? We've seen what was once a great country slip and become one of the WEAKEST in the world because of Radical nutjobs like Justin Trudeau."

New GSA program, "Space Match," will help federal agencies find available office space. EPA and others are "actively exploring space Match's potential to create more flexible and efficient real estate portfolios."

Sens. Duckworth, Booker, and Blunt Rochester ask EPA to reopen the EJ office. Closure "leaves us seriously questioning your commitment to adhere to the Congressional appropriations process [...] and address the impacts of pollution." www.duckworth.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

Last-mile warehouses are more common than ever due to same-day shipping, but also bad for local air quality. In NYC they're trying to do something about it. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Internal EPA memo lays out "significant" changes to remote work, including ban on regular telework, limit on situational telework of 24 hours in any two straight pay periods, no remote work except for "compelling reasons."

Most of the concerns the EPA OIG raised on the Hill today have been noted before, but they landed differently given Lee Zeldin's claims of fraudulent and wasteful spending. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

Wordle’s name comes from its founder, a guy called Josh Wardle? No way

Federal buildings have been told to shut down their EV charging stations. By contrast, Biden issued a policy in late 2023 directing feds, while traveling, to rent EVs and use rail and public transit as much as possible. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

David Fotouhi's confirmation hearing as EPA's second-highest official slated for March 5 (Senate EPW)

Stuart Levenbach, formerly of CEQ and NOAA, is now head of OMB's natural resources, energy, science, and water division.

EPA boss Lee Zeldin tells staff to respond to the "what did you do last week" email.

EPA says it will be maintaining its network over the next few weeks "to resolve vulnerabilities and improve performance." Connectivity in HQ will be spotty in the evenings until mid-March. Today is the first day many EPA staffers are back in the office.

New EPA email: lactation consultation services at HQ’s maternal wellness program will stop Feb. 24 “due to funding constraints.” All maternal wellness classes also discontinued.

Marie Owens Powell, head of the EPA's biggest union, is retiring next month. A new president will eventually have to be chosen to lead AFGE 238. news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-...

Rep. Chellie Pingree to Lee Zeldin: "I am outraged by the firing of hundreds of EPA employees without cause [...] It is clear to me that this reckless and indiscriminate purge of public servants will have lasting harmful effects." pingree.house.gov/uploadedfile...