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File:  ltr to Congress, 76 scientists 2012.pdfResource Type: Letters

File:  ltr to Congress, 76 scientists 2012.pdfResource Type: Letters

Washington recognizes EWG Verified® as higher standard for safer salon products Anthony Lacey May 21, 2026

WASHINGTON – In a first-of-its-kind pilot project, Washington is recognizing products with the EWG Verified® mark in its Safer Salons Partnership, which reimburses independent hair stylists, barbers and small salon businesses for switching to safer beauty products.

The program, led by Washington’s Department of Ecology, says EWG Verified meets the criteria for the highest reimbursement level. This is reserved for certifications that ban a broad range of harmful chemicals and assess the health hazards of ingredients and impurities. More than 2,700 products have earned the EWG Verified mark.

“EWG is proud to be recognized by Washington State's Safer Salons Partnership,” said Clive Davies, vice president of EWG Verified. “This is a watershed moment for the beauty industry. Washington State is putting safer product choice directly in the hands of the workers who need it most, with the money on the table to help make it happen.

“By recognizing EWG Verified at the highest level, the state is sending a clear message to manufacturers: Designing safer products is not only possible, it’s preferred. EWG is proud to be part of making that happen,” he added.

Protecting the workers most at risk

Salon workers face some of the highest occupational exposures to toxic chemicals in the beauty industry. 

Hair straighteners, dyes and styling products can contain formaldehyde, phthalates and other chemicals linked to cancer, hormone disruption and reproductive toxicity. Unlike consumers, salon workers breathe them in and absorb them through their skin for hours at a time every single working day.

“For too long, we’ve expected salon workers to deliver high-performance results without assurance that the products they use are safe,” said Lauren Sweet Duffy, Ph.D., senior director of EWG Verified. “They shouldn't need a chemistry degree to know whether the products they use every day are safer.

“When a stylist sees the EWG Verified mark, the guesswork is gone. It means the product has been rigorously reviewed, meets high standards for ingredient safety and transparency, and is free from the hidden chemicals that have put salon workers’ health at risk for decades. That is not a small thing. We are thrilled to work with Washington state and help amplify these positive impacts,” she added

Washington targets toxic cosmetics

Washington’s Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act, enacted in 2023, is a model for what meaningful cosmetic ingredient reform looks like in practice. The law not only bans a broad range of harmful chemicals from cosmetic products sold or distributed in the state but also offers financial support for small businesses.

The European Union and other countries have banned or limited more than 1,600 chemicals from personal care products while the U.S. prohibits just nine for safety reasons.

States have stepped in to ban dozens of other chemicals. Washington’s Department of Ecology recently finalized a new rule under the Toxic-Free Cosmetics Act that will ban formaldehyde and 25 specific formaldehyde-releasing chemicals from cosmetic products beginning January 1, 2027. 

Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen commonly used in hair-smoothing treatments and also linked to respiratory disease and skin sensitization, risks that fall most heavily on the salon workers who apply these products daily.

The state is piloting the Safer Salons Partnership with several Washington salon professionals and barbershops. In addition to EWG Verified products, some other beauty products are eligible for the program.

A full directory of EWG Verified products eligible for reimbursement during the pilot is available at ewg.org/ewgverified. More information about the Safer Salons Partnership is available at ecology.wa.gov/safer-salons.

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The Environmental Working Group is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.

Areas of Focus Personal Care Products Family Health Women's Health Toxic Chemicals Phthalates State’s pilot reimburses salon workers, barbers for buying items with EWG Verified mark Press Contact Monica Amarelo monica@ewg.org (202) 939-9140 May 21, 2026

We’re disheartened to report that Garfield County has begun chip sealing (effectively paving) the first 10 miles of Hole-in-the-Rock Road within Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Below we share some information about why this is happening—and why our fight to preserve the character of this rugged backroad at the heart of the monument matters.  

Hole-in-the-Rock Road runs from the junction of Highway 12, east of the town of Escalante, to the top of the cliffs above the Colorado River within the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area; it provides access to popular destinations like Spooky and Peek-A-Boo slot canyons, Devil’s Garden, and Coyote Gulch. Surrounded by wilderness-quality lands, 57 of the road’s 62 miles are within the monument (the remaining are in the recreation area) and 16 miles are in Garfield County. It is an unpaved, primarily dirt road that is core to the remote experience that defines the monument.  

In February, SUWA filed a lawsuit in federal court, alleging that Garfield County and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated federal law when the county began making unauthorized “improvements” to the road. While Garfield County has title to a right-of-way for the road, it does not own the road or the land beneath it (this remains federal public land) and it cannot lawfully take unilateral action to improve the road. Instead, the county is required to consult with the BLM before making any improvements, such as widening or realigning the road, installing new culverts, or chip sealing the surface.

The BLM, for its part, is required by law to protect the things that make the monument so special, and to make sure that activities like these do not cause unnecessary damage to public lands. Sadly, the agency entirely failed in those duties, idly standing by while the county conducted weeks of unauthorized work that will forever change the character of this area.  

When SUWA learned that the BLM had completed its consultation for the chip sealing and authorized the county to proceed, we immediately swung into action and sought a temporary restraining order from the court; late last Friday a federal judge denied our request. This week we’ve filed another motion seeking an emergency injunction to pause the county’s chip seal work. Meanwhile, the county is rushing to complete the paving before the court has a chance to rule on that motion.

Despite all of this, our pending case will continue to proceed in federal court on its merits, and we expect to prevail. But by then the changes to the road and damage to the monument will be done. Paving will lead to more, faster, and louder traffic, changing the remote, serene backcountry experience the monument was created to protect, and that draws visitors from around the world. 

