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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced its final rule to undo the agency’s 2009 foundational scientific finding that global warming emissions endanger public health and the environment—referred to as the Endangerment Finding. EPA also today repealed standards that reduce the dependence of cars and trucks on fossil fuels, which were among the strongest policies the United States had in place to combat climate change, curb toxic fossil fuel pollution, and save drivers money at the pump. This announcement was made via a press conference, and the final rule has yet to be posted to the federal register.

Below is a statement by Dr. Gretchen Goldman, president and CEO of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

“Today, Administrator Zeldin took a chainsaw to the Endangerment Finding, undoing this long-standing, science-based finding on bogus grounds at the expense of our health. Ramming through this unlawful, destructive action at the behest of polluters is an obvious example of what happens when a corrupt administration and fossil fuel interests are allowed to run amok.

“The science establishing harm to human health and the environment from heat-trapping emissions was clear in 2009. More than fifteen years later, the evidence has only mounted as have human suffering and economic damages. Meanwhile, the continued burning of fossil fuels is causing global warming emissions to rise. The science, the facts and the law are unassailable: EPA has the obligation and the authority to regulate this pollution under the Clean Air Act, an act of Congress it’s now blatantly violating.

“The transportation sector is the single largest source of U.S. global heat-trapping emissions. By scrapping vehicle global warming pollution standards today, the Trump administration has co-signed the release of more than 7 billion tons of planet-warming emissions nationally in the decades ahead.

“Communities across the country are routinely enduring the consequences and costs of climate change, including deadly heat waves, accelerating sea level rise, worsening wildfires and floods, increased heavy rainfall, and more intense and damaging storms. EPA’s attempts to delay climate action come at a time when scientists warn that the world is on the cusp of breaching 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming—a crucial guardrail to help limit some of the worst climate harms.

“Instead of rising to the challenge with necessary policies to protect people’s wellbeing, the Trump administration has shamefully abandoned EPA’s mission and caved to the whims of deep-pocketed special interests. Sacrificing people’s health, safety and futures for polluters’ profits is unconscionable. We all deserve better and this attack against the public interest and the best available science will be challenged. UCS stands ready to defend the Endangerment Finding in court and beyond.”

UCS filed comments on behalf of its half a million supporters and its network of more than 22,000 scientists to voice strong opposition to repeal of the endangerment finding and vehicle standards. It also submitted a letter to EPA Administrator Zeldin that was signed by more than 1,000 scientists opposing the repeal of the endangerment finding and urging Administrator Zeldin to stop dismantling critical climate regulations and fulfill the mission of the agency to protect public health.

A federal judge recently declared the Trump administration violated federal law when it secretly formed a “Climate Working Group” and tasked it with writing a dangerously slanted report that the administration then used as a basis for its proposal to overturn the Endangerment Finding last year. As part of that lawsuit—brought by UCS and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)—the administration was compelled to turn over more than 100,000 documents, which UCS and EDF plan to make available to the public in early March.

More UCS Resources:

• UCS comments submitted to the U.S. Department of Energy strongly opposing their commissioned Climate Working Group report and testimony delivered at a hearing on Endangerment Finding repeal.
• An op-ed authored by UCS experts that ran in Scientific American titled “Why EPA’s Latest Move Could Worsen the Climate Crisis.”
• UCS blog posts on the endangerment finding, vehicle standards, scientific integrity, and disinformation.
• UCS statement on the United Nations Environment Programme’s annual Emission’s Gap Report showing that, without rapid corrective action, the world is on track for temperature rise of between 2.3 and 2.8 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels over this century.

Since the IIJA appropriated about $21.5 billion of “no-year appropriations” for clean energy demonstration projects, DOE will “have an ongoing need to solicit and review applications for additional projects,” the U.S. Government Accountability Office said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today revoked its long-standing, science-based conclusion that planet-warming greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. Known as the “endangerment finding,” the scientific conclusion gave the EPA the authority and duty to regulate greenhouse gases. If allowed to move forward, the repeal of the endangerment finding will allow the Trump administration to undermine key safeguards that protect clean air, while giving free reign to industries that generate planet-warming emissions. In response, David Arkush, director of Public Citizen’s Climate Program, issued the following statement:

“If left to stand, this action will hamstring the government’s ability to combat the most terrible environmental threat in human history, harming Americans and the world for decades to come.

