Environmental Integrity Project

@sierraclub.org @nrdc.org @earthjustice.org @350.org @thenewlede.bsky.social @biologicaldiversity.org @ciel.org @selc.bsky.social @lcv.org @nytimes.com @washingtonpost.com @eenews.bsky.social @politico.com

NEW REPORT: Environmental Enforcement Plummets in the First Year of Trump’s Second Term

Read the report: environmentalintegrity.org/news/environ...

Huge Texas data centers will get their own gas power plants The developer of one project, in Pecos County, calls it the largest power project in the U.S. Data centers are sparking a surge of gas power plant construction in Texas.

@envirointegrity.bsky.social's Griffin Bird: planned hyperscale data center facilities of north and west Texas, if fully built out, could be among the largest emissions sources in both the country and the world.

While EPA officials claim to be returning the agency to its “core mission” by slashing staff and regulations, in reality EPA is abandoning its mission to protect the environment and human health while taking actions that benefit fossil fuel companies.

Matthew Tejada, the former director of the EPA’s environmental justice program who now works for NRDC, called the effort an “attempt to completely eliminate the EPA and just leave a symbolic husk.”

According to an analysis by The Guardian, Trump’s EPA launched a total of 66 actions to roll back or weaken environmental rules – a rate of more than one a week — during Trump’s first year back in office. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Ending EPA’s greenhouse gas reporting program. Cutting the budget. Terminating or driving away thousands of employees. The list goes on and on and on. But none of them are “accomplishments.”

But it neglects a much longer list of Trump’s anti-accomplishments on the environment. Like killing all environmental justice programs. Hiring industry lobbyists to run EPA and weaken standards for dangerous industrial chemicals. Trying to cripple the agency’s ability to fight climate change.

Despite all this, the administration sent out a press release last week that shamelessly tries to gaslight the public by boasting of EPA’s “accomplishments” under Trump. The list of “accomplishments” includes many routine things that any EPA should be doing.

The Trump Administration is gutting the EPA. It is slashing regulations meant to protect public health and the environment. Cutting the agency’s budget and staff. Distorting the agency’s mission so that it protects polluting industries instead of the American public. www.epa.gov/newsreleases...

Cutting renewables slows the transition to clean energy, increases pollution, and locks in outdated energy systems when investments should be accelerating a cleaner, safer future.

Canceling these green loans to pivot toward fossil fuels and nuclear power puts the U.S. even further behind on its climate goals.

The department also said it has the ability to offer up more than $289 billion in loans and that it plans to prioritize nuclear, coal, oil, gas, minerals, geothermal energy, electric grid upgrades, manufacturing and transportation.

Last week, the Energy Department announced it was canceling $30 billion in green loans and revising another $53 billion. thehill.com/policy/energ...

Letting these coal plants continue to dump coal ash into unlined pits by taking advantage of regulatory loopholes jeopardizes public health and safety.

The 11 coal plants already circumvented the 2021 deadline to close unlined ash pits using a 2020 Trump-era extension. By applying for permits through 2028, they’ve kept operating for years while EPA has yet to rule on those requests.

EPA plans to give 11 coal plants a free pass on toxic ash disposal Under the proposal, the facilities would be able to flout federal coal-ash rules until 2031. The polluting plants would likely shut down without the…

www.canarymedia.com/articles/fos...

EPA plans to let 11 coal plants continue dumping coal ash into unlined pits until 2031—10 years past the current deadline. Coal companies say banning the practice would force plant closures, claiming they have no viable alternative sites to dispose of the toxic waste.

Ignoring the proven health and economic benefits of reducing deadly air pollution prioritizes industry savings over lives, weakens safeguards, and undermines why the EPA was created in the first place.

Dropping health benefit calculations contradicts EPA’s core mission: to protect public health and the environment.

The potential change comes as EPA seeks to roll back pollution rules for coal-burning power plants, oil refineries, steel mills, and other industrial facilities across the country. Weakening these pollution standards would lead to dirtier air for Americans across the U.S.

According to agency documents reviewed by The New York Times, EPA plans to stop calculating the dollar value of the health benefits derived by curbing two of the most widespread deadly air pollutants, fine particulate matter and ozone, when regulating industry. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...

Repealing the endangerment finding is not consistent with the Clean Air Act and flies in the face of science. This move will delay action that is urgently needed to protect public health and reduce climate emissions.

By revoking the 2009 endangerment finding that concluded greenhouse gas emissions do pose a threat to public health and welfare, the agency would also end all regulation of carbon emissions from new vehicles and make it virtually impossible to regulate emissions from most other sectors.

EPA endangerment finding repeal goes to White House for final review The rule would end the agency's legal ability to regulate most greenhouse gases.

EPA is arguing that the Clean Air Act does not give it the authority to address climate change because of the global nature of greenhouse gas emissions. www.eenews.net/articles/epa...

Last week, EPA sent its draft final rule proposing to repeal the endangerment finding and end the regulation of tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions to the White House for review.

Oil & Gas Watch News covered a huge variety of topics in 2025, but a few rose to the top – according to you, our readers.
Read each article here: news.oilandgaswatch.org/post/the-top...

“I think that a lot of these actions were straight out of the Project 2025 playbook. I think that what has been surprising or shocking has been the speed and the scope and just the complete disregard for the rule of law.” - Jennifer Duggan of @envirointegrity.bsky.social

NEWS ALERT: Environmental and Community Groups File Lawsuit to Stop Trump’s Steel Industry Air Pollution Exemptions

Learn more: environmentalintegrity.org/news/environ...

It’s encouraging to see states push back against this administration. Fighting unlawful cuts to disaster resilience protects communities, saves lives, and avoids higher recovery costs later.