Tag: environment

“A War On Nature Is A War On All Of Us”: Trump Admin Slashing Environmental Protections At Record Pace

While most headlines regarding the assaults of the Trump administration on everyday life center around attacks on constitutional protections, civil liberties, and human rights, behind these prominent headlines lies a quieter but just as pervasive onslaught.

From his very first day back in office in January of 2025, President Donald Trump has made rescinding environmental protections a key part of his administration. From the very outset, this corporate kleptocracy has served in the interests of oligarchs, whether they be the Silicon Valley technocrats, or Trump’s deep ties with Big Oil unleashing the fossil fuel industry at their behest, the maximized profits of modern day robber barons has taken precedent over people and the planet.

Promoting Pesticides

First reported by TFTP colleague Derrick Broze, under Trump’s second term biotech and pesticide corporations are experiencing a major boon as the Trump administration promoted the excessive production of the carcinogenic herbicide glyphosate. As Broze reports:

On February 18, 2026, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) titled “Promoting the National Defense by Ensuring an Adequate Supply of Elemental Phosphorus and Glyphosate-Based Herbicides.” The order invokes the Defense Production Act (DPA) and states that the production of glyphosate-based herbicides is essential to US national security.

Bayer, the parent company of major glyphosate producer Monsanto, has significant ties to the Trump White House, having lobbied extensively to protect its pesticide empire and leverage its influence in Washington DC to wreak havoc with its hazardous chemicals.

As reported by US Right to Know,

Bayer’s big wins with the Trump administration come as the company seeks sweeping legal protections from cancer lawsuits – at a time when a growing body of scientific research links glyphosate to cancer and other chronic diseases, and cancer rates are rising among young people across the U.S. Corn Belt.

Furthermore, the administration has carried out notable betrayals of the Make America Healthy Again movement by withdrawing proposed limits on the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemicals which cause significant damage to ecosystems as well as the people exposed to them.

National Forests On The Chopping Block

One of the most devastating assaults on the American wilderness comes in the form of the administration’s targeting of national forests, once considered to be protected but now in the crosshairs of opportunists seeking to extract resources at the expense of destabilizing some of the United States’ most pristine ecosystems.

Along the US-Mexico border in Texas, bulldozers and excavators arrived in early August to begin clearing sections of Big Bend National Park to make way for the construction of a portion of Trump’s border wall following the Department of Homeland Security waiving several key environmental protection laws in June, despite a statistically insignificant (0.045%) percentage of unauthorized crossings in the region. The project, which has been characterized as “inflicting an irreversible scar on the national park”, is anticipated to also utilize heavy dynamite blasting in areas such as Mariscal Mountain.

Due to recent backlash, the construction of the section of the border wall in Texas has been paused, although a similar project in Arizona which also decimates sections of Big Bend National Park as well as sacred indigenous sites is still ongoing.

Elsewhere, the administration is rolling back protections of national forests for logging operations. The Associated Press has reported on the recent roll back of a 25 year old U.S. Forest Service regulation, the roadless rule, which prohibited road construction and large scale timber harvesting in over 58 million acres of the national forest system, approximately 30% of national forest lands nationwide.

Politicians that support rescinding the rule, such as Utah Governor Spencer Cox, have attempted to capitalize on the latest wildfire fearmongering craze to justify the move, despite data consistently indicating wildfire activity has continued to decrease over the years. 

“The roadless rule protects some of the most valuable public lands that belong to all Americans,” said Drew Caputo, a senior attorney with the environmental group, Earthjustice. “It is the most important land protection measure of the last 60 years.”

From Land To Sea

The Trump administration’s attacks against environmental protections have also expanded to affecting the oceans off the coasts of America’s shores. 

A recent order signed by Trump has opened nearly 500,000 square miles of previously protected federal waters to commercial fishing, removing conservation measures across three marine national monuments in the Pacific.

According to Oceanographic, “the move revokes protections in the Mau and Ho’omalu Zones of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the Islands Unit of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument, and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument – areas established to safeguard some of the most ecologically sensitive and culturally significant ocean habitats under US jurisdiction.”

The recent proclamation is the third such action in Trump’s second term. In February, President Trump issued an order which opened the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts monument, the only US Marine National Monument in the Atlantic, to commercial fishing operations.

In April of 2025, a similar executive order removed protections for the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, which covers 490,000 square miles of ocean southwest of Hawaii.

