Science and Environmental Health Network (SEHN)

The EPA Is in Chaos “We learn who is furloughed when we send an email to someone and get the out-of-office message,” one employee tells WIRED.

with the end of the shutdown looming, here's my look for @wired.com into what life has been like for EPA employees over the past five weeks: little to no heads up about who was getting furloughed next, important projects getting put on the back burner while deregulation moves forward:

This administration seems determined to threaten the most basic of human rights, including food access. Join us for this month’s Livable Future Live on November 19, where our team will share how these policies endanger people’s lives. RSVP now: http://fwwat.ch/4qrgIJe

Fossil fuels are bad for the planet and health. Our new report shows how coal, oil & methane gas harm every system of the body at every stage of life. Learn more: psr.org/fuelingsickness

NEW! Updated gas appliance section of the 9th ed #fracking science Compendium, w/ nearly 3x the number of studies we had 2 yrs ago. More data on carcinogenic & respiratory-harming emissions, and health & economic benefits of converting gas appliances to #electric.
W/ @psr.org
tinyurl.com/2s4v7pmn

Dismantling of US federal agencies will ‘destroy science’ From NASA to the National Institutes of Health, federal agencies conduct research that universities cannot. Agency scientists speak out about the irreplaceable facilities, institutional knowledge and training opportunities that the country is losing.

Agency scientists speak out about the irreplaceable facilities, institutional knowledge and training opportunities that the USA is losing

go.nature.com/3WB8bFS

The Bill Gates Memo: Climate Scientists Respond With Urgency — Covering Climate Now Ahead of this month’s COP30 summit in Brazil, billionaire investor Bill Gates is advising world leaders that global warming “will not lead to humanity’s demise” and that effort to reducing emissions a...

Read about the Gates memo in the news? Wondering what @kimcobb.bsky.social, @hausfath.bsky.social, @weatherwest.bsky.social, @sammyroth.bsky.social and I think about it?

No need to wonder: @coveringclimatenow.org is hosting a free webinar panel. Join us THIS AFTERNOON:

CBS News just gutted its climate team Paramount and Bari Weiss aren't off to a great start. Here's why David Ellison should change course.

NEWS: CBS News gutted its climate team as part of the big Paramount layoffs this week. These journalists had been doing incredible reporting on extreme heat, flooding, clean energy investments and more.

I've got details for Climate-Colored Goggles: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/cbs-news-g...

“We need to do the right thing for the next generation.”
— home energy fair volunteer Rachel Kutzley

I wanted to offer some thoughts on the Gates climate memo that has been circulating this week. While I can't directly speak for others, I can say that my own response is one of dismay & deep frustration (and that this view is shared by many climate/Earth scientists). [1/n]

Remote sensing helps confirm Aliso Canyon methane plumes traveled at least 6.2 miles downwind during blowout Using a mix of airborne and satellite images as well as data from ground sensors, a UCLA-led research team has reconstructed how the shape and reach of the methane plumes from the 2015–16 Aliso Canyon...

New UCLA data on #AlisoCanyon disaster: #Methane plumes from the Aliso Canyon #GasStorage blowout reached at least 6.2 miles downwind, into #PorterRanch.

Also confirmed earlier estimates of total emissions: nearly 100,000 metric tons of methane.

phys.org/news/2025-10...

Scientists had to change more than 700 grant titles to receive NIH funding. Health disparities researchers fear what’s next The titles of more than 700 multi-year NIH grants have been changed this year, according to an analysis by Jeremy Berg, a former agency official

The NIH has insisted there are no banned words

But, an analysis by @jeremymberg.bsky.social found over 700 hundred grants changed their titles from '24 to '25

Some see it as a small price to pay to keep their grant, but others are worried about what comes next

www.statnews.com/2025/10/29/n...

Citing Trump Order on “Biological Truth,” VA Makes It Harder for Male Veterans With Breast Cancer to Get Coverage A Department of Veterans Affairs memo obtained by ProPublica erects new roadblocks to care for veterans with the rare but deadly cancer. The agency cites no new science but relies on an executive orde...

In the quest for "biological truth," the Trump admin discounts the very real biological truth that some men do get breast cancer

Now it'll be harder for male veterans diagnosed w/the rare but deadly cancer to get VA coverage

always read @ericumansky.bsky.social
www.propublica.org/article/vete...

Toxic Wastewater From Oil Fields Keeps Pouring Out of the Ground. Oklahoma Regulators Failed to Stop It. Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, is spewing from old wells. Experts warn of a pollution crisis spreading underground and threatening Oklahoma’s drinking water.

NEW: Salt water laced with cancer-causing chemicals, a byproduct of oil and gas drilling, keeps shooting out of the ground in Oklahoma.

Experts say it means even more wastewater is spreading underground, poisoning the state’s water supply.

Air Pollution From Industrial Facilities Is Far Worse Than Estimated The Trump administration has put a stop to EPA rules that would have required more than 130 industrial facilities to install air monitors to measure pollution. Millions of people living near these pla...

More than 5 million people face an increased cancer risk because they live near a type of industrial plant that would have been subject to rules put forward by the Biden.

The Trump administration is rolling them back

By the inimitable @lisalsong.bsky.social

www.propublica.org/article/epa-...