“Abundant scientific evidence supports the EPA’s prior conclusion that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. And Americans feel the effects of climate change constantly, as we experience more dangerous hurricanes, furnace-like heat domes, walls of water slamming into our children’s summer camps, raging wildfires, and other extreme weather driven by greenhouse gases.”

The post Joint Press Release | Health Leaders: Endangerment Finding Repeal Fundamentally Disregards Health Harms appeared first on ANHE.

Our December Nuclear Digest, reported by Bellona’s Environmental Transparency Center, is out now. Here’s a quick taste of three nuclear issues arising in Russia, France and worldwide that our analysts have been discussing. Stay tuned below for the entire digest and a lot more nuclear news.

Surprising non-surprises among nuclear wrecks in the Arctic

After a 20-year search, Russian scientists have established the precise location of two sunken vessels laden with solid radioactive waste off the coast of Novaya Zemlya—an event cited widely in Russian media, but largely unsurprising to Bellona’s experts, they write in Bellona’s newest Nuclear Digest.

The discovery came during an expedition of the Akademik Ioffe, a research vessel that regularly conducts surveys of sunken radiation hazards in the Kara and Barents seas in cooperation with the Kurchatov Institute. The mission also unveiled a previously uncharted radioactive waste dump near Techeniye Bay on Novaya Zemlya’s northeast coast.

According to archival data, that site hosts 146 containers of solid radioactive waste from Soviet nuclear subs and nuclear icebreakers that were dumped there in the 1980s. Also scuttled at the location was barge loaded with the reactor compartments of the K-22 Soviet nuclear submarine. Previous expeditions had failed to locate these finds at the coordinates appearing in the Soviet archives.

While Russian media greeted reports of these finds with fanfare, Bellona’s Alexander Nikitin writes that these wrecks and containers have already been documented by numerous Bellona reports—particularly our 1996 report on the Russian Northern Fleet. But because the dumping locations were often recorded by Soviet officials in only an approximate manner, contemporary expeditions, like the one carried out by the Akademik Ioffe, continue to unveil discrepancies between the recorded coordinates the actual locations of the submerged radiation-hazardous finds, Nikitin writes.

Despite the scale of Soviet-era dumping, the Akademik Ioffe expedition noted that the water column surrounding the submerged items it inspected—which also included the sunken K-27 Soviet nuclear submarine—was free of contamination by cesium 137. This, too, says Nikitin, came as no surprise.

“This is hardly a new finding, let alone a sensational one,” Nikitin writes. “Solid radioactive waste submerged at great depths fifty years or more ago is unlikely to be a source of radioactive contamination in the Arctic Ocean’s water column today.”

Rosatom sending out for Chinese turbines

Reactor turbines traditionally produced by Russia’s Power Machines might get upstaged by turbines made in China at two new reactors under construction at the Leningrad nuclear power plant, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported.

If true, the report could indicate that Rosatom is having a hard time independently supplying its own projects with domestic equipment, Bellona’s Dmitry Gorchakov writes. In general, Rosatom much prefers to use its own equipment—or, prior to the war, that produced in Ukraine.

But recent mishaps arising from Power Machines produced turbines—particularly at the Leningrad and Novovoronezh plants—are making them a little less desirable. In those instances, turbines operating in Rosatom’s flagship VVER-1200 reactors broke down, leading to tedious repairs and persistent delays in bringing the affected reactors online.

It’s already proven that Chinese turbines interface with the Russian VVER-1200. They’ll be used to outfit the reactors at the Tianwan nuclear plant, which Russia and China are jointly building on the VVER-1200 design, Gorchakov writes. So, from a technical standpoint, there’s no special reason not to use Chinese turbines at the Leningrad plant.

Gorchakov also observed, however, that discussions of using Chinese turbines may merely be a bargaining chip mean to spur more domestic production at Power Machines.

A French twist for Soviet reactors in Europe

Framatome, the French nuclear services company, has announced plans to manufacture, under Russian license, fuel assemblies that can be used in Soviet-built VVER reactors operating in European countries, possibly providing an off-ramp from Russian fuel dependence for some 18 power units in the EU.

The company applied for a permit to produce the hexagonal fuel assemblies used in VVER-1000 models at its site in Lingen, Germany in 2023, but German authorities have thus far been reluctant to license the project given Russia’s involvement in the arrangement. A decision on the matter from the German environmental ministry is expected in days.

Should that decision be a “no,” writes Gorchakov, it’s likely that Framatome will simply move VVER-1000 fuel production to France.

