The Trump EPA Is a Toothless Friend of Polluting Industries, Analysis Shows

Lasting damage to public health

By Peter Aldhous

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.

By its own account, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is doing a fantastic job. In a March report on its performance in the last fiscal year, the agency boasted that it had concluded 2,127 civil enforcement cases, “the highest in nine years.”

That number wasn’t wrong, but it was very misleading, an Inside Climate News analysis of EPA data reveals. 

For starters, the 2025 fiscal year included the last three-and-a-half months of Joe Biden’s presidency. Comparing years beginning on Jan. 20 casts the current EPA’s record in a much less forgiving light. New lawsuits filed against the most egregious polluters—one of the strongest weapons in the EPA’s enforcement arsenal—have fallen off a cliff under the second Trump administration. 

Meanwhile, the EPA has shifted how it approaches the administrative orders that comprise the vast bulk of its enforcement. It’s imposing fewer monetary penalties in favor of orders that merely require offenders to clean up their act.

Those compliance orders are now dominated by small-scale actions against public water systems, slapping officials on the wrist for failing to file inventories of and inform customers about water service lines made of lead. 

While it’s important to address potential contamination of drinking water with a potent neurotoxin, these orders represent an administrative checkpoint in a much longer process of pipe replacement mandated by the Biden administration. They are a far cry from tough action against violators in the oil and gas industry and other major polluters and have allowed Donald Trump’s EPA to pad its numbers with activities that impose little cost on offenders.

URI biologist to lead $4 million NSF grant to advance wetland restoration in Rhode Island and Louisiana

Funding supports Ying Zhang’s project to advance wetland resilience across U.S. coastal systems

Kristen Curry 

Students in Ying Zhang’s lab conduct field
sampling at Succotash Marsh in South Kingstown
this summer, part of the groundwork
assessing biomarkers in marsh
monitoring. (URI Photo / Y. Zhang)

Ying Zhang, professor of cell and molecular biology at the University of Rhode Island, recently received a $4 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation to co-lead a collaboration with Louisiana State University to improve coastal wetland management in both states.

A computational biologist, Zhang, of South Kingstown, brings to the project a background that includes computer science and expertise in microbial diversity and molecular ecology. 

Now she’ll bring that interdisciplinary background to lead this new project at URI, with Hui Zhou in URI’s Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, Erin Peck in URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography, and colleagues at the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and Roger Williams University. 

Zhang’s diverse training gives her a unique perspective on solving problems across traditional disciplinary boundaries, she said.

The Ecological-Economic Collaboratory for Advancing coastal wetland REstoration and REsilience (EcoCARE) project addresses the need for expanded research on coastal wetland restoration in both regions. A team of scientists, practitioners, policy experts, and stakeholders from Rhode Island and Louisiana will develop innovative methods in AI-enhanced modeling, wetland valuation, molecular biomonitoring, and restoration financing.

Although Zhang has led previous NSF grant-funded initiatives, including a CAREER award and an EPSCoR fellowship, she is now leading the multi-institutional EPSCoR project for the first time under the Focused Collaborations Program. She has been meeting with the team since last fall and is looking forward to the work getting underway.

In the Sept. 9 Democratic Primary, vote to re-elect Rep. Tina Spears

NEWS FROM THE RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN FOR TINA SPEARS AUGUST 2026 Common Sense. Common Good. Conserving the Ocean State. As your Representative, I’ve worked to protect our coastline, forests, parks, and clean water through smart investments and commonsense policies, ensuring Rhode Island remains a place future generations are proud to call home.   Promises made. Promises kept. Delivered $53 million to protect forests, parks, farmland, clean water, and our coastline. ​Protected public shoreline access and the Charlestown Breachway ​Invested in healthy forests, wildlife habitat, and climate resilience. ​Passed landmark protections against PFAs (“forever chemicals”) to protect drinking water and public health. ​Reduced harmful toxins by banning dangerous rodenticides that threaten wildlife. ​Advanced conservation efforts to preserve open space, forests, and farmland. ​Led the effort to establish a Bottle Bill implementation study to develop solutions that reduce litter, increase recycling, and keep bottles and cans out of our waterways and neighborhoods.   What’s next I will continue supporting practical environmental solutions that protect our communities, strengthen resilience, and preserve the character of Southern Rhode Island. Get your yard sign! Contact Tina at tina@tinaspearsri.com or call Kathleen 401 439 4469 to get yours! If you'd like to donate to Tina's re-eelction campaign, please make personal checks payable to: The Friends of Tina Spears 82 Hillside Drive Charlestown, RI 02813   Or click HERE to contribute online or scan the QR code Want to volunteer on Tina's re-election campaign? Contact us here. We have lots of fun and we'll keep Tina in the State House! Get our latest updates! Add your email... Subscribe State law prohibits the acceptance of any corporate or business checks. Only individuals and RI registered PACs may contribute. RI law requires contributors to note place of employment. Contributions are limited to $2,000 per person per calendar year, and are not tax-deductible. Visit our social accounts tinaspearsri.com

Trump killed the National Nature Assessment but volunteer scientists finished it anyway

The government canceled this nature study. Scientists kept going anyway.

