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An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

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Thursday, March 20, 2025

Editor’s note: This op-ed was written by a group of current and former employees of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who have asked to remain anonymous due to concerns about retaliation.The Trump administration is making accusations of fraud, waste, and abuse associated with federal environmental justice programs under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as justification for firing federal workers and defunding critical environmental programs. But the real waste, fraud, and abuse would be to strip away these funds from the American people.As current and former employees at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who developed and implemented the agency’s environmental justice funding and grant programs, we want to offer our first-hand insights about the efficiency and importance of this work. This is not about defending our paychecks. This is about protecting the health of our communities.IRA funding is often described as a “once-in-a-generation investment,” putting billions of dollars toward improving the lives of American families in red, blue, and purple states. Working with communities, we’ve been placing these resources directly into their hands, supporting people to better protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land where we live, learn, work, play, and grow — including key protections from natural disasters. As civil servants, we took an oath to protect and invest in the American public. We are committed to providing effective programs and being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars, and there are many policies in place to ensure our accountability. But despite our careful planning and oversight, the new administration is halting programs Americans depend on for their health and wellbeing. We should work together to demand that the Trump administration restore this critical funding back to the people.The risks of losing a once-in-a-generation investmentThe Bush administration introduced environmental equity (and justice) programming to the EPA in the 1990s. EPA staff working on environmental justice programs partnered with communities to meet their needs and used rigorous systems to track funds and results.The Trump administration recently paused many of these environmental justice programs that fund community-led projects like air, water, and soil testing; training and workforce development; construction or cleanup projects; gardens and tree planting; and preparing and responding to natural disasters. Other examples of the EPA’s environmental justice programs include providing safe shelters during and after hurricanes, land cleanups to reduce communities’ exposure to harmful pollutants, and providing water filters to protect residents from lead in drinking water.This administration has halted funds, claiming “the objectives of the awards are no longer consistent with EPA funding priorities.” In reality, these funds were approved by Congress, and these grants remain in alignment with the agency’s mission to protect human health and the environment. Even though there are court orders to unfreeze billions of dollars in federal grants, the Trump administration continues to withhold this critical money from the people who need it most.We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable to serving the American people, applying the same mandates that we have held our federal workforce and grant recipients to: follow the law, follow the science, and be transparent.Terminating the EPA’s environmental justice programs is hurting our communities and the economySome grant recipients who have lost access to EPA funding had already been working for more than a year on projects that must now be paused. Many recipients have hired local employees and made commitments in their communities.Now that funds are being pulled back, these organizations have had to lay off staff, pause local contracts with private companies and small businesses, and shut down community-driven projects. These attacks will impact the integrity of programs funded by our hard-earned tax dollars and take money away from communities across the country.By withholding promised funding and terminating existing contracts, the Trump administration is exposing the EPA to increased risks of litigation. Relationships that were built through years of meaningful engagement between communities and the federal government are being jeopardized. Organizations, institutions, and companies will likely shy away from future federal grant or contracting opportunities because no one wants to work with someone who doesn’t pay their bills and backs out on their promises.It is a waste of taxpayer dollars for the U.S. Government to cancel its agreements with grantees and contractors. It is fraud for the U.S. Government to delay payments for services already received. And it is an abuse of power for the Trump administration to block the IRA laws that were mandated by Congress.How to take action to restore funding to the American peopleIt can feel impossible to keep up with the news right now, but this story touches all of us. We should pay attention to what’s going on in our communities and find ways to stay engaged, like attending town halls to hear about the local impacts of federal policies and making your voice heard.If you are interested in advocating for the return of federal funding to the American people, we urge you to:Advocate for funding to be restored in your community. Take part in local town hall and other events in your area to advocate for federal funding to be returned to the people. Make your voice heard and claim your right to clean water, clean air, and a safe environment.Learn how the EPA’s environmental justice programs are investing in your state, city, or community. View this environmental justice grants map to see where IRA dollars and funding from the EPA’s environmental justice programs were invested.Learn how federal cuts are impacting your communities. Stay tuned to view a Federal Cuts Tracker Map (we’ll add a link here when it’s live) to read and share stories about how federal cuts are currently impacting your communities.Share on social media. Share our story or similar news stories on social media with #federalfundingfreeze, #federalcuts, or #truthtopower.

The Trump administration is making accusations of fraud, waste, and abuse associated with federal environmental justice programs under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as justification for firing federal workers and defunding critical environmental programs. But the real waste, fraud, and abuse would be to strip away these funds from the American people.

As current and former employees at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who developed and implemented the agency’s environmental justice funding and grant programs, we want to offer our first-hand insights about the efficiency and importance of this work. This is not about defending our paychecks. This is about protecting the health of our communities.

IRA funding is often described as a “once-in-a-generation investment,” putting billions of dollars toward improving the lives of American families in red, blue, and purple states. Working with communities, we’ve been placing these resources directly into their hands, supporting people to better protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land where we live, learn, work, play, and grow — including key protections from natural disasters.

As civil servants, we took an oath to protect and invest in the American public. We are committed to providing effective programs and being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars, and there are many policies in place to ensure our accountability. But despite our careful planning and oversight, the new administration is halting programs Americans depend on for their health and wellbeing.

We should work together to demand that the Trump administration restore this critical funding back to the people.

The risks of losing a once-in-a-generation investment

The Bush administration introduced environmental equity (and justice) programming to the EPA in the 1990s. EPA staff working on environmental justice programs partnered with communities to meet their needs and used rigorous systems to track funds and results.