Regardless of how that situation evolves, Framatome executives say the company will move forward with producing fuel assemblies for VVER-440-model reactors, also under license from Russia. They’ll be delivered by at the firm’s Romans-sur-Isère facility in France, starting in 2027, with the aim of fueling Soviet-built reactors in Slovakia and Hungary.

Other European nations operating Soviet reactors include Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Finland, all of which have expressed hopes of diversifying away from Russian fuel producers.

But Gorchakov observed that delivery deadlines of VVER-1000 fuel for Bulgaria and the Czech Republic may already have been missed, or are in danger of being missed, due to the delays in launching production at the Lingen facility. Previous reports suggested that Bulgaria was to receive its first shipments last year, and the Czech Republic sometime this year.  Should that be the case, writes Gorchakov, both plants will have to stick it out a bit long on Russian fuel. For our complete coverage of international nuclear industry issues though December, read the whole digest. Subscribe to our mailing list to stay informed about future issues.

The post Charting more Arctic nuclear wreckage and giving Soviet nuclear fuel a French twist—the new Nuclear Digest is out appeared first on Bellona.org.

Gold again dropped below the $5,000-an-ounce level on Thursday as new US economic data firmed expectations that there won’t be a Federal Reserve rate cut soon.

Spot prices fell as much as 4% to $4,880 per ounce, before recovering some losses. By midday, it traded above $4,900 an ounce for an intraday loss of 3%. Silver, meanwhile, continued its volatile run with a near 10% decline.

Click on chart for live prices.

Bullion zigzagged throughout the week as investors weighed rising geopolitical risks against the prospect of elevated interest rates, which would reduce the appeal of assets like precious metals.

The move down follows Wednesday’s release of US labour data that came in better than markets expected, reinforcing the view that policymakers may keep rates elevated for longer. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 130,000 jobs in January, following a downwardly revised 48,000 increase in December, while the unemployment rate edged down to 4.3%, new data showed.

‘Risk-out’ move

Some investors also took profits on gold and silver, which have risen 40% and 160% respectively over the past year, to cover losses in other asset classes.

“It all happened so quickly and feels like a ‘risk-out’ move,” said Nicky Shiels, head of metals strategy at MKS PAMP SA, in a note to Bloomberg. In times of extreme market stress, haven assets like gold will also be sold by investors in dire need of liquidity, she added.

Gold and silver’s ferocious run since 2024 accelerated last month, with momentum-driven buying helping the metals hitting successive highs. That came to an abrupt halt on January 29, with gold plunging the most in over a decade and silver tumbling the most on record.

“Due to previous heightened volatility, a lot of people would have placed their stops either below $5,000 or above the $5,100 level just to preserve their stop positions,” Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com, told Reuters.

“Because of the downward move, those stops have been triggered below the $5,000 level, and that caused a cascading-like effect, causing prices to slump in a short period of time,” he added.

Inflation in focus

Investors now await the US inflation data due on Friday for more cues on the Fed’s monetary policy path.

“It looks like the expectation is that headline CPI is going to slow from 2.7% to 2.5%, perhaps as low as 2.4%. That may revive some rate cut bets, and that would probably be favourable for gold,” said Peter Grant, vice president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals.

Despite the historic selloff seen in January, gold remains up by 17% on the year. Many banks are projecting prices to reach $6,000 an ounce this year amid strong retail investments on top of continued central bank buying.

BNP backs gold price to hit $6,000 as rally ‘makes sense’

(With files from Bloomberg and Reuters)

India’s zero-emission trucking (ZET) market is on the brink of accelerated growth, reaching approximately 1,000 electric truck sales by the end of 2025. However, the supporting infrastructure has not kept pace: only about 5 percent of chargers in India can meet the power needs of zero-emission trucks, and high charging costs remain one of the most significant barriers to scaling the electric trucking market in India today. RMI analysis shows that electricity costs alone can account for 30–50 percent of an electric truck’s total cost of ownership (TCO) over 7 years.

As a result of high electricity prices, electric trucks remain 14–22 percent more expensive than diesel trucks without additional subsidies. Fleets and charging point operators (CPOs) are therefore actively exploring strategies to reduce charging costs. Among these, the use of renewables has emerged as a promising pathway, with the potential to both provide affordable charging and ensure that electric truck deployment delivers real climate and air quality benefits.

Today, only a small number of electric truck charging stations use renewables as part of their electricity supply mix. However, CPOs in India have begun to announce plans to deploy charging stations fully powered by renewables at scale, signaling market demand and growing readiness. This article breaks down the cost structure of charging, and explores how renewable-powered charging can reshape the charging economics.