In the future, we hope to share more positive news. SUWA’s work to Protect Wild Utah and the national monument—which is also currently at risk—continues on, thanks to people like you. At SUWA we take the long view, and we firmly believe that these places are worth fighting for. If you’re able, please consider a donation to support SUWA’s work.

For Grand Staircase-Escalante,

Hanna Larsen & Steve Bloch
Staff Attorney & Legal Director

The post An Update on the Hole-in-the-Rock Road appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

Sweeping U.S. cuts to critical global health programs, including funding and staffing reductions at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO), have dangerously weakened the world’s ability to respond to rapidly evolving infectious disease threats, including the escalating Ebola outbreak unfolding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the region, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said today.

“This outbreak is unfolding amid devastating cuts to global health and humanitarian assistance in the DRC that have weakened disease surveillance, strained already fragile health systems, and reduced the capacity to detect and respond to infectious disease outbreaks,” said Thomas McHale, SM, public health director at PHR. “Physicians for Human Rights has documented how abrupt U.S. foreign aid cuts disrupted frontline health services and infectious disease programs in conflict-affected eastern DRC, leaving communities more vulnerable at precisely the moment sustained international public health engagement when it is needed most. ”

The current Ebola outbreak, which the WHO declared a “public health emergency of international concern,” involves the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is no approved vaccine or targeted treatment. Cases have already been identified in and around Bunia, Goma, and Bukavu in eastern DRC as well as in Kampala, Uganda, which are densely populated urban areas, and health workers themselves have become infected. The crisis is unfolding with the rapid and unchecked spread of infections and the sharply rising death toll, with 139 confirmed deaths reported to date.-A devastating set of emergencies are converging in eastern DRC, where ongoing armed conflict, attacks on civilians and health facilities, and mass population displacement have already pushed fragile health systems to the brink. Violence in and around Ituri and Goma, where several cases of Ebola have been detected, has severely disrupted humanitarian access and public health operations precisely as Ebola is spreading rapidly through affected communities.

PHR’s network of medical and humanitarian partners in DRC are reporting mounting tolls from the outbreak and scarce resources to confront the emergency. A doctor in an Ebola-affected area of DRC tells PHR that “…this outbreak is occurring at a time when we are no longer truly able to carry out proper epidemiological surveillance because of the disruption in USAID funding. To continue this surveillance, we are forced to rely on our own personal resources, including purchasing phone credit, fuel, and paying transportation costs. This is extremely difficult given the current level of need.”

Health workers in DRC told PHR that they need support for disease surveillance, materials to support safe disposal of bodies, including body bags, access to laboratories to process samples quickly, and infection prevention and control supplies, including masks, protective suits, face shield and other personal protective equipment to allow health workers care for Ebola patients safely. The same doctor told PHR that “…without rapid support, surveillance, case confirmation, the safe management of bodies, and the protection of health care workers all risk being seriously compromised.”

U.S. global health funding cuts have contributed to the global health emergency posed by the Ebola outbreak. Decades of U.S. investment helped build the disease surveillance systems, laboratory infrastructure, trained workforce, community outreach networks, and emergency coordination mechanisms necessary to detect and contain outbreaks early before they spiraled into regional and global crises. But those systems are now being hollowed out. The Trump administration’s abrupt cuts to U.S. global health funding in January 2025 have undermined public health efforts around the globe, resulting in impacts such as disruptions to HIV and TB prevention and treatment programs, the elimination of services for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and undermining critical disease monitoring. U.S. funding cuts are degrading public health response capacities in eastern DRC, across Africa, and globally at a moment when rapid response care and robust international coordination is urgently needed.

Public health experts have expressed alarm that the latest outbreak of this rare strain of Ebola likely went undetected for two months, allowing the virus to spread further and losing critical opportunities to trace, isolate, and treat individuals who were exposed or infected.

“The outbreak of Ebola in DRC is another example of the failures of the America First Global Health strategy,” said McHale. “At its best, U.S. global health leadership can help identify, address, and prevent infectious disease outbreaks before they spiral out of control. But this outbreak comes at a time when the United States has shuttered USAID, slashed CDC funding and work force, cut resources for humanitarian response in DRC, including disease surveillance capacity, and hampered the ability of health care workers on the ground to respond to the emerging Ebola crisis.”

PHR’s recent report, “Wasted Investments, Looming Crisis,” documents how reductions in US support for global health have dismantled research platforms, surveillance infrastructure, and frontline health systems that are essential not only for HIV and TB programs, but also for responding to future outbreaks of deadly infectious diseases. A research brief by PHR (“Abandoned in Crisis”) documented the early impacts of U.S. aid cuts on health services in DRC.

“Due to the Trump administration’s cuts, we no longer have the full measure of global coordination and operational capacity needed to rapidly track transmission, monitor cross-border spread, support frontline clinicians, and swiftly identify and treat people who may have been exposed,” said McHale. “In the conflict-affected regions of eastern DRC, where insecurity and displacement are accelerating disease transmission and limiting access to care, these losses are especially dangerous and further deepening the polycrisis. Global health security depends on sustained international cooperation — not retreat.”

As world leaders gather at the World Health Assembly in Geneva this week, governments must urgently promote a rights-based Ebola response that is grounded in science, transparency, and respect for human dignity, while ensuring affected communities have access to timely, evidence-based care and information. Immediate support is needed to protect frontline health workers through the provision of adequate personal protective equipment and infection prevention and control supplies, as health workers remain at heightened risk of exposure. World governments should urgently scale support for epidemiological surveillance, laboratory testing, contact tracing, safe clinical care, community engagement, and dignified and safe burials, including the provision of body bags and other essential supplies for the safe management of the deceased, and essential personal protective equipment for health care workers. Sustained investment in supply chains, local response capacity, and research into Bundibugyo-specific diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines are essential to preventing further spread and protecting the right to health.

