HotSpots H2O: Scenes From an Overheating, Drying World 

Michigan regulators approve dairy CAFO in pollution hotspot

by Brian Bienkowski, The New Lede August 6, 2026 Michigan is giving a green light to a large new concentrated dairy farm that would add millions of gallons of animal waste to a region where water quality is already suffering from manure saturation.  The decision from Michigan’s Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) department is the latest to highlight the uphill battle that communities around the US face in trying to slow or stop the expansion of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). New facilities are being approved even in areas where watersheds  are already heavily impaired from massive amounts of animal […]

EPA stalls long-planned nitrate cancer review as pollution crisis grows

by Brian Bienkowski, The New Lede August 4, 2026 The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has backed off its re-assessment of cancer-causing nitrates despite decades of research suggesting the contaminant is more harmful than previously thought and that nitrate pollution is at crisis levels in US drinking water.  The agency would not confirm the assessment […]

Michigan Supreme Court Vacates Key Line 5 Permit

The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the Michigan Public Service Commission erred when it granted a key permit for the Line 5 petroleum pipeline tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac.  Among other findings in its 58-page ruling, the majority found the commission’s permit review was overly narrow, failed to consider whether the tunnel project […]

Despite Supreme Court Decision, Bayer Faces More Challenge Over Roundup

Top executives of Bayer, the German chemical maker, were understandably elated on June 25, the day the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in their favor in a product injury case involving the company’s Roundup herbicide. The high court reversed a state court decision and dismissed the legal theory that prompted a jury to award $1.25 million […]

As Canadian politicians promise a carbon emissions fix, the country burns. Here’s what you need to know

By Carl Meyer; This article was originally published by The Narwhal Wildfires are raging in every province and territory across Canada, leaving entire First Nations communities burnt, upending the lives of thousands of evacuees and creating plumes of toxic smoke dirtying the air in major cities like Toronto and New York.  While some politicians claim the out-of-control wildfires are being primarily caused by improper forest […]