Last year, the nonprofit Climate Central launched an online database to track the most costly weather- and climate-related disasters across the country. The effort was led by the same lead scientist who tracked those costs for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-until the Trump administration axed the project in May. In 2025, the US experienced 23 such disasters with costs totaling at least $1 billion, for a total of $115 billion, Climate Central concluded.
The patchwork efforts to identify and safely remove contamination left by the 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires has been akin to the Wild West. Experts have given conflicting guidance on best practices. Shortly after the fires, the federal government suddenly refused to adhere to California's decades-old post-fire soil-testing policy; California later considered following suit. Meanwhile, insurance companies have resisted remediation practices widely recommended by scientists for still-standing homes.
The House of Representatives cleared the way for a massive overhaul of the federal environmental review process last Thursday, despite last-minute changes that led clean energy groups and moderate Democrats to pull their support. The Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act, or SPEED Act, overcame opposition from environmentalists and many Democrats who oppose the bill's sweeping changes to a bedrock environmental law.
A New Jersey-based charter bus company will be allowed to spew toxic fumes with impunity under a proposed variance granted by the city Department of Environmental Protection as the Adams administration sputters to a close.
How to begin to recount our monumental achievements? Never have so few done so much to so many. A few highlights ... We were willing to be vulnerable. Shared vulnerability brings people together, and by that metric, millions of Americans are now closer than when we started. What we are trying to say is, we uploaded Social Security data to the cloud in a worrisomely insecure way, as one whistleblower noted. Now we're all at risk!
After three consecutive years of climate negotiations hosted by authoritarian regimes, the return of the COP summit to a democracy could not come at a more decisive moment. When world leaders gather in Belem for COP30 this week, they will enter a country that has defied both authoritarianism and environmental collapse, a reminder that democracy delivers where despotism destroys.
AB 289, State highway work zone speed safety program: AB 289 would allow the state to use automated speed cameras to enforce speed limits in areas where roads are under construction or repair. AB 366, Ignition interlock devices: AB 366 would extend the operation of these provisions indefinitely after a driver is found guilty of a DUI and would repeal related reporting requirements. Read more. AB 394, Transit Safety Bill: AB 394 would expand existing legal protections offered to riders
US manufacturers who late last year asked the incoming Trump administration for a "regulatory reset" have seen roughly 80% of their specific regulatory requests acted on in just the first eight months of Trump taking office. The fast action across various agencies comes after 100 manufacturing industry groups sent a letter to then President-elect Donald Trump last December complaining of a "regulatory onslaught" under the Biden administration that the group said was "strangling" the economy.
Landfill tax is currently charged at two rates: a standard rate of £126.15 per tonne and a lower rate of £4.05 per tonne for inert materials like soil, concrete and bricks. The lower rate was introduced because these materials do not break down in ways that cause pollution. From April 2025, the government has proposed phasing out the two-tier system in favour of a single flat rate. Officials argue that this change will "simplify the system, reduce fraud, and better support environmental targets."
"HDOT's Energy Security Plan is a call to action. Together, we can create a transportation system that is cleaner and safer while fulfilling its purpose to connect our communities. The strategies outlined in this plan will help us build out the system for our future generations."
Many politicians love to play fireman, often visiting disaster scenes and advising real firefighters on how they can do things better. No politico does this more than President Trump, who frequently advises California governors they need to rake the forests to prevent fires.
The Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline, proposed by energy giant Williams, would bury about 17 miles of 26-inch-diameter, natural gas pipelines 4 feet under the ocean floor near Staten Island and the Rockaways, with around 10 miles of additional pipeline in New Jersey. According to Williams, the new infrastructure will move enough fracked gas from Pennsylvania to serve more than 2 million New York City homes.
The Trump administration's proposed rule aims to rescind the endangerment finding, undermining the government's legal authority to limit greenhouse gases essential for addressing the climate crisis.
New York State is allocating an additional $200 million to expand its electric school bus program, aimed at increasing the transition to zero-emission vehicles.
Fox said his company, Foxy Development, is moving forward with the project after scrapping some of the most ambitious environmental goals and obtaining new state funding to replace some of the lost EPA money.