The United States should also strengthen coordination with the WHO and fully disburse congressionally-appropriated global health funds to support an effective response to the Ebola crisis, including urgent measures to track and protect exposed individuals and communities, and strengthen frontline response capacities to prevent further spread of the virus. All parties to the conflict in the DRC, including occupying forces, should uphold existing ceasefire agreements and guarantee safe and unhindered access for health care workers and humanitarian personnel to support populations in areas affected by violence. This should include enabling the immediate reopening of Goma International Airport so that life-saving medicines, medical supplies, and humanitarian aid can reach at-risk communities.

A poll from consumer advocacy group PowerLines found broad distrust of elected officials and limited understanding of utilities’ business models. Experts told Utility Dive the disconnect could worsen.

Depending on your teenage years, the mere mention of superlatives could either bring back fond memories or resurrect deeply buried trauma. Either way, forget about all that—these superlatives are...

Consumer and renewable energy advocates say the stock transaction gave Blackstone an early stake in TXNM Energy before regulators could negotiate acquisition-related conditions or customer protections. The companies deny wrongdoing.

America must rebuild its nuclear fuel supply chain to reduce geopolitical risk, writes Centrus Energy CMO John Donelson. “No one company can do it alone.”

As adoption of GLP-1s grows, food waste experts expect these drugs to alter food waste patterns. This creates an opportunity for restaurants, retailers, and hotels to adapt and help keep food out of landfills. 

Around 12 percent of adults in the United States have tried a GLP-1 drug like Ozempic and Wegovy, according to a study published in JAMA. The nonprofit ReFED reports that their uptake is driving a decrease in demand for groceries, a desire for small portion sizes, and a shift in eaters’ food preferences. As this happens, levels of surplus food are changing as well.

Dana Gunders, ReFED’s Executive Director describes these drugs as “a life change moment.” Adopting is not unlike learning to cook after first leaving home or having a child, she explains. All of these alter the way eaters interact with food.

GLP-1 users tend to be more mindful of surplus food on their plates, ReFED finds. “When people go on GLP-1s, their waste tends to go up,” Gunders tells Food Tank. She adds that it’s not surprising as eaters get used to a new appetite. “But over time, they do tend to get a little bit better and in some cases, waste has gone down a little bit.”

But as eaters shop differently, it may take some time for grocers to adapt. “It’s like an earthquake in the food sector and that’s probably even more true in the retail space,” Emily Broad Leib, a Clinical Professor of Law and Director of Harvard Law School Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, tells Food Tank. 

Eventually, Broad Leib believes that retailers will catch up because “they want to be selling the right things and making the money they can make. But she thinks that incentivizing policies can encourage them to act faster and find ways to manage surplus without sending it to the trash. 

Restaurants also have an opportunity as they work to meet the needs of this new demographic. “I anticipate we will see a lot more restaurants coming out with menus and offerings that offer more flexible or customizable portion sizes. And we know there’s a lot of interest in that,” Gunders says. 

ReFED’s research shows that three-quarters of people on GLP-1s would prefer one restaurant over another if they can choose their portion size. And restaurants are noticing the trend. But when it comes to hotels and other businesses offering large buffets, the transition may take longer, Gunders and Broad Leib say.

“I feel like that sector has been talked about a lot less,” Broad Leib says. “That message is a lot harder to get directly up the chain in the hospitality sector because individual consumers aren’t the ones paying necessarily.”

Listen to or watch the full conversation with Emily Broad Leib and Dana Gunders on Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg to hear about the business case to help hotels tackle this challenge, policy opportunities to reduce waste, and long-term implications of GLP-1s.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Jay Wennington, Unsplash

The post What Do GLP-1s Mean for Food Waste? appeared first on Food Tank.

It’s a Friday morning at the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey, and the phone rings at the guest relations desk. Volunteer Phyllis Hall answers, and her calm-yet-authoritative voice coaches the...

Over the course of five years, 3,525 volunteers spent 234,495 hours counting birds in every corner of the state. That’s the equivalent of nearly 10,000 days of volunteers scouring the state...

“I'm interested in the successful continued operation of PJM, but definitely I want to help them get through this period,” FERC Commissioner Judy Chang told Utility Dive. She called the proposed NextEra-Dominion merger “interesting.”

New data released today by Groundwork Collaborative and The Century Foundation shows how President Trump’s reckless economic policies and war in Iran are driving up the costs of summer cookouts and travel season. Prices for backyard barbecue staples jumped 13% on average since last year, more than four times the rate of inflation. Burgers will run families 20% more, Kraft Heinz ketchup jumped 14%, and grilled corn on the cob costs nearly twice as much as it did last year. Even a to-go plate will also cost families more as aluminum foil prices climbed 18%.

If working families manage to get through the holiday weekend within budget, their summer travel plans may still be out of reach. Airfare prices are up 26% and expected to keep rising this summer, while gas prices are hovering around $4.50 nationally. As Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wraps up his family’s seven-month, all-expenses-paid road trip, working families are wondering whether they’ll be able to afford traveling at all this summer. All in, reports find that the Duffy’s corporate-sponsored vacation would cost at least $900 in fuel expenses – and that’s not including the luxury cruise the family was given to cap off their trip. Trump and his Cabinet couldn’t be more out of touch with working families this Memorial Day weekend.