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: The Truth about Fracking’s Harms to Human Health. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Join us for a webinar with Dr. Kathy Nolan, a Compendium author The Delaware River Frack Ban and Climate Action Coalition invites you to join us for a deep dive into how the development of fracking…

Let's talk about the dangers that fracking poses to human health.
Attend the webinar, Thursday, October 30th, 7:00pm
bit.ly/frackinghealthharms

🆕 #LancetClimate25 health threads of climate change at record-high levels:
+23% heat-related deaths/1990
📈Air pollution from wildfires; dengue
🤢#fossilfuels taking lives &💲public money
❤️‍🩹But, life-saving impact of action are reals: 160,000 lives saved yearly from shift away from coal
t.co/tqZFF18GwJ

Trump Administration Dismisses Risks of Atrazine, a Farm Herbicide Experts say the chemical’s continued use will likely harm hundreds of endangered species, rendering some extinct.

Experts say the continued use of atrazine, known as the second most widely used herbicide in the U.S. after glyphosate, will likely harm hundreds of endangered species, rendering some extinct.

Friday's decision was a HUGE win for the climate movement, Citizen Action of NY, and our allies.

"We are glad to see Judge Schreibman decisively reject Governor Hochul and DEC’s excuses for delay and their ongoing attempts to derail climate action."

Sandra Steingraber, environmentalist: ‘Fracking is one of the worst US technologies since the atomic bomb’ As the Mexican government considers using this process again to increase dwindling oil reserves, the activist and scientist warns of the social and environmental consequences

"It’s necessary to bring the data to politicians so that they can make the right decisions. If science is combined with legislation, we can build a better world for all."

#Fracking #Mexico

english.elpais.com/science-tech...

The onslaught is constant - but this is a helpful data point in the generational impact of the war on academia. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

To the artists, scholars, advocates, journalists, writers, historians, lawyers, entrepreneurs, policy folks, thank you for your good work. To address plastics is to work for human rights, climate stability, human health, environmental justice, global unity, & the rights of future generations. 🙏🙏🙏

A Morally Mature Culture — The Science and Environmental Health Network By Carolyn Raffensperger, SEHN executive director In 2009, I wrote an essay about a morally mature culture. I am revisiting the concept (and the essay) because of the looming environmental disasters...

"If we are to develop moral maturity as a culture we will have to evolve beyond our technophilia and develop principles for covenants with the natural world and with each other.

"We can do this."

Don't miss this new essay from SEHN ED @carolynraff.bsky.social:

www.sehn.org/sehn/2025/10...

When a Data Center Proposal Comes to Your Town — The Science and Environmental Health Network By Peter Montague, SEHN fellow A new data center has been proposed for your town. What do you think? What do your neighbors think? A lot of communities doubt the benefits of data centers, and many ...

"A new #DataCenter has been proposed for your town. What do you think? What do your neighbors think?

A lot of communities doubt the benefits of data centers, and many are opposing them outright."

Don't miss SEHN fellow Peter Montague's new essay on what to ask and do:
www.sehn.org/sehn/2025/10...

Close Friend of JD Vance Skirts Normal Channels to Take Over NIH Environmental Health Institute - Inside Climate News Despite a federal hiring freeze, the Trump administration just appointed a scientist who calls Vance one of his “closest friends” to head the nation’s key environmental health research arm.

The Trump administration just skirted normal channels for hiring directors of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences—during a hiring freeze—to appoint a scientist who calls JD Vance one of his “closest friends.”

New York Is Violating Its Flagship Climate Law, Judge Rules The law required a state agency to issue major regulations more than a year and a half ago, and it had no excuse not to, the court found.

BREAKING: New York is violating its flagship climate law, a judge ruled Friday.

The Hochul administration now has until February 6 to issue major regulations to cap emissions.
nysfocus.com/2025/10/24/n...

What Americans think about the environmental impact of AI, according to a new poll A new poll finds that as the United States rapidly builds massive data centers for the development of artificial intelligence, many Americans are concerned about the environmental impact.

4/10 Americans worry AI will hurt the environment, says new @apnews.com poll: bit.ly/49fGsSr

Massive electricity and water demands, plus increasing fossil fuels to power data centers top big concerns.

Help Ohio by joining @saveohioparks.bsky.social today.

@cleanairmoms-oh.bsky.social

Trump Opens Pristine Alaska Wilderness to Drilling in Long-Running Feud

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/c...

Bad News: Trump opens ANWR for drilling

Good News: Nobody wants to drill there with WTI below $62

Keep demand low (walk/bike, take transit, electrify), keep ANWR drill free

Trump claimed ​wind farms kill whales—and then quietly axed research into the issue Programs that tracked the beloved marine mammals near offshore wind sites are now like "a body without a pulse."

Trump claimed wind farms kill whales—and then quietly axed research into the issue

Our October 2025 newsletter is up! Read about AI and #DataCenters, #fracking on both sides of the U.S. southern border, and moving toward a morally mature culture.

And a little bit about Helianthus angustifolius L., or, the swamp- or narrowleaf sunflower. 🌻

www.sehn.org/sehn/2025/10...

Repercussion Section: The Intended Consequences of the Permian Basin (Part II) — The Science and Environmental Health Network by Sandra Steingraber, SEHN senior scientist and writer in residence

Her new column in our newsletter describes her visit: www.sehn.org/sehn/2025/10...