The Trump administration recently paused many of these environmental justice programs that fund community-led projects like air, water, and soil testing; training and workforce development; construction or cleanup projects; gardens and tree planting; and preparing and responding to natural disasters. Other examples of the EPA’s environmental justice programs include providing safe shelters during and after hurricanes, land cleanups to reduce communities’ exposure to harmful pollutants, and providing water filters to protect residents from lead in drinking water.

This administration has halted funds, claiming “the objectives of the awards are no longer consistent with EPA funding priorities.” In reality, these funds were approved by Congress, and these grants remain in alignment with the agency’s mission to protect human health and the environment. Even though there are court orders to unfreeze billions of dollars in federal grants, the Trump administration continues to withhold this critical money from the people who need it most.

We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable to serving the American people, applying the same mandates that we have held our federal workforce and grant recipients to: follow the law, follow the science, and be transparent.

Terminating the EPA’s environmental justice programs is hurting our communities and the economy

Some grant recipients who have lost access to EPA funding had already been working for more than a year on projects that must now be paused. Many recipients have hired local employees and made commitments in their communities.

Now that funds are being pulled back, these organizations have had to lay off staff, pause local contracts with private companies and small businesses, and shut down community-driven projects. These attacks will impact the integrity of programs funded by our hard-earned tax dollars and take money away from communities across the country.

By withholding promised funding and terminating existing contracts, the Trump administration is exposing the EPA to increased risks of litigation. Relationships that were built through years of meaningful engagement between communities and the federal government are being jeopardized. Organizations, institutions, and companies will likely shy away from future federal grant or contracting opportunities because no one wants to work with someone who doesn’t pay their bills and backs out on their promises.

It is a waste of taxpayer dollars for the U.S. Government to cancel its agreements with grantees and contractors. It is fraud for the U.S. Government to delay payments for services already received. And it is an abuse of power for the Trump administration to block the IRA laws that were mandated by Congress.

How to take action to restore funding to the American people

It can feel impossible to keep up with the news right now, but this story touches all of us. We should pay attention to what’s going on in our communities and find ways to stay engaged, like attending town halls to hear about the local impacts of federal policies and making your voice heard.

If you are interested in advocating for the return of federal funding to the American people, we urge you to:

Advocate for funding to be restored in your community. Take part in local town hall and other events in your area to advocate for federal funding to be returned to the people. Make your voice heard and claim your right to clean water, clean air, and a safe environment.
Learn how the EPA’s environmental justice programs are investing in your state, city, or community. View this environmental justice grants map to see where IRA dollars and funding from the EPA’s environmental justice programs were invested.
Learn how federal cuts are impacting your communities. Stay tuned to view a Federal Cuts Tracker Map (we’ll add a link here when it’s live) to read and share stories about how federal cuts are currently impacting your communities.
Share on social media. Share our story or similar news stories on social media with #federalfundingfreeze, #federalcuts, or #truthtopower.

Read the full story here.

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Lawmakers Listen to Farmer Concerns During Two-Week Break

April 21, 2025 – Last week, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) met with farmers at Moon Valley Farm in Woodsboro, Maryland, where livestock, vegetable, and grain growers expressed concerns about frozen USDA programs, the impacts of tariffs, and other challenges. Van Hollen said that he set up the roundtable because farmers have been calling and writing to his office—especially about tariffs and the cancellation of funding for programs that connect small farms to schools and food banks—and his purpose was to hear more of their stories. “The freeze on payments under the farm-to-school program is outrageous,” he said at the event. “We will fight this in the courts. We will fight this in Congress.” Senator Chris Van Hollen (left) listens to farmer-brewer Tom Barse of Milkhouse Brewery (right) at Stillpoint Farm talk about “trying to find a way to continue to make a living as a small farm.” (Photo credit: Lisa Held) It was one of several agricultural roundtables and town halls that lawmakers are holding across the country during Congress’ two-week recess, which ends later this week. Politico reported that Senators Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Adam Schiff (D-California) would all be gathering feedback from farmers over the break. One farmer told Civil Eats he attended an invite-only event that Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) held in her state, where representatives of both the Minnesota Farm Bureau and Minnesota Farmers’ Union were present. He attended to call her attention to the still-frozen Farm Labor Stabilization Program. In Maine, Representative Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) marched alongside farmers protesting USDA cuts to funding and staff. At Moon Valley, farmer-owner Emma Jagoz emphasized the loss of the Local Food for Schools funding, which had helped her get her organic fruits and vegetables into 12 Maryland school districts. In the past, she said, USDA programs also helped her access land and build high tunnels that allow her to grow and sell produce year-round. “These tools help us to stay in business, grow responsibly for the future, and feed a lot more people,” she said. Kelly Dudeck, the executive director of Cultivate & Craft, an organization that helps farmers turn their crops into higher-value products, said that the Mid-Atlantic’s craft wineries and breweries are already struggling in the face of tariffs, since most depend on global supply chains for bottles, barrels, and grain inputs. “Brewers specifically are saying that half of them will likely be out of business within a year,” she told Van Hollen. One farmer expressed concerns over solar development leading to a loss of farmland, a priority of the last administration under Democrats. On the flipside, farmer Elisa Lane, of Two Boots Farm, said she was worried about the USDA eliminating climate change and other environmental terms from its vocabulary and website. “I’m not sure how USDA can support us if we can’t even name the things we’re up against,” she said. (Link to this post.) The post Lawmakers Listen to Farmer Concerns During Two-Week Break appeared first on Civil Eats.