Groundwork’s Chief Economist, Breyon Williams, released the following statement:

“Trump’s senseless tariffs and illegal war are robbing American families of their relaxing summer vacation. From the ticket counter to the cookout, consumers are scaling back and going without in the face of Trump’s summer sticker shock.”

Janelle Jones, Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation, shared her response:

"Prices are rising because of tariffs and the war—two decisions the president made and can undo whenever he wants but by his own admission he doesn't spend any time thinking about Americans' financial situation. Families are getting squeezed on the price of everything and leaders in Washington don't seem to be paying attention."

Eat Up: Barbecue Essentials More Expensive Thanks to Trump

• Beef, hot dog, and bratwurst prices are through the roof (up 20%, 12%, and 28% respectively) as consumers consider firing up the grill this holiday weekend.
• Fresh produce prices have increased under Trump thanks to higher fertilizer prices and a struggling farm economy. Tomatoes cost 22% more, while corn prices have increased 98% and lettuce is up 19%.
• Trump’s war in Iran has also driven up the price of plasticware popular at cookouts: disposable plasticware prices are up about 20% compared to last year due to the unrest in the Middle East. These price impacts will last beyond summer barbecue season.

Flights, road trips, and even staycations will cost more this summer

• A family of four can expect to pay an extra $300 on plane tickets this summer as Trump’s war drags on. All major U.S. carriers have announced price hikes of about $10 per checked bag heading into vacation season, on top of skyrocketing airfare.
• Budget airline Spirit shut down this month partially due to unexpected increases in jet fuel costs while airline CEOs anticipate passing higher operating costs onto consumers via price hikes.
  • Southwest Airlines CEO Andrew Watterson revealed to shareholders in a recent call that there have been five industrywide fare hikes so far this year, and he anticipates more on the way.
  • United CEO Kirby also admitted prices will not come down, saying “The longer consumers pay these prices and airlines get used to this revenue stream, the more likely it is [to hold].”
• Flyers who can afford higher prices will be crammed onto smaller planes with fewer flight options.
  • Airlines have cut over two million seats and 12,000 flights worldwide in late April and early May, an unprecedented level of cancellations.
  • United Airlines has removed over 21,000 flights from its summer schedule, while Delta and American cut nearly 12,000 combined.
• Gas prices are at the highest level since 2022, hitting around $4.55 nationally, up more than 50% from $2.98 before the president’s war in Iran started.
• Working families looking forward to a restful staycation at home may find it more difficult as temperatures rise: Trump’s tariffs have driven up the cost of HVAC systems, and his administration has ended tax credits Americans relied on to upgrade their air conditioning.

To talk to a Groundwork expert about rising prices and the economic fallout of Trump’s agenda, email press@groundworkcollaborative.org.

The Clean Air Task Force estimates that the state’s need to expand interregional transmission could be reduced by 28% to 53% through enhanced geothermal deployment.

A new paper generated a fair amount of consternation and eye-rolling when the authors claimed that New Orleans, the largest city in Louisiana, is at risk of being surrounded by open water by the end of the century. 

As human-caused global warming continues to drive sea level rise, coastal Louisiana, the paper states, has likely “already crossed the point of no return.” Under the current warming trajectory, the projected loss of the remaining coastal wetlands in southern Louisiana puts over 1 million residents “in harm’s way,” according to the authors. Though that may sound shocking, it wasn’t the controversial part of the paper, which was published in Nature Sustainability this month — at least not to some outspoken critics. 

Instead, the authors were criticized for arguing that New Orleans should consider managed retreat, or relocating further inland to higher ground to avoid the worst climate impacts.

“[P]lease stop saying ‘relocate New Orleans.’ That’s not going to happen,” wrote Christopher Ard, an 11th-generation New Orleanian, in an opinion column in The Lens, a local nonprofit newsroom. Ard added, “If people want to move, they will,” and that researchers should instead use “words like ‘abandon’ or ‘give up on’ or maybe even ‘find somewhere new,’” to describe this out-migration. “Relocate just sounds silly,” he wrote. 

In their paper, the authors estimate coastal Louisiana could face 3 to 7 meters (about 10 to 23 feet) of sea level rise and further predict that parts of the state’s shoreline will move inward by 100 kilometers (62 miles), closer to Baton Rouge. And while they acknowledge that the timeline for these processes is unclear, they insist that the region has a matter of decades to plan for migration away from these dangers, not centuries. The paper does not propose how and when those living in the Mississippi River Delta should move, but rather urges that preparing for projected sea level rise “is a long process that cannot be put off.”

Left out of the paper’s scope is what happens to people whose jobs and livelihoods are tied to the coastline — like fisherpeople — in a managed retreat scenario. Louisiana is the second largest producer of seafood in the United States, after Alaska, and New Orleans is a central hub for fisheries that catch shrimp, crabs, and fin fish from the wild, as well as harvest oysters, catfish, crawfish, and alligators.

“For the fishermen in the state of Louisiana, the loss of, or not being able to use New Orleans as a hub, as a source of infrastructure, as a place to sell seafood — New Orleans consumes a lot of seafood as a market — would be devastating,” said Jeffrey Plumlee, an assistant professor at the School of Renewable Natural Resources at Louisiana State University. 

An abandoned boat sits in coastal waters in Venice, Louisiana.
Drew Angerer / Getty Images

It’s important to note that while the paper advocates for managed retreat from the coast, the authors caution against overstating the impacts of sea level rise. “Eventually, yes, this is not going to be a livable place anymore,” said Torbjörn Törnqvist, one of the paper’s co-authors. But “New Orleans is still going to be around by the end of the century,” he said — it just may look a lot more like Venice, Italy, a city completely surrounded by open water.

