Fwd: Leaving EPA behind, environmental justice pioneer preaches hope amid trump cutbacks

[Loretta Lohman]

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View this email in your browser One year ago, Charles Lee could look across the federal government and see his life’s work in action on multiple fronts—new grants awarded to minority communities overburdened with pollution, a new expert science panel established to look at their unique mix of health risks and the first White House Summit on Environmental Justice in Action underway. “This has been an incredible week for justice!” Lee posted on the social media site LinkedIn, as he detailed the work being done by his colleagues at the Environmental Protection Agency and throughout President Joe Biden’s administration. That work came to a crashing halt when President Donald Trump took office in January. Trump’s EPA Administrator, Lee Zeldin, terminated all environmental justice grant programs and eliminated the EPA’s environmental justice office. He has taken his cues from one of Trump’s day one executive orders, which sought to re-brand EJ as a “radical and wasteful” form of reverse discrimination and racial preferencing, lumped together with “diversity, equity and inclusion.” But even before layoffs and buyout offers decimated the ranks of his colleagues at EPA, Lee put in his notice to retire after 26 years at the agency. He said he had decided some time earlier to leave EPA rather than stay through a second Trump administration. At 74, Lee could have retired years earlier. Now, he finds himself uniquely positioned, he believes, to offer hope to those living in and fighting for communities who bear a disproportionate burden of pollution and climate risks. Lee feels his mission now is to spread the lessons he learned as both an eyewitness and active participant at the birth of the environmental justice movement. He has joined Howard University School of Law’s two-year-old Environmental and Climate Justice Center in Washington, D.C. as a visiting scholar, and key among the messages he hopes to get across is that the Trump administration can’t kill the environmental justice movement. More of our coverage of the biggest story on the planet: House Republicans are pushing two new bills to bolster the U.S. coal industry. One bill cements a streamlining of the approval of coal leases on federal land, and the other would amend the landmark 1970 National Environmental Policy Act. A new attribution report shows that global warming made the extreme hot and dry conditions preceding this summer’s wildfires in Portugal and Spain 40 times more likely and 30 percent more intense than in pre-industrial climate conditions. A Chinese mining company that spilled toxic waste on impoverished Zambian villages got people to waive their right to sue using a government-ordered compensation process. Leaving EPA Behind, Environmental Justice Pioneer Preaches Hope Amid Trump Cutbacks BY MARIANNE LAVELLE In 26 years at the agency, Charles Lee worked to keep the focus on communities. Now, he believes communities will keep the movement alive, despite the federal government’s retreat. Trump Says America’s Oil Industry Is Cleaner Than Other Countries’. New Data Shows Massive Emissions From Texas Wells BY MARTHA PSKOWSKI and MARK OLALDE The oil industry touts Texas as a success story in controlling climate-warming methane emissions. The state’s regulator, however, grants nearly every request to burn or vent gas into the atmosphere. With a Mayoral Election Coming Up, This Is Where NYC Stands on Climate Action BY LAUREN DALBAN The city’s mayoral race has justifiably been about housing and affordability. But flood protection, building decarbonization and air pollution will still be challenges for New York’s next mayor. How a Rock Band Bassist Is Remixing Climate Activism BY RYAN KRUGMAN Adam Met of the indie-rock band AJR thinks fan-building strategies can amplify the climate movement’s reach and impact. Embattled Texas Oilfield Waste Company Fined After Worker’s Death BY MARTHA PSKOWSKI A 26-year-old employee at McBride Operating in Waskom, Texas, was killed when a valve blew off a pump last year. Another worker had sued the company two years earlier after being injured on the job. Emissions are Sparking Increases in African Heat Waves in Unexpected Ways, New Study Finds BY CHAD SMALL Declines in cooling sulfates combined with increases in greenhouse gas concentrations have increased the intensity and frequency of African heat waves. And the temperature spikes may be even more intense than has been recorded. Peru Votes Against Creating New Indigenous Reserve in Amazon Region BY NICHOLAS KUSNETZ The reserve had been proposed to protect Indigenous people living in isolation along the border with Brazil. Indigenous groups called the vote a setback that could endanger inhabitants and expose the forest to logging. As Opposition to an Alabama Medical Waste Treatment Facility Boils Over, a  Mysterious Facebook Page Weighs In BY LEE HEDGEPETH Dozens of residents opposed to Harvest Med Waste Disposal’s site in Remlap, Alabama, packed the Blount County courthouse to voice their concerns. Online, a paid campaign supporting the facility has been active, though its backers have remained anonymous. Pennsylvania Plastics Pollution Settlement Could Set a National Precedent for Control of Pellets BY JON HURDLE The case is the first citizen suit to successfully settle over “nurdles” in an inland waterway. State regulators weighed in to help. Without Well-Funded Public Transit, Philadelphia’s Climate Future Looks Bleak BY KILEY BENSE SEPTA riders aren’t the only ones hurt by service cuts, which could jeopardize the region’s long-term ability to meet climate goals. Climate Change Worsens Half-Century of Drinking Water Problems for Maine Native Reservation BY SYDNEY CROMWELL The tap water in Sipayik has smelled and tasted bad for years. A new, deep well in town has been helping, but now the Trump administration has clawed back grant funds for water testing and filtration. Arizonans Protest State’s Largest Utility Abandoning Clean Energy Commitments BY WYATT MYSKOW Protesters gathered outside the headquarters of APS on Thursday to criticize the utility’s decision to walk back its clean energy commitments, build new gas pipelines and raise its customers’ electricity rates. 📈 Trending Residents Living in the Shadow of the Steel Industry Ask the EPA to Reconsider Delay of Hazardous Air Pollution Rule BY KILEY BENSE In July the agency delayed the implementation of stronger emissions standards and fenceline monitoring at steel and iron facilities for two more years. 👀 Looking for More Climate News?  🟢 Visit our website for the latest.  🟡 Sign up for more newsletters, including our twice-weekly Today's Climate and Thursday's Inside Clean Energy. ⚫️ Follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn and Bluesky. 🔴 Have a tip or story idea? Contact us. Copyright © 2025 Inside Climate News, All rights reserved. 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