The post Powering India’s Electric Trucks with Clean and Affordable Electricity appeared first on RMI.

As climate accountability lawsuits move closer to trial across the country, Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) announced this week that she is working with House and Senate colleagues to craft legislation aimed at “tackling” state climate superfund laws and climate deception lawsuits against fossil fuel companies.

Her announcement follows widespread reports that oil industry lobbyists have been pressing Congress for some form of liability shield. In January, the American Petroleum Institute made clear that stopping state climate lawsuits is a top 2026 priority, pledging to “stop extreme climate liability policy.”

Eleven states and the District of Columbia, along with dozens of cities, counties, and tribal governments, have active lawsuits seeking to hold major oil and gas companies accountable for deceiving the public about the climate harms of their products. Several of those cases — including in Minnesota, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Colorado — are advancing toward discovery and trial after courts denied motions to dismiss.

The push for federal legislation marks the most concrete attempt yet to shield fossil fuel companies from mounting legal exposure.

Efforts to limit liability are not unique to the oil industry. In recent months, other industries including pesticide manufacturers and segments of the tech sector have sought similar protections when litigation risks increase. But the scale of the climate cases, and the public costs at stake, make the fossil fuel industry’s immunity push especially consequential.

Statement from Cassidy DiPaola, Communications Director, Make Polluters Pay Campaign:

“Rep. Hageman’s announcement confirms that the fossil fuel industry is escalating its effort to avoid accountability.

As more than a dozen states and communities move closer to putting Big Oil on trial, and as climate superfund laws begin to take hold, the industry is turning to Congress for protection. API has said plainly that stopping climate liability is a top priority and now we are seeing legislation take shape to do exactly that.

If these companies believe they did nothing wrong, they should be willing to defend that position in court. Instead, they are asking lawmakers to block the cases altogether.

A federal liability shield for fossil fuel companies would not lower energy prices or ease the cost of living. It would simply shift more of the financial burden onto working families and local governments while insulating one of the most profitable industries in history from accountability.

Congress should not close the courthouse doors to communities seeking redress. Big Oil is not entitled to special immunity from the consequences of its conduct.”

February 12, 2026 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SUWA Announces 2026 Stewardship Season Project Calendar – 2.12.26  Trips begin in March and registration is live now 

Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org

Salt Lake City, UT – The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) has released its 2026 Stewardship Season Project Calendar. The Stewardship Program, now in its 11th season, offers service-learning opportunities that allow volunteers to experience firsthand the public lands SUWA is working with its members and supporters to protect. This year’s calendar includes 27 projects, with several projects in designated Wilderness areas such as Dark Canyon and Red Mountain, as well as Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments. Review the full project calendar and application form; additional projects will be added to the calendar as the season progresses. 

“For over a decade, SUWA’s Stewardship program has been a steady presence on the ground, ensuring the protection of public land though hands-on restoration work while building a passionate community of wilderness stewards, said Jeremy Lynch, SUWA Stewardship Director. “Whether it’s a multi-day backpacking trip deep in a National Monument, a short weekend in the West Desert, or a half-day rehabilitating public lands close to Salt Lake City, this year’s project calendar highlights the diversity of public lands (and public lands volunteers!) and the many different ways volunteers help protect these remarkable places. I hope we see you on a trip this year, deepening your relationship with public lands in Utah.” 

During the 2026 project season (March through early November), trips will vary from half-day excursions, to two-to-three-night campouts, to weeklong backpacking trips. This year, there will be trips focused on designated Wilderness Implementation, as well as trips focused on Wilderness Study Area (WSA) Protection and Monitoring; WSAs are eligible as wilderness under SUWA’s signature legislation, America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act. Several trips address protecting cultural resources or the impacts of increasing recreation. 

Every listing on the project calendar provides a rundown of the project scope and level of difficulty, as well as the general application and acceptance process. Individuals may apply for up to two projects for the 2026 season. Interested individuals can complete a general application here. Registration will fill up quickly so we encourage interested individuals to apply ASAP. SUWA has select scholarships available for qualifying individuals and groups who would like to join a stewardship project. If you have any questions about a scholarship or a project, please reach out to Stewardship Director Jeremy Lynch at jeremy@suwa.org.  

Additional Resources: 

• SUWA Web Page on Stewardship Program 
• 2026 Project Calendar and Application Form 
• Stewardship Program Scholarship Information and Application 
• 2025 Stewardship Season Year in Review 
• Less-than-a-minute explainer video about the Stewardship Program. 