Such a process would undoubtedly impact the seafood industry in Louisiana, which has already been hit hard by worsening hurricanes — among other factors that have turned the fishing profession into precarious work. Severe storms have badly damaged critical infrastructure for fisheries, like ice houses and fuel docks. When those facilities are destroyed — or if they’re never repaired or replaced — the work becomes harder, and people start looking for opportunities elsewhere.

Additionally, young people see the challenges of the industry and start considering other lines of work. “It’s called ‘the graying of the fleet,’” a term that describes how the fishing workforce is aging, said Plumlee. 

This process is not dissimilar from what is happening in southern Louisiana more broadly, where the population has fallen four times in the last five years according to census data. That population decline is not only or specifically tied to extreme weather or environmental conditions.

“What you notice in coastal Louisiana is the aging of the population. Young people are leaving to go find jobs and places where they have more opportunities,” said Beth Fussell, a sociologist and demographer at Brown University, who peer-reviewed the managed retreat paper. This out-migration, she says, “most likely has nothing to do with their perception of environmental risk.” It’s true that it is difficult to say with certainty who qualifies as a climate migrant or climate refugee — and in the case of coastal Louisiana, Törnqvist and his co-authors acknowledge movement out of this area is “multi-causal.” But it’s undeniable that environmental factors also shape what jobs and economic opportunities are available — for example, insurance companies have been raising prices or even pulling out of Louisiana entirely. 

According to Lawrence Huang, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, the challenge of moving to a new place and finding new ways to make a living is exactly why people in low-lying communities like New Orleans should make plans sooner rather than later. 

“This is why starting early and planning now matters, because it takes such a long time to help people find new skills and new occupations,” said Huang. In a situation where a major U.S. city becomes unlivable due to sea level rise and decides to relocate, he added, “we’re going to have to re-skill people so that they can find jobs in their new location. That is the unfortunate reality.”

Read Next The world is getting too hot to feed itself Ayurella Horn-Muller

If the notion of picking up a whole community and moving it sounds far-fetched, one only needs to look at recent history — and particularly, the experiences of Indigenous peoples — to see that Huang is right. In southern Louisiana, the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation, a state-recognized Native American tribe, received nearly $50 million from the federal government in 2016 to relocate to higher ground after the island on which the tribe lived lost 98 percent of its landmass due to severe coastal erosion and subsidence. 

The tribal nation is considered the country’s first climate migrants. In a 2022 interview with StoryCorps, Albert Naquin, the chief of the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation, noted that members’ ways of sustaining themselves shifted along with the geography of the island. “Where we used to walk at, now we use boat to travel in,” said Naquin. “And where we used to trap and raise cattle, now we shrimp.” Nevertheless, according to many tribal members, the relocation was a bust. “It’s not worth it. I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody,” one tribal member who relocated told The New York Times.

The issues with relocating are myriad, and go beyond what job one will have after migrating. Huang emphasized that, “Planned relocation and managed retreat are not popular terms and it’s because people don’t want to move.” 

Any conversation around climate-driven human migration, therefore, should “start from that point,” he argued. Still, he admitted, “It’s a good conversation to be having.”

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This story was originally published by Grist with the headline As seas rise, where will Louisiana’s fishers go? on May 21, 2026.

Georgia is 1 of only 10 states that elects its utility commission — the board that has final say over how much nearly 3 million Georgians pay for electricity. The state’s public service commission, or PSC, also has substantial say over how that electricity is made and, because fossil fuel power plants are a leading producer of greenhouse gases, the PSC’s decisions directly influence Georgia’s climate future. 

From 2006 until last year, all five members of the PSC were Republicans. Democrats Peter Hubbard and Alicia Johnson won upset victories and have since made it more difficult for Georgia Power to have their decisions rubber-stamped. Those elections have had ripple effects in other utility commission races around the country: In Arizona, national activist groups on both sides of the aisle have gotten involved in the race; Alabama lawmakers overhauled their commission in an attempt to shield it from the chance that voters will oust its Republicans.

On Tuesday, Georgia held party primaries for two seats on the PSC. November’s elections, then, will be the Democrats’ next chance to win a majority presence on the commission, and could lead to more renewable energy in Georgia and more scrutiny of Georgia Power’s ongoing expansion plans.  

In the District 5 race, Democrat Shelia Edwards defeated opponents Craig Cupid and Angelia Pressley. Republicans Bobby Mehan and Josh Tolbert will square off in a runoff on June 16. Libertarian Thomas Blooming is also running for the seat.

“I’m running to be that third vote that’s going to help them change the trajectory of the PSC,” said Edwards in an interview before the primary. “And to bring some balance to something that’s been completely imbalanced for years.”

Edwards, Mehan, and Tolbert have all said they support clean energy, but the Republican candidates clarified they don’t support any sort of renewable energy mandate.

“I do not think there is a place on the commission for advocates,” said Tolbert. “It’s not a legislative body. It doesn’t set particular policies. Its job is to ensure that Georgians have reliable, affordable electricity.”

Tolbert’s main pitch to voters has been his technical expertise as an engineer with experience working in multiple types of power plants. Mehan, meanwhile, has said his business experience means he can find innovative solutions to problems. He described himself as a pro-gas, pro-nuclear, “all-the-above energy guy.”

Read Next The Iran war is destroying oil demand. Could it also spark a shift to clean energy? Kate Yoder

Control of the commission does not hinge only on Edwards’ race, however. It will also come down to whether Hubbard can retain his seat. The race for District 3 could come down to a rematch between Hubbard and Fitz Johnson. Last year’s election in District 3, which Hubbard won, was only for a one-year term. Hubbard ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, but the Republican race was too close to call as of Wednesday afternoon. Johnson leads his primary opponent, Brandon Martin, by less than 3,000 votes. The results fall within the margin for a recount should Martin request one. Martin did not reply to requests for comment on the result. The winner will serve a full six-year term.

