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EPA chief wraps national tour as critics slam deregulation agenda
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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin just capped off a nine-and-a-half month 50-state tour around the country talking to various folks impacted by his agency’s policies.
Zeldin completed his tour Friday after having made numerous reforms while on the road, including an agreement with Mexico to stop their wastewater from continuing to flow into the United States, a new directive that will help expedite the cleanup of nuclear waste in Missouri, rescission of an emissions rule and new guidance on diesel exhaust fuel aimed at helping farmers and truckers.
Meanwhile, Zeldin also visited sites of major environmental disasters, such as East Palestine, Ohio, which is still dealing with the after-effects of a major chemical spill that happened during the Biden administration, and Los Angeles, which has recently seen several devastating wildfires.
NEWSOM PUSHES CLIMATE RECORD ABROAD AS CALIFORNIANS SHOULDER AMERICA’S HIGHEST GAS COSTS
Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters Building in Washington DC (Getty)
«From business owners to trade workers, elected officials to residents impacted by environmental challenges, I’ve been soliciting feedback on any and every way the Trump EPA can fix everything,» Zeldin said after the culmination of his tour.
One of the accomplishments Zeldin is touting includes a July Memorandum of Understanding to address sewage spillage from the Tijuana River. Raw sewage has been flowing into Southern California from Mexico for decades, which Zeldin’s EPA said has led to beaches being forced to close, harm to the region’s economy and sickness on either side of the border.
EPA administrator Zeldin also released an «EPA Region 7 Status Update for West Lake Landfill Superfund Site» located in Bridgeton, Missouri and Coldwater Creek. The update cut two years off the initial start date of the project, according to the EPA. The waste is scheduled to be entirely cleaned up by 2038.
Another reform includes rescinding guidance from the «Preparation of Clean Air Act Section (CAA) 179B Demonstrations for Nonattainment Areas Affected by International Transport of Emissions.» Zeldin’s EPA said that the guidance made it «unnecessary difficult» for states to prove that foreign air pollution was harming Americans, not theirs, and seek regulatory relief under the Clean Air Act. Zeldin said this was of major concern for elected officials and business owners in Arizona and Utah.
Part of this reform will include a reevaluation of a determination by the federal government of how much international emissions are impacting residents in the Wasatch Waterfront area, in Utah.
FLARING CLIMATE PROTESTS BECOMING MORE CONFRONTATIONAL AS FREE SPEECH TESTED GLOBALLY
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin speaks as he tours Nucor Steel Berkeley with U.S. Vice President JD Vance on May 1, 2025, in Huger, South Carolina. (Kevin Lamarque-Pool/Getty Images)
Zeldin also announced in Iowa that new action would be taken to «protect» farmers, truckers and other individuals who need to operate diesel-fueled engines during his trip. In conjunction with the U.S. Small Business Administration, the government is pushing engine and equipment manufacturers to revise emissions control system software in existing vehicles and equipment that has been compelling sudden speed and power losses and costing businesses a lot of money in order to comply with strict regulations.
«Together we are empowering the great American comeback,» Zeldin insists in a video his team posted to social media about the conclusion of his tour. However, there are some folks who disagree with Zeldin.
«Administrator Zeldin is supposed to safeguard the environment and public health, yet under his watch the Trump EPA is fast-tracking new pesticides — including several containing PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ that build up in our bodies and never break down,» Alex Formuzis, spokesperson for the Environmental Working Group, told Fox News Digital. «At the same time, he is tearing apart core protections on toxic air pollution, contaminated drinking water, hazardous industrial discharges, and even bedrock legal decisions that allow the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from tailpipes and smokestacks under the Clean Air Act.»
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Zeldin was «alarmingly right» about enacting one of the «biggest de-regulatory action[s]» in history, Formuzis added, calling it «a wholesale retreat from facts, science and environmental and public health protection.»
«Hardly an agenda to make Americans healthy,» he added.
Climate activists protest in New York City. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston)
Environmental groups have sued Zeldin’s EPA and the Trump administration over many of their regulatory rollbacks. Earthjustice Action and WE ACT for Environmental Justice have recently challenged Zeldin’s bid to scrap federal greenhouse-gas reporting rules in a Nov. 3 filing.
«The climate crisis is a public health crisis, and EPA’s proposed repeal of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program will exacerbate both,» the groups wrote. «At a time when millions of Americans are losing access to healthcare and millions more are seeing polluting data centers and energy generators built in their backyards, it is imperative that EPA uphold its mission to protect human health and the environment.»
environment regulation,regulation,climate change environment,environment,politics
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European nation votes to cap population at 10M in major immigration crackdown referendum
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Switzerland is set to vote this summer on a proposal aimed at capping the country’s population at 10 million, the latest effort by the nation’s leading right-wing party to restrict immigration.
The Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which holds the most seats in parliament, announced the referendum on Wednesday after gathering enough support through petition signatures.
