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Energy & Environment

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The Big Story

Environmental justice staff put on leave at EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has put more than 160 workers who tackle pollution in overburdened communities on leave.

The employees were part of the agency’s Office of Environmental Justice, which sought to help people in areas with significant levels of pollution — including minority neighborhoods.
EPA spokesperson Molly Vaseliou confirmed 168 staff members in the office were placed on leave since “their function did not relate to the agency’s statutory duties or grant work.”
Vaseliou also cited President Trump’s executive order that directs all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff to be put on leave and said the EPA is “in the process of evaluating new structure and organization to ensure we are meeting our mission of protecting human health and the environment for all Americans.”

In addition to the suspensions, a tool known as EJScreen, which showed how pollution data intersected with demographic and income data, was offline as of Friday.

Studies, including those conducted by the EPA in the past, have found that Black Americans in particular face high levels of pollution, and the disparities they face are even more pronounced than disparities faced by the poor.

Read more at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Energy & Environment newsletter, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains.

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Essential Reads

How policy will affect the energy and environment sectors now and in the future:

Transportation Department suspends $5 billion EV charger program

The Federal Highway Administration (FHA) on Thursday announced the suspension of a Biden-era electric vehicle (EV) charging network, the latest in a series of moves by the Trump administration to gut its predecessors’ energy and environmental moves.

Full Story

Zelensky says he’s open to Trump’s rare earth request: ‘Let’s do a deal’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signaled a willingness Friday to work with President Trump to supply the U.S. with rare earth elements in exchange for continued military aid in his war against Russia.

Full Story

Top Natural Resources Democrat calls for investigation into DOGE activity at NOAA

The top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee called on Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) Friday to probe the activity of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Full Story

In Other News

Branch out with a different read from The Hill:

Trump says he’ll sign order promoting plastic straws

President Trump said Friday he plans to sign an executive order promoting plastic straws after his predecessor sought to phase out single-use plastics from government operations.

Full Story

What We’re Reading

News we’ve flagged from other outlets touching on energy issues, the environment and other topics:

Europe Is Looking to Roll Back Climate Accounting Rules (The Wall Street Journal)
Rice paddies, like cows, spew methane. A new variety makes them a lot less gassy. (Grist)
Trump Is Inheriting an Environmental Disaster (The Atlantic)

On Our Radar

Upcoming news themes and events we’re watching:

Tuesday

The House Transportation Committee’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment will hold a hearing titled “America Builds: Clean Water Act Permitting and Project Delivery.”
The House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources will hold a hearing titled “Oversight Hearing on Restoring Energy Dominance: The Path to Unleashing American Offshore Energy.”
The House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Federal Lands will hold a hearing titled “Restoring Multiple Use to Revitalize Americas Public Lands and Rural Communities.”

Wednesday

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on carbon capture, utilization and sequestration technologies.

What Others are Reading

Two key stories on The Hill right now:

Members of Congress denied access to Department of Education

Multiple members of Congress were denied entry to the Department of Education on Friday, according to videos and social media posts from lawmakers. Read more

Judge to issue ‘very limited’ order temporarily pausing USAID purge

A federal judge said Friday he intends to temporarily block the Trump administration’s plan to place thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employees on leave at midnight. Read more