Endangerment
2019
2019-06-27 Ohio House Bill 6 “Clean Air Program” was seen as a bailout to provide subsidies to very specific companies in Ohio like FirstEnergy. Context: FirstEnergy dumped arsenic coal waste in 2013.
https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/133/hb6
https://www.dallashartman.com/blog/firstenergy-dumping-waste-in-beaver-county/
https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/towns-dispute-where-to-dump-coal-waste/
2023
2023-09-08 Reports of concern surrounding Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen’s family farm and nitrates in the local drinking water.
2025 April
2025-04-22 The Economic Policy Institute reported on “How Trump’s erasure of environmental data is endangering communities of color”.
2025 July
2025-07-01 The Trump administration purged climate-change reports and globalchange.gov.
https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/ NO LONGER WORKING
https://www.globalchange.gov/ NO LONGER WORKING
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jul/01/climate-change-reports-removed-trump
2025-07-25 Data centers (a.k.a. data colonialism) and mining are heavily threatening indigenous lands and sovereignty.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/data-centers-indian-country/
https://nativenewsonline.net/opinion/data-centers-and-ai-are-a-betrayal-of-indigenous-lifeways/
https://icmagazine.org/indigenous-peoples-push-back-as-data-centers-expand-across-north-america/
https://www.honorearth.org/stopdatacolonialism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac0-fBK0LVQ&list=WL&index=7&t=81s
2025-07-29 The Trump administration attempted to repeal a 2009 EPA endangerment finding that greenhouse gas emissions are air pollutants that endanger public health and welfare.
https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/tracker/greenhouse-gas-endangerment-finding/
https://nam.org/epa-moves-to-rescind-2009-greenhouse-gas-endangerment-finding-34497/
2025 November
2025-11-26 The Trump administration reduced air pollution reduction requirements.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/26/trump-epa-deadly-soot-pollution-rule
2026 January
2026-01-07 Trump signed a memorandum to eliminate the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy.
https://www.actonclimate.com/trumptracker/
2026-01-14 The EPA stated they would stop calculating how much money is saved in health care costs and how many deaths were prevented by air pollution reduction measures.
2026 March
2026-03-09 After US strikes on oil facilities in Iran, toxic “black rain” fell over Tehran, shrouded the city in toxic smoke clouds, and rendered air quality toxic to health and environment.
https://time.com/7383099/iran-news-oil-strikes-tehran/
https://ceobs.org/black-rain-the-health-and-environmental-risks-from-tehrans-oil-fires/
2026 April
2026-04-09 Multiple doctors and other health professionals signed a petition against EPA Lee Zeldin, stating he was pursuing deregulation on greenhouse gases and the 2009 Endangerment finding.
OFFICIAL PETITION: https://www.change.org/p/petition-to-ask-epa-administrator-lee-zeldin-to-regulate-chemicals
https://www.scrippsnews.com/politics/a-maha-driven-petition-wants-epa-administrator-lee-zeldin-fired
https://www.momscleanairforce.org/epa-head-zeldin-must-go
2026-04-16 The senate voted to lift a federal ban on mining upstream from Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
https://www.backpacker.com/news-and-events/news/senate-just-greenlit-mine-boundary-waters-minnesota/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIqJFcCnhkY
PAY WALL https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/16/climate/boundary-waters-senate-vote.html
2026-04-29 The U.S. Forest Service under Trump expanded the use of Roundup to treat public forests – particularly in California. While glyphosate has been used since at least 2020, reports suggest a record increase now.
https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/61577#
https://www.eenews.net/articles/concerns-grow-about-herbicide-use-in-wildfires-wake/
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/4/29/nate_halverson_roundup_glyphosate_us_forests
2026-04-29 The Trump administration proposed a rule to cut back the Endangered Species Act to allow more industry, drilling and mining. It was only after several voiced concerns from both parties that they delayed the vote.
https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/tracker/endangered-species-act-regulations/
https://www.humaneworld.org/en/blog/trump-administration-gut-endangered-species-act
2026 May
2026-05-05 Ukrainian strikes caused “black rain” in Russia.
2026-05-18 The EPA proposed to eliminate drinking water limits for 4 forever-chemicals set by the Biden administration in 2024. The EPA will allow water utilities to extend their compliance deadline from 2029 to 2031.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/18/trump-administration-epa-pfas-water