Unlike most candidates from both parties in the primary, Johnson says the commission has done enough to protect ordinary ratepayers from the costs of serving data centers — a hot-button issue as more data centers flock to the state and Georgia Power spends billions of dollars on new resources to serve them.

The commission’s votes on that utility expansion help drive home the repercussions of this election.

In December, after the two Democrats’ resounding election victory but before the new commissioners took their seats, the five Republican commissioners voted unanimously to approve Georgia Power’s proposal to add 10 gigawatts of energy, most of it made with natural gas.

Earlier this year, advocates pushed the commission to reconsider some of the new energy, arguing that the plan would generate more electricity than the utility’s own forecast calls for. The commission, they argued, overstepped its legal authority. The new Democratic commissioners voted to reopen the issue, but the effort failed — with all three Republicans voting against it.

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This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Georgia’s PSC elections have become a referendum on energy prices on May 21, 2026.

By: Joe Robison, Alliance to Save Energy, and Deepika Arora Sadahiro, Willow

The U.S. federal government operates more than 350,000 buildings and spends over $6 billion annually on energy. Many, especially federally supported housing, rely on outdated systems that drive up costs and limit performance. As affordability and reliability take center stage, smarter, low-cost control technologies offer a clear path forward.

Smarter building controls—like smart thermostats, sensors, and automated HVAC systems—optimize energy use by responding to real-time conditions instead of fixed schedules. The result: lower energy use, reduced utility bills, and improved comfort for residents—without major infrastructure upgrades.

Low-Cost Upgrades, Immediate Impact

Unlike large-scale retrofits, smart controls are low-cost and quick to deploy. Smart thermostats alone can reduce HVAC energy use by 10–15%, with even greater savings depending on building conditions.

For federally supported housing, these savings directly improve affordability. Residents benefit from lower bills, while property managers see reduced operating costs and better system performance.

Federal Sites Are Already Seeing Savings

Across federal facilities, pairing efficiency upgrades with smart controls has delivered 20–40% energy savings, often with strong payback periods, especially when paired with performance-based financing like Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) and Utility Energy Service Contracts (UESCs).

These models allow agencies to deploy upgrades without upfront appropriations, using guaranteed savings to cover costs over time, creating a scalable pathway for federal housing providers.

Smart Controls Are Also Improving Air Quality in Commercial Buildings

The value of smart, responsive controls extends beyond thermostats. Real-world applications show how data-driven systems can improve both efficiency and occupant well-being.

Willow recently highlighted how demand-controlled ventilation (DCV) systems use occupancy data, CO₂ sensors, and HVAC controls to adjust airflow in real time in high-traffic buildings like airports, hospitals, campuses, and stadiums. Instead of fixed schedules, these systems increase ventilation when spaces are full and scale back when they are not.

This approach delivers multiple benefits:

• Improved indoor air quality
• Lower energy consumption
• Reduced equipment strain and longer system lifespans
• Operational cost savings without compromising comfort

A Scalable Path Forward

As energy demand grows and grid constraints tighten, cost-effective solutions are more important than ever. Smarter building controls offer a practical way to reduce demand, improve performance, and support grid reliability.

For policymakers, the opportunity is clear:

• Expand access to smart control technologies in federally supported housing
• Leverage existing financing mechanisms to scale deployment
• Integrate efficiency upgrades into broader affordability strategies

Efficiency remains the nation’s “first fuel” and one of the fastest, lowest-cost tools available today.

Delivering Affordability, Reliability, and Performance

Modernizing federal housing with smarter controls isn’t just about energy savings—it’s about delivering lower bills, better comfort, and more resilient buildings.

As real-world examples show, smarter, data-driven controls are already transforming building operations. Scaling these solutions across federal housing can unlock immediate savings while strengthening the energy system for the future.

Resources

• U.S. Department of Energy, Simulation-Driven Smart Thermostat Benchmarking
• ASHRAE Journal, Analysis of Indoor Environmental Conditions and Electricity Savings Using a Smart Thermostat
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Benefits of Smart Ventilation
• LBNL, Evaluating GHG Mitigation Potential from ESPC Projects
• DOE, Energy Savings Potential and RD&D Opportunities for Commercial HVAC Systems
• Willow, Improving Air Quality and Conserving Energy with Demand-Controlled Ventilation

In retrospect, Sunday's taxpayer-funded blasphemy fest to "rededicate" America as a Christian nation though it's not and never was looks ever more obscene amidst an unholy regime's mounting crimes and abuses. Its sectarian circus - ICE milled, vendors urged "WIVES SUBMIT," zealots screeched "We welcome Jesus!", speakers attested God is eager for the ballroom - just queasily re-shaped a 250-year-old America into the kind of country it once sought freedom from.

"Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving," a "constitutional abomination wrapped in layers of blasphemy and demagoguery," sought to proclaim America "One Nation Under God," but only a white male evangelical God; Muslims, Hindus, Catholics, commies, Jews, atheists, agnostics, black, brown, queer, Native people and even mainline Protestants need not apply. As such, it attacked what Jefferson deemed an unalienable right of conscience "which lies solely between Man & his God," defied the core constitutional tenet of separation of church and state, and "torpedoe(d) the best of American traditions - inclusivity and diversity" with, essentially, "a Jubilee of Christian Nationalism."

