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USDA’s climate webpage purge breaks laws and hurts farmers, lawsuit alleges
By Shannon Kelleher and Carey Gillam
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) broke the law when it purged government websites of climate-related information and disabled access to key datasets, making it hard for farmers to access information on climate adaptation strategies and financial assistance, according to a lawsuit filed Monday by a coalition of advocacy groups.
States move to cement PFAS protections amid fears of federal rollbacks
By Shannon Kelleher
Concerns are growing about the fate of a Biden-era rule to limit toxic PFAS chemicals in drinking water, with some states moving to introduce laws that would lock in place PFAS protections that could survive any potential rollback by the Trump Administration.
“Out of time” – Short film documents tragic saga of pesticide-poisoned Nebraska town
For decades, Mead, Nebraska, was a peaceful rural town—until toxins generated by the area ethanol plant poisoned Mead’s land, water, and air. Farm to Fuel, a short documentary, builds on investigative reporting by The New Lede, co-published with The Guardian, which exposed how the plant’s reckless disposal of pesticide-laced waste created an environmental disaster.
It’s not just RFK Jr — Opposition to fluoride in drinking water grows
By Douglas Main
Opposition to the US practice of adding fluoride to drinking water supplies has been growing as more evidence accumulates linking fluoride exposure to potential harmful brain impacts in children. Now, the future of the practice could be in doubt, with Thursday’s confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as President Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Illnesses and deaths from food outbreaks skyrocketed in 2024, report finds
By Shannon Kelleher
Hospitalizations and deaths from foodborne illnesses more than doubled in 2024 over the prior year, with most people sickened in a small number of high-profile outbreaks involving lunch meat, eggs, cucumbers and other commonly consumed foods, according to a report published Thursday.
Microplastic pollution found “pervasive” in Antarctic snow
By Douglas Main
New research has found significant levels of tiny microplastics within Antarctic snow from multiple locations across the world’s most remote wilderness, findings that reinforce concerns that no part of the planet is safe from plastic pollution.
“We need it” – Debate over dicamba herbicide in hands of Trump’s EPA
By Richard Mertens
Patsy Hopper dreamed of a home in the country with a garden and lots of trees. What she didn’t count on were the herbicides that would come drifting in, year after year, from the farmland around her, killing vegetables in her garden and wildflowers in the ditches and curling the leaves of the trees she had planted.
High-stakes hearing to debate state law limiting PCB injury claims
By Shannon Kelleher
Lawyers for three teachers in Washington state will face off against attorneys for the former Monsanto company in a key court hearing on Tuesday over alleged PCB-related injuries that could impact similar cases nationwide.
Fluoride in drinking water – what the public needs to know
By Tom Theimer
After decades of debate, there no longer is any doubt that the widespread US practice of adding fluoride to drinking water is posing risks to our health.
Profiling of pesticide industry opponents halted after company practices exposed
By Carey Gillam, Margot Gibbs and Elena Debre
A US company that was secretly profiling hundreds of food and environmental health advocates in a private web portal has halted the operations in the face of widespread backlash after its actions were exposed by The New Lede and other reporting partners.