Business

Climate

Food

Secondhand Stores Are Poised to Benefit if US Tariffs Drive up New Clothing Costs

Stores selling secondhand clothing, shoes and accessories are poised to benefit from the Trump administration’s trade war even as global businesses race to avoid potential damage

American styles carry international influence, but nearly all of the clothing sold domestically is made elsewhere. The Yale University Budget Lab last week estimated short-term consumer price increases of 65% for clothes and 87% for leather goods, noting U.S. tariffs "disproportionately affect” those goods.Such price hikes may drive cost-conscious shoppers to online resale sites, consignment boutiques and thrift stores in search of bargains or a way to turn their wardrobes into cash. Used items cost less than their new equivalents and only would be subject to tariffs if they come from outside the country. “I think resale is going to grow in a market that is declining,” said Kristen Classi-Zummo, an apparel industry analyst at market research firm Circana. “What I think is going to continue to win in this chaotic environment are channels that bring value.”The outlook for preowned fashion nevertheless comes with unknowns, including whether the president's tariffs will stay long enough to pinch consumers and change their behavior. It's also unclear whether secondhand purveyors will increase their own prices, either to mirror the overall market or in response to shopper demand. A new audience courtesy of sticker shock Jan Genovese, a retired fashion executive, sells her unwanted designer clothes through customer-to-customer marketplaces like Mercari. If tariffs cause retail prices to rise, she would consider high-end secondhand sites. “Until I see it and really have that sticker shock, I can’t say exclusively that I’ll be pushed into another direction,” Genovese, 75, said. “I think that the tariff part of it is that you definitely rethink things. And maybe I will start looking at alternative venues.”The secondhand clothing market already was flourishing before the specter of tariffs bedeviled the U.S. fashion industry. Management consulting firm McKinsey and Co. predicted after the COVID-19 pandemic that global revenue from preowned fashion would grow 11 times faster than retail apparel sales by this year as shoppers looked to save money or spend it in a more environmentally conscious way. While millennials and members of Generation Z were known as the primary buyers of used clothing, data from market research firm Sensor Tower shows the audience may be expanding. The number of mobile app downloads for nine resale marketplaces the firm tracks — eBay, OfferUp, Poshmark, Mercari, Craigslist, Depop, ThredUp, TheRealReal and Vinted — increased by 3% between January and the end of March, the first quarterly gain in three years, Sensor Tower said. The firm estimates downloads of the apps for eBay, Depop, ThredUp and The RealReal also surged compared to a year earlier for the week of March 31, which was when Trump unveiled since-paused punitive tariffs on dozens of countries. Circana’s Classi-Zummo said that while customers used to seek out collectible or unusual vintage pieces to supplement their wardrobes, she has noticed more shoppers turning to secondhand sites to replace regular fashion items."It's still a cheaper option” than buying new, even though retailers offer discounts, she said. A tariff-free gold mine lurking in closets and warehouses Poshmark, a digital platform where users buy and sell preowned clothing, has yet to see sales pick up under the tariff schedule Trump unveiled but is prepared to capitalize on the moment, CEO Manish Chandra said. Companies operating e-commerce marketplaces upgrade their technology to make it easier to find items. A visual search tool and other improvements to the Poshmark experience will “pay long dividends in terms of disruption that happens in the market” from the tariffs, Chandra said. Archive, a San Francisco-based technology company that builds and manages online and in-store resale programs for brands including Dr. Martens, The North Face and Lululemon, has noticed clothing labels expressing more urgency to team up, CEO Emily Gittins said. "Tapping into all of the inventory that is already sitting in the U.S., either in people’s closets or in warehouses not being used,” offers a revenue source while brands limit or suspend orders from foreign manufacturers, she said. “There’s a huge amount of uncertainty,” Gittins said. “Everyone believes that this is going to be hugely damaging to consumer goods brands that sell in the U.S. So resale is basically where everyone’s head is going." Stock analysts have predicted off-price retailers like TJ Maxx and Burlington Stores will weather tariffs more easily than regular apparel chains and department stores because they carry leftover merchandise in the U.S. Priced out of the previously owned market Still, resale vendors aren't immune from tariff-induced upheavals, said Rachel Kibbe, founder and CEO of Circular Services Group, a firm that advises brands and retailers on reducing the fashion industry's environmental impact. U.S. sellers that import secondhand inventory from European Union countries would have to pay a 20% duty if Trump moves forward with instituting “reciprocal” tariffs on most trading partners and eliminates an import tax exception for parcels worth less than $800, Kibbe said. A circular fashion coalition she leads is seeking a tariff exemption for used and recycled goods that will be offered for resale, Kibbe said. Trump already ended the duty-free provision for low-value parcels from China, a move that may benefit sellers of secondhand clothing by making low-priced Chinese fashions pricier, she said. James Reinhart, co-founder and CEO of the online consignment marketplace ThredUp, said the removal of the “de minimis” provision and the 145% tariff Trump put on products made in China would benefit businesses like his. He doubts creating resale channels would make a big difference for individual brands.“Brands will explore this and they may do more, but I don’t see them massively changing their operations,” Reinhart said. “I think they’re going to be figuring out how to survive. And I don’t think resale helps you survive.”Rebag, an online marketplace and retail chain that sells used designer handbags priced from $500 to tens of thousands of dollars, expects tariffs to help drive new customers and plans to open more physical stores, CEO Charles Gorra said. Gorra said the company would analyze prices for new luxury goods and adjust what Rebag charges accordingly. The two historically rose in tandem, but Rebag could not match Chanel's 10% price increase last year because of lower resale demand, Gorra said. “That has nothing to do with the tariffs,” he said. “Consumers are feeling priced out.”Norah Brotman, 22, a senior at the University of Minnesota, buys most of her own clothes on eBay. She also thrifts fashions from the 1990s and early 2000s at Goodwill stores and resells them on Depop. “I would love if this would steer people in a different direction,” she said.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Feb. 2025

Business

Technology

As heavy as 100 Eiffel Towers: Monumental L.A. County fire debris removal could finish by June

Almost 8,800 property owners have asked the Army Corps of Engineers to direct the cleanup of burned homes. With more than 100 parcels a day being cleared, the job is almost halfway done, with June a likely date for completion, officials say.