Its state-sponsored, right-wing fever dream marked the successful MAGA hijacking of Congress’ bipartisan, 2016 America250 commission, meant to honor the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and its core values of equality and agency before the law. Instead, Trump concocted his own Christo-fascist Freedom 250 to celebrate a racist, corporate, jingoistic narrative of America, rewriting history to create an imaginary, monolithic, jingoistic, white, male, Christian national identity that celebrates "God’s presence in our national life throughout 250 years of American history," and what is this inequality or oppression of which you speak?

Freedom 250 swiftly collected most of the $150 million appropriated by Congress, along with support from patriotic sponsors like ExxonMobil, Mastercard, Palantir, Amazon, Coinbase. Year-long festivities have included a weekly America Prays initiative; a series of Interior Department events celebrating “the triumph of the American spirit” plastered with flags, logos, Trump National Park passes; a fleet of nationwide “Freedom Trucks,” mobile museums offering right-wing takes on US history created with PragerU; a national Freedom 250 Patriot Games - Hunger Games anyone? - competition for high school athletes; a revamped Great American Farmers Market in DC with a "MAHA Monday."

On social media, meanwhile, DHS has begun declaring itself "One Homeland Under God," complete with image of church and cross and highlighted Bible verse; for April 19, it urged, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." The Washington Monument was transformed into “the world’s tallest birthday candle," with projections celebrating historic achievements by white men like Christopher Columbus and Henry Ford, with no black, Native, female people in sight. To re-enforce the white-centric narrative, organizers have also promised a Summer Surge of thousands more ICE and DHS thugs to make the nation still whiter.

Sunday's Jubilee continued the rebrand of a newly pristine, godly history, with 14 of 15 speakers Christian, arched stained-glass windows and a looming white cross all "glorifying the name of Jesus over our nation’s capital." "Our nation more than any other was shaped by the idea that faith brought freedom," said Marco Rubio in a prerecorded speech. "This is who we are." Virginia pastor Gary Hamrick concurred, but added the imaginary threat of a "spiritual war," perhaps best personified by the scary scattered signs of protesters urging, “Celebrate Democracy, Not Theocracy.” "This is a battle in our day between good and evil," he said. "Our hope is built on Jesus' blood."

Also, Jesus merch. As the faithful braved three-hour lines in the heat and prayed, arms lifted to the sky, vendors handed out "Jesus Saves" bracelets and buttons that said, “WIVES SUBMIT, HUSBANDS LOVE, CHILDREN OBEY.” There were "Thank you Jesus!" signs, a huge "Jesus Make America Godly Again" banner, $47 Freedom 250 baseball caps, t-shirts that read, "God Guns Family Freedom" and "Forever In Our Hearts, Charlie Kirk." "We welcome Jesus into this place!" declared one speaker. Another noted, "It's hard to believe it would take two centuries for the Lord to raise up a great man to bring that ballroom to stand where it needs to stand." (Jesus.)

Pete Hegseth,on video, was typically unshy about praising Jesus. He dubiously zeroed in on The Prayer at Valley Forge, a 1975 painting by Arnold Friberg of George Washington praying in the snow widely deemed a romanticized legend, not fact. Historians argue Washington was a deist and freemason who rarely mentioned God or Jesus, whose favorite Biblical quote - "But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid" - symbolizes peace, safety, religious freedom, and who always prayed standing. Still, Hegseth ran with it: Washington "did not lose faith," and "let us pray as he did...without ceasing...on bended knee, for our Lord and savior Jesus Christ."

Trump took an even more sketchy approach: He went golfing and sent in a slurry, pre-taped Bible reading recycled from the last fake Christian event three weeks ago. Then, moments after it aired, the self-described peace president went on a frenzied, genocidal social media spree, posting on his crappy app over 30 times in two hours. He threatened Iran: "The Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them." He posted bizarre, AI, warmongering images: Manning a spacecraft, firing away with massive explosions and mushroom clouds, personally arresting an alien, a real one. Say what? Praise Jesus.

Still, spineless, smarmy, unholy Mike Johnson was the worst. Having already whined about "naysayers" who view Christian Nationalism as "a derogatory term," he gave a long hollow prayer about his task to "bring us straight to the Lord, whose mighty hand has been upon our (freest and most benevolent) nation since the very beginning." But now "sinister ideologies sow confusion among our people," attacking our history as "one of oppression and hypocrisy and failure." So "grant us the moral clarity to rise above partisan differences," says the guy who keeps shutting down Congress to block Dem policies. Finally, unconscionably, he prayed for “mercy upon our land.”

Mercy. He seeks mercy.

Mercy for the hundreds of people in the Congo and elsewhere dying of an Ebola outbreak after Trump gutted USAID and its dedicated outbreak response team because it helped people who aren't white, thus triggering what could be over 14 million preventable deaths by 2030?

Mercy for those killed at San Diego's biggest mosque amidst a Trump-fuelled rising tide of Islamophobia? Mercy for those ripped off or otherwise betrayed in a rabid mob by a $1.8 billion slush fund, or "pardon on steroids," in the "most brazen act of presidential corruption this century."

Mercy for the estimated 145,000 U.S. citizen brown children who had a parent detained by ICE and are now scattered across the country, or the 22,000 who lost both parents? Mercy for the woman, a domestic violence victim, detained and deported whom ICE is now blaming for the murder of her own child by her ex-partner?

Mercy for the 21-year-old Honduran with no criminal record just arrested and detained by ICE outside a New York immigration court less than 24 hours after a federal judge's ruling such arrests are illegal, because, as one ICE thug responded when shown the ruling, "We don't care"?