By Neha Pathak, Yale Climate Connections

Most of us sense it without being told why: A walk in the woods or an hour in the park leaves us calmer, clearer, and restored. Increasingly, modern science agrees. A growing body of evidence links time in nature to better physical and mental health – and a major new effort is working to document exactly what that evidence shows.

That effort is called the Nature Record, and its survival is a story in itself. It began as the National Nature Assessment, a federal undertaking modeled on the long-running National Climate Assessment and mandated by a Biden-era executive order. 

Roughly 180 scientists volunteered to develop about a dozen chapters. The project had reached an early public-comment draft when the Trump administration canceled it. 

Rather than abandon the work, the authors decided to finish it independently under a new name, with foundation funding and National Academy of Sciences review. The report is now under revision, with the final release slated for December 2026.* 

Howard Frumkin, a physician-epidemiologist and a professor emeritus at the University of Washington, led the assessment’s chapter on human health. Yale Climate Connections spoke with him about how the report survived, what the science says about nature’s health benefits, why those benefits aren’t shared equally, and what it all means for communities and the healthcare system.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

DOJ’s Environmental Enforcement Has Collapsed in the Second Trump Administration, Former Attorneys Say

Trump mission is to promote fossil fuels at all costs

By Dana Drugmand

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.

Tom Mariani spent nearly 40 years working as an environmental attorney inside the U.S. Department of Justice. But the return of President Donald Trump to office last year marked the end of his government career. 

His departure was part of a mass exodus of civil servants across the federal government, including at the DOJ, in the beginning of the second Trump administration. Over the last year and half, thousands of career attorneys have exited the department, and many of its litigating divisions have been drastically downsized. The Civil Rights Division lost 70 percent of its attorneys within the first few months. The Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) lost more than a quarter of its workforce. 

In June, the Trump administration announced that it would be dropping the word “environment” and replacing it with “energy” in a renamed Energy and Natural Resources Division with a re-tooled mission, “advancing U.S. energy dominance.” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson, the division’s new head, said in an emailed statement that “faithfully” enforcing environmental laws remains a central part of protecting “clean air, water, and land for all Americans.” 

“There’s nothing incompatible about unleashing American energy and making America healthy again. We are achieving both,” he said. 

But half a dozen former ENRD attorneys tell a different story, citing a substantial decline in the division’s enforcement of environmental laws and warning that this  “collapse,” as one of those attorneys called it, threatens public health, the environment and the rule of law. 

In the first year of Trump’s second term, the DOJ filed just 16 civil suits against polluters on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Environmental Integrity Project reported earlier this year. That number is an 81 percent drop from the first year of Trump’s first term and 76 percent lower than the first year of the Biden administration. 

Matthew Nies, a DOJ spokesperson, noted a string of “significant environmental enforcement and defense work” since the start of the second Trump administration, including a $100 million air pollution penalty won at trial against a coke plant near Detroit. The case was filed in 2022 by the prior administration.

The former ENRD attorneys, and numerous environmental advocates, countered that the DOJ has named a former ExxonMobil attorney as the division’s senior counsel, intervened on behalf of polluters and gone on offense for the fossil fuel industry, suing states over their climate policies and efforts to hold oil companies accountable. 

The Richest 10% Cause up to $5.7 Trillion in Environmental Damage Each Year

Anyone surprised?

By University of Oxford

A relatively small share of the world’s population may be causing environmental damage on the same financial scale as the global effort needed to repair it. 

According to a new study, the highest-consuming 10% of people generate an estimated $1.7 trillion to $5.7 trillion in environmental harm each year, several times more, at the central and upper estimates, than current international commitments for climate action and biodiversity conservation combined.

Published in Communications Sustainability, the analysis places a monetary value on damage across four major planetary boundaries: climate change, biodiversity loss, nutrient pollution, and freshwater use. 

The findings offer a stark measure of how heavily environmental pressures are concentrated among the world’s most resource-intensive consumers.

Sen. Victoria Gu gives her review on the recently ended General Assembly session

Highlights from a productive session 

By Victoria Gu

Dear Friends and Neighbors,  We’ve finished another legislative session! After many nights of long committee hearings, bill sponsors and committee chairs work on their bill edits, and June is when bills can be approved for votes in committee and then gain final passage in the House & Senate.  New Leadership: In the past month the RI House of Representatives also elevated Majority Leader Blazejewski to the position of House Speaker and Majority Whip Katie Kazarian to the position of House Whip. Congratulations to them and the outgoing Speaker Joseph Shekarchi for their years of service.