A small army of laborers, heavy-equipment operators, hazmat technicians and truck drivers have cleared more than one-third of the home lots left in charred ruin by January’s firestorms — a frenetic pace that suggests the bulk of the vast government-run cleanup in Los Angeles County could be completed as early as June, officials say.U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officers overseeing the effort said the crews of mostly private contractors are working at a record clip for a wildfire recovery, clearing nearly 120 lots a day and operating at close to the capacity that roads — and residents close to the fire zones — can tolerate.The scope of the unfinished work came into clearer focus last week, with the passing of the April 15 deadline for residents of Altadena, Pacific Palisades and Malibu to opt in or out of the cleanup. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Some 10,373 property owners completed “right-of-entry” forms, authorizing the Army Corps and government contractors to work on their properties, while 1,698 others opted out of the program, many because they wanted their own crews to perform the work.Army Corps of Engineers commanders reported that 4,153 properties across the Eaton and Palisades burn zones had been cleared by Thursday, though the total declared as “complete” is lower because many of the lots still need finishing touches — including the removal of hazardous trees, installation of fencing around pools and application of “hydro-mulch” sealant to prevent erosion.Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass held a news conference Thursday to mark 100 days since the fires and to tout the speed of the recovery. “The Army Corps of Engineers are heroes in Los Angeles, are heroes in the Palisades,” said Bass, standing alongside Army commanders and Westside Councilmember Traci Park. “It is amazing to come here day after day. … Every time I come, I see more and more properties cleared.”The Army officers commanding the cleanup say it is the biggest their agency has ever conducted in a wildfire zone. With more than 1 million tons of concrete, steel, earth and plants already removed from the burn areas, two colonels overseeing the operation reached for superlatives to describe the scope of the work. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) The weight of the debris removed equals the weight of 100 Eiffel towers, said Col. Sonny Avichal, the West Point graduate overseeing the Altadena fire cleanup. The weight taken out of the Palisades, alone, is equal to a row of Ford F-150 pickups, lined up end-to-end and stretching from Los Angeles past Salt Lake City, said Col. Brian Sawser, another West Point grad, who has overseen the Palisades fire cleanup.“This has been very similar to a war-fighting approach,” said Sawser, referring to the military’s strategy of bringing together diverse personnel, organizations and processes and unifying them in a common purpose. He later pledged: “Renewal is coming, it’s coming. And we’re bringing it to you as fast as we possibly can.”Avichal said the mission requires brute force but also a soft touch, as when an elderly woman in Altadena recently asked a cleanup crew for a personal treasure buried in her home’s rubble. The workers soon recovered a small safe and the gold coins inside it, delivering the bounty to the beaming homeowner, a moment captured in a Facebook video.“At the end of the day, it’s about the human touch,” Avichal said, recognizing the workers who returned the coins to the owner. “It’s about the compassion we have for the individuals who lost their homes.”The cleanup has ramped up considerably in recent weeks.When Avichal arrived in February from his base in Virginia, there were only 20 crews clearing lots in Altadena. (Each crew consists of, at minimum, a quality assurance official from the Army Corps; a task force leader from the principal contractor, Burlingame-based ECC; a heavy-equipment operator; a crew leader; and several laborers.) Now 129 crews are clearing properties in the San Gabriel Valley community.It takes a little less than two days for workers to finish clearing a property, slightly less than the time needed in the Palisades, where lots tend to be larger, and in Malibu, where some of the work has been complicated because of the precarious perch of more than 300 burned homes along the beach.The fire zones now teem with lines of trucks, earthmovers and workers in yellow-and- orange safety vests. The air thrums with the din of destruction — giant excavators clanking against steel beams, trucks bleating out warning signals as they back into position, green organic material whooshing out of hoses onto finished sites.While the images can appear chaotic, they are the result of hours of planning and preparation.Homeowners typically receive a call two or three days before crews arrive. A staffer from lead contractor ECC asks for important property details: Are there septic tank lids or propane tanks that need to be avoided? Are there pet graves that must be left undisturbed? Do workers need to be on the lookout for squatters?An initial inspection crew, commissioned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, then screens each property in search of paints and other toxic substances. Analysts also probe for asbestos — a job that expanded as the carcinogenic material turned up in many more locations than expected.Workers have found asbestos in more than 60% of homes in Altadena and more than 40% in the extended Palisades fire zone. Cleanup crews in white hazmat suits and respirators typically needed up to three days to scrape away the material and remove it in sealed containers.