Mercy for 18-year-old, Chicago-born, Mexico-raised Kevin González, being treated in Chicago for metastatic stage-four colon cancer when his health began failing? His parents in Mexico sought emergency visas to travel to the US to say their final goodbyes; when DHS denied them, citing “previous unlawful entries into the US," in desperation they tried to cross the border without permission and were detained by ICE in Arizona. Kevin pleaded in vain for their release; ultimately, he checked himself out of the hospital and flew to his grandmother's home in Mexico to be with family at the end. Finally, in Kevin's last hours, a judge in Arizona ordered their release. They arrived at his bedside on the afternoon of May 9. His sobbing mom called him, “Chiquito," "little one”; his father knelt by his son's bed, asking for forgiveness if he ever let him down. Kevin died the next day.

Mercy? Does Mike Johnson want mercy for Kevin and his parents?

Fuck Mike Johnson and all his fucking odious cohort. Fuck their prayers, and their Jesus, and their cruelty, and their fucking despicable hypocrisy, which knows no bounds. What would Jesus do? Not this, any of it.

This April, in Amsterdam (the Netherlands), plastic was on the agenda at one of Europe’s biggest banks’ Annual General Meetings. Campaigners and members of the Break Free From Plastic movement took their concerns directly to the Board of ING Bank, calling out the stark discrepancies between its public sustainability commitments and its far less publicised financing decisions.

Despite the well-documented harms plastic causes to environmental and human health, plastics are missing from many banks’ environmental policies. Banks have faced little accountability for their contribution to the plastic crisis, despite playing a central role in funding the production and proliferation of plastics worldwide.

Photo credit: Milieudefensie/Edo Landwehr, 2026

No policy, no limits

Financing is the oxygen that keeps plastic production alive and that is precisely why bank policies matter. When a bank establishes a plastics policy, it sets clear boundaries on what it will and will not fund, sending a powerful market signal that the most harmful parts of the plastic value chain carry real financial and reputational risk. Without such policies, there are no limitations, and capital flows freely to plastic producers, enabling the industry to expand unchecked. Beyond plastic production itself, banks also finance companies driving demand for single-use plastics and support downstream technological approaches that many campaigners and researchers argue risk delaying the transition to reduction, reuse and refill systems.

Policies also create accountability: once a bank makes a public commitment, it can be held to it by campaigners, shareholders, and regulators. Given that building and scaling plastic production is extremely capital-intensive, restricting access to that financing is one of the most direct levers available for reducing plastic production at its source. 

Photo credit: Fair Resource Foundation, 2026

ING, like many banks, currently lacks a plastics financing policy with clear criteria for limiting or excluding financing for plastics production. ING publicly acknowledges that plastic waste and pollution are a “downside”. It also points out that plastic waste is set to triple by 2060, with half still landfilled and less than a fifth recycled. ING states that it finances clients across the plastic value chain, “from upstream production to midstream users of plastic and downstream collection, sorting and recycling.”

Taken together, this raises questions about how ING’s recognition of plastic pollution translates into its financing decisions, particularly in the absence of clear criteria to limit continued expansion of virgin plastic production.

Claiming our place at the table

Annual General Meetings are spaces where executive leadership reports to a company's shareholders and provides an opportunity to expose the gaps between sustainability commitments and corporate behaviour. Through shareholder activism, civil society organisations have gradually gained access to AGMs using small amounts of shares to pressure  corporate decision-making from the inside. It is a tactic long used by climate groups, and one that is proving just as powerful in the fight against plastic pollution. 

Executives can ignore emails, campaigns and press releases, but they cannot ignore a formal question asked on the record in front of their major investors. By stepping into this space, we gained direct access to the bank’s leadership and had the opportunity to ask a question directly to the board and hold ING publicly accountable. 

Building alliances

Campaigners and activists from across the climate movement attended this year’s ING AGM, bringing attention to the investments ING has in oil, gas and coal. (pictures of protest). Inside, shareholders from these groups and organisations confronted the bank on  a range of policies, demonstrating that civil society is united to show up where decisions are actually made.

Photo credit: Fair Resource Foundation, 2026

Deflection and defensiveness: ING’s answer to our question

At the AGM, ING was asked directly: how, while acknowledging plastic pollution as a material risk, does it justify continuing to finance companies expanding virgin plastic production, including INEOS' Project ONE, the ethane cracker currently being built in Antwerp? The bank was also pressed to provide a clear timeline for client requirements across the plastic value chain, including plastic footprint disclosure, time-bound reduction targets, and a prioritisation of reuse and refill models over downstream and technological fixes.

Their answer was deeply disappointing. ING deflected to the United Nations and the need for a Global Plastics Treaty, effectively arguing that it cannot act until international frameworks are in place. 

A formal letter: demanding better answers

Attending ING’s AGM was just the first step in asking the bank to take meaningful action to address its role in the plastic crisis. This week, the Break Free From Plastic movement, together with members Fair Resource Foundation, Plastic Soup Foundation, Women Engage for a Common Future, and Fair Finance Guide Germany have sent a follow-up letter to ING bank with a series of questions. These include questions about how ING assesses clients involved in plastic production or users of plastic packaging, its policies on financing chemical recycling given its well-documented ineffectiveness, its engagement with ESG rating agencies to improve plastic-related metrics, its plans to reduce financing for fossil polymer production, and its timeline for developing a strategy that supports the investment and scaling up of reuse and refill models.

ING’s response at their 2026 AGM reflects a pattern seen before: acknowledge the problem, defer the solution and continue business as usual. The formal letter sent this week is an opportunity for ING to move beyond deflection and demonstrate that its sustainability commitments amount to more than rhetoric. Financial institutions, as the enablers of the plastic and climate crises, have the power and responsibility to develop meaningful plastics policies that shift capital away from plastic production and toward real solutions. Until then, the scrutiny will continue.