EPA cuts could stall ‘forever chemicals' progress
On a call with reporters, the researchers — Carla Ng, Julia Varshavsky and Alissa Cordner — criticized the administration's proposed reconfiguration of the Office of Research and Development and its plans to move EPA scientists into different agency offices.
'I think everybody agrees it would be devastating,' said Ng, an associate professor of engineering at the University of Pittsburgh.
Advertisement
EPA has released few details to the public regarding its plans for the Office of Research and Development since March, when House Democrats leaked a memo indicating the Trump administration's plans to eliminate it. But agency officials told staff last month that the office — which had over 1,500 staffers at the start of the year — will soon be 'much smaller.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
30 minutes ago
- Forbes
Trump's New Russia Policy Is A Turning Point But Will It Be Enough?
Trump announced a new policy towards Russia and supporting Ukraine on July 14th, 2025.(Photo by Anna ...) On July 14, in an announcement that caught both allies and critics off guard, former President Donald J. Trump issued his strongest rebuke yet of Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. Trump's new Russia policy gave a 50-day deadline to the Russian leader: start peace negotiations or face a 100% tariff on all Russian exports, along with sanctions on third-party nations that continue to buy Russian oil. He also announced the sale of Patriot missile systems to NATO allies—though not directly to Ukraine—and restated his opposition to Ukraine joining NATO, sending troops, or invoking the Budapest Memorandum. Although these steps don't amount to a full strategic shift, they mark an important change: for the first time, Trump seems to recognize the threat posed by Putin not only to Europe but to global peace—and eventually, to American leadership. A Tentative Step in the Right Direction. This new stance warrants recognition. It embodies a growing realism that Moscow's aggression in Ukraine cannot be ignored, minimized, or postponed. But if this truly marks the start of a renewed American approach to international order, it will require more than tariffs and arms sales. It will need moral clarity, sustained commitment, and global leadership. (In the spirit of full disclosure, the writer is a past President of the Canada Ukraine Foundation and a senior advisor to the Centre for Eastern European Democracy in Toronto). There are compelling reasons why helping Ukraine is not only consistent with American interests—it is essential to preserving them. While Trump's new measures are a step forward, they also expose the limits of his policy: These omissions create critical gaps. A containment strategy that delays decisive support risks prolonging the war and emboldening other autocratic regimes. A Time to Lead, Not Hesitate President Trump's New Tone on Ukraine Is Appreciated, but It Cannot Mark the End of the Discussion. The stakes are too high. China is observing. Iran is too. America's allies are watching as well. Ukraine has earned our support not just through shared ideals but through action, sacrifice, and resilience. The cost of peace must not lead to abandoning those who have stood with us. America's legacy is built on resolve, not retreat. If we are to remain leaders of the free world, let this Trump's new Russia policy be the start of a broader strategy —one that balances strength and stands firm when freedom itself is at stake.
Associated Press
30 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Capital One, Walmart: A look at some of the consumer cases dropped by the CFPB under Trump
NEW YORK (AP) — In the nearly six months since the Trump administration has had control of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the bureau's leadership has focused almost exclusively on rolling back any punishments, fines and penalties made against companies during the Biden administration. In some cases, companies that were supposed to refund their customers or pay a penalty for unfair or deceptive practices are no longer bound to make their customers whole. Other companies facing charges of fraud of deceptive practices saw their lawsuits dropped in the early days of the Trump administration. Here are some of the Trump administration's rollbacks: Navy Federal Credit Union The CFPB accused Navy Federal Credit Union, the nation's largest credit union, of having unfair and deceptive overdraft fee practices. NFCU settled with the bureau and agreed to refund its members $80 million in overdraft fees. However, when the new administration took over, NFCU asked to have the order dismissed, which the CFPB agreed to do without giving a reason. Navy Federal has not said whether it would refund their members, which are mostly service men and women, families and veterans. Reduced overdraft fees The CFPB proposed new regulations that would have reduced overdraft fees to $5 from their industry average of $27. The regulations focused on a bureau analysis on what it actually cost banks to make short-term loans to customers to cover those purchases when a customer's account went negative. The banking industry stood to lose billions of dollars in overdraft revenue, although banks have been weening themselves off overdraft fee revenue for years. The regulations were overturned by the Republican-controlled Congress in April. Capital One In the last days of the Biden administration, the CFPB sued banking giant Capital One for allegedly cheating its customers out of $2 billion in interest payments on their savings accounts. The case involved a product that Capital One sold known as 360 Savings, which the bank advertised as having the best savings rate in the country. Capital One failed to tell some customers that it had another product with a higher savings rate. The case was dropped within days of the Trump administration taking over the bureau. WalMart The CFPB filed a lawsuit in December against WalMart and workforce company Branch Messenger, accusing the companies of deceptively steering delivery drivers to open accounts with Branch, in order for those employees to get instant access to their wages. However, the CFPB said these Branch accounts came with high fees and deceptive marketing, and said Wal-Mart and Branch should return $10 million to harmed drivers. Both Wal-Mart and Branch denied the accusations. The lawsuit was dropped by the CFPB in the first weeks of the Trump administration. Zelle The parent company of Zelle, the peer-to-peer payment system, as well as some of the nation's largest banks, were sued by the CFPB late last year over accusations they failed to protect hundreds of thousands of consumers from rampant fraud on Zelle, in violation of consumer financial laws. The CFPB's lawsuit claimed hundreds of thousands of customers lost approximately $870 million in funds to fraud over the seven years that Zelle had been in existence. That lawsuit was dropped by the CFPB in March.
Bloomberg
30 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Bessent Says ‘Formal Process' for Powell Succcessor Has Started
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a 'formal process' is already starting to identify a potential successor to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. 'Well, look, there's a formal process that's already starting,' Bessent said in an interview on Bloomberg Surveillance on Tuesday morning, when asked if such efforts had already begun.
