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Environment Archive

Archives for February 2025

Justine Calma
Justine Calma
Trump administration hits disaster relief team with layoffs.

Trump plans to “all but eliminate” the Office of Community Planning and Development as part of widespread layoffs across the federal government, the New York Times reports. It would slash the workforce within that office by 84 percent, the Times says, citing a document it obtained.

The office oversees payments for recovery efforts after major disasters, opening up questions about how North Carolina communities rebuilding after the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene could be affected.

The women who made America’s microchips and the children who paid for it

The US wants to bring back domestic chipmaking. But the first generation of factory workers never got answers about their kids born with birth defects.

Justine Calma
Justine Calma
Justine Calma
Federal employees who work to protect the environment are getting the ax.

That includes at least 168 employees at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who worked in its Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights. The Trump administration is following a play out of Project 2025, which calls for “eliminating” the office.

Across the federal government, Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are targeting programs and employees that have worked to make initiatives more inclusive of communities of color and other groups that face disproportionate health and environmental risks.