“The Trump administration is dismantling our marine national monuments without public debate,” … “These marine monuments are the ocean’s equivalent of our national parks – places that benefit marine life and cultural heritage and are too important to risk for short-term gain. When we treat protected areas as just another place for industrial activity, we risk undermining those benefits for future generations.” said Dr Miriam Goldstein, Executive Director of the National Ocean Protection Coalition.

Ocean conservationists have characterized the move as selling out America’s natural resources for industry profit.

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The Militarized Insanity of This American Moment

There’s so much militarized crazy in America today that it’s entirely overwhelming. Here’s a “top ten” list:

1. The illegal and unconstitutional war against Iran.

Remember when Trump told us he wouldn’t start wars? Remember when attacks on Iran began, the Trump administration told us they’d be over in a matter of days, perhaps a few weeks, ending in Iran’s total defeat? Instead, the U.S. government and military is engaged in yet another disastrous losing undeclared war that is unsupported by most Americans. As if our opinions matter!

2. The continued blanket support of Israel’s genocide against Gaza, pogroms in the West Bank, and demolition/seizure of land in Lebanon.

The Trump administration remains 100% committed to the project of a “Greater Israel,” no matter how many Palestinians suffer and die in the process.

3. The obscene $500 billion increase in military spending in FY2027.

The U.S. military hasn’t won a major war since 1945. It’s failed eight audits in a row. The “punishment” is a vast increase in military spending in the next fiscal year.

4. The escalatory and nearly impossible Golden Dome proposal.

The golden dome missile defense system is a golden boondoggle for weapons makers. It’s unlikely to work, and if it does, if only partially, it may make nuclear war more likely.

5. The unnecessary “modernization” of the nuclear triad at a projected cost of $2 trillion.

U.S. militarists still believe the nuclear triad is the Holy Trinity. It isn’t. Land-based ICBMs and nuclear bombers should be scrapped as obsolete. The Navy’s Trident-missile-firing submarines are all the U.S. needs for nuclear deterrence.

6. The continued headlong pursuit of artificial intelligence (AI) and the ongoing empowerment and enlargement of the surveillance state.

AI combined with ever-more intrusive cameras and digital monitoring is creating a dystopic “Big Brother” state. Imagine sweeping AI with a steroidal Homeland Security; now imagine the total disappearance of privacy.

7. The war against the ICC and UN and indeed any legal check on U.S./Israeli aggression.

As the U.S. and Israel engage in global aggression, they attack institutions such as the International Criminal Court and the United Nations that attempt to limit and stop that aggression.

8. Related to (7), the proposal to merge the U.S. military with Israel’s for research and development, intelligence sharing, and the like.

Incredibly, the Trump administration is proposing a merger between the U.S. and Israeli militaries that would compromise U.S. national security at the highest levels of classification. Obedient to Aipac and Israeli imperatives, Congress seems prepared ultimately to support it.

9. Continued environmental damage due to war and military operations and the complete disregard of climate change.

Rarely in the U.S. do you hear any talk of how war and global military actions accelerate global warming and aggravate environmental damage. Check out the documentary by Abby Martin, “Earth’s Greatest Enemy,” and her interview with Chris Hedges.

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BUSTED: Democrat Rep. Gabe Vasquez’s Account Made It Look Like He Was Working in New Mexico — While He Was on $11,535 Alaska Backpacking Trip Sponsored by Anti-Drilling Group

Democrat Rep. Gabe Vasquez is facing fresh scrutiny after his congressional office published a steady stream of New Mexico district content while the vulnerable congressman was thousands of miles away on a privately sponsored backpacking trip.

According to a report from the Santa Fe New Mexican, Vasquez’s official X account posted on August 10, 2025, about a supposed visit to Hobbs High School.

“I visited Hobbs High School to help serve lunch and hear about how school meals are keeping kids healthy and focused,” the post read.

There was just one problem. Vasquez was not in Hobbs that day.

Official House travel records show that Vasquez departed El Paso at 7 a.m., flew through Denver, and arrived in Fairbanks, Alaska, later that evening for a weeklong trip sponsored by the American Lands Project.

The trip, which ran from August 10 through August 16, was valued at approximately $11,535 and included transportation, lodging, meals, air-taxi flights, guided hikes, camping, and other expenses.