### 

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards a world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org. 

The post SUWA Announces 2026 Stewardship Season Project Calendar – 2.12.26  appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

Thiès, Senegal, 12 February 2026 The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), in collaboration with civil society organisations and farmers from West and Central Africa, has expressed deep concern about the sub-regional workshop on the seed sector organised in Abidjan by CORAF (West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development) and FAO […]

The post PRESS RELEASE: Civil Society Organisations Raise Alarm Over Exclusion of Farmers from Regional Seed Strategy Discussions in West and Central Africa first appeared on AFSA.

i-80 Gold (TSX: IAU) (NYSE-A: IAUX) surged to its highest in nearly three years on Thursday after securing a $500 million financing package to fund its mine development plans and erase its debt obligations.

Together with its equity offering in the second quarter of 2025, the Reno, Nevada-based gold developer said it has now raised $800 million to support its objective of achieving mid-tier producer status.

To meet that objective, the company announced in 2024 a three-phased plan that aims to increase its production to 600,000 oz. per year across its three underground mines and one oxide open pit operation, all in Nevada. Currently, it produces around 50,000 oz. a year.

Initial phases funded

The $500 million package, according to i-80 Gold, will fund the first two phases of that plan, which are expected to bring its annual production up to approximately 300,000–400,000 oz. — for a potential six-to-eight-fold increase.

Phase 1 — which is underway and expected to last until 2029 — focuses on the ramp-up of the Granite Creek mine and development of the Archimedes project. Phase 2, currently slated for 2030-2031, comprises an expansion of the Cove underground mine and the Granite Creek open pit. The third and final phase would be driven by Mineral Point, a large-scale oxide open pit heap leach project.

i-80 Gold kicks off underground development at Archimedes

In a press release Thursday, i-80 Gold CEO Richard Young reiterated that the three-phased plan provides “a clear and achievable path” to positioning the company as a mid-tier gold producer. He added that with the new financing, it now has a “clear financial path to fully fund Phase 1 and Phase 2.”

Shares of i-80 Gold jumped as much as 8% to C$3.04 apiece in Toronto, its highest since June 2023. The company, which spun out of Premier Gold Mines following its acquisition by Equinox Gold (TSX, NYSE-A: EQX) in 2021, has a market capitalization of C$2.4 billion ($1.8 billion).

Funding details

The $500 million funding package comprises a $250 million royalty sale to Franco-Nevada (TSX, NYSE: FNV). The agreement is for a 1.5% life-of-mine net smelter return royalty covering all mineral properties in the i-80 portfolio, stepping up to 3% on January 1, 2031.

Of the total amount, $225 million is expected to be available at closing in March. The remaining $25 million is expected to be made available later in 2026 to advance the Mineral Point project following its early-stage permitting activities.

The company has also secured commitments for a gold prepay facility with National Bank and Macquarie for an initial advance of $150 million, with a $100 million accordion feature.

i-80 Gold estimates that the total ounces to be delivered for the full $250 million facility would represent approximately 15% of its gold output over the projected period of January 2028 to June 2030. Closing of the facility is anticipated to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2026.

Extinguished debt

The proceeds, according to the company, would not only help fund all five gold projects through various stages of development, but also extinguish the company’s existing debt obligations of approximately $175 million.

“The commitments from Franco-Nevada, National Bank and Macquarie, following a detailed due diligence process, underscore the quality of our asset base, the depth of our team and the credibility of our execution plan,” i-80 Gold’s CFO Ryan Snow said.

The Nevada miner also noted that it selected the facility with National Bank and Macquarie with a goal of transitioning the gold prepay into a corporate revolver following the completion of Phase 1 to fund the development of Mineral Point, which hosts the company’s largest gold-silver resources at about 4.6 million oz. of gold-equivalent (measured and indicated).

A preliminary economic assessment filed in early 2025 outlined a 17-year mine life with a LOM gold equivalent output of 282,000 ounces annually.

This morning, White House Border Czar Tom Homan announced ICE and CBP will vacate Minnesota, after Minnesotans fought tirelessly to protect their communities against lawless immigration enforcement.

Public Citizen Co-President Lisa Gilbert issued the following statement:

“The people of Minnesota set the example of bravery, compassion and strength against masked, lawless federal agents who vastly underestimated the power of community and peaceful protest.

