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The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) conducted a survey of 1,586 EPA scientists and interviews to document political interference. Findings reveal that 60% of respondents experienced interference, often from political appointees and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The report details the suppression of climate change and mercury pollution research, barriers to media communication, and a decline in job satisfaction and resources, concluding with recommendations for structural reforms to restore scientific integrity.

The document explains how nuclear power plants use water to absorb waste heat and cool equipment, detailing once-through and closed-cycle cooling systems. It highlights the significant volumes of water required, the environmental impact on aquatic life, and the critical role of the Ultimate Heat Sink (UHS) during accidents. The author argues that the primary safety hazard is not radioactive leakage, but rather the failure of water to reach the plant or leaking into the plant.

The report examines the economic framework of the emerging pharmaceutical crop industry, arguing that while proponents claim significant rural benefits, these are largely unsubstantiated projections. It finds that the primary economic gains are likely to accrue to pharmaceutical companies rather than farmers, who will face limited bargaining power and high risks associated with food supply contamination. The document highlights that the industry's success depends on achieving virtually zero risk of commingling pharma crops with food and feed supplies, a requirement that may significantly increase production costs and offset projected savings.

The testimony by the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) urges the U.S. Senate to oppose the Clear Skies Act (CSA), claiming its emission caps for sulfur, nitrogen, and mercury are too weak and implemented too late to protect public health and the environment. CATF presents modeling showing that alternative proposals, such as the Clean Power Act, would result in significantly fewer deaths by 2020 with negligible increases in retail electricity prices. The document further argues that CSA fails to address carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and would effectively repeal critical Clean Air Act provisions, including New Source Review and visibility protections for National Parks. It concludes that the EPA already possesses the authority to achieve greater gains through existing rules like the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) and mercury MACT standards.

The report asserts that while the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments reduced sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, ecosystems in North America remain damaged due to a 150-year accumulation of acidic compounds. It documents ongoing damage to aquatic life, forests, and wildlife, and argues that biological recovery requires emission cuts up to 80 percent beyond the 1990 mandates. The authors state that affordable technologies, such as scrubbers and renewable energy, are available to achieve these deeper reductions.

The document examines systemic fuel waste within the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), highlighting how a lack of activity-based costing leads to the procurement of inefficient weapons platforms. It details how the actual cost of fuel is often understated because the logistics of delivery—such as midair refueling for B-52s or helicopter transport for tanks—are treated as free. The author presents evidence from a Defense Science Board Task Force and a specific study of the USS Princeton to demonstrate that retrofitting existing equipment and redesigning platforms for efficiency could save billions of dollars annually and enhance operational agility.

The report details the environmental and health risks associated with the disposal of over 100 million tons of annual coal and oil combustion waste in the United States. It highlights that 76 million tons are typically disposed of in unlined, unmonitored onsite lagoons and landfills, leading to groundwater contamination and ecological damage. The authors argue that current state-level regulations are inconsistent and insufficient, and that the EPA's preliminary determination to maintain a regulatory exemption for these wastes ignores significant risks to low-income communities and people of color. The document calls for federal oversight under RCRA to mandate modern environmental controls like liners and groundwater monitoring.

The report details the persistence of climate disinformation across major platforms like X, Meta, TikTok, and YouTube. It identifies key narratives used to discredit renewable energy, the use of extreme weather events (wildfires and hurricanes) to fuel conspiracy theories and incite violence, and the extensive use of Meta's advertising tools by fossil fuel entities for greenwashing and lobbying. The authors argue that platform architectures reward engagement over truth, necessitating systemic policy changes to disrupt the economy of disinformation.

The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) contends that the EPA's proposed MACT standards for coal-fired utility units violate the Clean Air Act (CAA) by using arbitrary subcategories based on coal rank and flawed statistical methods to inflate emission floors. CATF argues that the EPA has ignored available, cost-effective technologies—such as activated carbon injection and fabric filters—that could achieve significantly higher mercury removal rates. The document further asserts that the EPA is legally obligated to regulate all HAPs emitted by these units, not just mercury and nickel, and that proposed compliance extensions are unauthorized and unnecessary given available labor and equipment resources.

The document outlines how states can leverage billions of dollars in federal funding to support the transition to zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (MHDVs). It categorizes funding opportunities into manufacturing, procurement, charging infrastructure, workforce development, emissions monitoring, and state planning, providing specific program details, eligibility, and strategic next steps for state officials.

