US health officials just released updated dietary guidelines — calling for Americans to eat whole foods, including protein and dairy,while avoiding highly processed foods. Experts are split: some praise the focus on real food, others worry the emphasis on red meat and full-fat dairy could be harmful.
TNL reporter Shannon Kelleher explains.
Lawmakers removed language in a 2026 federal spending bill that would’ve blocked lawsuits and limited state warnings on pesticide risks — a major win for public health advocates after intense lobbying. TNL Editor-in-Chief Carey Gillam explains.
Residents living near massive coal terminals and rail lines say dust from uncovered coal piles and trains coats their homes, harms their health and shows no signs of stopping as the Trump administration promotes expanding the coal industry. TNL staff reporter Shannon Kelleher visited Curtis Bay in South Baltimore to understand how these terminals affect communities.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is dismissing a new cancer classification for the herbicide atrazine from the world’s top cancer agency — the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The EPA echoed the chemical’s manufacturer, Syngenta, in its criticism and the move mirrors the EPA’s response to IARC’s glyphosate findings a decade ago.
Attorneys and residents sounded the alarm at a town hall Wednesday that the PFAS contamination crisis in the community of Salisbury, Maryland is far from over. Residents, who say they were left in the dark while “forever chemicals” polluted their water, have called for the company to address the full extent of the PFAS contamination and to fund a medical monitoring program for those exposed.
There is a battle brewing over the future of how the US EPA evaluates chemicals for safety. Over the past decade, industry groups have called for changes to the Toxic Substances Control Act saying the chemical review process is slow. Now these industry concerns have made it to Congress, with Republicans signaling a desire to revisit the law.
Mounting scientific evidence links the pesticide paraquat to Parkinson’s disease, a debilitating and deadly brain disease on the rise in the US. Syngenta, the longtime international maker of the weed-killing chemical, knew of this link decades ago. TNL editor-in-chief Carey Gillam talks to lawyers, farmers, researchers and health advocates about paraquat’s devastating toll and the fight to hold Syngenta accountable.
A review of documents and federal moves show the Trump administration has acted on most of a 29-item list of environmental policy requests from industry groups in its first eight months in office. The changes affected rules on air pollution, chemical safety and water protections.
A coalition of family farmers and small meat companies is fighting new federal moves to block states from enforcing humane livestock rules — including bans on cramped cages and gestation crates. TNL staff writer Shannon Kelleher reports on-the-ground from Washington DC, where farmers descended this week to voice their concerns.
A battle in Washington is unfolding over a proposal that could limit lawsuits against pesticide manufacturers. Supporters — including major chemical companies and some lawmakers — say it would protect farmer access to critical weed killers and other farm aids while preventing a patchwork of varying state rules. Critics argue it would strip away the rights of farmers and consumers to seek justice if pesticides cause harm.