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‘Scandalous, irrational and irresponsible’: French beekeepers’ fury at lifting of pesticides ban

Beekeepers and environmentalists in France have reacted furiously after parliament approved a bill reauthorising two banned pesticides scientists say can poison bees.

“There are no words to describe the frustration,” said Carolyn Bouguet, a beekeeper in Essonne, greater Paris. “Bee populations have already been badly compromised by climate change, new parasites and loss of habitat. And now this.”

Henri Clément, a beekeeper in the southern Lozère department and spokesperson for the French beekeeping association, UNAF, said the measure was “an absolute disaster for our sector, and for biodiversity as a whole”.

For bees, the risk was “very high mortality rates and reduced harvests”, Clément told local media. “It’s just incomprehensible these pesticides have been reauthorised. We’ve been fighting them for 30 years. It’s scandalous, irrational and irresponsible.”

The law, passed on Tuesday, allows France’s food and environmental safety agency, Anses, to grant waivers authorising the use of the pesticides acetamiprid and flupyradifurone in struggling farm sectors and under exceptional circumstances.

The use of the pesticides, allowed in the EU but banned in France, will be authorised to combat aphid-borne diseases that can ruin crops of sugar beet, apples, hazelnuts and cherries, which has led producers to claim they can no longer compete with European rivals.

Scientific studies have established that acetamiprid, a neonicotinoid with powerful neurotoxic effects, can poison bees, affecting their foraging capacity and memory. A 2024 study suggested flupyradifurone could be lethal to some honeybees.

Greenpeace France said the country’s centrist government and its rightwing allies in parliament were “trampling on science, health, the environment and the clear will of the people”, describing the legislation as “deeply concerning” and “a disgrace”.

France’s environment minister, Monique Barbut, said the legislation was “one environmental setback too many” and submitted her resignation on Wednesday, but was later persuaded to stay on after meeting President Emmanuel Macron.

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B.C. municipality considers recognizing legal rights for trees

A councillor in Saanich, B.C., is asking the municipality to recognize what supporters describe as the “rights of trees” by endorsing the Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Tree.

The motion, introduced this week, would have Saanich formally implement the declaration, which sets out three core principles. It states that trees are living beings and a common good shared by humanity, that all life on Earth depends on their existence, and that people have a responsibility to act toward trees in “fraternity and solidarity.”

The proposal is intended to guide the municipality’s approach to protecting urban forests and recognizing the ecological importance of trees. Supporters argue the declaration reinforces the role trees play in biodiversity, climate resilience and public health.

If adopted, Saanich would join a growing movement to incorporate broader environmental rights into local government policies. The declaration itself is not legally binding, but supporters say it provides an ethical framework for municipal decision-making involving forests and green spaces.

Council is expected to consider the proposal as part of its ongoing discussions on environmental and urban forest policy.

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US-Israeli Bombing Has Harmed Iran’s Wildlife, Farms, and Water Supply

ust a few days before Tehran and Washington signed a now-defunct ceasefire agreement, local media in Iran reported that 25 goitered gazelles were killed in U.S. airstrikes on Kharg Island in the northern Persian Gulf. The small coral island is a key terminal for Iran’s oil exports and its unique wildlife includes white-headed seagulls, hawksbill sea turtles, and ospreys. It also hosts the ruins of a Dutch fort built in 1753. On multiple occasions, U.S. President Donald Trump has brandished the possibility of invading the island of 8,000 people.

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran opened with the most intensive bombing campaign in modern history. Some 23,800 airstrikes were carried out in a span of 39 days, and one of its most consequential impacts was the environmental damage inflicted on Iran’s ecosystems. A June 17 memorandum of understanding halted the hostilities, but Trump notified Congress last week that he was resuming military action. Bombings are becoming a new norm, damaging Iran’s land, air, and water.

From toxic acid rain blanketing the Tehran metro area after Israel bombed the Iranian capital’s oil depots on March 7, to the emission of a substantial volume of greenhouse gases in the early phases of the campaign, the war has caused serious environmental degradation in a country reeling from a range of climate-related crises, water stress, and air quality issues. While international media have failed to consistently cover the negative environmental impacts of the war, environmental nonprofits, academic institutions, and climate advocates have documented extensive damage, only a portion of which has been understood to date.

According to a study by the Climate and Community Institute, 5 million metric tonnes of greenhouse gases were emitted due to the attacks on Iran in first 14 days of the war, which the nonprofit estimated exceeded Iceland’s carbon pollution over an entire year.