The measure, which will be put on the national ballot on June 14, comes just as the population neared 9.1 million, according to the Federal Statistics Office.
The anti-immigration campaign was proposed as officials noted that foreign-born residents now make up about 27 percent of the population.
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Snow covers the hills around Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
The SVP, which has long sought to curb rising migration, said that more than 1 million immigrants from the European Union (EU) came to Switzerland in 2024.
The party called the situation «uncontrolled immigration,» saying that «the majority of the Swiss population suffers» from increased demand on environmental resources and infrastructure.
«Our small country is bursting at the seams,» the party said. «Nature is being paved over. There are ever more traffic jams on the roads, overburdened public transport, overburdened schools, housing shortage and rising rents, massively increasing crime and exploding costs for Swiss taxpayers.»
STARMER’S DIGITAL ID WORK REQUIREMENT SPARKS UPROAR FROM UK’S LEFT AND RIGHT
A massive crowd waves numerous Swiss flags on January 10, 2026, in Adelboden, Switzerland. (Christophe Pallot/Agence Zoom/Getty Images)
If the measure is enshrined into law, both Swiss citizens and foreign residents must not exceed a total population of 10 million before 2050.
If the population reaches 9.5 million before then, the government may take steps to curb growth by introducing measures on asylum and family reunification, noting that many immigrants — primarily Muslim men from North Africa, the Middle East, and Afghanistan — enter through asylum applications.
GREENLAND’S PRIME MINISTER SAYS ‘WE CHOOSE DENMARK’ OVER THE US
Major Swiss political parties outside the SVP, including centrist, left-leaning and liberal groups, have reportedly rejected the initiative.
Critics cautioned that the passing of such measure could strain Switzerland’s relations with its European neighbors, as most foreign-born residents hail from other EU countries.
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Flags of the member states of the European Union blow in the wind at dusk in front of the European Parliament on November 27, 2019 in Strasbourg, France. (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)
In response, the SVP said lawmakers «could not have made it clearer that they don’t care about the concerns of the population, which is increasingly suffering from uncontrolled immigration.»
They also stressed that they do not intend to terminate the «free movement of persons agreement with the EU,» which allows European citizens to move and work freely across borders, and said such cancellation would remain a last resort if the Federal Council fails to limit immigration.
europe,the european union,travel,immigration
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Cambio climático: Donald Trump revocó una norma que limitaba la emisión de gases de efecto invernadero
El presidente Donald Trump revocó este jueves un texto que sirve de base para la lucha contra las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero en Estados Unidos.
Se trata de un giro radical al que se oponen científicos y ambientalistas.
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Este cambio de rumbo, que muy probablemente será impugnado ante los tribunales, supone un duro golpe para la acción climática del país, el principal emisor histórico de sustancias contaminantes. Donald Trump deroga una norma fundamental sobre gases de efecto invernadero (Foto: Reuters)
El fin a las restricciones medioambientales
El texto, conocido como “constatación de peligro” (“Endangerment finding”), establecía toda una larga lista de restricciones medioambientales, a partir del hecho de que el cambio climático, causado por la emisión de gases de efecto invernadero, era considerado una amenaza fundamental.
“Esa determinación no tenía ninguna base fáctica, ninguna en absoluto, ni base legal”, dijo Trump al anunciar su decisión en la Casa Blanca. El presidente Donald Trump habla durante un acto con el director de la Agencia de Protección Ambiental, Lee Zeldin, anunciando que la EPA ya no regulará los gases de efecto invernadero, en la Sala Roosevelt de la Casa Blanca, el jueves 12 de febrero de 2026, en Washington. (Foto AP/Evan Vucci)
Esta revocación libera a la industria automovilística de aplicar herramientas estrictas en materia de emisiones de gases.
Trump y el jefe de la agencia de protección ambiental (EPA), Lee Zeldin, pusieron como ejemplo el hecho de que los autos estadounidenses apagan sus motores cada vez que frenan completamente ante un semáforo en rojo, gracias a las reglamentaciones actuales.
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Ese tipo de medidas, para reducir las emisiones, y también para ahorrar energía, eran algo “odiado” por el consumidor, dijo Trump.
Esta decisión ahorrará al pueblo estadounidense 1,3 billones de dólares, según el gobierno republicano.
Qué establecía la norma aprobada bajo la presidencia de Barack Obama
El texto fue adoptado inicialmente en 2009 por la EPA, bajo la presidencia del demócrata Barack Obama.
Establece que seis gases de efecto invernadero -incluidos el dióxido de carbono y el metano- son perjudiciales para la salud y, por lo tanto, entran en el ámbito de los contaminantes regulados por la agencia federal.
Gran defensor del petróleo y el carbón, Trump ha dado marcha atrás en materia climática desde su regreso al poder en enero de 2025, multiplicando las medidas a favor de la industria de las energías fósiles.
