EPA

Bristol Bay, Alaska, in July 2007.
Yessenia Funes  Jul 12, 2017 1:22PM EDT

EPA Proposes to Remove Protections for Alaskan Watershed That Is Home to 30 Native Villages

The agency wants to re-open the discussion on the Pebble Mine Project, which could jeopardize the region’s wild salmon population.
Drinking water sources will be in greater jeopardy under President Donald Trump's repeal of the Clean Water Rule, argue environmentalists. Here, Lake Powell in Utah, which is fed by the Colorado River Basin.
Yessenia Funes  Jun 28, 2017 11:15AM EDT

Trump Administration Moves Forward to Remove Protections on Drinking Water

The Clean Water Rule may be killed before it was able to take effect.
The Atlantic YouTube video thumbnail
Yessenia Funes  Jun 27, 2017 12:23PM EDT

WATCH: In East Chicago, Residents Can't Drink Their Water or Play Outside

Soil and water contain dangerous levels of lead and arsenic.
Natural gas is flared off at a plant outside of the town of Cuero, Texas, on March 26, 2015.
Yessenia Funes  Jun 14, 2017 1:02PM EDT

EPA Wants to Extend a Methane Rule Pause From 90 Days to 2 Years

Environmental groups argue it will protect the oil and gas industries while harming residential communities.  
Stacks of President Donald Trump's FY2018 budget proposal are seen during a photo availability May 23, 2017, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. President Trump has sent his FY2018 budget proposal request to the Congress.
Yessenia Funes  May 24, 2017 3:13PM EDT

3 Environmental Targets of Trump's Proposed Budget

A lead prevention program could end depending on how Congress alters the proposal.
Bristol Bay in Naknek, Alaska, on July 6, 2007.
Yessenia Funes  May 12, 2017 12:09PM EDT

EPA Clears Path for Alaskan Mining Project

The Obama administration blocked the Pebble Mine Project in 2014 out of concern for its impact on waterways and dependent communities.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks at a press conference where he addressed issues related to the city's murder rate and the city's Sanctuary City policy on January 25, 2017, in Chicago.
Yessenia Funes  May 8, 2017 11:04AM EDT

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel Puts Climate Change Data Trump's EPA Dumped on His City's Website

 “The Trump Administration can attempt to erase decades of work from scientists and federal employees on the reality of climate change, but burying your head in the sand doesn’t erase the problem,” Emanuel said in a statement.
The tide comes in on a beach along the Chukchi Sea on July 7, 2015, in Shishmaref, Alaska. Worries have returned to locals amid the administration reopening the Arctic regions, including the Chukchi sea, to offshore drilling.
Yessenia Funes  May 4, 2017 12:37PM EDT

Trump Administration Is Hit With 2 Environmental Lawsuits in 1 Day

Both relate to fossil fuel companies and their restrictions (or lack thereof).
Colorlines screenshot of archived and current EPA 'climate change' pages, taken on May 1, 2017.
Yessenia Funes  May 1, 2017 1:23PM EDT

Major Changes Hit the EPA's Climate Change Web Page

A day before the People’ Climate March, the administration decided it was time for an overhaul. 
Fencing surrounds the coal-fired Intermountain Power Plant on March 28, 2016, outside Delta, Utah. The IPP generates more then 13 million megawatt hours of coal-fired energy each year to Utah and Southern California.
Yessenia Funes  Apr 14, 2017 1:28PM EDT

The EPA Reversed a Rule That Would Protect People from Toxic Water

“This is appalling,” said a representative of the Sierra Club.
Scott Pruitt heads the Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump.
Yessenia Funes  Apr 4, 2017 11:04AM EDT

EPA Set to Lose Key Prevention Programs Under Budget Cuts

According to a leaked internal budget memo, hundreds of jobs will also be cut.  
A supervisor takes a break from hoeing a cabbage field with Mexican farm workers on September 27, 2016, in Holtville, California.
Yessenia Funes  Mar 30, 2017 2:34PM EDT

Pruitt Shoots Down Pesticide Ban in First Major Move as EPA Head

There could be serious health consequences for farmworkers, children and surrounding communities in danger of drinking water sources polluted with chlorpyrifos.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People on March 19, 2017, in Beijing, China.
Yessenia Funes  Mar 24, 2017 2:52PM EDT

State Department's 'Climate Change' Page Dramatically Altered Online

The revision happened within a day of Secretary Rex Tillerson’s confirmation.
School buses carry children across the vast Navajo Nation south of Rock Point December 5, 2002, on the Navajo Indian Reservation, Arizona.
Yessenia Funes  Mar 22, 2017 12:56PM EDT

Navajo Nation Slams Mining Company for Contaminated Water Disposal

“This is another prime example of environmental racism,” said Leona Morgan of Haul No!, an indigenous-led initiative.
A stop sign stands outside the Environmental Protection Agency building on May 24, 2013, in Washington, DC.
Yessenia Funes  Mar 17, 2017 4:15PM EDT

EPA Gives $100M Grant to Flint So It Can Fix Its Water Infrastructure

Yet critics doubt the money can save the city from the president’s proposed cuts to the agency.
A sign displayed in a front yard request that residents keep fro playing in the dirt or mulch at the West Calumet Housing Complex on September 4, 2016, in East Chicago, Indiana.
Yessenia Funes  Mar 16, 2017 1:40PM EDT

A Water Crisis Like Flint's Is Unfolding In East Chicago

The soil and water of this predominantly Black and Latinx city contain dangerous levels of lead.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Capitol Hill January 18, 2017, in Washington, D.C.
Yessenia Funes  Mar 14, 2017 12:30PM EDT

Climate Scientists to EPA Head: 'We Face Grave Risks' from Climate Change

Thirty experts responded to Scott Pruitt’s assertion that carbon dioxide is not a primary contributor to climate change.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Capitol Hill January 18, 2017, in Washington, D.C.
Yessenia Funes  Mar 9, 2017 2:58PM EST

EPA Head Says CO2 Isn't Primary Contributor to Climate Change

However, 97 percent of climate scientists agree it is.
Mustafa Ali, former EPA environmental justice official, speaks on human rights and the environment during an event by the Wilson Center on June 22, 2016.
Yessenia Funes  Mar 9, 2017 12:25PM EST

Senior EPA Environmental Justice Official Leaves Agency, Joins Hip Hop Caucus

Mustafa Ali has been with the agency for 24 years. 
Hubert Roberson wears a mask to a prayer service before participating in a national mile-long march to highlight the push for clean water in Flint, Michigan, February 19, 2016. Communities like Flint would be impacted by this office's elimination.
Yessenia Funes  Mar 6, 2017 12:54PM EST

ICYMI: EPA Proposed Budget Cuts Include Eliminating Environmental Justice Office

John Coequyt of the Sierra Club: “To cut the environmental justice program at EPA is just racist.”