Legal Planet

MARCH 31, 2025

(Klamath River Dam removal project [credit: Los Angeles Times]) Most of the environmental law and policy matters discussed on Legal Planet–especially over the past few months–have dealt with natural resource crises, environmental rollbacks, hostile political actors and actions in Washington, D.C., etc. So let me take this opportunity to share an upbeat and inspirational environmental story in these otherwise troubled environmental times.

Law

Inside Climate News

MARCH 31, 2025

The Cape Sable seaside sparrow is threatened by some of the most complex water management infrastructure on Earth in the Everglades, and now sea level rise. By Amy Green Floridas Cape Sable seaside sparrow is a rare and secretive bird that dwells within the marl prairie of the remote Everglades, a watershed that is among the most altered on Earth.

Sea Level

Legal Planet

MARCH 31, 2025

Business investment decisions rely on stability. And stability is in short supply so far in this Trump administration. Instead, weve seen an erratic blitzkrieg of activity on tariffs, federal funding, and deregulation that has spooked all sorts of industries. Thats partly why Heatmap News has declared Trump Degrowth Donald, and why my Legal Planet colleague Jonathan Zasloff has cheered the tariffs as a stupid but potentially effective way to reduce emissions.

Clean Energy

Environmental News Bits

MARCH 31, 2025

by David Bowman, University of Tasmania and Calum Cunningham, University of Tasmania For centuries, fire was one of the major fears for city-dwellers. Dense cities built largely of wood could and did burn. In 1666, a fire in a bakery went on to destroy two-thirds of the city of London, leaving 85% of residents homeless. … Continue reading Fires used to terrify city residents.

Climate Change

Speaker: Jason Chester, Director, Product Management

In today’s manufacturing landscape, staying competitive means moving beyond reactive quality checks and toward real-time, data-driven process control. But what does true manufacturing process optimization look like—and why is it more urgent now than ever? Join Jason Chester in this new, thought-provoking session on how modern manufacturers are rethinking quality operations from the ground up.

2025

PA Environment Daily

MARCH 31, 2025

The House Environmental & Natural Resource Protection Committee is scheduled to meet April 7 to consider House Bill 109 (Vitali-D-Delaware) establishing an environmental justice permit review program in DEP to consider cumulative impacts of pollutants on communities already burdened by pollution. Also on the agenda is House Bill 969 (Pielli-D-Chester) requires outdoor night lighting practices that reduce light pollution from public facilities.

Natural Resources

Legal Planet

MARCH 31, 2025

This is the fifth in a series of posts on the reasons we might have environmental review. The first post is here. The second post is here. The third post is here. The fourth post is here. Judicial review to enforce NEPA ensures that agencies actually take environmental review requirements seriously, as opposed to producing meaningless, general statements with little or no information.

Politics

PA Environment Daily

MARCH 31, 2025

Seven years ago people from more than 70 households began testifying to a Statewide Grand Jury about the impacts of the shale gas industry on their health, their lives and their communities. Five years ago, the Statewide Grand Jury issued its report documenting these impacts in a way the jurors-- ordinary Pennsylvanians-- said, provided us with a sound and detailed understanding of the realities of this industry and the problems associated with fracking in our Commonwealth.

Natural Gas

Legal Planet

MARCH 31, 2025

Who has the power to make an environmental decision? Foundational legal rules address this issue, allocating authority between the White House, federal agencies, federal courts, and state governments. Trump is trying to corrode those rules to take effective power over the environment into his own hands. The President v. Agencies. One of the allocations of powers has been in the executive branch.

Fossil Fuels

Environmental News Bits

MARCH 31, 2025

Read the fact sheet from Safer States. A strong and consistent definition for PFAS forever chemicals is critical for use in government and corporate policies. Creating loopholes for certain PFAS chemicals from regulation is problematic because it will continue to allow contamination and slow the search for safer alternatives.