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“I’m just a number to them”: Garden Grove residents demand closure of GKN plant after toxic emergency

On Tuesday evening, California officials lifted the remaining mandatory evacuation orders for some 16,000 residents in Garden Grove, California, who live near an overheated chemical tank at a GKN Aerospace facility. Evacuation orders for some 50,000 residents were initially issued last Thursday, rescinded later that same evening, and then reissued Friday morning.

A 34,000-gallon storage tank at the facility containing methyl methacrylate (MMA), a volatile and flammable chemical, was found to be leaking. The chemical is not only dangerous when inhaled, but also posed the risk of causing a massive toxic explosion.

While the evacuation orders were lifted Tuesday night, police and emergency personnel are maintaining a several-block closure around the facility as chemicals continue to leak from the ruptured tank.

In addition to thousands of residences, several schools are also located close to the facility.

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Residents of Polluted Areas Say Trump’s Regulatory Rollbacks Are “Getting Really Scary”

ita Robles’s life is ruled by allergies, the worst effects from which can last for months at a time. She uses rescue inhalers, a nebulizer, and a maintenance inhaler — on top of a slew of other medications. Even then, it’s often not enough.

“There are times when I’m outside just walking to the driveway and it’ll feel like something catches in my throat, and it causes me to go into a choking fit,” Robles told Truthout. “It’s miserable.”

Robles lives in a Houston, Texas, neighborhood suffocated by heavy industry — Denver Harbor, the largest petrochemical hub of the U.S. Robles, 56, calls the neighborhood a “disaster.”

She’s just one of millions of Americans, however, living in communities where people’s quality of life is secondary to the hum of big business — communities at the front line of the government’s regulatory rollbacks and budget cuts.

Since Donald Trump came back into office in January 2025, the federal government has either succeeded in, or is attempting to, weaken and roll back many of the country’s key environmental regulations and other broader programs. Things could get worse if the proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget is approved, with its 52 percent cut in funding under the latest agency head, former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin.

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How America’s Recycling Program Failed—and Scarred the Environment

In March 2019, The New York Times ran a shocking story exploring why many prominent US cities were abandoning their recycling programs.

“Philadelphia is now burning about half of its 1.5 million residents’ recycling material in an incinerator that converts waste to energy,” Times business writer Michael Corkery reported. “In Memphis, the international airport still has recycling bins around the terminals, but every collected can, bottle and newspaper is sent to a landfill.”

Philadelphia and Memphis were not outliers. They, along with Deltona, Florida, which had suspended its recycling program the previous month, were just a few examples of hundreds of cities across the country that had scrapped recycling programs or scaled back operations.

Since that time, cities across the country have continued to scrap recycling programs, citing high costs.

“The cost of recycling was going to double, and the town wasn’t going to be able to absorb that cost,” said Dencia Raish, the town clerk administrator for Akron, Colorado, which ended its program in 2021 and now sends “recyclables” to a landfill.

While many Americans likely are distraught about America’s failed recycling experiment, a new video produced by Kite & Key Media reveals that abandoning recycling—at least in its current form—is likely to benefit both Americans and the environment.

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EV Pollution: Converting the World to EVs Would Be an Environmental Disaster

In 2024, President Biden said he wanted 56% of all new cars sold in the United States to be electric vehicles by 2032. California Governor Gavin Newsom similarly mandated that 35% of new 2026 model cars sold in the state be zero-emissions vehicles, rising to 68% in 2030 and 100% in 2035.

The European Union announced in 2023 that, from 2035 onward, all new cars coming onto the market could not emit any CO2. The United Kingdom similarly announced a 2030 ban on the sale of new diesel and petrol cars.

The reaction from the U.S. auto industry was blunt. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation said it “will take a miracle” for all states following California’s rules to reach 100% new zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035.

They are correct. The environmental impact would be devastating. The people claiming to save the world with electric cars could end up destroying it.

Replacing every vehicle on Earth with an EV, all 1.5 to 1.6 billion of them, would be effectively impossible. There are not enough minerals to manufacture all of the batteries required. In addition, there is not enough global processing capacity, and such a transition would require incredible amounts of labor. Many of these minerals are already being mined by children and by workers laboring under hazardous and toxic conditions that amount to modern slavery.

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