“Tom Homan’s announcement that the administration will scale back the surge of immigration operations in Minnesota is a crucial win. That said, with billions still to spend on immigration enforcement from the “big ugly law,” the Trump Administration is still stripping families from their homes and throwing them into unlivable conditions in detention centers across the country in a militarized mass detention campaign. And there is no sign from the Trump administration that it plans on doing anything – including arresting and persecuting small children – differently. The victory in Minnesota should galvanize our efforts to fight these atrocities.

“Just as Minnesotans fought back, Congress must now follow suit and refuse to fund DHS agencies that enable such reckless and dangerous acts that, in some cases, have killed people in broad daylight. We need drastic reforms now.”

There have been a number of claims that the rebuilding of four reactors at the Darlington Nuclear Station was completed "on time and on budget."  This factsheet provides evidence that this is simply not true.  In fact, the project will be, at best, 25% over budget when it is actually complete, which will be at

The post Darlington refurbishment: Not on time, not on budget appeared first on Ontario Clean Air Alliance.

The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC) is looking for a passionate Spanish-speaking organizer to join our Migrant Farmworker team. We are searching for dedicated organizers to work with Migrant Agricultural Workers, particularly in South and Southwestern Ontario, to address injustices at work and in immigration and to build collective power.

Deadline: Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis and we are interviewing on an ongoing basis. Please apply as soon as possible

Click here for job description and how to apply

The post Job Posting: Spanish-Speaking Farmworker Organizer first appeared on Migrant Workers Alliance for Change.

The post Job Posting: Spanish-Speaking Farmworker Organizer appeared first on Migrant Workers Alliance for Change.

Aprender en libertad: construyendo un tapiz de alternativas radicales Fecha y hora * Fecha: 27 de febrero de 2026 * Hora: de 14:30 a 15:30 GMT / de 9:30 a 10:30 EST * Formato: evento en línea * Acceso al enlace de zoom * Registro aquí * Este evento contará con interpretación en inglés y español

Learning in Freedom: Building a Tapestry of Radical Alternatives Date and time * Date: February 27th * Time: 2:30pm to 3:30pm GMT / 9:30am to 10:30am EST * Format: Online event * Access the Zoom link * Register here * This event will have interpretation in English and Spanish

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) today welcomed the announced end of the ICE siege of Minneapolis as a “hard-fought community victory,” while warning that the impacts of the operation will continue to be felt by families and communities across the state.

MEDIA ADVISORY: CAIR-MN will hold a news conference today to respond to the announced withdrawal.
WHO: CAIR-MN, Community Activists, Faith Leaders, Elected Officials
WHEN: Today, Thursday, Feb. 12, 1:30 PM CT
WHERE: Minneapolis City Hall, Minneapolis, MN CONTACT: Jaylani Hussein, Executive Director, CAIR-MN, 612-406-0070, jhussein@cair.com; Suleiman Adan, Deputy Executive Director, CAIR-MN, 612-408-7183, sadan@cair.com

Federal officials confirmed today that “Operation Metro Surge,” which brought thousands of immigration agents into Minnesota and resulted in thousands of arrests, is being wound down following months of public pressure, protests, and national scrutiny. The operation sparked widespread backlash after aggressive enforcement tactics and fatal shootings of U.S. citizens during raids, which intensified community fear and demands for accountability.

“Today’s announcement reflects what happens when communities organize, speak out, and refuse to accept fear as public policy,” said Jaylani Hussein, Executive Director of CAIR-MN. “This is a hard-fought community victory. But it comes after real trauma, real harm, and the loss of life. That cannot be ignored.”

“This moment belongs to the community,” Hussein added. “Faith leaders, organizers, tenants, youth, and everyday residents stood together and demanded dignity. That collective action forced change. And we will remain vigilant.” CAIR-MN cautioned that the federal government has made clear enforcement will continue beyond Minnesota and that the policies behind the operation remain in place nationwide.

“The withdrawal of agents does not undo the damage,” said Suleiman Adan, Deputy Executive Director of CAIR-MN. “Families remain separated. Communities remain traumatized. Trust in institutions has been shaken. And today’s rhetoric from federal leadership signals that similar operations could continue elsewhere.”

CAIR-MN is calling for immediate next steps:

• Full transparency regarding arrests, detentions, and use-of-force incidents.
• Independent investigations into harm and loss of life during the operation.
• Legal and mental-health support for impacted families.
• A permanent end to large-scale militarized immigration enforcement in Minnesota communities.