Bills I Passed

Shoreline Access Disclosure for Oceanfront Property Rentals: The House & Senate passed my bill S-2734A to help make sure renters and short-term rental guests understand Rhode Island’s shoreline access rights. Part of the motivation for this bill came from seeing some short-term rental listings advertise a “private beach,” even though Rhode Island law protects public shoreline access up to 10 feet above the recognizable high tide line. This bill helps make sure visitors and tenants get clear information about those rights before they stay at an oceanfront property.  Food is Medicine: The General Assembly has passed my Food as Medicine bill, which creates a task force to design a Medicaid pilot program that uses medically tailored meals or other nutritional supports  to improve the health of patients with chronic, diet-related conditions.  Food insecurity is strongly linked to many of the most costly preventable chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity, which drive enormous health care spending.  Medicaid accounts for about one-third of our state budget and is growing at an estimated 6% per year. Our budget will have a growing deficit unless we look at evidence-based programs like food as medicine. 60 Days Advance Notice of Home Insurance Non-Renewals: Insurance companies are being a lot more selective about the location and the condition of the houses they insure, declining to cover homes in coastal areas or with older roofs or water heaters. The bill that Rep. Azzinaro and I passed requiring 60 days’ advance notice will help homeowners find alternative insurance coverage and find tradespeople if they need to fix something at their house in order to continue insurance coverage.

Spotlight: Youth Mental Health

988 on Student & Staff Ids: Last week the General Assembly passed a bill Rep Earl Read & I sponsored to put suicide prevention and substance use crisis hotline numbers directly on student and school staff ID cards. At a time when young people are facing growing mental health challenges, we need to promote awareness of resources like 988. The General Assembly also passed a youth crisis response service bill that codifies a successful pilot program into law. The program helps kids in crisis by getting them fast, specialized care with behavioral health clinicians (avoiding unnecessary emergency room visits) and connecting families to ongoing support. Thank you to constituents who wrote to me about the importance of funding 988: This year, the Senate also advanced a separate bill by Senator Melissa Murray to protect the long-term funding of Rhode Island's 988 crisis line and BH Link services. More than 90% of 988 calls are resolved through phone support alone, connecting people with trained counselors before a crisis escalates. The bill stalled in the House, but we hope to pass it next year. More info here

Looking ahead: Vote for the Green Bond this Nov & Op-Ed on Managed Retreat

We got an extra $5 million for climate resiliency in the Green Bond which will be on the ballot in November! Annually, each town can apply for grants from this pool of funding to strengthen their infrastructure. One example: Westerly received funding for a flood wall around a pump station for the wastewater treatment plant.  Managed Retreat: These photos I took in South Kingstown show how shoreline armoring—like rock walls and elevated structures—disrupt the dynamic beach ecosystem and make it harder for people to walk along the beach. As sea levels rise and more coastal property owners build hard structures to protect against erosion, the public part of the beach gets narrower, and in these pictures, it has become impossible to pass along the shoreline. That's why we need to plan ahead before the next major storm. Instead of repeatedly rebuilding in areas that face increasing flood and erosion risks, towns can identify safer places for homes and infrastructure over the long term. Read more about our work to help Rhode Island communities prepare for rising seas and protect public access to our shoreline:  https://www.providencejournal.com/story/opinion/columns/2026/04/18/rhode-islands-managed-retreat-plan-for-rising-seas-opinion/89628806007/

Next rail advocates meeting: June 22nd 6pm @ Westerly Library

Budget Highlights

62-65 year old early retirees will now get the same exemptions from Social Security tax as people 65 and older. Seniors still must have incomes under $107,000 for single filers and $133,750 for married filers in tax year 2025, to qualify. Child Tax Credit - see this press release Rural Health Transformation Grant - RI received over $150 million in the first year of this federal program and will use it to implement innovative programs like Community Paramedicine - see this website for more information. Stay tuned for more healthcare highlights and impacts of HR1 on our healthcare system

Read the full budget press release

Senate Highlights

Labor Protections: We passed many noteworthy bills like S-2921 to give domestic workers the same protections under the Fair Employment Practices Act (FEPA) as other Rhode Island workers. Immigration bills: see this press release and another for protecting constitutional rights Education Funding Formula: only minor changes this year by increasing the “student success factor” - which is an additional amount of funding for each low-income student - from 40% to 43%. We will need to monitor the new Senate commission to study the funding formula, specifically the one suggested by the Blue Ribbon Commission Status of CRMC reform bill: The bill that passed last year required the Governor to appoint members with expertise in coastal matters. There are some new members that the Senate confirmed this year with expertise with civil engineering, coastal wetlands, law, etc. but it remains to be seen whether the political dynamic will change and I still support the overall reform that would restructure CRMC so it’s similar to DEM, with a staff and director making the decisions instead of a politically appointed all-volunteer council. Status of Bottle Deposit & Recycling bills: The bill that passed last year began the first stage which is a needs-assessment to look at our recycling system as a whole. That is still in progress