“At one point we had 95 crews doing nothing but asbestos abatement,” Avichal said. On the Westside, the debris removal has been complicated by the constricted roads in and out of the burn zone. Traffic flow along Pacific Coast Highway has been reduced to one lane in each direction and Temescal Canyon Road remains closed to create what the Army leaders call a TDRS — Temporary Debris Reduction Site.Heavy excavation machines bash giant concrete blocks into more manageable chunks, before grinders pulverize the material into 1- to 3-inch rocks, which can be recycled. Steel and other metals also get compacted in the recycling zone before being trucked away.By doing the reduction work close to the disaster site, debris that initially filled three or four dump trucks can be consolidated into one large semi tractor-trailer load. That means that the total truck traffic leaving the burn areas is reduced substantially. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) Anthony Marguleas, a real estate agent active in rebuilding efforts in the Palisades, called the debris recycling effort “a clear win for the community,” in that it reduced outbound truck traffic and also appeared to be “efficient and environmentally responsible.”State insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said in January that homeowners have typically spent more than $100,000 when they paid to have private contractors remove debris after recent wildfires.Those who opt in to the government program have no direct out-of-pocket costs, though the Army Corps of Engineers will ask insurance companies that cover debris removal to reimburse the government up to the limits of that specific coverage.The pressure for progress abounds throughout the fire communities, as homeowners plead for access that will allow them to start rebuilding. But the drive to complete the work is particularly high along PCH in Malibu, where 327 homes burned.The extra anxiety has multiple causes: The charred remains of homes continue to wash away, spilling contaminants into Santa Monica Bay. Caltrans crews need access to ensure the ground under PCH does not erode. And the the sooner the work is done, the sooner access might improve along the highway, a lifeline for residents and for businesses that depend on customers coming from Santa Monica and points beyond.Sawser said last week that the Army Corps-led crews would be “tripling their effort” along the coast, with as many as a dozen crews clearing home sites, compared to the three or four that had operated there before.“That highway is the linchpin to everything that we do,” Sawser said, “because we not only have to clear that debris for many reasons, we also need to have the highway to move material out of a lot of other locations.”Though the cleanup crews have drawn wide praise, the work has not been flawless. A homeowner complained at a recent hearing in Malibu that an excavator has mistakenly began to plow up the concrete slab under her ADU. She caught the mistake before the destruction was complete and the contractor later told her by phone that the company would pay to repair the damage.And some health officials and residents have questioned whether the lot clearances have gone far enough. The Federal Emergency Management Agency decided to not follow past practice of testing the soil after disasters for contaminants. Those tests typically had been used to determine whether cleanup crews should remove more than the first 6 inches of topsoil.After the twin L.A. fires, FEMA announced it would not conduct the soil testing on cleared lots, drawing criticism that the cleanups would not be truly complete. Those reservations gained some traction earlier this month when soil testing by Los Angeles County in and around the burn areas found concerning levels of lead.The potential adverse impact of the work has also generated pushback in neighboring Southern California communities, given the more than 2,000 truckloads of earth, concrete, metal and other debris being shipped each day to 16 landfills and recycling centers around the region. The Simi Valley Landfill & Recycling Center has taken by far the biggest share of the fire detritus, receiving an average of 1,228 truckloads a day last week and a total of 636,000 tons of debris since the cleanup started. The Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Sylmar, the second biggest fire debris repository, has received 126,000 tons. From Malibu to Calabasas, Altadena and Irwindale, residents around the burn zones and the communities where the debris is being deposited have expressed fears that toxic materials could be released into the air and soil. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) Contractors have responded that they are taking considerable care — including frequent watering of home lots and waste consolidation sites — to keep pollutants out of the air. Into mid-April, the protests and a lawsuit by the city of Calabasas had not succeeded in redirecting the debris.On a recent weekday afternoon, debris trucks lined up for several hundred yards outside the weigh station at Simi Valley Landfill & Recycling Center. Once inside, trucks lumbered up a long, curving road into the hills. Then came another wait to dump their loads — an untold number of incinerated living room sets, teddy bears, running shoes and other detritus, spilling into a final resting place.An enormous cloud of gulls billowed and swooped around the charred waste.“Everything we owned and gathered over 35 years was hauled away in like three trucks,” said Eitan, a Palisades man who declined to give his last name. “It’s almost a biblical kind of conclusion, from ashes to ashes. That’s for humans but, in this case, it’s for all of those objects as well.”

