Latest news with #RachelFrazin
The Hill
23-05-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Trump seeks nuclear safety overhaul
The Big Story President Trump on Friday signed executive orders that seek to quadruple the nation's nuclear power, including by cutbacks to health and environmental considerations. © iStock In one such executive order, Trump laments that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) radiation safety standards are too stringent. 'The NRC utilizes safety models that posit there is no safe threshold of radiation exposure and that harm is directly proportional to the amount of exposure,' the order states.'A myopic policy of minimizing even trivial risks ignores the reality that substitute forms of energy production also carry risk, such as pollution with potentially deleterious health effects,' it says Accordingly, the order directs the NRC, an independent agency that regulates nuclear safety, to reconsider its 'as low as reasonably achievable' radiation standard and its assumption that radiation and exposure and cancer risk have a linear relationship. The order also directs the agency to make decisions on whether to approve licenses for new nuclear reactors within 18 months — a process that typically takes multiple years and involves both safety and environmental environmental review process alone typically takes two to three calls for the nation to quadruple its current nuclear energy capacity by 2050. The order also directs the agency to carry out reductions in force and specifically says that staffing and functions agency's Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, which provides advice on hazards and radiation protection, among other topics, should be 'reduced to the minimum necessary to fulfill … statutory obligations.' Another order says that the Energy Department should use authorities granted by the Defense Production Act to seek agreements with nuclear energy companies to enable the government to procure uranium for nuclear weapons Read more at Welcome to The Hill's Energy & Environment newsletter, I'm Rachel Frazin — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains. Programming note: This newsletter will be off Monday for Memorial Day. We'll be back Tuesday. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Essential Reads How policy will affect the energy and environment sectors now and in the future: Trump administration approves first expedited uranium mining project The Trump administration on Friday authorized the relaunch of operations at a southeastern Utah uranium mine — marking its first use of a newly fast-tracked environmental review process. House moderates accept sledgehammer approach to green energy tax credits despite calls for scalpel Despite insisting for months they wanted green energy tax credits to be handled with a scalpel in their sweeping reconciliation measure, moderate Republicans ultimately accepted a sledgehammer against the subsidies. Watchdog says Trump administration illegally halted EV charger funding The Trump administration is breaking the law by withholding funds appropriated by Congress for a national electric vehicle (EV) charging network, a government watchdog says. In Other News Branch out with a different read from The Hill: Trump pushes UK to embrace drilling, dump windmills President Trump on Friday criticized the United Kingdom's energy policy, pushing the British government to do away with 'costly and unsightly' windmills and drill for more oil in the North Sea. What We're Reading News we've flagged from other outlets touching on energy issues, the environment and other topics: Florida bill could block communities from rebuilding stronger after hurricanes (The Miami Herald) Stein says FEMA denial of full funding will mean less money for recovery needs (Blue Ridge Public Radio) What Others are Reading Two key stories on The Hill right now: Chief Justice Roberts temporarily halts discovery in DOGE case Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily halted discovery Friday in a lawsuit seeking access to documents and information about the Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) operations. Read more Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' faces a swarm of Senate GOP objections The 1,116-page bill the House passed early Thursday morning to enact President Trump's ambitious legislative agenda faces a swarm of objections from Senate Republicans. Read more You're all caught up. See you Tuesday! Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here
The Hill
22-04-2025
- Business
- The Hill
EPA fires, reassigns 455 environmental justice staffers
Energy & Environment The Big Story EPA cuts or reassigns hundreds of environmental justice employees The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will fire 280 staffers who worked on tackling pollution in overburdened and underserved communities and will reassign another 175. These staffers worked in an area known as environmental justice, which helps communities that face a disproportionate amount of pollution, especially minority or low-income communities. The EPA has framed its efforts to cut these programs — including its previous closure of environmental justice offices — as part of a push to end diversity programming in the government. Supporters of the agency's environmental justice work have pointed out that Black communities face particularly high pollution levels and the programs also help white Americans, especially if they are poor. 'EPA is taking the next step to terminate the Biden-Harris Administration's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Environmental Justice arms of the agency,' an EPA spokesperson said in a statement. 'Today, EPA notified diversity, equity, and inclusion and environmental justice employees that EPA will be conducting a Reduction in Force,' the spokesperson said. 'The agency also notified certain statutory and mission essential employees that they are being reassigned to other offices through the 'transfer of function' procedure also outlined in [the Office of Personnel Management's] Handbook and federal regulations' Happy Earth Day 🌎 Welcome to The Hill's Energy & Environment newsletter, I'm Rachel Frazin — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Essential Reads How policy will affect the energy and environment sectors now and in the future: Republican senator asks Kennedy to restore HHS staff that worked on coal miner health A Republican senator on Tuesday indicated disagreement with at least some of the firings and closures being made by the Trump administration in the name of efficiency. Full Story Democratic energy regulator steps down after White House request Willie Phillips, a Democratic member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), has stepped down — apparently at the behest of the White House. Full Story Tesla earnings plunge 71 percent in first quarter Tesla's quarterly earnings dropped by 71 percent, the company announced Monday, marking the latest sign of bad news for Elon Musk's electric vehicle manufacturer as scrutiny of the tech billionaire persists. Full Story In Other News Branch out with a different read from The Hill: Watchdog declines to pursue cases involving fired probationary federal workers The Office of the Special Counsel (OSC) told fired probationary employees it would no longer pursue complaints they were wrongfully terminated, a reversal that comes after the Trump administration fired the head of the agency. Full Story What We're Reading News we've flagged from other outlets touching on energy issues, the environment and other topics: E.P.A. Set to Cancel Grants Aimed at Protecting Children From Toxic Chemicals (The New York Times) From protests to planting trees: See how climate activists mark Earth Day 2025 (USA Today) What Others are Reading Another key story on The Hill right now: Judge orders Trump administration to restore Voice of America A federal judge on Tuesday found the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle Voice of America (VOA) and affiliated news services likely were unlawful, indefinitely blocking the shuttering of the government-funded news outlet and affiliated news services. Read more
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Consumers can limit their exposure to forever chemicals: Author
(NewsNation) — Forever chemicals are believed to be coursing through the veins of most Americans, but all is not lost, according to the co-author of a new exposé on PFAS. 'There's no way to avoid forever chemicals. It's in virtually every American. It's probably in you. It's probably in me. It's probably in everyone we know,' says Rachel Frazin, an energy and environment policy writer for The Hill and co-author of 'Poisoning the Well: How Forever Chemicals Contaminated America.' If there is a silver lining, she tells 'NewsNation Prime,' it's that Americans can have agency over their further exposure. Forever chemicals tainting food supply, destroying American farmers How? They can research information about their local drinking water supply and keep a close eye on the ingredients in the products they consume, Frazin said. 'Look for words like 'fluorinated,' which might be an indication that chemicals are in your products,' she said. 'If a company is making these products and they don't have these chemicals in them, they probably want to tell you about it, so look for products that are advertised as PFAS-free.' Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances have been used since the 1950s and can be found in common items such as nonstick cookware, waterproof clothing and dental floss. They do not easily break down and have been linked to a range of health problems. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