Regulations

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC)

MARCH 31, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Laura Zaks, Associate Director of Communications and Development press@sustainableagriculture.net Release: Cynthia Hayes Memorial Scholarship Now Accepting Applications The Cynthia Hayes Memorial Scholarship honors the co-founder of the first network for African American organic farmers in the United States. Washington, DC, March 28, 2025 Last week, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) and the Southeastern African American Farmers Organic Network (

2025

Speaker: Kevin Kai Wong, President of Emergent Energy Solutions

In today's industrial landscape, the pursuit of sustainable energy optimization and decarbonization has become paramount. ♻️ Manufacturing corporations across the U.S. are facing the urgent need to align with decarbonization goals while enhancing efficiency and productivity. Unfortunately, the lack of comprehensive energy data poses a significant challenge for manufacturing managers striving to meet their targets. 📊 Join us for a practical webinar hosted by Kevin Kai Wong of Emergent Ene

2024

Environmental News Bits

MARCH 31, 2025

Read the full story at Gizmodo. A Nature poll of more than 1,000 scientists revealed that 75% of them are considering leaving the United States due to the uncertainties caused by the Trump administrations slashing of federal and university funding. Since the second Trump term began, it has slashed research funding to universities and federal … Continue reading Poll finds that 75% of scientists are thinking about leaving the U.S.

The Applied Ecologist

MARCH 31, 2025

Shortlisted for the 2024 Southwood Prize Janina Heinen talks us through her and colleagues’ latest study which explores how agricultural practices impact predation pressure across prey taxa. About the research Overview We explored predator-prey dynamics in agroecosystems by examining how carabid predator diet preferences shift throughout the crop growing season, and are influenced by the availability of prey under different agricultural management practices.

Regulations

Environmental News Bits

MARCH 31, 2025

Read the full story from the Universities of Wisconsin. When it comes to PFAS research and education, Seyed Javad Amirfakhri is professionally and personally invested. Amirfakhri is an Assistant Professor of Paper science and Chemical Engineering at UW-Stevens Point who is conducting innovative PFAS removal research.

Yale E360

MARCH 31, 2025

Climate models predict that as the planet warms, so will the Southern Ocean. But for decades, the waters around Antarctica have grown mysteriously cooler. A new study shows why.

Ocean

Speaker: Andrew Skoog, Founder of MachinistX & President of Hexis Representatives

Manufacturing is evolving, and the right technology can empower—not replace—your workforce. Smart automation and AI-driven software are revolutionizing decision-making, optimizing processes, and improving efficiency. But how do you implement these tools with confidence and ensure they complement human expertise rather than override it? Join industry expert Andrew Skoog as he explores how manufacturers can leverage automation to enhance operations, streamline workflows, and make smarter, data-dri

Technology

Environmental News Bits

MARCH 31, 2025

Read the full story at Trellis. Convincing consumers to feel good about opting for reusable cups comes down to two core best practices it cant cost them anything more than single-use alternatives and the process of returning the container after the beverage is consumed needs to be easy.

Arnold Porter

MARCH 31, 2025

On March 31, 2025, the Eastern District of Texas granted the laboratory plaintiffs’ motions for summary judgment and vacated U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) LDT Final Rule, ruling in favor of the American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA) and the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP). Laboratories are thus breathing a sigh of relief given that the original enforcement date of May 2025 was quickly approaching.

2025

Environmental News Bits

MARCH 31, 2025

From the book’s summary on the publisher’s website [publication date: 5/6/25]: A landmark investigation of the chemical industrys decades-long campaign to hide the dangers of forever chemicals, told through the story of a small town on the frontlines of an epic public health crisis In 2014, after losing several friends and relatives to cancer, an … Continue reading Upcoming book: They Poisoned the World: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals

2014

Nanotech

MARCH 31, 2025

On March 21, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard oral argument in a case challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) May 3, 2024, final rule amending the procedural framework rule for conducting risk evaluations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (USW) v.

Toxic Substances Control Act

Speaker: Antoine M. Thompson, Executive Director of the Greater Washington Region Clean Cities Coalition

Diversity, Equity, Justice, and Inclusion (DEJI) policies, programs, and initiatives are critically important as we move forward with public and private sector climate and sustainability goals and plans. Underserved and socially, economically, and racially disadvantaged communities bear the burden of pollution, higher energy costs, limited resources, and limited investments in the clean energy and transportation sectors.

Clean Energy

Environmental News Bits

MARCH 31, 2025

Read the full story at ESG Dive. President Donald TrumprepealedseveralBiden-eradirectives and memorandumsmeant to boost clean energy manufacturingvia executive orderon March 14. Five of former President Joe Bidens memorandums specifically focused on strengthening domestic and defense industrial bases for clean energy, including supply chains,solarmanufacturing,electric heat pumps,platinum group metals, electrolyzers and fuel cells andinsulation.

Clean Energy

Physics World

MARCH 31, 2025

Disabled people in science must be recognized and given better support to help reverse the numbers of such people dropping out of science. That is the conclusion of a new report released today by the National Association of Disabled Staff Networks (NADSN). It also calls for funders to stop supporting institutions that have toxic research cultures and for a change in equality law to recognize the impact of discrimination on disabled people including neurodivergent people.