Business

Government

Health

In Colorado, gas for cars could soon come with a warning label

Like labels on cigarettes, opponents say fossil fuel warnings could change attitudes. Others call it gasoline “shaming.”

The Centennial State may become first in the nation to require retailers to warn consumers that burning fossil fuels “releases air pollutants and greenhouse gases, known by the state of Colorado to be linked to significant health impacts and global heating.” The warning is the linchpin of a bill — HB25-1277 — that narrowly passed the state House on April 2 and is scheduled to be heard in the Senate’s Transportation & Energy Committee this week. Its Democratic sponsors say the bill will raise awareness among consumers that combusting gas in their vehicles creates pollutants that harm their health and trap heat in the atmosphere, leading to more intense and extreme weather, wildfires and drought. The groundbreaking measure would require retailers to place warning labels printed in black ink on a white background in English and Spanish in no smaller than 16-point type on fuel pumps and “in a conspicuous location” near displays offering petroleum-based goods for sale. Proponents compare the stickers to warnings labels on cigarettes that scientific evidence found motivated consumers to reconsider the health impacts of smoking. The labeling bill is backed by environmental groups, including 350 Colorado and the Sierra Club, and opposed by gas stations, chambers of commerce and energy trade associations. About 136 lobbyist registrations were filed with the secretary of state in the position of support, opposition, or monitoring — a benchmark of the measure’s divisiveness. “The bill, as you’ve heard, seeks to drive systemic change and to help us meet our greenhouse gas emission goals,” state Rep. Junie Joseph (D-Boulder), a sponsor, testified at a House Energy & Environment Committee hearing on March 6. “Colorado is actively working to reduce emissions to comply with the Clean Air Act and state climate targets.” Read Next Renewables surged in 2024 — but so did fossil fuels Matt Simon Colorado is on track to meet greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 26 percent by 2025 and 50 percent by 2030, over 2005 levels — albeit a year late for each period mandated under state law, according to a November report compiled by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Colorado Energy Office. Yet the state is woefully behind in its compliance with federal air quality standards. Emissions from energy industry operations and gas-powered vehicles are the main drivers of the nine-county metropolitan Denver region’s failure to clean up its air over the last two decades. The state’s largest cities rank among the 25 worst in the nation for lung-damaging ozone pollution. Several days before the labeling bill passed the House, the state’s health department said it planned to ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to downgrade its air quality for the second time in a year. The request is intended to give regulators more time to draw up a plan to reduce pollutants that cause a toxic haze that blurs the Rocky Mountains from May to September. Colorado repeatedly touts its “nation-leading” greenhouse gas emissions reduction laws targeting oil and gas production, as well as requirements that utilities transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Yet to make long-term progress toward a state mandate to cut emissions 100 percent by 2050, officials need residents to drive less and carpool and take public transit more. The bill’s sponsors cited a first-in-the-nation labeling law in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, as proof such initiatives work. The Cambridge City Council enacted its greenhouse gas label law in 2020. City inspectors affix about 116 bright yellow stickers that read: “Warning. Burning Gasoline, Diesel and Ethanol has major consequences on human health and on the environment including contributing to climate change” in pump bays at 19 gas stations annually, along with inspection stickers, Jeremy Warnick, a city spokesman, wrote in an email. Read Next Efforts were underway to prevent CO2 pipeline leaks. The Trump administration quietly derailed them. Tristan Baurick Early research into the impacts of Cambridge’s labeling law suggest that peer pressure that results from one person seeing a label on a gas pump and telling friends about it at a party can indeed motivate people to reconsider their transportation choices. A measure instituted in Sweden in 2021 that requires labels depicting each fuel grade’s impact on the climate to be installed on gas pumps produced similar results. The warning stickers communicate to people as they’re pumping gas that others in their community acknowledge petroleum products create emissions that are warming the planet, said Gregg Sparkman, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Boston College. Sparkman’s research found Americans function in a state of “pluralistic ignorance,” essentially “walking around thinking others don’t care about climate change.” A study he co-authored in Nature in 2022 found that most Americans “underestimate the prevalence of support for climate change mitigation policies.” While 66 percent to 80 percent of people approve of such measures, Americans estimate the prevalence to be between 37 percent and 43 percent, on average, data showed. Warning labels can cut through this apathy, he said. “These signs chip away at the mirage — they become one of hopefully many signals that an increasing number of Americans regard this as an emergency that requires urgent action out of government, citizens and everybody,” he said. In Colorado, gas station owners, as well as representatives of retail trade organizations and the American Petroleum Institute, among others, testified against the labeling bill at the three-hour March 6 House energy committee hearing, calling the legislation an “unfunded mandate” that would “shame consumers” and target retailers with “exorbitant fines.” Some warned it would make gas prices rise. Read Next The Hidden Cost of Gasoline Kate Yoder The law would require convenience stores to design, buy and affix the labels and to keep them in good condition. If a consumer reported a defaced decal to the state Attorney General’s Office, a store owner could face a $20,000 penalty per violation — standard for violations under the Consumer Protection Act. An amendment added on the House floor would provide retailers with 45 days to fix a problem with a label. “The gas pump itself is already cluttered with words, numbers, prices, colors, buttons and payment mechanisms,” Angie Howes, a lobbyist representing Kum & Go, which owns Maverik convenience stores, testified at the committee hearing. “The message will likely be lost in the noise and we question the impact of such a label toward the proponents’ goals.” Republican and Democratic committee members alike expressed concern about the fines, asking bill sponsors to consider reducing them. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, or CDPHE, also opposed the measure, citing the state’s efforts to make it easier and cheaper for Coloradoans to reduce their energy use by taking advantage of electric vehicle and heat pump subsidies, among other voluntary measures. Colorado is already first in the nation in market share of new EVs, Lindsay Ellis, the agency’s director of legislative affairs, testified. “This bill presupposes that awareness alone is an effective strategy for changing behavior and does so at the liability and expense of small businesses like gas stations,” she said. “We should continue to focus on solutions with measurable emissions reductions to improve air quality.” Gov. Jared Polis also appears dubious of the measure’s ability to effect long-term change. When contacted by Capital & Main for comment, spokesperson Eric Maruyama cited legislative and administrative strategies that have “cut hundreds of millions of metric tons of cumulative greenhouse gas emissions since 2010.” “Like CDPHE, Governor Polis is committed to protecting Colorado’s clean air and reducing pollution through proven strategies that are good for the environment, good for consumers, and that empower Colorado businesses and individuals to take meaningful action that improves public health,” Maruyama wrote in an email. “Governor Polis is skeptical of labeling requirements and will review any legislation that reaches his desk.” Doctors and scientists who testified at the House energy committee hearing on March 6 disagreed. “I take care of children living in some of the most polluted zip codes in the country, and I can tell you firsthand that burning fossil fuels is making them sick,” Dr. Clare Burchenal, a Denver pediatrician, told the committee. “Warning labels can connect the abstract threat of a climate emergency with fossil fuel use in the here and now — my patients and their families have a right to know how the products they’re using are impacting their health.” Copyright 2025 Capital & Main This story was originally published by Grist with the headline In Colorado, gas for cars could soon come with a warning label on Apr 19, 2025.