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Anunciada en julio, su voluntad de derogar el texto de 2009 ha suscitado la indignación de numerosos científicos y organizaciones ecologistas.
“Las pruebas científicas relativas al cambio climático provocado por el hombre y sus consecuencias eran inequívocas en 2009 y, desde entonces, se han vuelto aún más alarmantes y convincentes”, recordaron más de 1000 expertos en una carta pública.
Trump sacó además a Estados Unidos del Acuerdo de París sobre el clima.
Los estadounidenses estarán “menos seguros, menos saludables”, reaccionó el expresidente Obama.
¿Se avecina una larga batalla judicial?
A juicio del gobierno, los gases de efecto invernadero no deben tratarse como contaminantes en el sentido tradicional del término, porque sus efectos sobre la salud humana son indirectos y globales, y minimiza en gran medida el papel de las actividades humanas en el cambio climático.
El asunto podría desembocar en una larga batalla judicial, incluso con la posibilidad de llegar a la Corte Suprema.
Los climatólogos confirmaron que el año 2025 fue el tercero más cálido jamás registrado en la Tierra, y que los efectos del desajuste del clima se hacen sentir a lo largo de Estados Unidos y el resto del mundo.
A pesar de estas manifestaciones tangibles, la lucha contra los gases de efecto invernadero se ha estancado desde hace dos años en el mundo desarrollado por falta de inversiones suficientes en tecnologías bajas en carbono.
(Con información de AFP)
Donald Trump, Cambio climático
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s book tour will take him early next month to New Hampshire, the state that’s traditionally held the nation’s first presidential primary for a century.
The Portsmouth Music Hall announced on Thursday that California’s two-term Democratic governor will present his new book, «Young Man in a Hurry,» on Thursday, at their theater on March 5.
It’s a sure bet that the stop along New Hampshire’s Seacoast will generate more buzz about Newsom’s national ambitions and the likelihood that he’ll launch a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, in the race to succeed term-limited President Donald Trump.
Newsom’s stature in his own party has soared over the past year, thanks to his very vocal and visual pushback against the president, including his viral social media trolling of Trump and his successful California push to counter the Republican congressional redistricting effort.
THE 2028 WHITE HOUSE RACE IS ALREADY UNDERWAY
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during an election night press conference at a California Democratic Party office Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Sacramento, Calif. (Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP Photo)
«Newsom has shown an ability to stand up to Trump in a bold and highly effective manner without shying away from core democratic values,» veteran Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo told Fox News Digital.
Newsom was treated like a VIP as he held meetings and mingled with party delegates during the opening day of the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) winter meeting, which was held in Los Angeles in December. And Newsom held meetings with the Democratic Party chairs from New Hampshire and Nevada, another crucial early voting state.
«We had a great discussion on a wide range of issues,» longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley told Fox News Digital.
DEMOCRATIC HEAVYWEIGHTS TURN HEADS, SPARK 2028 SPECULATION
Newsom has acknowledged that he’s mulling a presidential bid, telling CBS News last year he would «seriously consider» following the 2026 midterms and that he’d be «lying» if he said otherwise.
Newsom is one of more than a dozen Democrats viewed as potential 2028 White House contenders. And many of them have been paying visits to New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina, which held the first sanctioned Democratic presidential primary in the 2024 election cycle. Newsom stopped in South Carolina last summer.
A New Hampshire-based Democratic strategist who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely shared that he and other activists in the state for months have been receiving fundraising emails on a regular basis from some of the White House hopefuls.
«Every week I receive a dozen,» the strategist said.
VANCE AMPLIFIES HIS 2026 MESSAGE WHILE LANDING KEY 2028 BACKING
Kathy Sullivan, a former New Hampshire Democratic Party chair and former DNC committee member, told Fox News Digital that «successful candidates in New Hampshire start early here and get to know the activists. They find out what issues are important to people in New Hampshire.»
Sullivan said the early trips to New Hampshire by the potential contenders «show that they’re putting the work in to take the whole process seriously and know they need to do the hard work to win the primary.»
The California governor was last in New Hampshire in July 2024, to support then-President Joe Biden in the days after Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Trump. Newsom was a top surrogate for Biden, and later for then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the party’s standard-bearer after Biden dropped his re-election run amid questions about his physical and mental durability.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, a top surrogate for then-President Joe Biden, speaks with voters during a stop at a highway rest area in Hooksett, New Hampshire, on July 8, 2024. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News )
Harris, a fellow Californian who is also currently on a book tour, is also mulling a potential 2028 presidential run.
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Among the other Democrats seen as possible presidential candidates are Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Wes Moore of Maryland and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan; Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona, and Chris Murphy of Connecticut; progressive superstar Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rep. Ro Khanna of California, another leading progressive; and two moderate Democrats, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and former White House chief of staff and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
democratic party,democrats elections,gavin newsom,kamala harris,presidential primaries,new hampshire
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