Climate

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a $10 million settlement with Energy Transfer, wiping out over $60 million in proposed fines for poisoning Ohio wetlands. The penalty amounts to less than 0.03 percent of the pipeline giant’s quarterly revenue.

The Justice Department is moving to pull permits for offshore wind farms just as the Senate advances a deal to lock in fossil fuel extraction. Bipartisan permitting reform offers procedural certainty only to corporate capital.

A celebrated one-year drop in tree clearing obscures how global commodity markets push ancient forests toward collapse. The latest Forest Declaration Assessment shows the world remains 70 percent off track from its zero-deforestation pledge.

The EPA mandates lead pipe replacement across the country but grants Chicago an exemption that compromises working-class families for decades. While officials celebrate administrative progress, another generation remains tethered to poisoned taps.

The Department of Agriculture is distributing $1.8 billion in conservation payments while actively expanding livestock grazing across public forests. By redefining ecological protection as commercial extraction, federal policy trades living ecosystems for corporate meatpacking profits.