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Climate

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In Colorado, Gas for Cars Could Soon Come With a Warning Label

Like labels on cigarettes, opponents say fossil fuel warnings could change attitudes. Others call it gasoline “shaming.” The post In Colorado, Gas for Cars Could Soon Come With a Warning Label appeared first on .

The Centennial State may become first in the nation to require retailers to warn consumers that burning fossil fuels “releases air pollutants and greenhouse gases, known by the state of Colorado to be linked to significant health impacts and global heating.” The warning is the linchpin of a bill — HB25-1277 — that narrowly passed the state House on April 2 and is scheduled to be heard in the Senate’s Transportation & Energy Committee this week. Its Democratic sponsors say the bill will raise awareness among consumers that combusting gas in their vehicles creates pollutants that harm their health and trap heat in the atmosphere, leading to more intense and extreme weather, wildfires and drought. The groundbreaking measure would require retailers to place warning labels printed in black ink on a white background in English and Spanish in no smaller than 16-point type on fuel pumps and “in a conspicuous location” near displays offering petroleum-based goods for sale. Proponents compare the stickers to warnings labels on cigarettes that scientific evidence found motivated consumers to reconsider the health impacts of smoking. The labeling bill is backed by environmental groups, including 350 Colorado and the Sierra Club, and opposed by gas stations, chambers of commerce and energy trade associations. About 136 lobbyist registrations were filed with the secretary of state in the position of support, opposition, or monitoring — a benchmark of the measure’s divisiveness. “The bill, as you’ve heard, seeks to drive systemic change and to help us meet our greenhouse gas emission goals,” state Rep. Junie Joseph (D-Boulder), a sponsor, testified at a House Energy & Environment Committee hearing on March 6. “Colorado is actively working to reduce emissions to comply with the Clean Air Act and state climate targets.” Colorado is on track to meet greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 26% by 2025 and 50% by 2030, over 2005 levels — albeit a year late for each period mandated under state law, according to a November report compiled by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Colorado Energy Office. Yet the state is woefully behind in its compliance with federal air quality standards. Emissions from energy industry operations and gas-powered vehicles are the main drivers of the nine-county metropolitan Denver region’s failure to clean up its air over the last two decades. The state’s largest cities rank among the 25 worst in the nation for lung-damaging ozone pollution. Several days before the labeling bill passed the House, the state’s health department said it planned to ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to downgrade its air quality for the second time in a year. The request is intended to give regulators more time to draw up a plan to reduce pollutants that cause a toxic haze that blurs the Rocky Mountains from May to September. Colorado repeatedly touts its “nation-leading” greenhouse gas emissions reduction laws targeting oil and gas production, as well as requirements that utilities transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Yet to make long-term progress toward a state mandate to cut emissions 100% by 2050, officials need residents to drive less and carpool and take public transit more. The bill’s sponsors cited a first-in-the-nation labeling law in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, as proof such initiatives work. The Cambridge City Council enacted its greenhouse gas label law in 2020. City inspectors affix about 116 bright yellow stickers that read: “Warning. Burning Gasoline, Diesel and Ethanol has major consequences on human health and on the environment including contributing to climate change” in pump bays at 19 gas stations annually, along with inspection stickers, Jeremy Warnick, a city spokesman, wrote in an email. A bright yellow warning label on a gas pump in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Photo courtesy the city of Cambridge. Early research into the impacts of Cambridge’s labeling law suggest that peer pressure that results from one person seeing a label on a gas pump and telling friends about it at a party can indeed motivate people to reconsider their transportation choices. A measure instituted in Sweden in 2021 that requires labels depicting each fuel grade’s impact on the climate to be installed on gas pumps produced similar results. The warning stickers communicate to people as they’re pumping gas that others in their community acknowledge petroleum products create emissions that are warming the planet, said Gregg Sparkman, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Boston College. Sparkman’s research found Americans function in a state of “pluralistic ignorance,” essentially “walking around thinking others don’t care about climate change.” A study he co-authored in Nature in 2022 found that most Americans “underestimate the prevalence of support for climate change mitigation policies.” While 66% to 80% of people approve of such measures, Americans estimate the prevalence to be between 37% and 43%, on average, data showed. Warning labels can cut through this apathy, he said. “These signs chip away at the mirage — they become one of hopefully many signals that an increasing number of Americans regard this as an emergency that requires urgent action out of government, citizens and everybody,” he said. In Colorado, gas station owners, as well as representatives of retail trade organizations and the American Petroleum Institute, among others, testified against the labeling bill at the three-hour March 6 House energy committee hearing, calling the legislation an “unfunded mandate” that would “shame consumers” and target retailers with “exorbitant fines.” Some warned it would make gas prices rise. The law would require convenience stores to design, buy and affix the labels and to keep them in good condition. If a consumer reported a defaced decal to the state Attorney General’s Office, a store owner could face a $20,000 penalty per violation — standard for violations under the Consumer Protection Act. An amendment added on the House floor would provide retailers with 45 days to fix a problem with a label. “The gas pump itself is already cluttered with words, numbers, prices, colors, buttons and payment mechanisms,” Angie Howes, a lobbyist representing Kum & Go, which owns Maverik convenience stores, testified at the committee hearing. “The message will likely be lost in the noise and we question the impact of such a label toward the proponents’ goals.” Republican and Democratic committee members alike expressed concern about the fines, asking bill sponsors to consider reducing them. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, or CDPHE, also opposed the measure, citing the state’s efforts to make it easier and cheaper for Coloradoans to reduce their energy use by taking advantage of electric vehicle and heat pump subsidies, among other voluntary measures. Colorado is already first in the nation in market share of new EVs, Lindsay Ellis, the agency’s director of legislative affairs, testified. “This bill presupposes that awareness alone is an effective strategy for changing behavior and does so at the liability and expense of small businesses like gas stations,” she said. “We should continue to focus on solutions with measurable emissions reductions to improve air quality.” Gov. Jared Polis also appears dubious of the measure’s ability to effect long-term change. When contacted by Capital & Main for comment, spokesperson Eric Maruyama cited legislative and administrative strategies that have “cut hundreds of millions of metric tons of cumulative greenhouse gas emissions since 2010.” “Like CDPHE, Governor Polis is committed to protecting Colorado’s clean air and reducing pollution through proven strategies that are good for the environment, good for consumers, and that empower Colorado businesses and individuals to take meaningful action that improves public health,” Maruyama wrote in an email. “Governor Polis is skeptical of labeling requirements and will review any legislation that reaches his desk.” Doctors and scientists who testified at the House energy committee hearing on March 6 disagreed. “I take care of children living in some of the most polluted zip codes in the country, and I can tell you firsthand that burning fossil fuels is making them sick,” Dr. Clare Burchenal, a Denver pediatrician, told the committee. “Warning labels can connect the abstract threat of a climate emergency with fossil fuel use in the here and now — my patients and their families have a right to know how the products they’re using are impacting their health.” Copyright 2025 Capital & Main

