💨 Trump moves to gut EPA’s environmental justice office
The EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice is on the chopping block, with staffers told they could soon be placed on administrative leave. The move follows Trump’s executive order to eliminate all federal environmental justice programs, which protect poor and minority communities from disproportionate pollution. And the agency has already taken down its EJScreen mapping tool—because if you can’t see the problem, does it even exist?
📌 Sources:
📰 EPA environmental justice workers facing mass removal – New York Times
📰 Michigan activists prepare for industry-run EPA – MLive
📰 Trump targets environmental justice executive orders – Inside Climate News
⛔ Trump’s funding freeze is already breaking things
Trump’s EPA has slammed the brakes on climate, disaster relief, and energy projects by freezing federal grants—including those for the Great Lakes and solar initiatives. The move is already causing economic damage, leaving environmental groups scrambling while key government web pages on climate mysteriously vanish. Meanwhile, scientists and advocates are left wondering: if the funding dries up, what’s next on the chopping block?
📌 Sources:
📰 EPA spending freeze illegal? – Politico
📰 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding confusion – MLive
📰 Climate, disaster, and food projects affected – Michigan Advance
📰 Solar energy projects stalled – Floodlight News
📰 Economic harm from climate spending freeze – Canary Media
📰 EPA deletes climate change content – Lever News
📰 Government web pages mysteriously missing – New York Times
🚰 GOP moves to repeal lead pipe rules despite health risks
Republicans are pushing to repeal Biden-era rules requiring lead pipe replacements and lower lead limits in drinking water. If successful, the move would block future mandates to replace toxic pipes, despite overwhelming public support and clear health risks. Critics call it a disaster for public health—because, apparently, lead poisoning just isn’t a priority.
📌 Source: 📰 The Guardian
🚛 Whitmer revives push to hike landfill fees
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is again proposing a big jump in Michigan’s landfill fees, aiming to curb out-of-state waste and fund environmental initiatives. Her plan would raise tipping fees from 36 cents to $5 per ton, generating $80 million for cleanup efforts, recycling programs, and waste management. While environmental groups support the move, waste industry leaders warn it could drive up costs for Michigan residents and businesses. The debate over Michigan’s role as a dumping ground is heating up—again.
📌 Source: 📰 Detroit News
💩 St. Clair Shores to Lake St. Clair: Less poop, more progress
A $30 million sewer upgrade aims to cut sewage and stormwater discharges into Lake St. Clair by 50%. Crews will install a massive new sewer line under Jefferson, helping prevent overflows and basement flooding. Officials say it’s a “transformational” fix—because dumping treated sewage into the lake eight times a year isn’t exactly a great look.
📌 Source: 📰 Detroit News
🦆 Bird flu still flying through Michigan, now killing ducks along Lake Michigan
Nearly a third of Michigan counties have confirmed bird flu cases since 2022, with Alpena the latest to join the list. The highly contagious virus has hit backyard flocks, commercial farms, and even infected dairy workers—while hundreds of dead ducks are now washing up along Lake Michigan. Officials insist the risk to humans is low, but maybe keep your distance from birds (and your omelets well-cooked).
📌 Sources: 📰 Michigan Advance, NBC Chicago
🌮 Detroit’s Latino restaurants go dark for ‘Day Without Immigrants’
Dozens of Latino-owned restaurants, food trucks, and bakeries across metro Detroit shut their doors to protest Trump’s immigration raids. The one-day strike is part of a national movement highlighting the economic power of immigrant communities. Hungry Detroiters may have missed their tacos, but the message was clear: immigrants keep the city—and its kitchens—running.
📌 Source: 📰 Eater Detroit