The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) has launched the Climate Equity and the Clean Energy Transition Project to address the historical trend of placing clean energy infrastructure in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, which often exacerbates existing injustices. The project aims to move from adversarial relationships to cooperative engagement between environmental justice communities, the energy sector, and climate advocates. Key activities include on-site community research, analyzing best practices for clean energy siting to protect public health, and developing a roadmap to modernize federal government programs and budgets to make them more accessible to underserved populations. Additionally, CATF is piloting an online capacity-building tool for community engagement and hosting workshops with environmental justice organizations to redefine decision-making processes and address air quality health impacts. The project focuses on various U.S. rural, tribal, and urban locations, including the Navajo Nation and the Ironbound Community, to produce recommendations for equitable project development and federal program implementation.

The Clean Air Task Force highlights six counties in the Southwest—Mesa and Weld in Colorado, Summit and Iron in Utah, Mineral in Nevada, and Maricopa in Arizona—that have implemented outstanding solar ordinances. These ordinances are noted for balancing growth with protections, streamlining permitting for federal lands, and clarifying project scale through acreage thresholds rather than production capacity.

The document examines the application of environmental taxes, fees, and charges across different sectors in the U.S., including water, air, solid waste, and hazardous waste management. It distinguishes between revenue-raising taxes and cost-offsetting fees, noting that while many instruments are designed to recover administrative costs, some—such as the federal tax on ozone-depleting chemicals and certain state-level hazardous waste taxes—have demonstrated significant incentive effects in reducing pollution. The report also details specific state-level experiments with variable-rate waste collection and wetland compensation fees.

The report examines the CropLife-ECPA proposal for regulatory convergence under TTIP, asserting that the pesticide industry is attempting to use trade negotiations to compel the European Union to abandon its precautionary, hazard-based approach to pesticide regulation in favor of the less stringent risk-assessment model used in the United States. The author argues that this would lead to higher pesticide residues on food, the continued use of endocrine disruptors, and the failure to protect bee populations. Furthermore, the report claims the proposal would restrict public access to safety data and usurp the regulatory authority of US states and EU Member States to implement stronger local protections.

FloodVision provides photorealistic, street-level visuals of projected coastal flooding to help the public understand storm surge risks. The tool uses stereoscopic video, LiDAR, and GPS data combined with generative AI to model flood depths above road level, aligning with National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecasts. Beyond immediate storm response, these visuals are intended for long-term resilience planning, such as securing funding and improving zoning decisions. The guide outlines a process for requesting curated visuals and establishes ethical guidelines to protect private property and ensure the tool supplements, rather than replaces, official government guidance.

The report, produced by a consortium of medical societies, alerts the public and policymakers that climate change is already causing direct and indirect health harms across the United States. It identifies vulnerable populations, such as children and the elderly, and details how extreme heat, weather events, air pollution, and the spread of infectious diseases impact public health. The document advocates for the acceleration of a transition to clean renewable energy as the most critical action to protect health and provide immediate co-benefits like improved air and water quality.

The document criticizes a July 2020 EPA rule that postpones the closure of coal ash ponds, allowing utilities to continue dumping toxic waste into leaking basins until as late as 2038. It asserts that this rollback ignores the risks of groundwater contamination, catastrophic dam failures, and the increased threat of storm-driven flooding due to climate change, disproportionately impacting low-income communities and communities of color.

The document criticizes a proposed EPA rule that would allow coal ash ponds to remain open until 2038, arguing that this delay prolongs the leakage of toxins into groundwater and increases the risk of catastrophic dam failures, disproportionately affecting low-income communities and communities of color.

Coal-fired power plants are identified as the largest source of toxic water pollution in the United States, discharging billions of pounds of heavy metals into waterways annually. A review of 386 plants reveals that nearly 70% of those discharging coal ash and scrubber wastewater have no effluent limits on key toxins like arsenic and mercury, often operating under expired permits. The report highlights severe ecological damage, including massive fish kills in North Carolina and groundwater contamination in Missouri and Illinois, and notes that these plants are frequently located in marginalized communities. While the EPA proposed updated standards, the report argues that political interference from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) weakened these options. It advocates for 'Option 5,' a zero-discharge standard utilizing dry ash handling and vapor compression evaporation, asserting that such controls are cost-effective and would significantly reduce pollution.

The timeline details the evolution of U.S. coal ash and wastewater regulation, beginning with the 2008 Kingston Fossil Plant spill and subsequent lawsuits by Earthjustice. It tracks the introduction of the first coal ash rule and revised Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELG) under the Obama administration, followed by a series of rollbacks and delays proposed by the Trump administration's EPA between 2017 and 2019.