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Brendan Gibbons
/
June 11, 2026

Trump Administration proposes allowing companies to start building industrial sites without air permits

Under the federal Clean Air Act, power plants and other potential sources of pollution must apply to state or federal environmental agencies and receive what is called a “preconstruction permit” before they roll in the cement mixers. But on May 13, the administration proposed making it legal for companies to begin construction on new projects – including data centers, power plants, and other major manufacturing facilities like steel mills, chemical plants, and liquefied natural gas terminals – before they even receive permits that authorize the project.

News Briefs

June 10, 2026
Trump Administration sued over weakening methane standards for oil and gas

Environmental Defense Fund is challenging the Trump EPA over its plan to water down a Biden-era standard mean to reduce climate pollution from oil and gas.

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June 10, 2026
Texas governor changes stance on data centers, calling for more regulations

With dozens of data centers generating backlash across Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott backed away from an earlier embrace of the industry and is now calling for more regulation.

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June 10, 2026
Trump officials considering creating oil reserve in California

Energy Secretary Chris Wright confirmed to Politico last week that the Trump Administration is considering a plan to create a strategic petroleum reserve on the West Coast.

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News Articles

Brendan Gibbons
/
June 4, 2026

Trump officials mislead on fertilizer price relief in effort to ram through Louisiana ammonia plant

With farmers suffering from high global fertilizer prices due to the war in Iran, Trump Administration officials held a press conference May 19 unveiling their plan to speed up permitting for a Louisiana facility they said would help provide economic relief for the American agricultural community. The only problem? The majority of the ammonia manufactured from natural gas at the proposed Blue Point Complex near Donaldsonville will not be used to make fertilizer, but rather to ship to overseas customers and as a fuel for a power plant and a steel factory, according to corporate disclosures and announcements.

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Ari Phillips
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May 28, 2026

Massive New Mexico data center tries to ‘greenwash’ environmental impact with fuel cell proposal

One major AI data center battle is currently playing out in the small border town of Santa Teresa, in Dona Ana County of New Mexico, where road construction and ground clearing at the massive Project Jupiter AI data center began last fall. Developed by BorderPlex Digital Assets, the complex will be powered by a self-contained power system separate from the state’s main electricity grid used by the public.

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Brendan Gibbons
/
May 21, 2026

Backed by $500 million in state funds, company plans 350-mile natural gas pipeline across North Dakota

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is holding meetings across the state this week and the first week of June for the Bakken East Pipeline, a new 350-mile pipeline that would move gas from the Bakken Shale formation in the western part of the state to eastern North Dakota, ending near Fargo. The pipeline, planned by WBI Energy, is eligible for up to $500 million in taxpayer-subsidized financing over 10 years

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Ari Phillips
/
May 14, 2026

Trump rebrands struggling oil refinery project along Texas coast as ‘America First’ refinery

In mid-March, amid a spike in gas prices brought on by the war in Iran, President Trump announced that American First Refining would build a crude oil refinery outside of Brownsville, Texas. The announcement did not mention that, for almost a decade, the 240-acre Port of Brownsville site has been at the center of a struggling effort to construct a 160,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery under a different name.

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In Depth Reports

The Lone Star State’s Gas Plant Boom

A wave of 130 natural gas power plant projects in the Lone Star State, proposed in part to feed the artificial intelligence boom, could release as much greenhouse gas pollution as 27 million cars and trucks driving for a year, according to a report from the Environmental Integrity Project.

Pollution from Oil Refineries with Outdated Boilers and Heaters

The Environmental Integrity Project examined publicly available data and records for the 20 petroleum refineries in the U.S. that reported emitting the most greenhouse gases in 2023. Out of the refinery boilers and heaters with age information, 87 percent of these units (739 of 845) are outdated.

Plastic's Toxic River

The Environmental Integrity Project examined the records of 70 U.S. facilities that make plastics or the main chemical ingredients in plastics and found they discharged almost 12 million pounds in 2023 of total nitrogen and phosphorus.

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