Business

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The Custodians of the Andean Gold

In the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes, more than 3 800 meters above sea level, live alpaca and vicunia breeders. Quechua and Aymara families protect their animals live off of the sale of the animals’ fiber. Gold mining is another activity that predates the Conquest and is widespread among families living in the border area between Peru and Bolivia. The difficult compatibility on the same territory of these two production activities increases the need for environmental protection and workers' rights. It has become indispensable to support producers so that this activity does not disappear with the migration of native peoples, abandoning traditions and animals.

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In May 2010, Rulindo, Rwanda launched an ambitious plan to bring access to water and sanitation services to the entire district population. This film explores the story, challenges and ultimate success for reaching over 330,000 people with safe water in the rural and mountainous Rulindo District, and how this project is inspiring sustainable water (infrastructure and sanitation) models around the world.

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Toxic Business

A documentary on the profits international chemical companies are gaining in Africa at cost of the health of small-scaled-farmers and consumers.International chemical companies sell high toxic agro-chemicals in Kenya, which are banned since long in Europe. They are banned because their ingredients cause cancer and have a major negative impact on the nature and environment. Anyhow – in developing countries like Kenya those toxic chemicals are sold without any regulations through small agro-shops all over the country. The small scaled farmers do believe in the promises of better and safer harvest those companies give. Today, the use of pesticides even inside the villages is already a daily business. Furthermore many of them already depend on hybrid seeds, old and resistant seeds supplants. Most of the consumers do not have the knowledge, how dangerous those agro-chemicals are: the WHO announced that annually 346.000 people die, caused by accidentally poisoning with those chemicals, 2/3 of them within developing countries.In the face of world food, industry is trying to push its way into the markets. On the contrary, statistics and alternative farming methods in East Africa show that it no longer needs chemicals and hybrid seeds to feed the world, but a general rethinking.

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The Fellowship of the Springs

Florida’s artesian springs are a natural wonder of the world. As unique as the geysers of Yellowstone and as mesmerizing as Vernal Falls in Yosemite, these blue jewels surrounding the north Florida landscape are considered a treasure by many who see them. The state contains the largest and highest concentration of fresh water springs on earth. But today, the future of Florida’s springs is uncertain. With flow levels declining and nitrate pollution on the rise, the springs today bear the scars of a profound struggle. Florida's own government continues to approve permits for large companies that want to pump water from the springs and their springsheds, for nominal permit fees that often cost less than a day pass to Disney World. The Fellowship of the Springs takes viewers behind the scenes of the fight to save Florida's springs, from the halls of the state capitol in Tallahassee to deep caves of Ichetucknee spring.

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Voice of Vanilla

In the rainforests of Madagascar, vanilla offers hope to farmers hindered by the relentless tide of poverty and cyclones. How will the women responsible for vanilla cultivation weather the storms that threaten their livelihoods? Join us on this journey to uncover the truth behind one of the world’s most beloved spices and to support the women farmers at the heart of the vanilla industry.

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Cookies help us run our site more efficiently.

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

The risks of losing a once-in-a-generation investment

Terminating the EPA’s environmental justice programs is hurting our communities and the economy

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Related News

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Secondhand Stores Are Poised to Benefit if US Tariffs Drive up New Clothing Costs

As heavy as 100 Eiffel Towers: Monumental L.A. County fire debris removal could finish by June

In Colorado, gas for cars could soon come with a warning label

In Colorado, Gas for Cars Could Soon Come With a Warning Label

Suggested Viewing

The Custodians of the Andean Gold

The Rulindo Challenge

Toxic Business

The Fellowship of the Springs

Voice of Vanilla

Join us to forgea sustainable future

sign up for our mailing list to stay informed on the latest films and environmental headlines.

Lawmakers Listen to Farmer Concerns During Two-Week Break

Join us to forge
a sustainable future