Law

Environmental News Bits

MARCH 31, 2025

Read the full story from Utility Dive. Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have called on eight environmental organizations that received grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to submit documents, communications and other internal records related to the funding they received.

Environmental Protection

Physics World

MARCH 31, 2025

Neutron-activated gold Novel activation imaging technique enables real-time visualization of gold nanoparticles in the body without the use of external tracers. (Courtesy: Nanase Koshikawa from Waseda University) Gold nanoparticles are promising vehicles for targeted delivery of cancer drugs, offering biocompatibility plus a tendency to accumulate in tumours.

Radiation

Speaker: Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions

Is your manufacturing operation reaching its efficiency potential? A Manufacturing Execution System (MES) could be the game-changer, helping you reduce waste, cut costs, and lower your carbon footprint. Join Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions, in this value-packed webinar as he breaks down how MES can drive operational excellence and sustainability.

Waste

Environmental News Bits

MARCH 31, 2025

It’s been a little over two months since Inauguration Day and there have been so many changes so quickly that it’s difficult to see the big picture. Below is a list of tools for tracking the administration’s actions and impacts on scientific research, sustainability, and access to government information. If there’s a tool you think … Continue reading Tools for tracking Trump 2.

Government

Physics World

MARCH 31, 2025

A new artificial intelligence/machine learning method rapidly and accurately characterizes binary neutron star mergers based on the gravitational wave signature they produce. Though the method has not yet been tested on new mergers happening “live”, it could enable astronomers to make quicker estimates of properties such as the location of mergers and the masses of the neutron stars.

2015

Environmental News Bits

MARCH 31, 2025

Read the full story at Trellis. The first time President Donald Trump yanked the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement in May 2017, 30 big-name CEOs at companies ranging from 3M to The Walt Disney Co. published a letter urging him to change his mind. This time around, not so much.

Paris Agreement

Arnold Porter

MARCH 31, 2025

The Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (CBCA or Board) recently released its remand decision in Eagle Peak Rock & Paving, Inc. v. Department of Transportation , CBCA 7832(5692)-REM , after the Federal Circuit reversed its prior decision for applying the incorrect standard of review for contract terminations. This appeal offers important lessons to contractors on how to effectively challenge a termination: most importantly, contemporaneously document events pertinent to the termination and ap

Speaker: Laurie Schoeman Director, Climate & Sustainability, Capital

As households and communities across the nation face challenges such as hurricanes, wildfires, drought, extreme heat and cold, and thawing permafrost and flooding, we are increasingly searching for ways to mitigate and prevent climate impacts. During this event, national climate and housing expert Laurie Schoeman will discuss topics including: The two paths for climate action: decarbonization and adaptation.

2022

Physics World

MARCH 31, 2025

Waseem completed his DPhil in physics at the University of Oxford in the UK, where he worked on applied process-relational philosophy and employed string diagrams to study interpretations of quantum theory, constructor theory, wave-based logic, quantum computing and natural language processing. At Oxford, Waseem continues to teach mathematics and physics at Magdalen College, the Mathematical Institute, and the Department of Computer Science.

2021

Yale E360

MARCH 31, 2025

Climate models predict that as the planet warms, so will the Southern Ocean. But for decades, the waters around Antarctica have grown mysteriously cooler. A new study shows why.

Ocean

Physics World

MARCH 31, 2025

Core physics This apple tree at Woolsthorpe Manor is believed to have been the inspiration for Isaac Newton. (Courtesy: Bs0u10e01/CC BY-SA 4.0) Physicists in the UK have drawn up plans for an International Year of Classical Physics (IYC) in 2027 – exactly three centuries after the death of Isaac Newton. Following successful international years devoted to astronomy (2009), light (2015) and quantum science (2025), they want more recognition for a branch of physics that underpins much of everyday l

2027

Scientific American

MARCH 31, 2025

Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and an international banking group have quietly concluded that climate change will likely exceed the Paris Agreement's 2 degree goal and are examining how to maintain profits

Climate Change

Advertisement

Sustainability impacts every nation, company, and person around the world. So much so that, in 2015, the United Nations (UN) issued a call for action by all countries to work toward sustainable development. In response to this and as part of a global Sustainability at Retail initiative, Shop! worked collaboratively with its global affiliates to address these critical issues in this white paper.

Sustainable Development