Eventos Próximos eventos Repensar el mundo con Iván Illich y Gustavo Esteva - 14 de febrero de 2026 Presentación de los libros Conviviality and Political Resistance from Below: Ivan Illich's legacy in Mexico y Subversive hope and radical conviviality. The life and work of Gustavo Esteva, que recuperan y actualizan los legados de Illich y de Gustavo Esteva. Continúa con la presentación del proyecto Acervus como espacio vivo de resguardo y activación de la obra de Illich y culmina con la articu…

Events Upcoming events Rethinking the world with Iván Illich and Gustavo Esteva - February 14th Presentation of the books Conviviality and Political Resistance from Below: Ivan Illich's legacy in Mexico and Subversive hope and radical conviviality. The life and work of Gustavo Esteva, which recover and update the legacies of Illich and Gustavo Esteva. This will be followed by the presentation of the Acervus project as a living space for the preservation and activation of Illich's work. Final…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Coalition of environmental justice networks representing millions of frontline and fenceline communities demand justice: Revoking the Endangerment Finding and vehicle standards is unacceptable and we will keep fighting for our rights.

Press Contacts:

Ashley Sullivan, ashley.sullivan@weact.org, (917) 837-1183 (WE ACT/EJLF)
Isella Ramirez, info@movingforwardnetwork.com, (323) 854-1857 (MFN)
Prerna Sampat. press@ceed.org, (CEED/Platform for a Just Climate)
Kayla Ritchie, kayla@unbendablemedia.com, (CJA)
Stephanie Herron, sherron@comingcleaninc.org. 802-251-0203 ext.707 (EJHA)

NATIONWIDE – Today, the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its final decision to revoke the Endangerment Finding and vehicle emissions regulations. In response, the coalition made up of, the Moving Forward Network (MFN). Climate Justice Alliance (CJA). Platform for a Just Climate (formerly referred to as the Equitable & Just National Climate Platform), Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA), and the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum (EJLF) shares that the injustice shown through this decision only strengthens our resolve to hold the EPA accountable to its mission to protect human health and the environment, while continuing to fight to protect the communities we represent across the U.S.

Last September, the coalition submitted written comments to the proposed repeal-signed by 100 organizations and individuals, alongside a powerful collection of testimonies that capture the real-world impacts of climate and transportation pollution, and frontline and fenceline communities’ need for robust environmental and health protections. As the coalition underscored. the EPA must be held accountable for violating its mission, by prioritizing the corporate polluter agenda while putting millions of lives at risk. This administration must answer for its betrayal of the public, especially environmental justice communities, who continue to be put in the greatest danger. With this decision on the heels of the EPA’s 55th anniversary, the coalition furthers our call on the Agency to renew its commitment to environmental justice, restore essential funding, and ensure protections for current and future generations.

“The Endangerment Finding ensures that the EPA can do its job to protect our health and well-being by curbing pollution. By revoking this, the administration continues to show that their priorities are grounded in sacrificing our health, endangering communities and commodifying the Earth for more corporate extraction and profits, at the expense of our future.” – Mar Zepeda Salazar, Legislative Director, Climate Justice Alliance

“One year ago, Trump rolled into office with a barrage of executive orders tearing down environmental protections and making corporate polluters’ toxic wishlist into his top priority. Now, Trump’s EPA is rolling back a critical scientific determination, the endangerment finding, opening the door to more pollution, more asthma attacks, more heat-related illnesses, and more fires and storms fueled by climate change in our communities. But here is what this Administration needs to know: we’re still here, we’re still united, and we are still resisting these attacks on environmental justice communities. We refuse to accept a future where our communities are turned into sacrifice zones so corporate polluters can profit.” – Byron Gudiel, Executive Director, Center for Earth Energy & Democracy (CEED), convener of the Platform for a Just Climate.

