Houston leads major U.S. cities in poverty, with 21.2% of residents—over 500,000 people—living below the federal threshold...
E.P.A. Workers Who Assist Heavily Polluted Communities Are Put on Leave

The Trump administration has placed 168 Environmental Protection Agency employees on administrative leave, a move widely seen as the first step in shutting down the agency’s Office of Environmental Justice. The office, which supports poor and minority communities disproportionately affected by pollution, was created under the Biden administration and expanded significantly. President Trump’s executive order eliminating environmental justice programs frames them as unnecessary and burdensome to businesses. Observers fear that this action will weaken protections for marginalized communities exposed to toxic air, water, and industrial waste. Critics argue the move dismantles decades of progress in addressing environmental disparities. Meanwhile, Trump’s team, including Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” has been pressuring federal employees to resign. Environmental groups warn that shutting down these programs could exacerbate pollution-related health crises in vulnerable communities.
After 26 years at EPA, environmental justice pioneer Charles Lee retires and joins Howard University’s Environmental and Climate Justice Center, arguing that despite Trump...
Two decades after Hurricane Katrina, overlooked survivors are reclaiming their narratives through TikTok, challenging long-standing portrayals from 2005.
The Sierra Club fired Executive Director Ben Jealous after no-confidence votes, budget cuts, layoffs, and misconduct concerns. Union leaders welcomed his departure...
U.S. clean hydrogen projects are collapsing amid shortened tax credit deadlines, rising energy costs, and policy shifts, leaving most proposals ineligible and investors...
A coalition of nonprofits, tribes, and local governments filed a class-action lawsuit against the EPA, demanding reinstatement of a $3bn climate justice grant program halted...
The Trump administration’s move to revoke the EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases marks a major policy reversal, undermining decades of climate protections...
Ben Jealous was placed on leave by the Sierra Club amid widespread internal dissent over his leadership, with staff citing failed vision, contentious layoffs...
The UN's International Court of Justice declared climate change a human rights issue, advising that nations must act or risk reparations, influencing global litigation...
The Trump administration has targeted over 4,000 federal grants worth up to $8.2 billion for termination across 600+ U.S. colleges, disproportionately affecting public...
The USDA under the Trump administration has eliminated the term “socially disadvantaged” from its policies, ending race- and gender-based support programs for minority farmers...
President Trump's elimination of federal DEI programs has halted essential USDA funding to East Texas Black farmers, further endangering their livelihoods amid decades...
Residents in the Shiloh Community have fought for years to remedy excessive storm water runoff caused by an elevated highway. Now they’re suing.
Amid devastating Texas floods, FEMA’s delayed response raises concerns as President Trump pushes to dismantle the agency, shifting disaster management costs...
The Supreme Court let stand a $14.25 million penalty against ExxonMobil for over 16,000 Clean Air Act violations at its Baytown plant...