The EPA Wants to Gut Its Research Office

Current conditions: Flash flooding in southern Spain forced evacuations • Tropical Storm Jude displaced thousands of people in Madagascar, Malawi, and Mozambique • Huge swathes of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri are under red flag warnings today as strong winds bring another day of extreme fire weather to the region.

THE TOP FIVE

1. The EPA aims to get rid of its research arm

The Environmental Protection Agency reportedly plans to eliminate a department that conducts essential research and informs environmental policy. The Office of Research and Development is the agency’s largest department and has studied everything from fine particle pollution in the air to the health risks of fracking and forever chemicals. Its closure would cut up to 1,155 research jobs and “serve the Trump administration’s dual goals of reducing the size of government while potentially easing the regulation of the chemical and fossil fuel industries,” as The New York Times put it.

The move may also face legal hurdles. Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, the top Democrat on the House science committee, said the office was created by congressional statute and cannot just be dissolved. She added that gutting the department would prevent the EPA from fulfilling its legal responsibilities to use cutting-edge science to shape policy. “Every decision EPA makes must be in furtherance of protecting human health and the environment, and that just can’t happen if you gut EPA science,” Lofgren said in a statement.

In other EPA news, the agency failed to meet a judge’s Monday deadline to provide clear and direct evidence of waste, fraud, or abuse by nonprofit groups approved for $20 billion in climate grants under the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which Administrator Lee Zeldin has been attempting to terminate. Instead, the agency pointed to “unidentified media reports” and an undercover video of an EPA staffer discussing the Biden administration’s rush to get federal grants out the door before the Trump administration took over. Zeldin first froze the funds and then canceled the loans entirely, prompting lawsuits from several of the grantees.

2. DOE releases $57 million loan for Palisades nuclear plant restoration

The Department of Energy yesterday released $57 million to Holtec to help restore and restart carbon-free power generation at the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan, which shuttered in 2022. This is the second disbursement, following the January release of $38 million (the total loan guarantee is for up to $1.52 billion). The loan was approved during the Biden administration under the Inflation Reduction Act’s Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment program, though the Trump administration was quick to take credit. “Today’s action is yet another step toward advancing President Trump’s commitment to increase domestic energy production, bolster our security, and lower costs for the American people,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a release that avoids any mention of the words “clean” or “carbon” or “emissions.” So long as Holtec can get the necessary permits, the Palisades facility will be the first commercial nuclear reactor in the U.S. to restart, and will “support or retain” 600 jobs and provide 800 megawatts of power in Michigan.

3. Weekend storm spawns rare EF4 tornadoes

The deadly storm system that ripped across the South and Midwest over the weekend spawned at least two EF4 tornadoes in Arkansas, according to the National Weather Service. These are some of the most violent tornadoes, representing the second-highest level on the Enhanced Fujita scale used to rate tornado strength, with wind speeds from 166 to 200 miles per hour EF4s are also the rarest tornadoes, accounting for just 0.5% of all tornadoes in the U.S. between 2000 and 2022. Early damage surveys indicate one tornado ran for an hour, crossing 46 miles through two counties, with winds up to 170 miles per hour; another tornado had a path of 14.5 miles, a max width of one mile, and wind speeds reaching 190 miles per hour. Luckily no one seems to have been killed in these two twisters, though there were several injuries. But the larger tornado outbreak left at least 24 people dead and destroyed hundreds of homes across 12 states.

4. More bad news for Tesla

Trade tensions between Canada and the U.S. have prompted Toronto’s mayor to stop offering drivers financial incentives to buy Tesla vehicles for ride shares or taxis. “There are other electric cars they could purchase,” said Mayor Olivia Chow. “If you want to buy a Tesla, go ahead, but don’t count on taxpayer money to subsidize it.” She told Reuters the move was a direct response to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s involvement with the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, insurance experts warn that an increase in acts of vandalism targeting Teslas may prompt insurers to hike rates for the vehicles. “Tesla owners better buckle up,” wrote Rob Stumpf at InsideEVs. “Things could get worse before they get better — at least while Musk lives a double-life as part-time CEO and part-time head of state.”

And finally, car listings data suggests prices for used Teslas are falling three times faster than the used car market overall. “So much for Tesla vehicles becoming ‘appreciating assets,’” wrote Fred Lambert at Electrek.

5. German court to hear arguments in climate lawsuit between a Peruvian farmer and an energy giant

A German court will hear testimony this week in a longstanding climate lawsuit that could hold major greenhouse gas polluters financially responsible for their contributions to climate change. The case was filed in 2015 by a Peruvian farmer named Saúl Luciano Lliuya, who argues that German multinational energy giant RWE is partly to blame for rising flood risks in his village of Huaraz due to a melting glacier. He wants the company to pay for flood prevention measures. In 2022, court judges flew from Germany to the Peruvian Andes to observe the melting glacier and collect evidence for the case, “a global first for any climate case,” The Washington Post reported at the time. The report also noted that if the lawsuit succeeded, “major polluters anywhere may be liable for the increasingly disastrous consequences of greenhouse gas emissions.”

THE KICKER

A new study finds that beef from grass-fed cattle does not have a lower carbon footprint than beef from cattle fed grains and corn. “I have a hard time imagining … a situation in which it will prove environmentally, genuinely wise, genuinely beneficial, to raise beef,” said study author Gidon Eshel, a research professor of environmental physics at Bard College.