“The EPA’s repeal of the Endangerment Finding is a harmful step backward for communities that have shouldered the greatest pollution burdens for generations. Environmental justice communities remain on the frontlines of air and climate hazards, and this rollback threatens to deepen those inequities. The EPA’s mission is to protect human health and the environment, and that responsibility must be fulfilled equitably across all communities. We will continue to speak out and organize for a safe, just, and healthy future where our communities can truly thrive.” – Denise Patel, Director of Organizing, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Environmental Justice Leadership Forum

“The revoking of the Endangerment Finding and the vehicle standards puts American lives at risk. We will continue to uplift the EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment. We continue to be committed to fighting for clean air and a healthy environment. Justice is in the air.” – Isella Ramirez, Moving Forward Network

“EPA has the authority and moral obligation to do more, not less, to reduce the harms from toxic air pollution and climate change, both of which are disproportionately concentrated in poor and primarily of color neighborhoods. Instead of protecting public health, protecting the environment and creating a 21st century economy based on innovation and collective care instead of extraction and sacrifice zones, this administration wants to take us back to a time before the EPA existed- when rivers caught on fire, children were poisoned by lead, smog choked communities, and average life expectancy in the U.S. was about five years shorter. Communities like the ones that make up EJHA who are poisoned by industrial and vehicle pollution are sick and tired of sacrificing our families’ health for the profits of corporate polluters”. – Stephanie Herron, Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA)

Additional Background:

The comments shared by this coalition provide a specific rationale for opposing the EPA’s flawed decision rescind its 2009 Endangerment Finding and GHG Vehicle Standards. This includes that:

1. This decision denies the lived experience, backed by science, of the effects of

pollution on public health, the environment, and the climate.

• This decision does not consider the targeted and harmful effects that this “historic deregulation” effort will have on workers.
• This decision is based on flawed science.
• This decision is unlawful.
• This decision does not consider the benefits of climate and environmental protection.

The EPA was built 55 years ago in response to the organizing and advocacy efforts from communities across the country as a call to protect human health and the environment, and serves several critical functions, including developing and enforcing regulations, providing grants, and studying environmental impacts. Since the beginning of the second Trump administration, we have witnessed dozens of unprecedented EPA rollbacks of hard-fought, peer-reviewed, research-based, and life-saving regulations, as well as the termination of millions of dollars in critical grants. For these reasons, the coalition demands that the EPA be held accountable for its deadly decision to rescind the Endangerment Finding and vehicle emissions standards.

About This Coalition

Center for Earth, Energy & Democracy (CEED) is a convener of the Platform for a Just Climate and is a member of the Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) and the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum (EJLF).

The Platform for a Just Climate is a coalition of EJ groups and national environmental organizations from across the country united around a shared commitment to ending the environmental racism that has left economically disadvantaged communities, Indigenous communities, Black communities, and communities of color exposed to disproportionate levels of toxic pollution and bearing the brunt of the climate crisis. Our coalition has stood strong for over five years around our shared vision for a just climate future — and our platform has grown to include over 300 co-signer organizations from all over the country.

The Environmental Justice Leadership Forum (EJLF) is a national coalition of nearly 40 organizations in 22 states who work to ensure that a diverse grassroots perspective is reflected in federal, state, and local programming and policy decisions. Organizations are based in red, blue, and swing states, including those in Appalachia, the Deep South, Northwest, Midwest, Northeast and Southwest regions. EJLF members represent Black, Latinx, Indigenous and low-income communities in large cities to rural areas. These groups are actively working together to advance key climate justice and environmental policy to ensure the protection and advancement of communities of color and low-income communities throughout the U.S. The EJLF is hosted by WE ACT for Environmental Justice. Learn more at ejforum.org and follow us @ejforum. 

The Moving Forward Network (MFN) is a national network of over 50 member organizations that centers grassroots, frontline-community knowledge, expertise, and engagement from communities across the US that bear the negative impacts of the global freight transportation system. MFN builds partnerships between these community leaders, academia, labor, big green organizations, and others to protect communities from the impacts of freight. Its diverse membership facilitates an integrated and geographically dispersed advocacy strategy that incorporates organizing, communications, research, legal and technical assistance, leadership development and movement building. This strategy respects multiple forms of expertise and builds collective power. The Moving Forward Network is a project of Windward Fund 

Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) formed in 2013 to create a new center of gravity in the climate movement by uniting frontline communities and organizations into a formidable force. Our translocal organizing strategy and mobilizing capacity is building a Just Transition away from extractive systems of production, consumption and political oppression, and towards resilient, regenerative and equitable economies. We believe that the process of transition must place race, gender and class at the center of the solutions equation in order to make it a truly Just Transition.

Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform is a national network of grassroots Environmental and Economic Justice organizations and advocates in communities that are disproportionately impacted by toxic chemicals from legacy contamination, ongoing exposure to polluting facilities and health-harming chemicals in household products. EJHA supports a just transition towards safer chemicals and a pollution-free economy that leaves no community or worker behind. The EJHA network model features leadership of, by, and for Environmental Justice groups with support from additional allied groups and individual experts.

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