Michael Phillis

FILE – Richie Nero, of Boyle & Fogarty Construction, shows the the cross section of an original lead, residential water service line, at left, and the replacement copper line, at right, outside a home where service was getting upgraded June 29, 2023, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Trump administration to stand by tough Biden-era mandates to replace lead pipes

February 20, 2026 at 8:01 p.m.

The Trump administration said Friday it backs a 10-year deadline for most cities and towns to replace their harmful lead pipes, giving notice that it will support a tough rule...

FILE – EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin attends a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission Event in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

EPA says President Donald Trump’s big bill should help in its fight to take back billions in green bank funds

July 4, 2025 at 1:59 p.m.

The sprawling tax and policy bill that passed Congress repeals a multibillion-dollar green bank for financing climate-friendly projects, and the Trump administration should be allowed to freeze its funding and...

Solar panels are installed on a home in Chapel Hill, N.C., Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

In a big bill that hurts clean energy, residential solar likely to get hit fast

July 2, 2025 at 2:07 p.m.

As Republicans in Congress rushed forward with a massive tax and spending cut bill, a North Carolina renewable energy executive wrote to his 190 employees with a warning: Deep cuts...

People survey damage after a severe storm moved through Friday, May 16, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Severe weather and tornadoes batter Midwest, killing at least 21 across two states

May 17, 2025 at 9:22 a.m.

Gov. Andy Beshear says 14 people have been killed by severe weather in Kentucky — including what appeared to be a devastating tornado — and that the number is likely...

FILE – Vials containing samples of forever chemicals, known as PFAS, sit in a tray, April 10, 2024, at a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lab in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

What the EPA’s partial rollback of the ‘forever chemical’ drinking water rule means

May 14, 2025 at 4:45 p.m.

The EPA plans to rescind limits for certain PFAS, or forever chemicals, and lengthen deadlines for two of the most common types.

FILE – Logan Feeney pours a water sample with forever chemicals, known as PFAS, into a container for research, April 10, 2024, at a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lab in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

EPA announces rollback for some Biden-era limits on so-called forever chemicals in drinking water

May 14, 2025 at 9:25 a.m.

The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it plans to weaken limits on some so-called forever chemicals in drinking water that were finalized last year, while maintaining standards for two...

FILE – Myrtle Felton, from left, Sharon Lavigne, Gail LeBoeuf and Rita Cooper, members of RISE St. James, conduct a live stream video on property owned by Formosa on March 11, 2020, in St. James Parish, La. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

In policy reversal, Donald Trump eliminates help for Black and Latino communities hit harder by pollution

January 26, 2025 at 12:37 p.m.

For four years, the Environmental Protection Agency made environmental justice one of its biggest priorities, working to improve health conditions in heavily-polluted communities often made up largely of Black, Latino...

Activists demonstrate in silence protesting a draft of a proposed deal for curbing climate change at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

A $300B a year deal for climate cash at UN summit sparks outrage for some and hope for others

November 23, 2024 at 7:34 p.m.

United Nations climate talks adopted a deal to inject at least $300 billion annually in humanity’s fight against climate change, aimed at helping developing nations cope with the ravages of...

Blacklisted by the World Bank, Chicago ?rm still gets millions in new contracts

June 12, 2018 at 5:17 p.m.

In 2006, the Mongolian Finance Ministry hired a small Chicago-based consulting firm called Glocoms to strengthen its budget planning. The $1.5 million job, financed by the World Bank, aimed to...

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