The EPA's acting director let go of members of two of the agency's influential advisory committees on Tuesday. In an email, James Payne said they could reapply for their positions. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption
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President-elect Donald Trump embraces Elon Musk during an October campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Over the last few months, the two men have cultivated a warm relationship. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images hide caption
(Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images) OLIVIER DOULIERY/Getty Images hide caption
The cost of living, lead pipe removal, and a more expensive Mega Millions
Following a new EPA rule, public water systems will have five years to address instances where there is too much PFAS in tap water – three years to sample their systems and establish the existing levels of PFAS, and an additional two years to install water treatment technologies if their levels are too high. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption
What to know about the new EPA rule limiting 'forever chemicals' in tap water
Robert Taylor lives about a half-mile from Denka Performance Elastomer, a plant affected by the EPA's new rule, in Reserve, Louisiana. Halle Parker/WWNO hide caption
For communities near chemical plants, EPA's new air pollution rule spells relief
Eva Stebel, water researcher, pours a water sample into a smaller glass container for experimentation as part of drinking water and PFAS research at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Center For Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response, Feb. 16, 2023, in Cincinnati. Joshua A. Bickel/AP hide caption
David Jones dusts his house almost daily because the air in his neighborhood is so polluted. "You wake up in the morning and your throat hurts," he says. He is one of millions of people in the United States who live with dangerous air pollution, including gasses and particulates so small that they can worm their way deep into one's lungs and even cross into the brain. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption
A new satellite could help clean up the air in America's most polluted neighborhoods
A sign touting the Inflation Reduction Act is seen at Glynwood Boat House in Cold Spring, N.Y., on Aug. 17, 2022. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images hide caption
A smokestack stands at a coal plant on June 22, 2022, in Delta, Utah. The Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule Wednesday to restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with smog-causing pollution they can't control. ( Rick Bowmer/AP hide caption
A truck sprays water on part of the burning landfill during the EPA's work to smother the site in dirt. Zoe McDonald/WBHM hide caption
A months-long landfill fire in Alabama reveals waste regulation gaps
An oil pumpjack works in the Permian Basin oil field in Stanton, Texas. The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a new way to evaluate the cost to humanity of emitting greenhouse gases. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption
EPA's proposal to raise the cost of carbon is a powerful tool and ethics nightmare
Residents of southwest Pakistan move through floodwaters in September 2022. People with less wealth are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including more severe rainstorms. Fareed Khan/AP hide caption
Recent findings about the pollution of waterways near oil refineries underscore health and environmental dangers. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption
A flare to burn methane from oil production is seen in August 2021 on a well pad near Watford City, N.D. Matthew Brown/AP hide caption
At the Upper Tenmile Creek Mining Area Superfund site in 2018, water contaminated with arsenic, lead and zinc flows from a pipe out of the Lee Mountain mine and into a holding pond near Rimini, Mont. Matthew Brown/AP hide caption
Farmers have been spraying chlorpyrifos on crops, including strawberries, apples, citrus, broccoli, and corn since 1965. MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle vi/MediaNews Group via Getty Images hide caption
Refrigerators on sale in 2018 in Pennsylvania. The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to phase out the use of cooling chemicals that are powerful greenhouse gases. Keith Srakocic/AP hide caption
Tia Tate is a computational biologist currently working in a postdoctoral position at a federal agency in North Carolina. Cornell Watson for NPR hide caption
Why Having Diverse Government Scientists Is Key To Dealing With Climate Change
Earth Day on April 20, 1970 in New York, New York. Santi Visalli/Getty Images hide caption
Michael Regan speaks during his confirmation hearing in February to be the Environmental Protection Agency administrator. In an NPR interview Thursday, Regan says technology that helps eliminate emissions is key to tackling climate change. Caroline Brehman/AP hide caption
EPA Chief Says Biden Infrastructure Bill Will Help The U.S. Face Climate Change
Protesters attempt to block the delivery of toxic PCB waste to a landfill in Warren County, N.C., in 1982. It was in response to the state's decision to locate a hazardous waste landfill in a low-income, predominantly Black area of Warren County that the term "environmental racism" was first used by the Rev. Ben Chavis. Jenny Labalme hide caption
Hope And Skepticism As Biden Promises To Address Environmental Racism
A new EPA rule will make it more difficult for the regulators to use some scientific studies about the connection between pollution and health. DKAR Images/Getty Images hide caption
A Southwest Airlines flight takes off as United Airlines planes sit parked on a runway at Denver International Airport in April. Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images hide caption
Michael Regan currently leads the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and previously worked on air quality policy at the Environmental Protection Agency. North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality hide caption