"President Biden on Tuesday nominated Joseph Goffman to lead the Environmental Protection Agency’s air office, elevating a seasoned expert on the nation’s environmental laws and setting up a tough confirmation battle in the narrowly divided Senate."
"U.S. wildlife officials reversed their previous finding that a widely used and highly toxic pesticide could jeopardize dozens of plants and animals with extinction, after receiving pledges from chemical manufacturers that they will change product labels for malathion so that it’s used more carefully by gardeners, farmers and other consumers."
"Brazil’s former leader looks likely to try to unseat President Jair Bolsonaro in October elections – with potential big implications for environmental policy".
"More than 80 environmental groups and other organizations on Monday urged California Governor Gavin Newsom to impose tougher rules promoting electric vehicles even as the state is moving faster than President Joe Biden's administration."
"Five of the world’s biggest agribusiness firms sought to weaken a draft EU law banning food imports linked to deforestation, eight days after pledging to accelerate their forest protection efforts at Cop26, documents seen by the Guardian show."
"Leaked audio reveals that the nation’s biggest gas-only utility is behind a new astroturf group."
The Biden administration, which has been making environmental justice a top goal, has released a new screening tool that complements existing environmental equity databases, but with especially strong attention to a range of categories like clean transit, clean water, housing issues, life expectancy and more (although, interestingly, not race). The latest Reporter’s Toolbox has a guide to the new screening tool.
A coalition of open-government and journalism groups is pressing the Justice Department for a clear statement of federal policy favoring openness. The new WatchDog opinion column explains why such a move is needed, and now, not just to signal a change from the Trump-era approach, but also for smoother functioning of the all-important Freedom of Information Act.
"When the United Nations agreed a landmark deal to create the world's first ever global plastic pollution treaty this week, every party was quick to claim a victory, from industry lobbyists to environmental activists. That could spell trouble."
"The Environmental Protection Agency’s approach to removing toxins from the Housatonic River, first outlined in broad terms two years ago, now is official."
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